THE PLAYS OF SOPHOCLES

BY

J. C. KAMERBEEK Litt. Dr.

Professor of Ancient Greek in the University of Amsterdam

COMMENTARIES

PART I

THE AJAX

ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY DR. H. SCHREUDER

REVISED BY A. PARKER B. A.

SECOND EDITION

LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
1963
 Copyright 1963 by E. ]. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other
means without written permission from the publisher.

PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

UXORI
 PRAEFATIO

Ratio nostrae editionis Sophoclis fabularum alia fuit atque nunc

evasit; textum enim singularum tragoediarum apparatu critico in­
structum simul cum commentario in lucem edere volui. Cum autem
pars prima prelo iam parata esset, scrupulum mihi iniecerunt quomi­
nus mea proferrem studia ad textum Sophocleum pertinentia ab AI.
Turyn v. cl. publicata. Ille enim si veram imaginem traditionis
nobis descripsit, fundamenta apparatus critici nostri non paulum
mutanda sunt. Sed hucusque tempus mihi defuit ad perscrutandas
conclusiones ad quas ille pervenit. Neque mirum: complures enim
libros manu scriptos excutere necesse erit, neque iam singularum
quarumque fabularum textum constituere licebit: notiones enim
vulgatae de textu Sophoclis, de aestimatione librorum, de partibus
Byzantinorum, de relationibus codicum funditus immutandae sunt,
si recta sunt quae Turyn magna cum sagacitate autumat, digna
profecto quae diligenter perpendantur, accurate explorentur. Prius­
quam igitur textum poetae edam, pro virili parte agam ut hanc
Turynii imaginem probem.
Mihi autem persuasum est hanc novam imaginem traditionis, ut
apparatum criticum longe alium reddat quippe qui veram speciem
historiae textus ostendere debeat, haudquaquam effecturam ut
textus ipse multum distet a vulgato. Quod cum ita censerem, nihil
obstare vidi quin commentarium Aiacis prelo subici iuberem, tex­
tum apparatu instructum una cum ceterarum fabularum in uno
volumine post hos aliquot annos editurus. Quin etiam cum dolerem
hunc in modum opus criticum ab exegetico separari tamen hic ordo
edendi mihi arridere coepit: quaestiones enim ad apparatum per­
tinentes simul solvendae erunt neque fieri poterit quin unitati operis
hoc prosit; tum lectoribus opinor gratum erit textum et commen­
tarium binis voluminibus ad manum habere. Interim commen­
tarius iuxta textum Oxoniensem consuli poterit; lectiones discre­
pantes separatim notavi.

Amstelodami, mense Iulio, MCMLIII J. C. K.

 AD EDITIONEM SECUNDAM

Emendatior quidem — ut spero — sed non retractatus, adeo non

„incudi redditus", commentarius noster iterum editus est. Tantum
enim abest ut ratio haberi potuerit omnium disputationum et
librorum ad tragoediam Graecam, ad Sophoclem, ad Aiacem per­
tinentium post annum Domini MCMLIII publici iuris factorum
ut ne potiores quidem ad eum renovandum satis suum contribuerint.
E quibus honoris causa hos nominare volo: Sophoclis textum cum
apparatu et translatione tribus voluminibus editum a P. Mazon (j)
et A. Dain (1955, 1958, i960), I. M. Linforth, Three Scenes in
Sophocles' Ajax, Univ. of Calif. Pubi, in Class. Philol. XV. 1. 1954,
H. Diller, Menschendarstellung und Handlungsfuhrung bei Sophokles,
Antike und Abendland VI 1957, G. M. Kirkwood, A Study of
Sophoclean Drama, Cornell Studies in Class. Philol. XXXI 1958,
H. D. F. Kitto, Form and Meaning in Drama 1956 (de Aiace vide
pp. 179-198), H. D. F. Kitto, Sophocles, dramatist and philosopher
1958, Albin Lesky, Die Tragische Dichtung der Hellenen 1956,
T. B. L. Webster, Greek Theatre Production 1956, J. Jackson (t).
Marginalia Scaenica 1955. Enimvero si de integro commentarium
ad Aiacem composuissem, et illis et aliis compluribus libris quos
hic praetermitto magno cum fructu usus essem. Nunc imprimis
vitia non pauca in rebus minoribus et maioribus removere studui.
Ad quod negotium perficiendum observationes a T. B. L. Webster
necnon a W. Calder factae maximo mihi usui fuerunt. Tabulam
autem locorum ubi textus ab Oxoniensi differt refeci libro Alexandri
Turyn qui inscribitur Studies in the Manuscript Tradition of the
Tragedies of Sophocles, apparatu ab Alphonso Dain confecto, meis
ipsius collationibus adhibitis. Hic illic in rebus maioris momenti
iudicium meum mutatum secutus commentarium vere mutavi sed
spatium mihi inter angustos terminos circumscriptum fuisse lector
benevolus scito.

Santpoort pridie Kalendas Septembres MCMLXII J. C. K.

HISCE LOCIS TEXTUS AB OXONIENSI QUEM CONSTITUIT
A. C. PEARSON DIFFERT

In signis adhibendis quam maxime Alexandrum Turyn secutus

sum nisi quod consensum codicum G R Q familiae Romanae quae
dicitur littera Φ notavi qua usus est Alphonse Dain {Sophocle T. II,
1958).
45 έξεπράξατ’ L: έξέπραξεν Φ A Lrre Pearson.
61 φόνου codd. vetust.: πόνου Mosch. Pearson.
167 sqq. άλλ’ · δτε γάρ δή τό σόν δμμ’ άπέδραν,
παταγοϋσιν άπερ πτηνών άγέλαι
μέγαν αίγυπιόν·
ύποδείσαντες τάχ’ άν, έξαίφνης
εί σύ φανείης,
σιγή πτήξειαν άφωνοι.
Sic divisi: μέγαν αίγυπιόν <δ’> ύποδείσαντες Dawes,
Pearson.
179 ή τιν’ codd.: εϊ τιν’ Elmsley, Pearson.
190 μή μή μ’ άναξ έ'9’, codd.: μή μηκέτ’, ώναξ, Morstadt, Pearson.
194 στηρίζη: στηρίζει Pearson.
208 άμερίας codd.: ηρεμίας Thiersch, Pearson.
210 Τελλεύταντος A Lc ah: <σύ> Τελεύταντος Porson, Pearson.
222 αίθοπος Llem Ls Lc (?) A Sud. s.v.: αίθωνος Φ Eustath.:
α’ίθονος Lac (?) Pearson.
229 παραπλήκτω codd.: παραπλάκτω Blaydes, Pearson.
235 τήν μέν έσω LAS: έξω Φ: τά μέν εϊσω Τ Pearson.
235. 236 γαίας·.................... άνερρήγνυ·
26g νοσοϋντες codd.: νοσοϋντος Hermann, Pearson.
290 κλυών
297 εΰκερών τ’ codd.: εΰερόν τ’ Schneidewin, Pearson.
305 ένάξας Pap. Ox. 2093: άπάξας L (ex άπάξαις) R Q: έπάξας
G A Vat 1332 (teste Peppink) Pearson.
309 έρειφθείς L (ex έρεφθείς) A έριφθείς Φ: έρεισθείς Στρ Pearson.
330 νικώνται, φίλοι codd. sic interpunxi: λόγοις Laud vp Stob.
Pearson.
350 μόνοι τ’ codd.: μόνοι έτ’ Hermann, Pearson.
358 άλίαν codd.: άλιον Hermann, Pearson.
X HISCE LOCIS TEXTUS AB OXONIENSI DIFFERT

360 I ποιμένων f codd.: πημονάν Reiske, edd. plerique, Pearson:

possis ποϊ μόνων έπαρκέσεις; (έπαρκέσοντ’ codd.)
372 χερί μέν Hermann: χερσΐ μέν codd.: χεροΐν Tricl. Pearson.
378 έχειν codd.: έχοι van Herwerden, Pearson.
379 πάνθ’ όρών codd.: πάντα δρών Wakefield, Pearson.
380 κακών όργανον τέκνον Λαρτίου
384, 385 άτώμενος, / ίώ μοί μοι, ....
387 προπάτωρ codd.: πάτερ cod. ant. sec. Tricl. Pearson.
406 τοϊσι δ’ όμοϋ: τοϊσιδ’ Liv ρ: τοΐσδ’ όμοϋ codd.: τίσις δ’ έμοϋ
Pearson.
417 ίστω ·
427 πρόκειται Lac Λ Dain: πρόκειμαι ceteri Pearson 1)
428 ούθ’ codd.: ούδ’ Elmsley, Pearson.
441 δοκώ ■
448 <μ’> άπήξαν vel <μ’> άπήξαν: άπεϊρξαν Φ (<μ’> άπεϊρξαν
Blaydes): άπήξαν (vel άπηξαν) L A (in litura) Pearson.
451 έπεντύνοντ’ ΦΑΡ: έπευθύνοντ’ Lac Λ Pearson.
477 βροτόν codd.: βροτών C. E. Palmer, Pearson.
516 καί μητέρ’ άλλ* ή codd. καί μητέρ’ — άλλ’ ή tentavi: άλλη
μοίρα edd., Pearson.
5548 Vindicavi.
573 μήθ’ ό codd.: μήτε Schaefer, Pearson.
601, 602 Ίδάιδι μίμνων ποια λειμωνίδι μήλων Wilamowitz: μίμνων
άν’ Ίδαν λειμώνι ποαντι μηνών Pearson.
624 έντροφος codd.: σύντροφος Nauck, Pearson.
625 λευκώ δέ codd.: λευκψ τε Hermann, Pearson.
626 I φρενομόρως f vel j φρενομώρως f codd.: φρενοβόρως Dindorf,
Pearson.
632 χερόπληκτοι codd.: χερόπλακτοι Erfurdt, Pearson.
636 I άριστα | vide comm.
641 τλάμων L A Q al.: τλαμον R G al. Pearson.
649 καί codd.: χαί Musgrave, Pearson.
656 έξαλεύσωμαι codd.: έξαλύξωμαι Pearson ex Hesychio.
660 Νύξ
668 τί μή; codd.: τί μήν; Linwood, Pearson.
714 Verba τε καί φλέγει servavi, lacunam post χορεϋσαι 701
extare ratus.
726 στρατού codd.: στρατώ Schaefer, Pearson.

!) De R dissentiunt viri docti: πρόκειται Turyn, πρόκειμαι Dain, ego.

 HISCE LOCIS TEXTUS AB OXONIENSI DIFFERT XI

743 κέρδιστον codd.: κέρδιον Nauck, Pearson.

758 κάνόνητα codd. testes: κάνόητα Vauvilliers, Pearson.
780 τοιαϋθ’ L Φ al.: τοσαϋθ’ A al. edd., Pearson.
784 δύσμορον codd.: δυσμόρων Pearson.
802 δτ’ αΰτω L A: ήτ’ αΰτω Φ: δ τούτφ Pearson.
811 οΰχ έδρας ακμή
8ΐ2 θέλοντας Lac: θέλοντες Lc Φ A2 Pearson.
δς σπεύδη θανεΐν Α2: δς άν σπεύδη Lac: δς σπεύδει Φ Lc Pearson.
833 ξύν άσφαδάστω καί ταχεϊ πηδήματι,
852 μάτην,
854 Θάνατε, Θάνατε
δθ9 έπίσταται codd.: έπισπαται Pearson. Sed versus fortasse cor­
ruptus est.
885 Εδρες omisi.
886 λεύσσων retinui.
893 τλήμων codd.: τλάμων Pearson.
896 οϊχωκ’ codd. ώχωκ’ Pearson ex Herodiano.
901 ίώ μοι, άναξ, κατέπεφνες W.-B., Wilamowitz: ίώ μοι κατέπεφνες
άναξ codd.: ώμοι, κατέπεφνες <άμ’>, ώναξ Pearson.
902 τάλας Hermann, Jebb, Kuiper: ΐώ τάλας codd.: ώ τάλας Τ Liv
ρ Pearson.
910 άφρακτος codd.: άφαρκτος Dindorf, Pearson.
921 ακμαίος codd.: άκμαϊ’ άν Wakefield, Pearson.
966 ή cod.: ή Schneidewin, Pearson.
1027 άποφθίσειν codd.: άποφθίσαι Hermann (e Suda), Pearson.
XO47 οδτος, σέ φωνώ,
1132 ού γάρ καλόν;
1137 καλώς L: κακώς ΦΡΑ Pearson.
1159 πύθοιτό τις,
1185 τις άρα νέατος, ές πότε λήξει
1190 άνά τάν εύρώδη Τροίαν codd.: τάνδ’ άν’ εύρυεδή Τροίαν Lobeck,
Pearson.
1199 ού Hermann: οδτε codd. Pearson.
1205, 1206 ερώτων· / έρώτων δ’ L Α: ερώτων δ’ / ερώτων Φ Pearson.
1211 έννυχίου codd.: αίέν νυχίου G. Wolff, Pearson.
1230 έφώνεις Aac Lc: έφρόνεις Lac Ac Φ: έκόμπεις Schol. Ar. Ach. 638
Pearson.
1268 επί σμικρών λόγων codd.: επί σμικρόν λέγων Pearson.
1281 ούδέ συμβήναι codd.: οδ σύ μή, βήναι Madvig, Pearson.
1293 δυσσεβέστατον,

ί'
XII HISCE LOCIS TEXTUS AB OXONIENSI DIFFERT

1312 I σοϋ θ’ όμιχίμονος f codd.: σοϋ γ’ άμαίμονος Bothe, Pearson.

1348 προσεμβήναι codd.: πρός έμβήναι Blaydes, Pearson.
1357 vtx? codd.: κινεί Pearson.
1373 ΖΡή codd.: χρής Dindorf, Pearson.
1377 codd.: ή Elmsley, Pearson.
1398 τάλλα codd.: τάμά Rauchenstein, Pearson.
1416 λωίονι Seyffert: λώονι Pearson (sed 1416 sq. suspecta putat).
 INTRODUCTION

’Αρετά, πολύμοχθε γένει βροτέω,

θήραμα κάλλιστον βίω,

σοΐς τε πόθοισ* Άχιλεύς Αίας τ’

Άίδα δόμον ήλθον.
Aristoteles.
I
Sophocles took the subject matter for the Ajax from the Trojan
cycle of legends, the source of many of his tragedies *). As the
Theban Oedipus was closely associated with the Athenians, so-
Ajax to them was a familiar hero. He was the patron of Salamis, (
connected with Attica since the days of Solon. He was the epo-|
nymous hero of one of Clisthenes’ tribes. Αίάντεια were celebrated!
in his honour on Salamis 2), and perhaps also in Athens.
In the Iliad Ajax appears as one of the greatest Achaean heroes
before Troy, the bravest warrior next to Achilles, the bulwark
of the Achaeans, and the rescuer of the ships. In the embassy
to Achilles he is characterized as a man who is sparing of words;
he distinguishes himself in his single combat with Hector, in the
battle over the body of Patroclus; the wrestling-match between
him and Odysseus remains undecided. The Iliad does not contain
any reference to a tragic fate that is to befall him; there is no
question of any υβρις towards the gods nor of any enmity towards
Odysseus or other heroes.
The Odyssey tells us quite another story. In the nether world
the shade of Ajax refuses to hold converse with Odysseus:
οϊη 8’ Αίαντος ψυχή Τελαμωνιάδαο
νόσφιν άφεστήκει κεχολωμένη είνεκα νίκης,
τήν μιν εγώ νίκησα δικαζόμενος παρά νηυσΐ
τεύχεσιν άμφ’ ’Αχιλήος· έθηκε δέ πότνια μήτηρ,
παϊδες δέ Τρώων δίκασαν καί Παλλάς Άθήνη.
ώς δή μή δφελον νικάν τοιώδ’ έπ’ άέθλφΐ
τοίην γάρ κεφαλήν ένεκ’ αύτών γαϊα κατέσχεν,
*) Ath. VII 277 ®· Cf. Jebb-Pearson, The Fragments 0/ Sophocles, General
Introduction, p. XXXI.
’) L. Deubner, Attische Feste, p. 228; P. v. d. Muhll, Der grosse Aias, p. 23.
Kamerbeek .
2 INTRODUCTION

Αϊανθ’, δς περί μεν είδος, περί δ’ έργα τέτυκτο

των άλλων Δαναών μετ’ άμύμονα Πηλείωνα.
τόν μέν έγών έπέεσσι προσηύδων μειλίχιο ισιν ·
"Αίαν, παΐ Τελαμώνος άμύμονος, ούκ άρ’ έμελλες
ούδέ θανών λήσεσθαι έμοί χόλου εϊνεκα τευχέων
ούλομένων. τά δέ πημα θεοί θέσαν Άργείοισι-
τοϊος γάρ σφιν πύργος άπώλεο · σεΐο δ’ ’Αχαιοί
Ισον ’Αχιλλήος κεφαλή Πηληϊάδαο
άχνύμεθα φθιμένοιο διαμπερές· ούδέ τις άλλος
αίτιος, άλλα Ζεύς Δαναών στρατόν αίχμητάων
έκπάγλως ήχθηρε, τείν δ’ έπί μοίραν έθηκεν............ ”
(Od. XI543-560)
From this we leam that Ajax and Odysseus had competed tor
the possession of the arms of Achilles; Thetis had set them for a
prize, Athena and some Trojan captives *) acted as judges. We do
not, indeed, hear that Ajax, feeling himself to be dishonoured
because he did not get the prize, committed suicide, but this may
be inferred. His wrath against Odysseus remained irreconcilable,
even after his death. Odysseus regrets his victory and considers
the issue of events as a fate sent by Zeus. There is no mention
whatever of Ajax planning to murder the Achaean chiefs, of a
mental affliction which causes him to kill cattle instead of men,
or of a dishonest decision made by the judges. Nor do the Iliad)
and Odyssey mention any relationship between Ajax and Achilles.)
The Aethiopis by Arctinus of Miletus gave a description of the
death of Achilles: οί δέ ’Αχαιοί τόν τάφον χώσαντες άγώνα τιθέασι, καί
περί τών Άχιλλέως όπλων Όδυσσεϊ καί Αϊαντι στάσις εμπίπτει. (Πρό-
κλου χρηστομάθειας γραμματικής τό δεύτερον, Allen ρ. Ιθ6,15-17)· From
the name-list of C. I. G. Ital. et Sicil. 1284 (αίας [μανι]ωδης, Allen,
p. 126, 7-8) we know that in the Aethiopis Ajax was struck with
frenzy.
Moreover, schol. B T Eust. A 515 cite from the Iliupersis of
Arctinus: (Podalirius) δς ρα καί Αίαντος πρώτος μάθε χωομένοιο / 6μ-
ματά τ’ άστράπτοντα βαρυνόμενόν τε νόημα (Iliu Persis V, Allen, ρ.
139)· It is not unlikely (cf. Jebb, Introd. Ajax, XIII n. 2) that the
poet Arctinus refers here to a more detailed treatment in the
Aethiopis. In the Aethiopis Ajax slew himself about dawn: ό γάρ
τήν Αίθιοπίδα γράφων περί τόν όρθρον φησί τόν Αϊαντα εαυτόν άνελεϊν.
ι) Schol. Η ad Od. XI 547·
 INTRODUCTION 3

(schol. Pind. Isthm. Ill 53—IV 36—, Aethiopis II, Allen, p. 126).
The scanty information on the Aethiopis makes it impossible to
discover whether this poem knew anything of the onslaught on
the cattle, but probably it did not *).
The Ilias Parva (commonly ascribed to Lesches) dealt i.a. with
the δπλων κρίσις (Arist. Poet. c. 23, 1459 b). In the Chrestomathy
of Proclus we read as follows (Allen, p. 106, 20-23): 'Η των δπλων
κρίσις γίνεται καί Όδυσσεύς κατά βούλησιν ’Αθήνας λαμβάνει, Αίας 8’
έμμανής γενόμενος τήν τε λείαν των ’Αχαιών λυμαίνεται καί εαυτόν
άναιρεϊ. The impression one gets is that the poet of the Ilias Parva
has introduced the story of the onslaught on the cattle into the
legend; furthermore it is worth noticing that Odysseus gets the
arms through the will of Athena, as can also be read in Od. XI 547.
About the judges a schol. ad Ar. Eq. 1056 tells: ή ιστορία τούτον
τόν τρόπον έχει. 8τι διεφέροντο περί των άριστείων 8 τε Αίας καί δ
Όδυσσεύς, ως φησιν ό την μικράν Ίλιάδα πεποιηκώς. τόν Νέστορα δε
συμβουλεϋσαι τοΐς 'Έλλησι πέμψαι τινάς έξ αύτών ύπό τα τείχη των
Τρώων, ώτακουστησοντας περί της άνδρείας των προειρημενών ηρώων,
τούς δέ πεμφθέντας άκοϋσαι παρθένων διαφερομένων προς άλλήλας,
ών τήν μέν λέγειν ώς δ Αίας πολύ κρείττων έστί τού Όδυσσέως, διερχο-
μένην ούτως
Αίας μέν γάρ άειρε, καί ίκφερε δηιοτητος
ήρω Πηλείδην ούδ’ ήθελε δϊος Όδυσσεύς,
την δ’ έτέραν άντειπεϊν ’Αθήνας προνοία
πώς έπεφωνήσω; πώς ού κατά κόσμον έειπες / ψεύδος;
(Ilias Parva II, Allen, p. 129). The words ’Αθήνας προνοία are in
perfect agreement with the above-quoted κατά βούλησιν ’Αθήνας.
It may be imagined that the poet invented this story in continuation
of Od. XI 547 (or of the story given there in brief outline).
The scholion says further: "Αλλως · τούτο έκ τού κύκλου άφείλκυσται.
(i.e. Ar. Eq. 1056 sq.: καί κε γυνή φέροι άχθος έπεί κεν άνήρ άναθείη ·
άλλ’ ούκ άν μαχέσαιτο · χέσαιτο γάρ εί μαχέσαιτο) λέγεται δέ άπό τών
Τρωάδων κρινουσών τόν Αίαντα καί τόν Όδυσσέα. λέγεται δέ δτι ού
τό τού Αίαντος έργον αλλά τό τού Όδυσσέως.
The Ilias Parva also told about the burial of Ajax: (Porphyrius
ap. Eust. 285, 34) (ιστορεί δέ ό Πορφύριος) καί 8τι ό τήν μικράν Ίλιάδα
γράψας Ιστορεί μηδέ καυθήναι συνήθως τόν Αίαντα, τεθήναι δέ ούτως

*) Cf. A. Severijns, Le Cycle ipique dans I'icole d’Aristarque, 1928, p. 331.

4 INTRODUCTION

έν σορώ διά τήν όργήν τοϋ βασιλέως (Ilias Parva III, Allen, p. 130).
No mention is made of wilful intrigue in the adjudgement of
the arms, nor of an intervention of Athena inflicting frenzy
upon Ajax when he seeks to murder the chiefs. We have to acquiesce
in our ignorance on these important points. But the way in which
"Apollodori” Epitoma 5, 21, 6 (epit. Vaticana) tells the story
deserves attention: ή δέ πανοπλία αύτοΰ τώ άρίστω νικητήριον τίθεται
και καταβαίνουσιν είς άμιλλαν Αίας καί Όδυσσεύς. προκριθέντος δέ
Όδυσσέως Αίας ύπύ λύπης ταράττεται καί νύκτωρ επιβουλεύεται τφ
στρατεύματι- καί ύπύ ’Αθήνας μανείς είς τά βοσκήματα ξιφήρης έκ-
τρέπεται καί ταϋτα κτείνει σύν τοϊς νέμουσιν ώς ’Αχαιούς, ύστερον δέ
σωφρονήσας κτείνει καί εαυτόν. ’Αγαμέμνων δέ κωλύει τύ σώμα αύτοΰ
καήναι καί μόνος ούτος τών έν Ίλίω άποθανόντων έν σορώ κεϊται ■ ό δέ
τάφος έστίν έν ’Ροιτείω.
Since the last part of this account agrees with Ilias Parva III
Allen (vide supra), it is possible that "Apollodorus” (i.e. his source)
follows the Ilias Parva also in the other parts and that Sophocles,
whose version is in keeping with Apollodorus’, except in the last
part, likewise draws upon the Ilias Parva as regards the frenzy
of Ajax and the interference of Athena. But this is by no means
certain: "Apollodorus" may have borrowed these traits from the
version of Sophocles l) and Sophocles may have been the first
to represent Ajax as being in full use of his senses when he meditated
revenge on the Achaeans but as being visited with madness after
the interference of Athena, which led to the onslaught on the cattle. .
In the epic versions, at any rate, there is, so far as we know
them, not a single trace of a conscious dishonesty in the award of
the arms of Achilles. This can also be said of Pind. Isthm. IV 34 sqq.
But there is a reference in Pind. Nem. VIII 22 sqq.: δψον δέ λόγοι
φθονεροϊσιν, / άπτεται δ’ έσλών άεί, / χειρόνεσσι δ’ ούκ ερίζει. / κείνος
καί Τελαμώνος δάψεν υιόν, / φασγάνω άμφικυλίσαις. / ή τιν’ άγλωσσον
μέν, ήτορ δ’ άλκιμον, λάθα κατέχει / έν λυγρώ νείκει · μέγιστον δ” αίόλφ
ψεύδει γέρας άντέταται. / κρυφίαισι γάρ έν ψάφοις Όδυσση Δαναοί
θεράπευσαν· / χρυσέων δ’ Αίας στερηθείς δπλων φόνω πάλαισεν2).
Pindar does not speak of his madness, nor of the onslaught on
the cattle, probably out of deference to the hero of the Aeginetans.

*) Cf. Wilamowitz, Pindaros, p. 338 n. 3.

*) Cf. M. C. van der Kolf, Quaeritur quomodo Pindarus fabulas tractaverit
quidque in eis mutarit, diss. Leiden 1923, pp. 65-67.
 INTRODUCTION S

There is little to be said in support of the view of Blumenthal 2),

that Pindar borrows this trait from Sophocles; either the reverse
is true 2), or there is a common source unknown to us. (That the
"Danaoi” vote themselves is a common trait found in represen­
tations on vases: Robert, Bild und Lied, pp. 213-221).

In the trilogy of Aeschylus "Οπλων κρίσις, Θρήισσαι, Σαλαμίνιαι

the fate of Ajax took the central place. In the first play Ajax and
Odysseus argued their claims against each other (as is proved by
Aesch. fr. 175 N.2= 286 Mette (1959) from schol. on Soph. Ai 189);
it is not certain who formed the Chorus; perhaps the Nereids
(Aesch. fr. 174 N.2 = 285 Mette (1959) from schol. on Ar. Ach. 883):
if so, the element of deceit would meet with some difficulty in
Aesch., granting the Nereids to have been the judges of the contest.
It is a pity we cannot ascertain to which play Pap. Ox. 2256, fr. 71
(296 Mette = 284 Lloyd-Jones) belongs; here the deceit is men­
tioned. We do not learn anything from the fragments about Ajax’
madness and his onslaught on the cattle. Possibly the idea of suicide
entered his mind immediately after the award of the arms, in view
of the following line from the "Οπλων κρίσις: τί γάρ καλόν ζην βίο<το>ν
δς λύπας φέρει (177 Ν.2 = 289 Mette from Stob. Έκλ. Ill II, 14 Η.).
In the following play, the Θρήισσαι, Thracian women who were
captives of Ajax formed the Chorus (schol. Soph. Ai. 134). The sui­
cide of Ajax was related by a messenger (schol. Soph. Ai. 815). More­
over, Aeschylus made use of a tradition according to which Ajax was
vulnerable only in the armpit or in the side, i.e. at that place which
had not been covered by the lion-skin in which Heracles had
wrapped the new-bom child: the place where Heracles’ quiver
was attached (schol. Soph. Ai. 833; cf. schol. T Hom. II. XIV 404,
schol. s s3 Lycophr. Alex. 455, cf. Pl. Symp. 219 e). (In Pind.
Isthm. VI 42 sqq. Heracles prays that a son may be bom to Tela­
mon: τόν μέν άρρηκτον φυάν, ώσπερ τόδε δέρμα με νϋν περιπλαναται /
θηρός, δν πάμπρωτον άέθλων / κτεϊνά ποτ’ έν Νεμέα · / θυμός δ’ έπέσθω.
Probably owing to a misunderstanding, both the schol. ad Lycophr.
1.1. and the hypothesis of Sophocles’ Ajax ascribe the story of the
invulnerability to Pindar 3). The words of Heracles are followed

’) R.E. s.v. Sophokles.

*) For Pindar and Sophocles cf. T. B. L. Webster, An Introduction to
Sophocles, Oxford 1936, p. 50.
·) Cf. Wilamowitz, Pindaros, p. 183.
6 INTRODUCTION

by the appearance of an αίετός and Heracles enjoins Telamon

to name his son after this Αίας: Sophocles ignores the invulnera­
bility of Ajax as well as the name-giving after the αίετός.)
The scene of the Σαλαμίνιαι was in all probability laid on Salamis
and the play treated of Teucer’s return to Telamon and Eriboea,
his exile and possibly the institution of festivities in memory of
Ajax (thus Jebb).
The passages in Sophocles 569 sqq. and 1018 sqq. seem to refer
to this play of his predecessor.

II

To sum up, we may conclude that there is not so very much of

Sophocles’ own invention in the μϋθος which he dramatized. But
the data he made use of and the manner in which he handled his
subject are such as to ensure the best effect for attaining his end:
the dramatic interpretation of the tragic hero Ajax. For whereas
Aeschylus in his trilogy interprets the myth, Sophocles puts upon
the stage the tragedy of a hero. In order to give complete fulness
to his character he prefers to choose the most complicated version.
Ajax does not get the prize of his άρετή; he wants to take revenge
on the Atreidae and Odysseus, he is demented by Athena, commits
the disgraceful deed of the onslaught on the flocks x), comes to his
senses again, deems further life impossible, and commits suicide.
Whereas the epos is silent about any ΰβρις of Ajax towards the
gods (cf. however schol. ad Ai. 127), 762 sqq. calls special attention
to it *). (Schol. ad 762 observes that this is προσθήκη τοϋ ποιητοϋ).
This does not mean, however, that the deeper meaning of the drama
could simply be formulated thus: Ajax is a committer of ΰβρις
and therefore he goes to ruin. For it should be remembered that
the poet emphasizes in Teucer’s words (1135) that there has been
foul play in the award of the arms so that there was some ground
for the vindictiveness of Ajax. Then there is the question of his
burial, with which a large part of the play is concerned after his
death. By means of Odysseus, who is in the beginning of the play

*) "His fury turns to madness and becomes the means to his humiliation”
(Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy, p. 33).
’) The hybris motif is of great importance in the early Sophocles: cf.
Niobe, Thamyris, Ajax of Locri (Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy, p. 32; Pohlenz,
Die Griechische Tragodie2, Gottingen 1954, p. 170}.
 INTRODUCTION 7

Athena’s disciple, full honour is at least restored to him. And

finally the death of Ajax, so far from being represented as an ex­
piatory sacrifice for outrages committed, is regarded as saving
him from an honourless life 1). Ajax saves his honour as a hero by
finding death and by his death his honour as a hero finds its due
recognition by the mouth of his rival in the contest for the arms.
This means that death accords him the τιμή without which he,
being essentially an epic hero, could not live. Weinstock rightly
calls attention to this wounded honour as epic motif ’). The deed
of suicide is part of his being and of his fate, of his δαίμων. Suppose
for a moment that after vs. 692 he actually meant to purge his
stains and that he had not committed the deed (after all, we may
suppose this because Sophocles apparently makes him express this
intention; moreover, there were mythic versions in which Ajax
did not commit suicide, cf. Hypothesis in fine and Sophron
fr. 32 K. (Demetrius de elocut. 147)). Under these circumstances,
how would his honour as a hero have been preserved, if Aga­
memnon and Odysseus had come to inquire into his attempt to
make an onslaught ? Or could it be that Odysseus would come
to offer him the arms of Achilles ? s)
As to the act of suicide it should be borne in mind that the
Greeks of the 5th century (with the exception of the Pythagoreans)
did not think it objectionable4).*
It would be a mistake to look in Sophocles for anything like an
integral theological system that should be adequate to account
for or to justify the fate of Ajax. And therefore the part of Athena
remains to us full of difficulties. (It is worthy of notice that in
Megara Athena has as epiclesis Aiantis 6). A gold statue of Athena
in Megara is said by Pausanias to come from Ajax e). The association
Athena-Ajax reminds one of that between Aphrodite and Hippo­
lytus (Eur. Hipp. 32, 33)). There is good reason to assume that the
poet uses her appearance in the prologue to show that against the

x) Or as: "una prova di onore” (Massa Positano, L'Unitd dell’ Aiace di

Sofocle, p. 55; cf. also Pohlenz, o.l.2, *p. 178). Cf. also K. v. Fritz, Zur Inter­
pretation des Aias, Rh.M. 1934, 113-128, esp. pp. 124 and 126.
’) H. Weinstock, Sophokles*·, p. 40.
’) According to Philostr. Heroic. XI Odysseus wanted to deposit Achilles’
arms on the mound of Ajax, an act which Teucer did not tolerate.
4) Cf. Eur. Hec. 1107 Pl. Leg. IX 873 c). Pohlenz, o.l2, p. 178.
’) Paus. I 52, 4, R.E. s.v. Aiantis.
·) Paus. I 52, 4, R.E. s.v. Aias, cf. Soph. Ai. 92, 93.
8 INTRODUCTION

omnipotence of the gods, who rule the universe by guarding the

bounds set to man, even the greatest hero, when he exceeds these
bounds in ύβρις, is powerless (cf. 127-133) 1). Conceptions such as
cruelty or mercy are out of the question here. Athena is a power
which states in an unconcerned manner what is Ajax’ condicio.
To us his lot is not made acceptable by Athena but by Odysseus’
humanity. It is otherwise not devoid of interest to notice with regard
to Sophocles’ conception of "tragedy” that Ajax, especially towards
Athena, stands in the relation of a θεομάχος who in his delusion
thinks the goddess his σύμμαχος (92). He is therefore the hero who
in contradistinction to the natural phenomena does not know to
είκειν or to σωφρονεΐν (670 sqq.). "Offence and greatness in the
hero spring from the same root. The impassioned intensity for which
we admire him is itself ύβρις” (H. Kuhn, The True Tragedy,
Harvard Studies 1942, p. 61). To any one who sees in Sophocles
a man of bigoted naive piety it must indeed seem surprising that
he devotes little less than a third part of his tragedy to giving this
hero the honour which is due to him. The character of Ajax—as
indeed others of Sophocles—gives one the impression that the poet
was fascinated by the hero who exceeds the bounds set to man,
is annihilated, and in his annihilation finds the confirmation of
his greatness.

Ill
When a μΰθος is narrowed down to a single play with a central
figure it is inevitable that a large part of the former belongs to
the time preceding the subject proper of the drama. But the total
effect of what precedes is part of the central figure, of his memory
and his mental content. Thus it is with Philoctetes, with Oedipus,
with Electra, and to a high degree with Ajax. When the drama
opens, the armorum iudicium, the resolve to murder the Achaean
chiefs, the visitation with madness, and the onslaught on the cattle,
belong already to the past; only the madness continues throughout
the prologue.
The Prologue (1-134) brings the spectator into the presence of
Athena, Odysseus and Ajax. At the end of it the spectator is fully
acquainted with the whole situation, and—even more than this—

*) Not incorrect but too simple: "Athena is simply divine punishment

personified". G. Norwood, Greek Tragedy, p. 135.
 INTRODUCTION 9

he has heard and seen Ajax in his revolting infatuation. By the

words of Odysseus has been measured the gulf between the greatness
of a hero and his fall. Divine omnipotence and human insignificance
are set against each other. The derision, also, of divine power is
depicted contrasting with the commiseration of a man who recognizes
the human limits from the example set before him. Nowhere else do
we find a god in the prologues of Sophocles, twice with Aeschylus
(Eumenides and Prometheus) and frequently with Euripides. The
statement of Pohlenz (o.l.1, p. 174, not in o.Z.2), who calls this pro­
logue a “fabula docet” which is “unkiinstlerisch”, is inacceptable.
The Parodos (135-200). The Chorus appear singing a marching-
song in anapaests; this is followed by a lyric ode in strophe, anti­
strophe, epode. This structure is archaic and occurs in the Supplices
(without preceding prologue), the Persae (item) and the Agamemnon
(after a prologue) of Aeschylus. In the parodos of the Antigone
lyric strophes alternate with anapaestic systems.
The Chorus consist of sailors, followers of Ajax, whose weal
and woe are closely bound up with their master’s (cf. schol. ad 134:
their dependence on and adherence to their master are greater than
in the case of the Thracian slave-women in Aeschylus’ Threissae.
They are disquieted about the rumours they have heard, but do
not know the precise state of affairs. It is said in the camp that
Ajax has murdered oxen and sheep. They know that the fate of
Ajax is their fate and they call upon their master to come out of
the hut. They are otherwise more concerned with their own con­
dition than with the sorry plight of the hero.
First Epeisodion (201-595), consisting of a kommos between
Tecmessa and the Chorus (201-262), a dialogue between Tecmessa
and the Chorus (263-347; 333, 336, 339 interrupted by cries from
Ajax; at 342 he says two lines), a kommos between Ajax, the
Chorus and Tecmessa (348-429), a dialogue between Ajax, Tec­
messa and the Chorus (430-595) (at 541 a servant brings Eurysaces).
As there is no stasimon between the two scenes, one had better
not speak of two epeisodia. In the first kommos Tecmessa and the
Chorus exchange tidings and give utterance to their great anxiety.
Tecmessa knows that Ajax has become mad; she has seen him
come to the hut with the cattle and been a witness to his rage.
The Chorus are confirmed in their apprehensions and are of opinion
that Ajax and they themselves must seek safety in flight. In the
dialogue Tecmessa explains that Ajax has become sane again.
10 INTRODUCTION

and gives an account of what had happened that night, how Ajax
had left the hut and how he had returned. She also speaks, in
brief terms, of the scene with Athena at the door of the hut, but
she does not appear to have understood the meaning of it.
As to Tecmessa, she is, so far as we can know, an invention of
Sophocles himself. In the Iliad thefe is no trace of her (it is not quite
clear if Αϊαντος γέρας II. I 138 refers to a wife of Ajax). The scarce
fragments of the Cyclic poets are silent about her, and so are the
testimonia of the trilogy of Aeschylus. The Romans have written
several tragedies entitled Tecmessa (or Tecumessa); we do not know
of a Greek one. Quintus Smyrnaeus (V 538 sqq.) is based on So­
phocles. She, the daughter of the Phrygian Teleutas, is ληιδίη and
made his άλοχος by Ajax. Sophocles borrows for her character
elements from Briseis and Andromache. She is the embodiment of
the tie which might bind Ajax to life (for he loves her—cf. 21X,12—
and she is devoted to him with her whole being), if anything could.
She realizes the desire of Ajax to find a refuge in death even before
he has given utterance to it (326). Therefore she has come from the
hut to call in the aid of the Chorus. The coryphaeus does not
summon the servants to open the hut until he is certain that
Ajax has recovered his senses (344).
A second time the spectator gets a view of Ajax, whose frenzy
is now past, sitting among his ludicrous victims. In the kommos
the desire of Ajax to die becomes apparent. There is no remorse
about the onslaught, only a sense of sorrow and shame about his
failure and disgrace. His fury against the Atreidae and Odysseus
remains undiminished. He does not heed the dismay and protests
of the Chorus; he dismisses Tecmessa. He is conscious of Athena’s
baleful part (401-403). He desires death because he, the greatest
hero before Troy, has been disgraced (412-427). The way in which
Ajax is depicted in this lyric scene renders the mental derangement
by which he had been struck psychologically comprehensible;
though he has come to his senses again, he gives the impression
of a monomaniac of ambition and vindictiveness. In the following
dialogue Ajax explains his situation. He did not receive the honour
due to him, he was baulked of his revenge through Athena’s doing,
his enemies mock at him, he is hated both by men and gods, he
cannot appear before Telamon. Καλώς ζην is impossible for him;
καλώς τεθνηκέναι remains (430-480). He lives up to the standard
of a noble hero. He is untouched by Tecmessa’s personal appeal.
 INTRODUCTION 11

Their words are lost on each other **). He has his son brought to
him so that he may take his leave, and—holding him in his arms—
teach him the rules of nobility. Teucer is to protect him and to take
him to Telamon and Eriboea.
At the end of the scene he has the hut closed, and a last appeal
of Tecmessa is checked by a sharp rebuff. The part of the coryphaeus
is limited to a single entreaty to restrain himself (481-484; 525, 26)
and an expression of fright (583, 84).
First Stasimon (596-645). Two strophes and antistrophes.
The Chorus invoke Salamis, for which they yearn after their
long stay before Troy. They are afraid to die in consequence of the
insanity of Ajax. It is worthy of notice that the chorus call Ajax
θεία μανία ξύναυλος (6ll, cf. 639, 40): they cannot understand
the standard Ajax lives up to. They imagine the grief of Telamon
and Eriboea when they will hear of Ajax’ infatuation.
Second Epeisodion (646-692). Ajax comes forth, probably fol­
lowed by Tecmessa (with Eurysaces?). He delivers a speech in
which he says that it is good to yield; he will go to a pasture near
the sea to purge his stains and bury his sword. This speech is equi­
vocal throughout (see the commentary). Its whole tenor is to show
that Ajax knows all arguments and understands why he would
have to yield; it makes clear the “Zerwiirfnis des Helden mit dem
Lauf der Welt” *). Just because the speech is ambiguous, it shows
his stubbornness the more ineluctably. Indeed, the veiled wording
of this speech shows us the real Ajax 3). With this "deception”
he finds the solitude of nature to die *). Ajax leaves the scene.
Second Stasimon (693-718). Strophe and antistrophe.
A joyous ύπόρχημα; the Chorus are convinced that everything
will come right now.
Third Epeisodion (719-814-865). The Chorus are not in the
orchestra 814-865. A messenger announces Teucer’s arrival in the
camp (prepared by 342, 3 and 562 sqq.). He has met with a bad

K. Reinhardt, Sophokles\ p. 32.

*) K. Reinhardt, Sophokles\ p. 36.
’) On the gradual exposition of the character of Ajax See the very good
remarks of L. Massa Positano, o.l.. pp. 53 sqq.
4) “If the speech is deception, Ajax dies without having made his peace
with god and man" Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy, p. 40. This is true; he dies
without having made peace with them. Right, Weinstock, o.l., p. 51: “Wandel
ware Selbstaufgabe, ihm bleibt nur die Selbstzerstorung”.
12 INTRODUCTION

reception but leamt from the seer Calchas that the life of Ajax
depends on his staying within his hut for this one day; only
so long will Athena’s wrath pursue the ϋβρις of Ajax, in that he
declined her divine aid in the battle, ού κατ’ άνθρωπον φρονών. The
Chorus and Tecmessa realize that Ajax is in great peril and go to
seek him. This scene is laden with unparalleled dramatic tension
and illustrates at the same time the inevitability of Ajax’ fate.
He cannot yield to the gods, he refuses to submit to Athena, and
therefore it is fated that he shall die ').
The second scene shows Ajax alone in a meadow with bushes
near the sea-shore; the sword is fixed by its hilt in the ground of
the bushes. Ajax prays for a swift death and a burial by the hand
of Teucer. He invokes the Furies to avenge him on the Atreidae
and even on the whole Achaean army. So far his death is an in­
stance of suicide in revenge 2). It is possible that in the original
myth this motif was central, but in the tragedy of Sophocles this
is certainly not the case. His farewell is addressed to the sun,
his native country, the plains of Troy. Then he falls upon his sword.
The scene is in every respect exceptional on the Attic stage.
Epiparodos (865-879). The two ημιχόρια enter the orchestra from
opposite sides, searching for Ajax. Their search has been in vain.
Ajax lies on the stage in such a manner that the Chorus cannot
see him.
Kommos (879-973): Chorus and Tecmessa. It may be said that
the Epiparodos and the Kommos together take the place of a
stasimon. For the rest the situation for the public is analogous
to that of the Parodos, where Ajax is in his hut and the public
knows everything; here the spectator has been a witness to the
suicide of Ajax and knows where his body lies; in both cases the
Chorus are still ignorant of what has happened. Formally, the exit
and the re-entering of the Chorus accentuate the division of the
drama into two parts.
Tecmessa comes on probably centrally and finds Ajax’ body (Cf.
Webster, Museum 1955, p. 27, Greek Theatre Production 1956, p. 18).
There is much consistency in the relations Chorus-Tecmessa-Ajax:
the finding of the body falls to Tecmessa’s share. Likewise in the

*) Possibly we may at the same time find in this an indication that the
wrath of the gods will not last (Campbell, Introduction, p. 3).
*) M. Delcourt, Le Suicide par Vengeance dans la Grice ancienne, Rev.
de ΓΗ. des Religions, Soix. ann. t. cent dix-neuv. 1939, pp. 154-171.
 INTRODUCTION 13

naive egotism of the Chorus (ώμοι έμών νόστων, 1. 900). The kommos,
in which Tecmessa speaks almost exclusively in iambic trimeters,
further consists of laments and reflections on the death of Ajax. It is
Tecmessa again who utters the profoundest words and who appears
to have the keenest realization of the significance of what has
happened.
Fourth Epeisodion (974-1184). 974-1047: Teucer and Chorus
(until 988 Tecmessa silent); 1047-1167: Teucer, Menelaus, Chorus;
1168-1184: Teucer (Tecmessa, Eurysaces, Chorus silent).
Teucer appears (his appearance prepared at 804, 827, 921).
After the exchange of complaints between Teucer and the
coryphaeus, Teucer sends Tecmessa away to fetch Eurysaces (985
sqq.). Then follows a long speech in which he analyses—especially
for himself—the situation after the death of Ajax, and sets forth
the true significance of his death. This speech shows that Teucer
was not designed merely "to fit the scheme”. Then comes the scene
with Menelaus. It is dramatically fully warranted, nay even in­
dispensable that the enemies of Ajax should be put on the scene
so that his greatness may be measured by their littleness I). No­
where does the weakness of Menelaus appear more clearly than from
his desire to dominate Ajax at least after the latter’s death (1067).
After speech and counterspeech follows the stichomythy resulting
in the αίνοι; Menelaus departs without effecting his purpose.
Tecmessa comes back with Eurysaces; Eurysaces is made to
hold his father’s body as a suppliant. Teucer goes to seek a suitable
place for the burning of Ajax, so that Eurysaces and Tecmessa are
left on the stage with the body of Ajax.
Third Stasimon (1185-1222). Two strophes and antistrophes.
The Chorus complain of the endless war and their own sad con­
dition, especially now that Ajax has met his doom. They only
long to be home again.
Exodos (1223-1420). Teucer, Agamemnon, Chorus. From 1316-
1374 the same persons and Odysseus. 1374-1401 Teucer, Odysseus,
Chorus. From 1402-the end, Teucer and Chorus (Eurysaces and
Tecmessa are also present but silent throughout). Speech and coun­
terspeech by Agamemnon and Teucer; both of them stoop to the
exchange of personal taunts, a practice well-known in the Attic
law-courts. A solution seems to be impossible, until Odysseus

*) Excellent remarks by Pohlenz, Erl&uterungen', p. 76 ad p. 181 Z. 8 v.u.

14 INTRODUCTION

appears l), who, akin to Theseus in some other tragedies, succeeds

with real Attic humanity in dissuading Agamemnon from his
prohibition. Unreconciled, Agamemnon lets Odysseus have his
way. Odysseus’ offer to take part in the burial is declined by Teucer.
The scene ends with the carrying forth of the body of Ajax.

IV

Let us with Corneille (Discours sur le Poeme Dramatique) consider

"quelle grace a eue chez les Athemens la contestation de Menelas
et de Teucer pour la sepulture d’Ajax, que Sophocle fait mourir
au quatneme acte”. The Achaeans could not but see a traitor in
Ajax on account of his onslaught. It is for this reason that his
brother is threatened with stoning (728) 2); the Athenians could
remember that Themistocles was refused burial in his own coun­
try3). Every one knows from the Antigone how important burial
was. To the Athenians Ajax was a national hero, whose impor­
tance had certainly increased since the battle of Salamis (it is
not for nothing that "Salamis” plays a great part in the tragedy).
But—and this is the most important point—though it is true
that Ajax has saved his honour as a hero by his suicide, yet this
honour exists in the world only by the recognition of others 4)
(cf. the semasiology of δόξα or such expressions as την εύσεβίαν
κτασθαι); and after his death this recognition could manifest itself
only in the bestowal of a right to be buried. The tragedy simply
could not end with the death of Ajax, not because of his life after
death (thoughts of the hereafter play a comparatively unim­
portant part in Sophocles), but on account of his immortality
as a hero here on earth5). The problem was how to dramatize the con­
troversy concerning the burial and to elaborate it so as to form an
organic whole with the first part of the tragedy. Instead of com-

*) There is much misunderstanding in the view of A. Platt, The Burial

of Ajax, Cl. Rev. XXV, 1912, 101-104. When speaking of the anticlimax
at the end, he says of Odysseus: "The cool head is a poor subject for tragedy".
*) Cf. Bowra, Soph. Tragedy, p. 49; Hdt. IX 5; cf. Dem. De cor. 204.
A. C. Pearson, Cl. Qu. XVI, 1922, pp. 124-137. Pearson argues that the
second part of the tragedy is intended to show that Ajax is not a traitor.
·) Bowra ib. Thue. I 138, 6.
‘) Cf. the striking "justification de leur justice par le jugement d’autrui",
Andr6 Chamson, Le Crime des Justes, ch. IV initio. Cf. the commentary
ad 75·
·) Sikes, The Greek View of Poetry, p. 222, is excellent.
 INTRODUCTION IS

plaining of lack of unity or of a primitive construction one should

be surprised at the coherence and unity which characterize the play
as a whole. In the first place the scenic unity is preserved because
the body of Ajax now takes a central place as much as the living
Ajax did in the first part. The placing of the scene 719-815 causes
an overlapping of the first and the second part. Teucer's appearance
is as carefully prepared as the role he is to play: to act as protector
of Eurysaces and to procure an honourable burial for Ajax. The
motif of Hector’s sword appears for the third time in Teucer’s
speech. A climax is built up with great care by the scene of Mene­
laus followed by that of Agamemnon, while in the meantime mea­
sures are taken for the protection of Eurysaces and the burial of the
body. Eurysaces placed as a suppliant by the corpse of Ajax
presents a scene full of pathos and forms a striking counterpart to
the scene where Ajax takes leave of his son. But the most beautiful
symmetry with the first part is attained by the appearance of
Odysseus at the end and the part he plays. It may be admitted,
indeed, that the altercations between Menelaus and Teucer and
the discourses of Agamemnon and Teucer follow too much the
taste of the Athenian public for lawsuit speeches, bearing in too
high a degree the mark of their times. It has been rightly observed
that the subsequent appearance of Menelaus and Agamemnon
reminds one of the άγώνες of Comedy 1). The αίνοι of 1142 and 1150
are in accordance with this (see the Commentary).

V
We possess no external information to fix the date of performance.
The performance of the Antigone cannot be far from 441 B.C.,
and since the two tragedies have much in common, the Ajax is
usually dated about the same time. Jebb,-v. Wilamowitz, Rader-
macher and others are inclined to date the Ajax somewhat later
than the Antigone because in the latter we do not (yet) find άντι-
λαβαί2), whereas the Ajax contains some instances (591-594,
981-983). It would seem, however, that there are more important
arguments in favour of an earlier date, although absolute certainty
can of course not be obtained.

K. Reinhardt, Sophokles\ p. 42.

*) Pohlenz, Erlauterungen2, p. 77, is right in not attaching too much
weight to this argument.
16 INTRODUCTION

The close researches of F. R. Earp *) lend support to the sup­

position that the Ajax and the Trachiniae fall in that period of
the development of Sophocles’ stylistic workmanship preceding
that which begins with the Antigone !). That the general structure
of the Ajax, the Trachiniae and, for that matter, also of the Anti­
gone, in contradistinction to the other dramas that have come
down to us, shows the character of a diptychon (to use Webster’s
term), is in agreement with this supposition. Another circumstance
which speaks for an early date is the comparative importance of
the ΰβρις-motif. This trait, which shows us Sophocles still within
the bounds of Aeschylus’ mental world, corroborates the stylistic
argument again: of all his dramas it is the style of the Ajax which
comes nearest to that of Aeschylus. With regard to the exhibition
of the hero in his infatuation and miserable plight Reinhardt 3)
rightly pointed to the analogy with the new IWofe-fragment, not­
withstanding his interpretation of it is uncertain. Scenes such as
that found in the prologue (with the appearance of the goddess)
and that of Ajax amidst the butchered cattle have no parallel in
the later works of the poet. In addition to this comes the structure
of the parodos (anapaests and choral song), which reminds one of
Aeschylus.
To this may be objected, of course, that a poet may, especially
as regards the style, return to a former manner. As to Sophocles,
however, this is hardly likely, considering his own statement on
his style (Plut. de prof. in virt. p. 79 b) *).
If we accept these arguments for an early date of the Ajax, we
may, perhaps, go a little further, though somewhat hesitatingly.
We must be very careful of course, especially when it concerns
Sophocles, in assuming allusions to contemporary events in tragedy.
Yet it must be admitted that the particularly unkind picture of
Menelaus, added to Σπάρτης άνάσσων ήλθες, ούχ ημών κρατών (ιΐ02),
may be best imagined in a period of war or strained relations be­
tween Athens and Sparta, the more so, as the expression of anti-
Spartan sentiments would hardly be expected of Sophocles. This

’) The Style of Sophocles, Cambridge 1944.

*) Cf. also the chapter "Style" in T. B. L. Webster, Introduction to Sopho­
cles, pp. 143 sqq.
·) O.l. pp. 22 sqq.
*) Cf. C. M. Bowra, Sophocles on his own Development, Am. J. of Phil.
LXI, 1940, pp. 385-401.
 INTRODUCTION 17

would yield as terminus ante quern 446 *), when the thirty years’
peace between Athens and Sparta was concluded. (Reinhardt is
quite right when he says on p. 245 that he does not see why 1. 1102
should have been taken from Eur. fr. 723 N.2—Telephos 2)—and
not the reverse; the same holds good for the relation between
1295 sqq. and Euripides’ Κρήσσαι).
And finally: if we ask ourselves when there can have been a
question of competency between an Athenian chief and a Spartan,
we can (apart from the Persian wars) think only of Cimon’s failure
in 461. Is it too far-fetched to assume that in his conception of the
relation between Ajax and the Atreidae Sophocles has thought
of this event3), which must have affected him the more because it
was Cimon who procured him his first triumph?4). Moreover,
Cimon belonged to the family of the Philaidae, who had Ajax
as their ancestor5). It would of course be absurd to put Cimon
and Ajax on a par, just as it would be absurd to do this for Oedipus
and Pericles. But Sophocles, as Webster6) has rightly argued,
was in his youth closely associated with Cimon and his circle
(Polygnotus, Ion, Archelaus). Taking all these things into consider­
ation, it would not be surprising if the tragedy of Ajax appeared
to have been written shortly after Cimon’s death (449), when his
remembrance was still fresh, when he could be thought of as a hero
whose honour had been restored and when the peace with Sparta
had not yet been concluded ’).

*) If the time of the Peloponnesian war is excluded; cf. Reinhardt, o.Z.,

p. 246.
’) This also against the view of W. Buchwald, Studien zur Chronologie
der attischen Tragodie, Diss. K'o'nigsberg 1939, pp. 49, 50.
3) Cf. C. M. Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy, p. 52.
*) Plut. Cim. 8.
») Hdt. VI 35; Joh. Toepffcr, Altischc Ccnealogie, p. 269; Pherecvd. Ath.
fr. 2 Jac.
·) O.l. pp. 8-10.
’) Pohlenz takes a similar view as regards the chronology (Die Griechisclte
TragOdie2, p. 183; Erldulcrungen2, p. 77); cf. also G. Dalmcyda, Sophocle. A jax,
R.-E.-G.' 1933, x-14. For the chronology see also the note ad 1102.

Kamerbeek
 COMMENTARY

Prologue, vss. 1-133

Athena is seen on the "theologeion”, prob, the roof of Ajax’ hut;
Odysseus entering from the right is searching for foot-marks.
1. ’Αεί μέν: μεν correlate of καί 3; "the great majority of the
examples are poetical”. (Denniston, G. P. 374). Cf. Track. 689-691.
Λαρτίου: κτητικόν άντί κυρίου (schol.). Same form in 380; ό τοΰ
Λαερτίου ΙΟΙ; Λαέρτου 1393; τώ Λαρτίου Phil. 402; παϊ Λαερτίου
(Λαρτίου A) Eur. Hec. 402; it would seem that this form is used
metri causa; Λαέρτης is the only form used by Homer. (Cf. also
Ύρραδίου Call. Epigr. I 2).
δέδορκά: perf. praes, (intensive; K.-G. I, 148).
2. Odysseus is seen to steal cautiously upon the hut of Ajax,
like a hunter approaching the lair of an animal. The spectator’s
impression of a hunter following a track is confirmed by the hunting-
metaphors, which begin at 2 (θηρώμενον) and are continued to 8,
that is to say, θηρώμενον is so far only partly metaphorical. (Sopho­
cles does not prolong his metaphors to the same extent as Ae­
schylus).
πείραν άρπάσαι: “to be quick at an enterprise”, εχθρών is gen. obj.
The schol., which says: άεί όρώ σε, ώ Όδυσσεΰ, τήν παρά των εχ­
θρών σοι γινομένην βλάβην ζητοϋντα προϋφαρπάσαι κτλ. is mistaken.
In his desire to hear too much in θηρώμενον the scholiast has
suffered himself to be carried away by his subject, as also where he
says: έκ μεταφοράς τών κυνηγών ο£ τά μικρά θηρία φονεύουσι προφυ-
λαττόμενοι τήν έξ αύτών έσομένην βλάβην.
It is evident that the expression πείραν άρπάσαι is suggestive of
the cunning energy of Odysseus.
πείραν· δόλον (schol.) goes somewhat too far: πειρατής does not
occur until Polybius.
Jebb is right in saying that Athena’s words are illustrated by
the actions of Odysseus against Palamedes and Philoctetes, by
his theft of the Palladium, and by II. X; note also how he άρπάζει
τον καιρόν (arripit momentum') against Thersites in II. II.
3. σκηναϊς: this may be a poetical plural (cf. 754, 985); cf. how-
20 COMMENTARY

ever II. XI 5-9. Should the plural be genuine, however, it contains

no indication of what the spectator sees.
3, 4. Cf. II. XI 5-9, X 113.
τάξιν έσχάτην: a light metaphor taken from the military sphere;
cf. Rhes. 612.
5. πάλαι: here, as elsewhere, to be taken in a comparative sense
only; cf. 20.
κυνηγετοϋντα: Odysseus is seen as the hunter tracking out game,
μετρούμενον: figurative sense: “taking in with the eyes”. For
the middle cf. σκοπεϊσθαι; Ap. Rh. I 724, Mosch. 2. 157 (Jebb)
are not very instructive. This is certainly the case with την ώρην συμ-
μετρήσασθαι Hdt. IV 158, and ξυνεμετρήσαντο Thue. Ill 20. 3
(as here in the sense of: "measuring with the eye”).
6. νεοχάραχθ’: άπαξ (cf. the list in F. R. Earp, The Style of
Sophocles, p. 65); cf. χάραξις των τροχών Hesych. s.v. άματροχιάς.
("imprint").
The wording and the scene are reminiscent of the tracing satyr-
chorus in the Ichneutae·.
Ichn. 44 D.: άν πως τό χρήμα τοϋτό σοι κυνηγέσω.
75 D.: λείαν άγραν σύλησιν έκκυνηγέσαι
88 D.: ρινηλατών όσμ[αϊσι
104 D.: α^τ’ έστί τούτο μέτρον [έ]κμε[τρού]μ[ε]νον ').
This is the more striking if one considers that Ajax has carried
away pieces of cattle. Another instructive parallel is found between
1. 32 τά μέν σημαίνομαι and Ichn. IOO σαφή γάρ αΰθ’ εκαστα σημαίνει
τάδε and 102 καί τούπίσημον αύτό των όπλων πάλιν.
The contrast between the two scenes—the concrete, literal diction
of the Ichn., the semi-metaphorical diction here—is determined by
the difference between satyr-play and tragedy.
7. είτ’ ένδον είτ’ ούκ ένδον: the second member of a dependent,
disjunctive question may have either μή or ού (K.-G. II, 191 A. 2).
Moreover, ούκ ένδον means here abroad.
έκφέρει: "brings to the desired end”. Cf. Pl. Phaed. 66 b.
8. εύρινος: may be gen. of εΰρις or nom. In Aesch. Ag. 1093
Cassandra is said to be εΰρις; Xen. Cyn. 4. 6 εΰρινες; Opp. Cyn.
4· 357 εύρίνεσσι κύνεσσιν, but ib. 2. 456 εύρίνοιο κυνός; Babrius
43. 8 σκύλαξιν εύρίνοις, Opp. Hal. 4. 275 εύρίνοιο κυνός. Libanius
Ecphr. T. IV p. 1065 (= VIII p. 488 Foerster) seems to have Soph.

') Suppi. Hunt.

 PROLOGUE, VSS. 3-14 21

in mind: εύρίνφ βάσει τό λανθάνον άνιχνεύοντες (Cobet, Mnemos. VII

(1857). Ρ· 424 rejects εδρινος in Soph. (ν. d. Wijnpersse, de Termino-
logie van het Jachtwezen bij Sophocles, diss. Utrecht 1929, p. 80)).
With Jebb, the nominative is to be preferred on account of its
place in the sentence. That the adjunct to βάσις logically belongs
to the dependent genit, is by no means uncommon and the distri­
bution of adjectives is satisfactory. Moreover, εδρινος βάσις is a
striking picture of a sniffing dog. For the sentence does not read:
"your course leads you to your goal, as of a Laconian dog” but "to
your goal leads you a course keen-scenting as of a Laconian dog”
(or even: "as it were a course with keen scent of a Laconian dog”).
κυνύς Λακαίνης: the Laconian dog (a cross between a dog and
a fox, thus Arist. H. A. 607 a 3) was used to lead the pack in
hunting: Xen. Cyn. 10.4; cf. Pl. Farm. 128 c: ώσπερ γε αί Λάκαιναι
σκυλάκες εδ μεταθεϊς τε καί ιχνεύεις τά λεχθέντα. Whereas the
hunter is led to his goal by his hounds (cf. Od. XIX 435 sqq.),
Odysseus is his own sleuth-hound. Image and scene are closely
associated with each other.
9. τυγχάνει: sc. ών (K.-G. II, 67 c). The omission here, where ών
would be no copula, may be best compared with Od. XII 106
μή σύ γε κεϊθι τύχοις, El. 3Ι3> Eur. Andr. m3·
9, 10. κάρα / ... . ξιφοκτόνους: Sweat streaming from his hands
is not very appropriate here: ξιφοκτόνους implies αίματι. Cf. αίματι /
στάζοντα χεϊρας Aesch. Eum. 41. Eur. Elei. 354: ξιφοκτόνον δίωγμα
λαιμορρύτου σφαγας.
11. παπταίνειν: cf. II. XVII 115: παπταίνων Αίαντα.
12. έργον: with inf. as in 852, and with negation and following
positive contrast: cf. ib. and El. 1372.
13. σπουδήν έθου τηνδ’: Soph, makes frequent use of this peri­
phrasis; cf. e.g. 536, O.T. 134.
It should not, of course, be argued that Athena has no need to
hear from Odysseus that which she knows herself already. It is
Odysseus who has to speak in the order of the proceedings, and this
happens in quite a natural way.
14. The relation between Odysseus and Athena is depicted as
in the //. X 278 and the Odyssey e.g. XIII 300 sqq. *). Athena
kept watch over him in Eur.’s Philoctetes·, cf. also Rhesus 595 sqq.
esp. 608. Cf. infra 34, 35.
*) For this relation and its origins cf. Μ. P. Nilsson, The Minoan-Myct-
naean Religion etc.’, p. 500.
22 COMMENTARY

Άθάνας: This form has been transmitted, here as elsewhere {Phil.

134 by Eustath.) and is remarkable for being used in the dialogue.
Even the oldest Attic inscriptions have for instance τάθενάαι
(Schwyzer Syll. App. I, p. 383, 5.6). Cf. however ib. p. 384, 6.3
(on a bronze vase of the 6th cent.) hiepa Άθαναίαι άνέθεκε. A fact
like this makes one hesitate to explain Άθάνας in the dialogue
off-hand as a dorism due to the influence of the choral songs; it
also throws some light on the phenomenon of "dorisms” in general *).
14. 15. ώ φθέγμ’ Άθάνας .../... δμως: Nowhere does it
appear that Athena is visible to Odysseus or to Ajax later on. As a
rule the dramatis personae are not supposed to see the gods when
they appear on the scene but to become aware of their presence by
their voice or fragrance: cf. Hippolytus and Artemis in the final
scene of Eur.’s Hipp.: it does not appear from 1440 that Hippolytus
sees Artemis (cf. also 85 sq.). But she is visible to the spectators
(no doubt on the θεολογεΐον: cf. Pollux IV 129-130: he cites
Aeschylus for making use of it in the Psychostasia (M. Bieber,
History of the Greek and Roman Theater, 1939, 148)); for Athena’s
presence cf. also Rhesus 595 sqq.
Schol.—not badly—έστι μέντοι έπΐ της σκηνής ή Άθηνα· δει γάρ
τοΰτο χαρίζεσθαι τφ θεατή.
15. εύμαθές: "clearly perceptible”; cf. Track. 614.
άποπτος: not "seen at a distance”, but "hidden from view”;cf.
El. 1488 (active sense on the other hand in O.T. 762; cf. Phil. 467).
For δμως in the dependent clause see e.g. Aesch. Cho. 115 (K.-G.
II, 280. 4).
16. ξυναρπάζω φρενΐ: cf. Ar. Hub. 775 (see van Leeuwen a.l.);
Latin arripere. The present tense is general (Campbell, rightly).
For amplification and its frequency in the Ajax as compared with
the other plays, cf. F. R. Earp, The Style of Sophocles, ch. V, 102 sqq.
17. κώδωνος: usual meaning is bell, or clock (there is no reason
to reject this meaning in Ar. Pax 1078—an obscure passage—and
Dem. XXV 90; wrong in Muller’s Diet.). The Schol. is probably right
in his explanation: κώδων καλείται τδ πλατύ της σάλπιγγος, άπο μέ­
ρους δέ την σάλπιγγά φησι·. The scholium enumerates some kinds
of trumpets, including the Etruscan, which is often mentioned in
literature, e.g. Aesch. Eum. 567 διάτορος Τυρσηνική σάλπιγξ. The
simile is based on /Ζ. XVIII 219: the εύμαθές of Athena’s voice
>) But cf. G. Bjorck, Das Alpha Impurum und die Tragische Kunstsprache,
1950. P· J34·
 PROLOGUE, vss. 15-24 23

reminded of the άριζήλη φωνή of the trumpet. Moreover there was

in Argos a sanctuary of ’Αθηνά Σάλπιγξ, founded by Hegeleos, the
son of Tyrsenos, who invented the σάλπιγξ (Paus. II 21.3).
18. καί νϋν: echo of Athena's words 1. 3; transition from the
general statement in 11. 14-17 to the present case.
19. βάσιν κυκλοΰντ’: this poetic diction parodied by Ar. Av.
1379. Cf. Ant. 226, Eur. Or. 632.
σακεσφόρω: the heavy shield of seven ox-hides is by tradition
the attribute of Ajax: cf. 576, ZZ. VII 219 (cf. P. v. d. Miihll, Der
grosse Aias, pp. io, 38, Basel 1930).
21, 22. ήμάς . . . περάνας: περαίνειν has a double accus. here,
just as δράν, ποιεΐν etc.
έχει περάνας: periphrasis of the perf.; cf. O.T. 577, 699, 731.
πραγος: poetical for πράγμα (Pind., Tragg., parodied by Ar.
Av. 112).
21. άσκοπον: in Homer in an active sense, thus “imprudent”
(II. XXIV 157, 186); Aesch. Ag. 462 "not heeding”. Passive:
Aesch. Cho. 816 (άσκοπον έπος “obscur” Mazon, “ongelooflijk”
Groeneboom), O.C. 1681, Phil. IIII (άσκοπα κρυπτά τ’ έπη); in the
sense of "extending beyond the reach of the eye": Track. 246
τόν άσκοπον χρόνον — ήμερων άνήριθμον; “inconceivable” El. 1315
ειργασαι δέ μ’ άσκοπα, El. 864 άσκοπος ά λώβα. So here: “incon­
ceivable”, “of unimaginable horror”.
22. εϊργασται: Though 5th cent, poets are not usually induced to
vary their choice of words for rhetorical reasons, Sophocles certainly
seems to be so here and elsewhere. Cf. Bruhn, Anhang, 125, 5.
23. τρανές: σαφές; the adverb Aesch. Ag. 1371, Eum. 45; Eur.
El. 758, Rhes. 40.
άλώμεθα: “to be uncertain”: τω νώ άλώμεθα (schol.) (άλάσθαι
does not occur in this sense, though πλανάσθαι does: Hdt. VI 37,
Pl. H. Mai. 304 c, Isocr. XV 52; cf. ψυχής πλάνημα O.T. 'JZ'J·,
άλάσθαι, on the other hand, is used figuratively in the sense of “to
be deprived of”: εΰφροσύνας άλάται Pind. 01. I 58; Eur. Troad. 640).
24. ΰπεζύγην: as we say in Dutch: “zich voor iets spannen” (to
take the matter in hand). Other examples of this metaphor in
Groeneboom ad Aesch. Prom. 108, my edition of Eur. Androm. 98.
κάγώ: καί has the value of: “for that reason” (“we are in un­
certainty as to how it all happened and for that reason I have taken
charge of the search”). So 1. 23 explains εϊπερ εϊργασται τάδε; 1. 24
explains 1. 23; γάρ in 1. 25 refers back to νυκτός .... περάνας.
24 COMMENTARY

26. λείας άπάσας: i.e. the spoils consisting of the cattle,

κατηναρισμένας: έναίρειν already used by Homer for the slaying
of animals, κατηναρίσθης (Agamemnon) Aesch. Cho. 347; έναρίζειν
Track. 94, O.C. 1733.
27. έκ χειρός: "by the hand of man” (and not by wild animals).
(As a rule έκ χειρός means in a hand-to-hand fight: Xen. Hell.
VII 2. 14). With this cf. El. 455 έξ ύπερτέρας χερός. The well-known
manu, "by human hand”, affords to some extent a parallel.
αΰτοΐς . . . έπιστάταις: This dat. soc. is found with the poets and
prosewriters of all periods from Homer onwards.
έπιστάταις: cf. O.T. 1028 όρείοις ποιμνίοις έπεστάτουν; Pl. Leg.
906 a ποιμνίων έπιστάταις.
28. αιτίαν νέμει: this expression is not common. Soph, says in
other places: έν αιτία βάλλειν O.T. 657, αιτία βάλλειν Track. 940;
Eur. βάλλειν είς Troad. 305. προστιθέναι Ion 1525. νέμει, therefore,
need not be accounted for as an explanation of τρέπει (L al.,
equally uncommon). Perhaps the reverse has taken place (D has
the gloss: είς έκεϊνον πας τις κατηγορίαν τρέπει Blaydes).
29. όπτήρ: here most probably not used in the technical sense of
a "spy”, but of “one who sees”: cf. Ichn. 77 D. των εϊ τις όπτήρ έστιν
ή κατήκοος.
29, 30. μόνον .... ξίφει: The words give the hearer a sober and
sombre picture of the frenzied man; they are also impressive by
their harmony of sound and sense. For the acc. (of "the sphere of
motion”) πεδία see K.-G. I, 312.5; Theocr. XIII 66 sq., Call. H.
Ill 193 sq.
σύν νεορράντφ ξίφει: The first time that Ajax is signalized, it is
with the very sword upon which he is to fall. Undoubtedly on
purpose in the speech before the suicide, 1. 828: με . ... / πεπτώτα
τωδε περί νεορράντω ξίφει ("Fernverbindung”). The compound here
for the first time; ραίνειν and φόνος are often connected, e.g. Pind.
Isth. VIII 55: ραίνων φόνω πεδίον.
31. φράζει τε κάδήλωσεν: the historical present and the aor.
alternate: cf. A nt. 406. There is some difference: he came telling
me and gave me an account of it. (In reversed order Eur. Ale. 176,
El. 821, 2).
It is not unlikely that έδήλωσε is a hunting-term, just as κατ’ ίχνος
άσσω, σημαίνομαι, probably also έκπέπληγμαι (cf. v. d. Wijnpersse,
o.l., pp. 41-43). Cf. Xen. Cyn. 6. ΙΟ καί δηλούτω τώ κυνηγέτη ότι
έάλωκεν άναβοήσας; Λ. 6. ι6, ι8; cf. Pl. Resp. 432 b; O.T. 475 (τόν
άδηλον άνδρα πάντ’ ιχνεύειν).
 PROLOGUE, vss. 26-35 25

32. σημαίνομαι: purely middle: "I make clear for myself” (σημα-
τίζομαι, διά σημείων γινώσκω schol.); cf. ad 1. 6. That σημαίνειν is
also a hunting-term is proved by v. d. Wijnpersse, o.l., p. 42; he
omits, however, to state that Xen. Cyn. 6. 22 ένσημαινόμεναι has
approximately the same meaning as σημαίνεσθαι here.
κατ’ ίχνος: Aesch. Ag. 695.
33. εκπέπληγμαι: seems to mean: "I have lost my bearings, I
am at a loss” (άπορώ schol.). (Eur. Ion 635 has έξέπληξ’ όδοϋ, but
in another connection).
Cf. schol. ad 32: otov σημεία έμαυτω τινα συντίθημι άπό τοΰ ίχνους
τά δέ άπορώ · τοιοϋτον γάρ συμβαίνει περί τούς ίχνευτάς έπιταραττο-
μένων των ιχνών, διά δέ την μανίαν δυσίχνευτος καί έπιτεταραγμένη ή
βάσις γέγονε τοΰ Αϊαντος.
δτου: the choice between δτου and δπου is difficult, δτου sc.
τά ίχνη (ά έκπέπληγμαί) έστιν makes better sense than δπου,
especially on account of μαθεϊν. (Cf. on this passage Ch. Josserand,
Notes sur un passage de I'Ajax (32, 33). Mel. Boisacq II, pp. 5-10:
τά μέν, τά δε: ίχνη).
34. καιρόν: this adv. acc. of time (in prose εις καιρόν) as early as
Pind. Pyth. I 81; infra 1316. Lat. commodum. Cf. την ώρην (Hdt.
II 2), άωρίαν, αρχήν etc. καιρώ O.T. 1516 (cf. C. W. Vollgraff,
Le decret d’Argos pour Knossos et Tylissos, Verh. Kon. Ak. N.R
LI 2, p. 27, n. 80).
34, 35. πάντα τά τε πάρος τά τ’ είσέπειτα: for "ever”: "polar”
enunciation is dear to Sophocles. (Cf. also Ant. 611 sq.) The present
κυβερνώμαι is quite logical.
τ’ ουν: “On the analogy of οΰτ’ ούν ( . . . . ούτε e.g. Eur. Andr.
329) we should expect τ’ ούν ("both”) to be fairly common. It is,
in fact, surprisingly rare, its place being filled by τε δή, and S. Aj.
34 seems to be the only instance" (Denniston, G.P. 420. 3).
ούν emphasizes the polarity of the expression.
35. ση κυβερνώμαι χερί: Διάς τοι νόος μέγας κυβέρνα / δαίμον’ άν-
δρών φίλων. Pind. Pyth. V 122; this may account for the origin of
the v.l. φρενί. Besides the metaphor for the government of the
state (in Pind. and Aesch.: πολίων κυβερνάσιες Pyth. X 72, Groene-
boom ad Prom. 149 and Sept. p. 79 n. 13), Antiph. I 13 δίκη δέ
κυβερνησειεν is worthy of note.
Odysseus’ speech, beginning with the confidential invocation
φιλτάτης έμοί θεών, ends with the assurance that hers is the hand
that will ever guide his course.
26 COMMENTARY

36. έγνων: there is no reason why this aor. should fall under the
categories described by K.-G. I, 163.9, where we should render
with a present (ξυνηκ’ infra. 99 is a case in point). This would
certainly be the case if έγνων were to be taken as an answer to
Odysseus’ last words, as Jebb seems to do (“I know it”). But this
makes an insipid impression. Nor does the view of Raderm., who
supplies the object κυναγίαν, fully satisfy. The aor. is entirely on
a par with έβην and the object that should be mentally inserted is:
all this (what he tells of all he has done); seen in this light έγνων
states the reason for έβην.
36. 37. φύλαξ .... κυναγία: "I came full of willingness on the
path, a guardian to your chase”, τη ση κυναγία depends on φύλαξ
έβην πρόθυμος, not specially on πρόθυμος: the expression has the
value of a verbum auxiliandi, οδόν is neither specifically the way
of Ajax, nor that of Odysseus; it is therefore not obviam ii, though
the place of εις οδόν might suggest this.
37. κυναγία: dorism ? Cf. ad 14. ("Attic Tragedy used κυναγός,
κυναγία, κυνηγετεϊν, κυνηγέτης” Jebb; Raderm. compares ποδαγός
and λοχαγός) *).
38. ή καί: “inquires with a certain eagerness” (Jebb ad El. 314) ;
cf. Deimiston, G.P. 285.6II; infra <yj.
δέσποινα: not used with reference to goddesses by Homer (Od.);
it occurs in Bacch. 11 (10). 117; cf. El. 626 (Artemis).
πρός καιρόν: "to purpose” (J.) One of the countless instances
where a word is used in another sense than just before.
39. ώς: it is possible that ώς is to be explained as in Phil. 117
and various other places in Eur., where a firm determination is
implied {Hec. 400, Phoen. 625, 720, 1664, Andr. 255, 587, Med. 609)
viz. as ϊσθι ώς. It is doubtful whether ώς can here be explained
from its fundamental meaning as: "to be sure, for...”. Clear
examples of a similar use in answers are, as far as I know, wanting.
Schol. ad 39 reads: τό ώς αντί τοϋ άληθώς.
σοι: ethic dative.
40. πρός τί: probably "to what purpose" (see also ad 41). δυσ­
λόγιστον should not be added to this, as schol. ad 40 does (τό δέ
δυσλόγιστον δμοιον τφ πράγος άσκοπον · αγνοεί γάρ έτι την μανίαν):
this would not be logical, πρός τί is a fixed expression, χέρα would
stand too much by itself and the meaning of πρός τί δυσλόγιστον
*) See now G. Bjorck, Das Alpha Impurum und die Tragische Kunst-
sprache, Uppsala 1950, p. 137, 138.
 PROLOGUE, vss. 36-45 27

is hardly satisfactory. One might, however, hesitate to ascribe an

active meaning to δυσλόγιστος, seeing that verbal adjectives in -τος
composed with δυσ- are seldom active, esp. in classical Greek
(δυσεύρετος Aesch. Eur., δυσκαταμάθητος Pl. Isocr., δυσξύνετος Eur.,
δυστέκμαρτος O.T. log, δυστόπαστος Eur., δύσφραστος Pl. are all
passive); έπος δυσθρήνητον Ant. I2II is uncertain; δυσπόνητος
Aesch. Pers. 515 is active. Strictly speaking δυσλόγιστος, taken
in an active sense, ought to mean; “wrongly calculating”, "reckon­
ing amiss”, “misdirecting”. I prefer to take it as: "ill-considered".
Du. kwaadberaden would do very well.
There are two more reasons for taking δυσλόγιστον with χέρα:
(l) παραπλάκτω / χερϊ, 11. 229, 230; (2) Ajax says in the beginning
of his last speech: εί τω καί λογίζεσθαι σχολή, 1. 8ΐ6: thus there is
a distant connection ("Femverbindung”) between 1. 40 and this line.
See also Ajax' words 11. 450 sqq.
ήξεν: transitive. The passive identical with the active in Homer;
transitive also in Eur. Or. 1430, Ba. 147.
41. Properly speaking Athena does not give an answer to πρός τί,
but points to the cause. In so far Schol. is right in saying; ό μέν
Όδυσσεύς πυνθάνεται πρός τί αύτω χρήσιμον ή δέ την αιτίαν έπήγαγεν
ΰφ’ ής κινηθείς είς χόλον ήχθη. It is just possible, however, that
πρός τί has not the strict sense of "to what end”, here, but of
"in connection with what”, "for what reason” (cf. πρός ταϋτα
with imperat.) (One might even think of such modal expressions
as πρός όργήν). With the words χόλω βαρυνθείς Ajax’ deeds are
explained from the mental state he is in; he has become βαρύψυχος
(cf. 319). Cf. Iliu Persis N, Allen p. 139.
42. τί δήτα: "δήτα denotes that the question springs out of
something which another person has just said” (Denniston, G.P.
269) cf. injra 109.
Full emphasis falls on the word ποίμναις.
τήνδ’ έπεμπίπτει βάσιν: essentially this acc. is no other than e.g.
in άπόλωλε κακόν μόρον. Echo of this line in 184.
43. έν όμΐν: cf. 374.
44. βούλευμα: βούλημα for the first time in Gorg. Hel. 6; βούλευμα
(also in Pind. and Aesch.) affords a better contrast with έξεπράξατ’.
ώς έπ’ Άργείοις: "according to his intention aimed against the
Greeks". Cf. Track. 532, O.T. 1174; K.-G. I, 472 A. 1.
45. έξεπράξατ’: as lectio difficilior probably to be preferred to
έξέπραξεν. It should be taken in a purely medial sense, with the
28 COMMENTARY

meaning of "exacting something from a person" in the background

(cf. Hdt. VII 158; πράσσομαι O.T. 2&j).
46. ποίαις .... ταΐσδε: έξεπράξατ’ άν. "What were these daring
schemes (which appear from what you say) and the recklessness
(with which he would have accomplished them) ?” For similar com­
binations of interr. and dem. pron. in Soph. cf. O.T. 2 τίνας ποθ’
έδρας τάσδε, Trach. 184, Phil. 1204 (K.-G. I, 626 A. 1) τόλμαις ταΐσδε
και . . . θράσει: i.e. τώδε βράσει. Odysseus does not expressly ask
after the reason of Ajax’ self-confidence (in that case one might
have exspected θάρσει), but rather how the recklessness on which
his βούλευμα rested, would have been translated into action.
47. Athena represents the design of Ajax as hateful as she can.
48. The words ή καί repeated three times are suggestive of Odys­
seus’ ardent desire to know everything about it.
παρέστη: already in Homer also said of a hostile approach: κακή
Διός αϊσα παρέστη /ήμΐν Od. IX 52.
The picture of Ajax going forth at night against his enemies,
by stealth and alone, brooding on vengeance and planning destruc­
tion, stands in contrast with the madman striding the plain, of 1. 30.
49. καί δή: approaches ήδη in meaning, "though it is always more
vivid and dramatic in tone” (Denniston, G.P. 252; cf. e.g. O.C. 31).
’πΐ. . . . πύλαις: "at the two entrances to the chiefs’ huts”
(not: “at the entrance to the hut of the two chiefs”). Though
πύλαι is often a “plurale tantum", the sing, is by no means rare;
for Soph. cf. supra 1. 11; Ant. 1186 etc.
50. καί πώς: cf. Denniston, G.P. 309, 310.
In II. I 193 sqq. it is Athena who prevents Achilles from drawing
his sword against Agamemnon. When Achilles obeys, the poet says
(219): ή καί επ’ άργυρέη κώπη σχέθε χεΐρα βαρεϊαν "he retained,
kept back his hand on the hilt” (the passage in Soph, may serve
as a commentary to explain έπ’ . .. . σχέθε in Homer). This makes
the dependance of φόνου on μαιμώσαν highly probable (Schol.
has the v.l. διψώσαν). Fr. trag. ad. 96 ΐσχειν κελεύω χεΐρα διψώσαν φόνου
and Lycophr. 1171 μαιμών κορέσσαι χεΐρα διψώσαν φόνου are no
argument against this view.
The story of Athena frustrating the action of Ajax is strongly
dramatized by the stichomythic form (προσκοπές ήν διηγηματικώ
εΐδει τό παν διεξελθεΐν).
51. 52. δυσφόρους .... γνώμας: The explanation: "fancies hard
to bear" does not satisfy. That in δύσφορον άταν (1. 643) δύσφορος
 PROLOGUE, vss. 46-55 29

has this meaning does not prove anything in our case. It is not
clear why γνώμη by itself should have the meaning of "fancy” or
“delusion”, as is often assumed, δύσφορος must be active here:
■misleading. Cf. Arist. π.α. 8o2 a 26 (horns should not) την σύμφυσιν
έχειν πυκνήν καί σκληράν καί δύσφορον: "badly conducting”
(of sound). Cf. φορώτατος Aesch. CAo. 813 (δύσφορος is also used
in a reflexive sense: "moving with difficulty, slow of motion” Pl.
Tim. 74 e (σώματα), which yields little sense here. Something might
perhaps be said for δύσφορος in a meaning opposite to εύφορος
"sound”, “healthy”, Arist. H.A. VI 21; 575 a 33).
51. σφ’: σφε in the singular is poetical. Cf. Groeneboom ad
Aesch. Prom. 9-11.
52. της άνηκέστου χαρας: a portentous oxymoron. In Homer
άνήκεστος is an epithet to άλγος and χόλος. The genit, depends on
άπείργω. Jebb is mistaken when he joins the words with γνώμας; for
it is clear that she struck him with frenzy to prevent the murder of
the Atreidae, which would have given him άνήκεστος χαρά. According
to Jebb his fancies were those of his "baneful joy in his imaginary
triumph”, slaying the cattle and fancying they were the two Atreidae.
But this is not mentioned before the next verse. In “γνώμας της
άνηκέστου χαρας”, τής does not seem suitable. The schol. is not entirely
correct: της άνηκέστου χαρας’ χαράν φησι τήν έπ'ι τώ δοκεΐν τούς "Ελ­
ληνας άνηρήσθαι· ταύτης ούν αύτόν τής χαρας άπεϊρξα δυσφόρους
γνώμας έμβαλοϋσα τοΐς δμμασι·. As for άνήκεστος, one might
hesitate between “not to be healed” and “baneful”: O.T. 98 has
the first, El. 888 the second meaning (unless πυρ! is, with Groene­
boom, taken to mean fever). (For another explication of άνήκεστος
cf. J. D. Meerwaldt, Ad Antigones Exordium, Mnemos. IV S. I,
1948, p. 291, n. 2).
53. 54. Apparently distinction is made between flocks of sheep
and goats (ποίμνας) and herds of oxen, which have not yet been
divided. By βουκόλων φρουρήματα are denoted the cattle guarded
by herdsmen, σύμμεικτα denotes that they are of various kinds,
not exclusively oxen, λείας is an explanatory genitive, άδαστα (the
word does not seem to occur anywhere else) is a typically Homeric
detail (II. 1125), denoting that which Homer calls ξυνήια, Xenophon
κοινόν (An. IV 7.27). "The words λείας άδαστα are added, to show
that the act of Ajax would provoke the whole army to be enraged
against him with one consent” (Campbell).
55. έκειρε . . φόνον: κείρειν is primarily: "to cut”, "to hew” (cf.
30 COMMENTARY

e.g. Soph. Euryp. col. II 37, 46 D.), not "to shear” or "clip” (cf.
κορμός), φόνον is a kind of objectum effectum: "he caused blood
to flow by hewing.” έκειρε is imperfect.
πολύκερων: "of many homed cattle”. Thus the picture of the
bloodshed inflicted on the cattle is pressed together in a hardly
analysable word-link. An instance like τετρασκελή . . . πόλεμον
(Eur. Her. 1272 quoted by Raderm.) is simpler than this; similarly
Ion 987 γηγενή μάχην. No more are the examples quoted by Jebb
comparable (χερόπλακτοι. . . δοϋποι infra 632, αΰχημα εΰιππον O.C.
711, ριμφάρματοι άμιλλαι ιό. 1002).
Possibly the parechesis έκειρε .... πολύκερων tempted the poet
into this audacity. “Metaphorical periphrasis for a simple thing”
(F. R. Earp, The Style of Sophocles, p. 63) does not tell the whole
story; doubtless Aeschylean influence is at work. On the accent
of πολύκερων cf. e.g. Ch. Bally, Manuel d’accentuation grecque, § 57.
56. ραχίζων: prop.: "to break some one’s spine” (ράχις) (Hesych.
Phot. s.v. ραχίζων); Aesch. Pers. 426, infra 299.
κάδόκει: he fancied, imagined (wrongly).
56. 58. κάδόκει μέν έσθ’ ότε .... δτ’ άλλοτε: It is probably
better to take μέν after έδόκει as "solitarium”, as occurs after
verbs of thinking etc., where a contrast with certainty or reality
is implied (Denniston, G.P. 382 III; cf. e.g. El. 547), than to see in
άλλοτε a substitute for δέ. (It is interesting that L2‘ has δδ’, perhaps
due to δέ being added). The usage of such time-particles is liable
to much variation (thus already in Homer ότέ μέν .... άλλοτε
II. XX 49; cf. K.-G. II, 265 A. 2). Here, moreover, the combination
άλλοτε άλλον denotes alias alium.
57. αύτόχειρ: the sense-development is analogous to that of
αύθέντης.
έχων: much stress falls on έχων, as is indicated by its place.
58. άλλον: of course also depends on κτείνειν.
59. μανιάσιν νόσοις: causal dative to φοιτώντ’.
φοιτώντ’: used in the same sense O.T. 476: φοιτά γάρ ύπ’ άγρίαν
ΰλαν κτλ., where Groeneboom quotes II. Ill 449 Άτρεΐδης δ’ άν’
όμιλον έφοίταε θηρί έοικώς (cf. also Groeneboom ad Aesch. Prom.
596-399: φοιταλέος “raving”, φοϊτος "frenzy” (Aesch. Sept. 661),
φοιτάς of Cassandra Ag. 1273, of illness Track. 980). {Phil. 808
“to come on at regular times, said of Phil.'s νόσος). Cf. also O.T.
1255 ("to move about restlessly and in a frenzy”, as here).
μανιάς: cf. Eur. Or. 2jo, 326. The tribrachys depicts the action.
 PROLOGUE, VSS. 56-66 SQQ. 31

as does also the asyndeton with which 60 commences. Similarly

El. 719 ήφριζον, εϊσέβαλλον, Aesch. Cho. 289, Eur. I.T. 310 βάλλων
άράσσων (for more examples with partic. cf. Platnauer a.h.l.).
Cf. also Groeneboom ad Prom. 56; Pers. 426, 463. There is a touch
of the messenger-story in Athena’s words; such asyndeta are
especially found in lively descriptions.
60. εϊσέβαλλον εις έρκη κακά: έρκη “the toils of doom”. (J.)
Another hunting-metaphor. Similarly in Homer ολέθρου πείρατ’
έφήπται. της Δίκης έν έρκεσιν Aesch. Ag. 1611 (for the literal sense of
έρκη cf. Pl. Soph. 220 c); φιλόφρων γάρ ποτισαίνουσα τό πρώτον
παράγει βροτόν είς άρκυας "Ατα Pers. 97-99 (δίκτυον άτης Prom. 1078).
Said of the gold necklace of Eriphyle El. 838; τοϊον είς έρκος πεσεϊται
καί μοίραν θανάτου δύστανος Eur. Med. 986.
Thus Ajax is one of a long chain of hunters who are hunted
themselves. Cf. Pentheus. And Soph. O.C. 1025: γνώθι δ’ ώς έχων
έχη / καί σ’ είλε θηρώνθ’ ή τύχη. The fancy of one who deems himself
έχων, but who is really έχομενος, is suggested in the έχων of 57
(cf. 64). Compare also the remarkable tragical parody Ar. Nub.
1458-1461 (esp. 1460 έως άν αυτόν έμβάλωμεν είς κακόν).
61. φόνου: Many editors read with a number of mss. πόνου.
In II. XXI292 λωφάω stands for “to stop”, said of the river Xanthus,
who is to cease his dangerous raging against Achilles. There is
every reason to read here φόνου, which forms an apposite contrast
with τούς ζώντας αύ in 62. φόνον at the end of 1. 55 is an argument
for rather than against the reading φόνου. The distinction between
the herds of oxen and flocks of sheep does not seem to be important.
From 237 it appears that in the hut rams were among his victims,
one of which represents Odysseus. It cannot, therefore, be main­
tained that he regards the oxen as leaders and the sheep as common
people. For Odysseus as a ram cf. II. Ill 196-8.
62 sqq. The Schol. rightly remarks that this serves to prepare
the spectator for the words spoken by Tecmessa later on.
64. εΰκερων: The madness of Ajax is emphasized by the epithet
(for the horns are visible enough).
63, 65. δόμους, οίκους: the hut of Ajax,
συνδέτους: cf. 296.
66 sqq. The Schol. fully realizes the supreme dramatic effect
of Ajax’ appearance here, and its function in the economy of the
drama: πιθανή ή παρείσοδος τοΰ Αίαντος · οΰτω γάρ μεϊζον γίνεται τό
πάθος της τραγωδίας των θεατών νϋν μέν παραφρονοΰντα όλίγω δ’
ύστερον έμφρονα θεωμένων κτλ.
32 COMMENTARY

66. δείξω δέ καί σοί: Ajax will be held up here as a παράδειγμα of

a man caught in άτη (123) (for παράδειγμα cf. O.T. 1193). With
almost the same words the εξάγγελος in O.T. 1294 introduces the
appearance of the blind Oedipus: δείξει δέ καί σοί. (How well the
Schol. ad 66 understands the purport of our passage appears from
the words of the chorus in O.T. which then follow: ώ δεινόν ίδεϊν
πάθος άνθρώποις κτλ,). The correspondence between these two
passages shows that here, too, σοί should be accentuated and that
the meaning is: “But to you also will I show” (as I have seen it
myself).
περιφανή: predicative adjunct to δείξω, as appears from 81 περι-
φανώς ίδεϊν. Cf. El. 18 and especially 1366 αΐ ταϋτά σοι δείξουσιν,
Ήλεκτρα, σαφή.
67. θροής: this truly tragical verb often has a pathetic ring.
Distantly connected with 138.
68. The picture of Odysseus shrinking back at this prospect
should be fully realized.
μηδέ συμφοράν δέχου: though an exact parallel does not occur,
δέχεσθαι must be explained as “to receive (or take) as” (cf. Lat.
accipere with two accusatives). If this interpretation is not accepted,
the words should, with Whitelaw (see Jebb), be taken διά μέσου:
—“expecting no mischance”—; τόν άνδρ’ then goes with μίμν’.
συμφορά said of a person has parallels in πήμα (II. X 453, O.T. 379),
κακόν (II. XXI39), πημονή (Track. 376), άχος (O.T. 1355). Moreover,
Solon says in Hdt. (I 32), though in quite a different sense: οΰτω ών,
ώ Κροΐσε, παν έστι άνθρωπος συμφορή.
69. 70. άποστρόφους: predicatively; said of the eyes only here
(cf. διάστροφος, often said of the eyes: Track. 794, Eur. Ba. 1122).
όμμάτων αύγάς: If Bergk is right, αύγαί with reference to eyes
occurs first in Pind. Pyth. IX 62 (or Aesch. fr. 99.13 N.2). Cf. Eur.
Her. 132, Andr. 1180, Rhes. yyj·, αύγάζομαι = “to see” as early as
II. XXIII 458, Hes. Op. 478; αύγάζω Phil. 217, /r. 598.6 N.2659.6
P. (conjectural text); άπό Ταϋγέτου πεδαυγάζων ϊδεν Λυγκεύς
Pind. Nem. X 61 (Cf. Schroder ad Pyth. IX 62).
70. άπείρξω . . . είσιδειν: many verbs with a negative meaning
can have an infin. as object without μή (thus κωλύειν mostly). Cf.
K.-G. II, 214 A. 9 a.; Ar. Ach. V27.
πρόσοψις seems to have a concrete sense here.
71. ούτος: the nom. should be taken as a kind of vocat.; cf.
Humbert, Syntaxe grecque, § 43 ("le pronom est employe pour
 PROLOGUE, vss. 66-76 33

interpeller quelqu’un”). Cf, already in Aesch. Suppl. 911, infra 89,

Ar. Av. 225 etc.
τάς αίχμαλωτίδας χέρας: implies utter derision.
72. δεσμοϊς άπευθύνοντα: as is said by the indignant Peleus,
Eur. Andr. 555 sq. (cf. 719): χέρας / βρόχοισιν έκδήσαντες. Cf.
O.T. 1154 άποστρέψει χέρας, Ar. Lys. 455. Though this is a preamble
to torture, the Schol. is mistaken when he explains: τιμωρίαν άπαι-
τοΰντα (he is thinking of εύθύνειν).
73. Αϊαντα φωνώ; the expression (esp. φωνώ with personal
accus.) is as noteworthy as is Φιλοκτήτην λέγω, Phil. 1261.
75. ού σϊγ’ άνέξη μηδέ δειλίαν άρή; the simplest explanation is as
follows: ού in the first clause of the question has the value of nonne:
"you will surely be patient, will you not ?” μη in the second clause
has the value of mm: "you will surely not behave like a coward ?”.
A great number of sentences which have the form of a simple
question with ού μή + fut. indic, expressing a strong prohibition
are to be regarded as a condensation of the full form, as we have
here. This seems better than to carry on the force of ού from the
first clause to the second, for this leaves ού μή unexplained. (J.
Humbert, S. gr., § 578; numerous examples of imperative ού and
ού μή in questions K.-G. 1,176,177. Cf. Soph. Track. 1183, O.T. 637.)
άρή: 2nd p. fut. of άρνυμαι, as evidenced by the quantity of a
and the meaning: "to earn” (see the full discussion by Jebb in
Appendix), άρή: λήψη, οϊση Σοφ. Αϊαντι. Hesych.
ού σϊγ’ άνέξη: cf. Aesch. Sept. 250: ού σϊγα μηδέν τώνδ’ έρεες
κατά πτόλιν; 252: ούκ ές φθόρον σιγώσ’ άνασχήση τάδε; Eur. Or.
1022 ού σϊγ’ άφεΐσα τούς γυναικείους γόους στέρξεις τά κρανθέντ’.
δειλίαν: just as δόξα denotes both the reputation among the
people and the glory one possesses, in the same way δειλία denotes,
besides cowardice itself, the reputation of cowardice. Cf. El. 968
ευσέβειαν οίση, "pietatis laudem". Ant. 924 τήν δυσσέβειαν εύσεβοϋσ’
έκτησάμην. Eur. Ι.Τ. 676 καί δειλίαν γάρ καί κάκην κεκτήσομαι.
Med. 218, Hei. 1097· These modes of expression, which require a
periphrastic rendering because they do not correspond with our
modern thinking, must be explained from the pre-platonic con­
viction that a person really has a certain quality when he is thought
by the people to possess it. The same attitude is revealed by
Deianira s words {Track. y2~L, 2) ζην γάρ κακώς κλύουσαν ούκ άνα-
σχετόν, / ήτις προτιμά μή κακή πεφυκέναι.
76. άρκείτω μένων: it is evident that this personal construction
KAMERBEEK q

HIANFHIHHMIM K?·:
ΒΙΒΛΙΟΘΗΚΗ
34 COMMENTARY

has the same meaning as the impersonal, 1. 80, (ci. Ant. 547).
The Schol. rightly observes that the poet does not mean to ridicule
the cowardice of Odysseus but that he only ένδείκνυται τδ εύλαβές.
We may add that Od. is governed by a very natural and human
aversion to seeing the abnormal (cf. 81, 82). (Cf. Theophrastus
Char, δεισιδαίμων c. 15.) In this way the public is prepared for the
alarming appearance of Ajax. The meaning "to suffice” is not
quite satisfactory. One would rather think of the original meaning
of άρκέω and the Homeric άρκιος: "Let there be the (reassuring)
certainty that he will stay within", "it gives me a sense of security
that he will stay within” (80). άρκιος: "qui ecarte le danger;
assuri, sur” (Boisacq). The meaning of άρκεΐν "to ward off”,
"to assist”, occurs frequently in tragedy: cf. infra 535, 727. Cf.
Leaf ad II. II 393 οΰ οί έπειτα άρκιον έσσεϊται: "there shall be
nothing on which he can rely, nothing to give him any well-grounded
hope of escaping the dogs and birds”.
Note that Odysseus in speaking to Athena says: μή πρδς θεών.
The expression has become fully fixed by this time.
77. τί μή γένηται;: τί φοβή μή γένηται; In Eur. Suppi. 544 a
verbum timendi precedes.
άνήρ: only a man (of whom nothing that exceeds the power of
a man is to be feared), πρόσθεν implies that in his character of
human being nothing has changed (Dobree apud Tournier), άνήρ
is here mortalis as opposed to θεός: cf. Ar. Nub. 1421 οδκουν άνήρ
ό τόν νόμον θείς τούτον ήν τδ πρώτον (see ν. L. a.h.l.). Lobeck
("after all, this man existed before”) is mistaken.
78. γε: indeed he was, but also... Cf. e.g. Eur. Andr. 247.
79. Schol. σκληρόν μέν τδ λέγειν έπεγγελάν τοϊς έχθροϊς άλλα θεός
έστιν ούκ ευλαβούμενη τδ νεμεσητόν ·. This statement reflects the
view that the actions of the gods are not bound to moral standards.
Less good is Jebb’s remark: “The goddess suggests the vulgar
sentiment of mankind, not as approving it, but, as it were, to test
the disposition of Odysseus”. It is rather thus that there sounds
in Athena’s voice the diabolic perversion of every human being.
It is the superiority of character of Odysseus—and Sophocles’
conception of the dignity of human nature—not to yield to that
sweet temptation.
είς έχθρούς γελάν: γελάν είς is very unusual, είς expresses a
hostile meaning: "in the face of”. Cf. perhaps δνειδίζειν εις O.C. 754.
γέλως ήδιστος is of course the predicate of είς έχθρούς γελάν.
 PROLOGUE, vss. 77-86 35

80. έμοί μέν: the contrast (with έμοί) is implied (Denniston G.P.,
381 II); but the difference with an emphatic μέν (id. ib. 360.2),
of which D. does not give instances from Soph., is not great here.
81. περιφανώς: belongs to ίδεϊν, as appears from 66. The adv.
also in Thue. VI 60.5 and Ar.
82. έξέστην: as the opposite of a verb of awaiting, existing,
holding out, έξίστασθαι is construed here with the acc. (K.-G. I,
295.3; cf. Dem. XX 10; XXII 76; Pl. Phil. 43 a): “toavoid”. (The
v.l. ίδεϊν is not devoid of some interest; that is, if it is not merely
due to ίδεϊν in 81: somebody might have objected to δκνω, cf.
schol. ad 76.)
The scholion is interesting here, since it seems to reflect a view
which may not be altogether alien to the modem reader, namely
that Odysseus is of a more temperate mind than Athena; έκατέρω
τό οίκεΐον παράκειται καί ού χρή τά τοϋ Όδυσσέως φρονιμότερα οϊεσθαι
των της ’Αθήνας άλλ’ εκείνο σκοπεΐν, δτι ή μέν μετά παρρησίας διαλέγεται
ώς θεές ό δέ ύπεσταλμένως ώς θνητός τόν καιρόν όρα ότι όμόσε χωρήσαι
τη μανία τοϋ εχθρού ούχ άρμόζει.
83. άλλ’ ούδέ νύν: άλλ’ ουδέ νΰν όκνεϊν σε δεΐ, ότι ούδ’ δψεταί σε
ό Αίας. A compressed line of thought: "but even now he is not
likely to see you, though you stand near him; so you need not fear”.
84. είπερ . .. . γε: if indeed ("wenn anders").
85. βλέφαρα: already in Hes. Scut. 8 for "eye”. It also occurs
in Soph. Ant. 104 (άμέρας βλέφαρον, cf. Eur. Phoen. 543), Ant. 1301
(λύει βλέφαρα), O.T. I2y(). The etymology and the use of δέρκεσθαι
show that the' word properly implies a keen and bright vision.
(Cf. δράκων, Homer has the combinations σμερδαλέον δέρκεσθαι,
δεινόν δέρκεσθαι, πΰρ όφθαλμοΐσι δεδορκώς; λεόντων "Αρη δεδορκότων
Aesch. Sept. 53, "apowerful βλεπόντων” (Groeneboom); φέγγος (subj.)
δέδορκε Pind. Nem. IX 41 etc.; note also the curious expression
δεδορκός βλέπειν” “to look keen” Chrysippus ap. Gellius XIV 4.4.)
So the whole meaning may be: "I will darken <his> eyes even
though they look keen (have a keen, bright vision)”, σκοτώσω and
δεδορκότα are diametrically opposed. It would sound even more
imposing if Athena were speaking generally: “I darken eyes even
though they look keen”. The future tense in general utterances is
also found in Ant. 351 (read with Brunck ύπάξεται cf. 362 έπάξεται);
cf. Hes. Theog. 750 (K.-G. I, 171.3, perhaps also 172.4).
86. μέντοι: emphatic use. "μέν denotes objective certainty, while
τοι brings the truth home to another person: "really, you know”
36 COMMENTARY

(Denniston, G.P., 399 II.I.II). It is usual to quote here Eur. jr.

397 θεοϋ θέλοντος κάν έπΐ ριπός πλέοις, but it is very doubtful if
this line springs from Euripides or indeed from tragedy at all.
88. μένοιμ' Sv: "I will stay then”. Cf. O.T. 343 ούκ αν πέρα φρά-
σαιμι. There, an idea of firm determination is expressed with
“attenuation polie”—Humbert, S. gr., § 139—in our present passage
an idea of yielding reluctantly. Jebb compares Ant. 1108: ώδ’ ώς
έχω στείχοιμ’ Sv (Creon, after the scene with Teiresias).
ήθελον . . Sv: vellem, cf. Phil. 1278 άλλ’ ήθελον μέν Sv σε πεισθήναι
λόγοις; similarly έβουλόμην Sv, Phil. 1239· Essentially a wish
that cannot be fulfilled (the condition: “if I could oppose your
will” cannot be satisfied).
εκτός: e.g. πημάτων or κινδύνου; thus already Alcaeus G 2 (= 130).
31 (Lobel-Page). For the absolute use cf. “to stand aside”, Du.
"er buiten blijven". Undoubtedly Od. speaks the words after
ήθελον "aside”.
89. ώ οΰτος, Αίας: K.-G. (I, 46. 4) are altogether wrong when
they explain: "ei sieh, da ist ja Aias”. If anything it is ώ which
proves the vocative character of οΰτος. Αίας is the normal Attic
voc. form (Αίαν is Homeric). The impatience of Athena finds
utterance in this summons, which is much more emphatic than in 71.
προσκαλώ: Xen. An. I 9.28 "to address”, "to accost”.
90. βαιόν: ολίγον άντί τοϋ ούδέ όλως. Here adv. Homer knows
ήβαιός (though it is uncertain whether this form is due to a mis­
reading of ή βαιός, or a "Umgliedrung” of ού δή βαιός) *); βαιός in
Pind. Aesch. (Pers. 448, cf. Groeneb. ad 1.), Soph, (passim), Ar. (Ach.
2,Nub. 1013: "comicae vix est dictionis” v. L.), not in Eur. (cf.
fr. 825 and Rhes. 974). Rare in prose.
της συμμάχου: Ajax had rejected Athena’s aid in battle: cf.
770 sqq. These words are therefore of a taunting irony thrown into
relief against Athena’s description of Ajax in 11. 51-65.
After 1. 90 Ajax comes out of the hut, scourge in hand (μαστι-
γοφόρος).
92. The idea is that during his expedition Ajax was under the
impression that all the time Athena stood at his side. In his insanity,
with which Athena has struck him, he misconceives the frenzy
which will lead him to perdition as divine aid. Thus the action
concerning Ajax is the outcome of this ambiguity.

’) Cf. Boisacq s.v. ήβαιός, M. Leumann, Homerische Worter, p. 50, Frisk

s.v. ήβαιός
 PROLOGUE, vss. 88-96 37

ώς ευ παρέστης (seen from Ajax’ ignorance) is of an irony as

bitter as Athena’s τής συμμάχου (seen from what she knows). The
last verse of Ajax in this scene (vs. 117) reflects the same mood.
καί: accordingly, therefore.
92, 93. καί. . . . χάριν: The λάφυρα are the spoils seized from
the enemy (λαμβάνειν). From of old the temples of the gods were
crowned with these spoils: II. VII 82 sq.; cf. Aesch. Sept. 278
δαίων δ’ έσθήματα / στέψω λάφυρα δουρίπληχθ’ άγνοϊς δόμοις; Ag.
577 sq. (see Headlam-Thomson ad 582-4); Eur. Troad. 573 sqq.,
Rhes. 179, 180. The epithet παγχρύσοις shows that here votive
gifts of gold are meant, made from the proceeds of the booty.
(In Megara was a gold statue of Athena "dedicated by Ajax”
Paus. I 52.4.) στέφειν may be used for hanging up the booty itself
(see Sept. 278, Troad. 573) as well as in the more general sense of
"honouring with”: Soph. El. 457 (cf. 441). (Conversely, κόσμος
may have the special meaning of "wreath”.)
άγρας: cf. 64.
It is obvious that χάριν has not completely taken on the nature
of a "preposition” {causa): it is here used as an adverbial acc. in
apposition to the action.
94. καλώς έλεξας: Note Athena’s sustained tone of derision.
95. έγχος: "sword”, frequently thus used in Soph.
έβαψας έγχος εύ: "have you dyed your sword well” (cf. Aesch.
Cho. ion) rather than "have you dipped your sword well” (cf.
Eur. Phoen. φάσγανον εϊσω / σαρκός έβαψεν). The preposition
πρός often denotes only a close connection, it is true (cf. Lat. apud·.
K.-G. I, 518), but then it would be more reasonable to compare
πρός Άργείων στρατώ with πρός μέση Τραχινίων άγορα συνεξήκουον
= έν μέση Τρ. άγορα Track. 371 ~ 423. than to connect πρός closely
with έβαψας, which would give the sense of: “dipped (in the blood
of) the army of the Greeks”. It seems that the schol. ad 96 prefers
the latter interpretation: τό μή ούχΐ βάψαι τό ξίφος εις τόν στρατόν.
I prefer: "fighting against (and in the midst of)”; πρός Άτρείδαισιν
in 97 is on a par with πρός Άργείων στρατώ.
96. κόμπος πάρεστι: ό κόμπος δ’ ού κατ’ άνθρωπον φρονεί (the
Κατόπτης Aesch. Sept. 425, speaking of Capaneus). It is on purpose
that Soph, lays this word in the mouth of Ajax at the beginning
of the latter’s first appearance in the drama. Cf. 766: δ δ’ ύψικόμπως
κάφρόνως ήμείψατο. The alliteration of the n’s can hardly be acci­
dental. κόμπος as subject to πάρεστι is similar to what κομπεϊν
would be. Cf. 432.
38 COMMENTARY

κούχ άπαρνοΰμαι τό μή: μή ού βάψαι άγχος. (schol. a.h.l., vide

supra). Thus Antigone says to Creon 443: καί φημί δρασαι κούχ
άπαρνοΰμαι τό μή (note that a word like κόμπος and the alliteration
are absent here).
For instances of τό μή instead of τό μή οΰ after a negatived
verbum negandi, see K.-G. II, 218 n.
97. ήχμασας: αίχμάζειν, in Homer, only at II. IV 324 (αίχμάς)
(“to throw the spear”), in Aesch. Pers. ygfi, where it stands absolute
and in an ironical sense. With χέρα, as here: “to wield one’s hand
in fighting”; cf. Track. 355 with cogn. accus. "to fight”; Rhes. 444
"to fight”. For πρός Άτρείδαισιν vide ad 95.
98. Αϊανθ’: the proper name instead of the 1st pers. pron. is
in keeping with his κόμπος. 864 reveals another ethos (also O.T.
1366). Our passage is to be compared with II. I 240 (or Xen. An.
I 4.16).
άτιμάσουσ’: If one accepts the original reading of L άτιμάσωσ’,
this use could only be defended by that of the subjunctive in Homer
(e.g. Od. VI 201 ούκ έσθ’ ούτος άνήρ δ ιερός βροτός ούδέ γένηται or
II. VII 197), for in Attic this subjunctive of eventuality is not
known (K.-G. I, 218, Humbert, S. gr., § 125).
99. τό σόν: your word, cf. 1401.
ξυνήκ’: Aesch. Cho. 887: ξυνήκα τοδπος έξ αινιγμάτων, Soph. El.
1479: οϊμοι, ξυνήκα τοδπος. While translating this by a present
tense, one would nevertheless ask oneself whether this aor. belongs
to the same category as e.g. έπήνεσ’ εργον infra 536, when a past
tense is out of the question, as is also shown by Modem Greek
(cf. Humbert, S. gr., § 187). Here, one might say that the purport
of the words was already understood when the other uttered them.
98-100. The motive of Ajax’ act is clearly indicated: the Greeks
have hurt his τιμή; now that they are dead they can no longer
give him that offence. The arms were his: τάμα, not even “due to
me”, καλώς τά έμά άφη, ούχ ά δει με λαβεϊν, ώς Ιδίων άπεστερημένος
(schol. ad 100).
100. ήδη: (they could do so once) let them try now!
101. εΐεν: as here, the word often indicates that the speaker
abruptly breaks off his subject to pass on to a new point; we may,
for instance, expect a question or an imperative: cf. El. 534.
γάρ: according to Denniston (G.P., p. 85) γάρ in supplementary
questions like this has entirely assumed the character of a transitional
particle (many examples, id. ib. p. 82, 2, II). One would translate:
 PROLOGUE, vss. 97-104 39

"and what further about the son of L. ?" Striking parallel: Phil.
433 (after the information that Ajax and Antilochus are dead):
Φέρ’ είπέ πρδς θεών, ποϋ γάρ ήν ενταϋθά σοι Πάτροκλος; Possibly
Euripides has the lines of Soph, in his ears when he writes I.T. 533
(after Orestes has told that Calchas is dead): ΤΩ πότνι’, ώς εύ, τί γάρ
ό Λαρτίου γόνος;
τί: has the function of the predicate; cf. Eur. I. T. 576.
102. ποϋ σοι τύχης εστηκεν: For ποϋ τύχης cf. i.a. infra 386
ούχ όρας ΐν’ εΐ κακοΰ; Ο.Τ. jfiy, 1442 έσταμεν χρείας. Most
striking parallel Trach. 1145 (Heracles on hearing the name of
Nessus): οΐμοι, φρονώ δή ξυμφοράς ίν* έσταμεν. έστάναι denotes the
condicio in which one finds oneself.
The dative σοι has a somewhat stronger colour than an ethic,
dat. (as e.g. O.T. 2); less strong than the dative in 1128: θεός γάρ
έκσωζει με, τώδε δ’ οϊχομαι (“datif d’interM", approaching the dat.
which with perfecta is almost equal to the case which denotes the
acting person).
103. τούπίτριπτον κίναδος: These are strong words which the
poet makes the raging madman say (πάνυ δέ κατατρέχει τοΰ Όδυσ-
σέως ώς έχθίστου). Cf. 379 SQQ·
κίναδος = "fox” (in Sicilian as appears from the schol. ad Theocr.
V 25; Hesych.: θηρίον, 6φις; probably etymologically related to
κνώδαλον "a noxious animal”) is, like έπίτριπτος = κάκιστ’ άπολού-
μενος, a word for comedy. (Van Leeuwen explains έπίτριπτος—four
times in Ar.—as “perditus”; schol. a.h.l. τό έξώλες θηρίον κίναδος
γάρ ή άλώπηξ. Also, Jebb’s first explanation is "accursed”; he
compares έπιτριβείης.)
κίναδος: Ar. Av. 430, Nub. 448; in court, Andoc. I 99—ώ συκο-
φάντα καί έπίτριπτον κίναδος—, Aeschin. Ill 167; Dem. XVIII 162,
242. έπίτριπτος: Ar. Plut. 275, 619, cf. Nub. 1004, Ach. 557 ("coquin”
C.-v. D.), Pax 1236.
To call a person κίναδος sounds more unfavourable than άλώπηξ
(ό δ’ ώς άλώπα ποικιλόφρων, Ale. 69· 6 L.-P., speaking of Pittacus),
perhaps also because it reminds one of κίναιδος.
όπου: τύχης έστηκεν, or simply (in connection with 105, 6) έστίν
(cf. 118, Ant. 318, O.T. 926, O.C. 1218; Ar. Ach. 748).
104. Όδυσσέα: with synizesis.
ένστάτην: κυρίως δέ ένστάτης ό έν τη δδω άντιστήκων τινί ώς εί
λέγοι τις τόν Οίδίποδα τοΰ Λάιου ένστάτην γεγενημένον (schol.). The
word does not seem to occur elsewhere in cl. Gr. Sometimes ένίστασ-
40 COMMENTARY

θαι means to oppose. The schol. (see above) adds: ήτοι κατά πάντα
ένιστάμενόν σοι ή ίδικώς έπ! της κρίσεως μόνον οϊον τδν ά ν τ ί δ ι κ ο ν.
But that ένστάτης should have the technical sense of άντίδικος
does not appear in any place.
The short answer έγωγ’ followed by the matter-of-fact formula
is an excellent continuation of Athena’s irony.
105. ήδιστος: "very welcome to me” (καθ’ ηδονήν μοι, schol.).
ήδύς cf. El. 929.
δεσμώτης: Aesch. Prom. 119. As on account of its meaning the
word cannot be derived from δεσμόω as a nomen agentis, it should
be connected with δεσμός, as πολίτης with πόλις. According to
Schol. (and Suid.) Cratinus knows the word έν Πυτίνη έπΐ τών
δεσμοφυλάκων.
Note the alliteration in this and in the next line (cf. Webster,
Introduction, p. 161).
106. θακεϊ: On θάκος, θώκος, θακέω, θωκέω cf. Groeneboom ad
Aesch. Prom. 279.
There is a touch of irony in the words of Ajax pronounced over
him whom he deems his prisoner, cf. the irony of the poet when
in 325 Tecmessa says: ήσυχος θακεϊ πεσών.—For the sentiment cf.
Ion Ch. /r. 2 Ν.2 κακών άπέστω θάνατος, ώς ϊδη κακά (see Webster,
Sophocles and Ion of Chios, Hermes 1936, p. 266).
107. τί πλέον: "what advantage” (as often).
At the end of this line Ajax laughs (cf. 303).
108. πριν.... στέγης: In Lysias (fragm. XVII 2 G.-B. κατά
Τείσιδος) we read of a revenge taken by Tisis on an enemy who had
insulted him: επειδή δέ ένδον έγενόμεθα, εμέ μέν έκβάλλουσιν έκ της
οικίας, τούτον! δέ συναρπάσαντες έδησαν πρός τον κίονα, και λαβών
μάστιγα Τεϊσις έντείνας πολλάς πληγάς εις οίκημα αύτον καθεϊρξε . ..
It would seem that to Sophocles the interior of the hut of Ajax
does not differ materially from that of an ordinary Attic house.
As Tecmessa represehts all the actions of Ajax as being performed
in the hut, the κίων is undoubtedly the pillar which supports the
roof, and έρκεϊος simply means: "of the hut (the barrack)”. It is
to be noted that all the mss. have έρκίου; Schol. says: έρκίου στέγης ·
τοΰ περιφράγματος της αυλής ή της τοΰ δώματος στέγης ■ έρκίον γάρ τά
δώμα. But έρκίου, gen. dependent on στέγης, dependent on κίον’
seems unlikely. If έρκίον = "house”, έρκεϊος may also mean "of
the house". Cf. moreover Ζεύς έρκεϊος (έρκος: enclosure-> house).
Furthermore the passage in Lysias supports πρός κίονα, just as
 PROLOGUE, vss. 105-112 41

Aeschin. I 59 (not κίονι, an elision which would be very rare).

Ajax intends to inflict on Odysseus the punishment usual for
slaves.
109. δήτα: cf. 42, III.
έργάση: 2nd p. ind. fut. The syntax of the words of Ajax is
interruDted by Athena’s question, quite a normal proceeding in
stichomythy.
110. Syntactically this line continues 1. 108, logically it does not,
for strictly speaking Ajax says that Odysseus will not die, before
he dies. But the interruption of 1. 109 makes this natural. Moreover,
the dependent aor. θάνη comes so near in meaning to an independent
θανεϊται that it conveys the idea: he will die after first etc.—Cf.
also Track. 1133.
μάστιγι: εντεύθεν ή επιγραφή τοϋ δράματος (schol.); cf. ύπόθεσιςί. ΙΟ.
φοινιχθείς: cf. αϊματι δ’ "Αρης / πόντον φοινίξει Hdt. VIII 77 (™·
an oracle).
νώτα: the plur. also e.g. Track. 1047, 1090.
111. Cf. O.T. 1153 μή δήτα, πρός θεών, τον γέροντά μ’ αίκίση.
Infra 402, Track. 839. Timoth. Pers. 189.
112. Greek has the well-known expression χαίρειν λέγειν τινά,
lit. aliquem valere iubere > aliquem missum facere, non curare. Cf.
Eur. Hipp. 113: την σην δέ Κύπριν πόλλ’ εγώ χαίρειν λέγω. Ar. Ach.
200: χαίρειν κελεύων πολλά τούς Άχαρνέας. The acc. c. inf. is then
the most usual construction with λέγω (= iubeo}, though the
dative also occurs: Pl. Phaedr. 272 e πολλά είπόντα χαίρειν τώ άληθεϊ.
(Cf. Groeneboom ad Aesch. Ag. 572 καί πολλά χαίρειν συμφοραϊς
καταξιώ.)
έφίημι (and έφίεμαι) has all the nuances from sinere to iubere;
it can be construed with the dat. and the acc., with dat. and inf.
(cf. 116), and with acc. c. inf., as indeed nearly all verba iubendi
(K.-G. II, 26.2): Theocr. XXV 205 κτεϊναι δέ μ’ έφίετο θηρίον αίνόν
(as δέομαι with acc. c. inf. in Xen. and Lys., προστάσσω in Eur.
Hel. 890 etc.). "It is my wish that thou be delighted in all other
things", i.e. "that you have your will”. The ironical tinge is hardly
perceptible here, but though the negative suggestion of χαίρειν
λέγειν τινά is absent, the two phrases are unmistakably of the same
origin. (For a whole series of variations of χαίρειν λέγω cf. Headlam-
Thomson ad Aesch. Ag. 577.) (On this passage cf. S. Johnson,
Sophocles Ajax 112, A. J. Ph., 62, 1941, 214-218.)
A scholion ad 112 is mistaken when it says: έστι δέ νϋν τό χαίρειν
42 COMMENTARY

άντ'ι χαρτώς έμοί λέγειν ·, though what follows is correct: φησΐ δέ

ώς κατά τά άλλα <μέν> είκων τη θεω τούτο δέ άντιβαίνων ·
113. τηνδε κούκ άλλην: τούτοισι κοΰκ άλλοισιν O.C. 908.
114. δ* οδν: Du.: "nu goed”. “All right, then” (Denniston G.P.,
466: "δ* οδν is often used in the dialogue of drama to denote that
the speaker waives any objection that he has, or might be supposed
to have, to something being done, or contemplated, by another
person”).
επειδή . . . . τδ δράν: ήδε, by a very common attraction, for τάδε,
τέρψις predicate, τδ δραν as in so many cases where the tragedians
(and esp. Soph.) use a complementary inf. with the article. Lit.:
“this being a delight for you to do”, rather than: "it being a
delight for you to do this”, or, "to do thus” (cf. the v.l. ώδε).
115. χρώ χειρί: The agreement in sound has the effect of a figura
etymologica (as in Du. "hanteer Uw hand”); this play on sounds
is continued with χωρώ.
A not wholly similar instance in O.T. 878 ένθ’ ού ποδί χρησίμω
χρήται.
On the asyndeton of the imperatives cf. 811, 844, 988.
φείδου μηδέν ώνπερ εννοείς: cf. Eur. Med. 401: άλλ’ εία· φείδου
μηδέν ών έπίστασαι (with this difference, that Medea speaks to
herself: F. Leo, Der Monolog im Drama pp. 18, 99, Abh. Gottingen
1908). Cf. Eur. Hec. 1044, Her. 1400.
φείδεσθαι only 4 times in Soph. (844, El. 716 ’φείδοντο κέντρων
ούδέν, Phil. 749). The particular nuance of φείδεσθαι is here: "to
refrain from” (temperare a), the original sense (cf. ούδ’ έπι φειδώ
Od. XIV 92, XVI 315). Cf. άφειδέω Ant. 414 άφειδήσοι (not to be
changed).
εννοείς: "to have in one’s mind”, "to intend to do”. Cf. Ant.
664 (L“ A al.), O.T. 330; thus first in Soph. (Aesch. Ag. 1088, in
the sense of “know”, "understand”).
116. χωρώ πρδς έργον: slightly different, El. 614, 5: άρά σοι
δοκεϊ / χωρεϊν αν εις παν έργον αισχύνης άτερ; Same as here Thue.
Ill 83. 3: τολμηρώς πρδς τά έργα έχώρουν. Cf. expressions such as
έργου έχεσθαι, έν έργω είναι, έργον is the accomplishment of what
he εννοεί
δ’: many instances of this "postponement” of δέ from the tragg.
and Ar. are given by Denniston, C.P., 187 sq.
116, 117. With έφίεμαι Ajax remains in his ύπεροπτικδν ήθος
(schol. ad 112).
 PROLOGUE, vss. 113-124 43

τοιάνδ’ αεί μοι σύμμαχον παρεστάναι is bitter dramatic irony,

illustrated by 774 sqq. With Athena’s τής συμμάχου, 1. go, Ajax
had appeared; σύμμαχον παρεστάναι are the words he calls out when
returning to his barrack.
118. όρ2ς: different from the reprehending or ironical όρος,
£1. 628, Eur. Andr. 87.
The schol. ad 118 remarks in a somewhat sanctimonious tone:
παιδευτικός ό λόγος καί άποτρεπτικός άμαρτημάτων καί διά τούτο επίτη­
δες καί τφ Όδυσσεϊ καί τω θεατή ύπέδειξε τόν Αίαντα δηλών ώς ό πρότε-
ρον φρόνιμος καί πρακτικός νϋν έξέστη διά τό θεομαχήσαι, and compares
him with Thamyris and Niobe (II. Π 595, XXIV 6o2). The expres­
sion θεομαχήσαι deserves special notice. (Cf. my paper: On the
conception of θεομάχος in relation with Greek Tragedy, Mnemosyne
IV Ser. I 1948 pp. 271-283.)
119. πρόνους: Aesch. Suppl. 969, Hdt. Ill 36 (Croesus speaking
to Cambyses: άγαθόν τοι πρόνοον είναι, σοφόν δέ ή προμηθείη);
πρόνοια Ο.Τ. gy8, Track. 823. This characterization is derived from
the epic: ZZ. VII 288 sqq.
άν . . εύρεθη: potential indic, of the past (Goodwin, M.T. § 245).
120. On καίριος cf. Groeneboom ad Sept. I. Schol. M defines
καίρια with αναγκαία "what is required by the condition of things”.
The hero that Soph, has in mind is the hero of the epic and related
to Eteocles.
121. έποικτίρω: a vox Sophoclea.
122. έμπας: The words of the schol. a.l., Τωνες ίμπης φασίν,
’Αττικοί δέ έμπας καί έμπα, are no guarantee that the reading έμπας
(against the mss.) is correct here. Cf. 1338.
έμπας belongs to έποικτίρω and stands in close connection with
καίπερ όντα. For even closer connection with the partic., vide
1. 1338 (cf. όμως).
123. όθούνεκ’: in Aesch. only Prom. 330; frequent in Soph.,
as also in Eur. (confined to the tragedians).
συγκατέζευκται: cf. my note ad Eur. Andr. 98. He has been
brought under the yoke of άτη. The double compound only here
in Soph.; cf. συγκαταίθω Ant. 1202, συγκατακτείνω Ai. 230, συγκατ-
εύχομαι Ant. 1336, συγκατοικέω O.C. 1259, συγκατοικτίζω Trach. 535.
άτη: the idea of άτη = "distraction” (with ruin following), sent
to man by the wrathful gods, can hardly be realized more sharply
than in a situation like this.
124. ούδέν τό τούτου μάλλον ή τούμόν σκοπών: thus the schol.
44 COMMENTARY

with full appreciation: olov άφορών εις τά άνθρώπινα τά πάντων κοινά.

The character of Od. in these lines is carried on consistently at the
end of the play (1332 sqq.). The sentiment of 124 also explains
1365: και γάρ αύτδς ένθάδ’ ΐξομαι.
The words of Odysseus, valuable as they are for the conception
of his character in this play, are perhaps of even greater value in
as much as they reflect the noble humanity of the poet himself
and show in what spirit he wishes his creation to be understood
(cf. the interesting remark on this by J. C. Opstelten, Sophocles
en het Grieksche Pessimisme, p. 90 n. 2). Here, too, Sophocles is
όμηρικώτατος, for nowhere does the truly psychological trait of
transferring the misfortunes of another to oneself find clearer
expression than in II. XIX 301, 302. (Cf. also Hdt. I 86: Cyrus
and Croesus, see Reinhardt, Sophokles, 26.)
125, 126. As the image of Odysseus’ mother has fled from him
σκιή είκελον ή καί όνείρω, and as the phantoms (είδωλα), like
dreams (Od. XIX 562), are άμένηνα, the comparison of weak man
with είδωλα and also with the κούφη σκιά, is an obvious one. These
lines are only a variation on a theme also used by Pind. and Aesch.
Cf. Pind. Pyth. VIII 95-7, Aesch. fr. 399 N.2 τό γάρ βρότειον σπέρμ’
έφ’ ημέραν φρονεί, καϊ πιστόν ούδέν μάλλον ή καπνοϋ σκιά. Above
all Niobe 273· 9 Μ. (ΐ959) [βρ°τ°]ς κακωθεις ούδέν άλλ’ εί μή σκία.
Soph. fr. 859 N·2 = 945 Ρ·: “ς ούδέν έσμεν πλήν σκιαϊς έοικότες and
jr. 12 N.2 = 13 Ρ. άνθρωπός έστι πνεύμα καί σκιά μόνον. In parody
Ar. Αν. 686, 7· See further my note ad Eur. Andr. 745.
(The combination σκιάς εϊδωλον, for an image reflected by water,
Soph. fr. 598.6 Ν.2 = 659·6Ρ.)
127. τοίνυν: “represents the answer as springing from the actual
words, or general attitude, of the previous speaker” (Denniston,
G.P., 569).
Cf. Theogn. 159, 160 Μήποτε, Κύρν’, άγορασθαι έπος μέγα- οίδε
γάρ ούδείς / ανθρώπων δ τι νύξ χήμέρη άνδρι τελεί.
ύπέρκοπος: Aesch. Sept. 455 ύπερκόπω / δορί: of Capaneus.
128. Besides the deeds of ΰβρις done by Ajax as mentioned in
766-775, Schol. ad 127 tells how Ajax had blotted out the owl,
which was the emblem on his shield.
129. όγκος: “fastus et inanis animi elatio” (E.). Isocr. I 30
speaks of τόν των ύπεροπτικών όγκον, ύπερηφανία, φύσημα Hesych.
Seeing that όγκος properly means “burden” (~ ήνεγκον) the
combination with αΐρεσθαι (to take upon oneself) is particularly
 PROLOGUE, vss. 125-133 45

felicitous (άρη 2nd pers. sing., aor. med. subj.( (Cf. Pl. Polit. 277 b).
130. βρίθεις: “to outweigh", “prevail”, as the aor. in Hom.
II. XII 346, Od. VI 159 ((έέδνοισι βρίσας).
πλούτου βάθει: cf. βαθύπλουτος Bacch. Ill 82, βαθύπλουτου χθόνα
Aesch. Suppi. 554, Είρήνα βαθύπλουτε Eur. fr. 453.1 N.2 One might
compare with βαθύ λήιον Od. IX 134. Cf. Pind. 01. XIII 62 (βαθύν
κλαρον).
With μακροΰ "great” cp. infra 825 μακράν γέρας (perhaps also
μακράν όλβον Pind. Pyth. II 26).
131, 132. ώς . .. . τάνθρώπεια: The image of the scales as the
means of apportioning a man’s lot is found as early as Homer:
II. VIII 69, XIX 223, XXII 209 sq.; H. Herm. 324; Theogn.
157 sq.; cf. 160. Cf. Aesch. fr. 159 N.2 [Niobe = 278 D M. (1959)
ούμάς δέ πότμος ούρανω κυρών άνω / έραζε πίπτει καί με προσφωνεί
τάδε- / γίγνωσκε τάνθρώπεια μή σέβειν άγαν. (If not the Wheel of For­
tune is implied). The use of the word ημέρα by the tragedians and
esp. Soph, often suggests a dramatic undertone. A day or the day is
the brief space of time within which the tragical change of fortune is
enacted, see e.g. Teiresias’ words O.T. 438; El. 1149. Wrongly
Ellendt: ημέρα is evaporated into "tempus” (item Campbell:
“Time in its course”). Correctly Jebb: "a day”; similarly schol.:
ημέρα γάρ μία, where the rest is unfortunately shrivelled up into:
έλαττοϊ καί πάλιν αΰξει. The same image Ant. 1158, Eur. fr. 420 N.2
(cf. also Hec. 57; brief and matter-of-fact, Eur. fr. 549 άλλ’ ήμαρ
έν τοι μεταβολάς πολλάς έχει. Phoen. 1689· Different, μίαν ημέραν
Med. 340. Hec. 285). This conception is the tragic poet’s parallel to
Heraclitus’ doctrine of the όδάς άνω κα'ι κάτω (Cf. Philo de vit. Moys.
16 = 31, 32 C.-W.: τύχης γάρ άσταθμητότερον ούδέν, άνω καί κάτω
τά άνθρώπεια πεττευούσης, ή μια πολλάκις ημέρα τάν μέν ύψηλάν
καθαιρεϊ, τάν δε ταπεινάν μετέωρον έξαίρει (See my Sophocle et
Heraclite, Studia Vollgraff, p. 91).
άπαντα τάνθρώπεια: for the same pregnant sense in a similar
connection, cf. Hdt. I 207.2: ώς κύκλος των άνθρωπηίων έστί
πρηγμάτων.
132,133. τούς δέ σώφρονας .... κακούς: These words do not convey
the poet’s verdict on Ajax, no more than El. 1505-7 his opinion on
crime and punishment. Seen in the light of the whole treatment of
the Ajax-character, great injustice is done to Sophocles by those who
interpret them as a kind of philosophy of life. They are therefore ill-
suited as a support for the "pious” conception of Sophocles.
46 COMMENTARY

Parodos, vss. 134-200

The Chorus, consisting of Salaminian sailors, followers of Ajax,

enter the orchestra, reciting (i.e. the Coryphaeus) an anapaestic
system, accompanied by the αυλός. When they have taken up their
positions they sing a song consisting of strophe, antistrophe and
epode. This form of parodos occurs nowhere else in Sophocles and is
in itself a proof of the comparatively early date of the play. The
Antigone has in the parodos anapaestic systems between the songs.
Whereas both the Supplices and the Persae of Aeschylus begin
with the parodos of the Chorus in anapaests, we have in the
Agamemnon a type which comes nearest to that of the Ajax:
here, too, after the monologue of the Phylax, the Chorus enter the
orchestra in anapaests and afterwards sing a song.
None of the choruses of Sophocles is so closely connected with
the action. This is in accordance with the development of the choral
song in tragedy, but at the same time accounted for by the
choice of these followers, who feel their lot is bound up with that
of Ajax. Of no other chorus by Sophocles, therefore, it is easier to
give a delineation.—It cannot be said, as is so often the case, that
the song is a repetition of the anapaestic part in another form.
The relation between Ajax and the Chorus is described clearly
in 133-140 (very aptly Schol. ad 134: τό δέ δλον olov έν σοί έσμεν);
the name of Salamis falls in the second dimeter. The Chorus, re­
joiced when it hears of the fair fortunes of Ajax, is now full of
anxiety at the blow or slander which has fallen upon him. Evil
tongues speak of the onslaught on the cattle and in the camp
every hearer is delighted at this rumour (141-153). The enmity
against Odysseus finds expression in 148-150 and to the hearer it
forms a sharp contrast with Odysseus’ real attitude as it appears
in the prologue. Speculations follow on the position of the great
vis-ci-vis the humble, after which the Chorus, in a very natural and
impressive manner return to their dependence on Ajax and glorify
the hero in a poetical image of rare beauty (154-171).

134. Τελαμώνιε παϊ: the adjectival patronymicum was familiar

to the hearer from Homer: II. II 528, XIII 67. (On the possible
original significance cf. e.g. v. d. Miihll o.l., 35 sq.)
134, 135. βάθρου: the "ground” on which one βαίνει (cf.’Ικάρου
6’ έδος Aesch. Pers. 890), but at the same time the fixed dwelling,
 parodos, vss. 134-137 47

the place where Ajax is at home (as Philoctetes says of Lemnos:

έως άν ή μοι γης τόδ’ αίπεινόν βάθρον Phil. ιοοο). Moreover, it is
suggestive of something rising from the sea (since βάθρον means
“basis”, "altar”, "throne” cf. ύψηλόν ές Δίκας βάθρον Ant. 854)·
This combination is possible only on account of its being the object
of έχων (which implies the idea of dwelling and of ruling, cf. Pind.
Nem. IV 48) and of the genitive (subjective or explicative) depending
on it. It is more forcible than the faded στενόπορ’ Αύλίδος βάθρα.
Eur. I.A. 81.
135. άγχιάλου: άγχίαλος in Homer said of towns situated on the
sea (II. II 640, 697); άγχιάλη Πεπάρηθος Hymn. Ap. 32. Cf. Hes.
fr. fals. 14 Rz. Βύβλον τ’ άγχίαλον ... In the light of Aesch. Pers.
888 (τάς άγχιάλους.... Λήμνον ’Ικάρου θ’ έδος καί 'Ρόδον) it seems
better not to think of a catachrestic use ("situated close by in the
sea”) as Lobeck did, but to take it as epitheton ornans to "island”
(with weakening of άγχι-). Besides the ancient town of Salamis was
on the side of the island towards the open sea, Strabo IX p. 393
(Campbell). Cf. Epigr. 30.3 (Kaibel) (of Salamis), Eur. Hypsip. I
2. 26 (Italie) (of Lemnos).
136. σέ μέν εύ πράσσοντ’ έπιχαίρω: For the construction cf. Eur.
Rhes. 390 χαίρω δέ σ’ εύτυχοΰντα, Hipp. 134° τ°ύς γάρ εύσεβεΐς θεοί /
θνήσκοντας ού χαίρουσι, Soph. Phil. 1314 ήσθην πατέρα τόν άμόν
εύλογοϋντά σε.
137. πληγή Δώς: θεοϋ δέ πληγήν ούχ ύπερπηδά βροτός fr. 876 ΝΑ
= 961 Ρ. (fab. inc. — Men. mon. 251). II. XVI 816: Πάτροκλος δέ
θεοϋ πληγή (in a more literal sense) καί δουρί δαμασθεΐς. That πληγή
Δώς was a well-known conception appears from Aesch. Ag. 367
Δώς πλαγάν έχοις Sv είπεϊν (cf. Groeneboom Aesch. Ag. p. 187 n. 1).
Eur. Cret. (S.E. v. A. p. 24 vs. 30) έκρυψα πληγήν δαίμονος θεήλατον.
Plut. de superst. 7, 168 c πληγαΐ θεοϋ καί προσβολαϊ δαίμονος, Cic.
Tusc. Ill 29 eorum (sc. deorum) plaga perculsi. Cf. also Δώς μάστιγι.
κακή έδάμημεν II. XIII 812 (cf. II. XII 37, Aesch. Sept. 608 (Ag.
642), Prom. 682).
The stroke inflicted by a deity also Ant. 1273; similarly Δίκης
βόπτρον Eur. Hipp. 1171 (perhaps cf. Eur. Her. 'fi']'. ρόπαλον coni.
Wilamowitz). Cf. infra 279 and 504, 5.
From έπιβή and ήκει 279 it appears that πληγή is here almost a.
personification (just as λόγος, frequently with Soph. = rumor, fama).
ζαμενής: Schol. δυσμενής, which is wrong, ζαμενέω does stand for
"to bear a grudge” in Hes. Th. 928 (<Hera> ζαμένησε καί ήρισε
48 COMMENTARY

ώ παρακοίτη), but ζαμενής covers a much wider area. At Pind. Pyth.

IX 38 it is said of Chiron in the sense of “beherzt” (Schroder);
Nem. IV 13 ζαμενεϊ άλίφ (τω άγαν ξηραντικω, τφ ίσχυροτάτφ schol.
21 a); Pyth. IV 10 of Medea (ή άγαν όργίλη καί πικρά). “Very
vehement”, with unfavourable connotation.
138. κακόθρους: remote connection with θροής, 1. 67 (the word
occurs only here. The second member of the compound contains a
synonym of the substantive of which it is the attribute).
έπιβή: similar use of έπιβαίνειν (but with πρός), Phil. 194.
139. πεφόβημαι: durative, as infra 253.
140. πτηνής ώς όμμα πελείας: Since Homer the dove is the symbol
of shyness: II. XXI 493, the dove which flies for the hawk. Cf. the
epithet τρήρων. The Chorus in Aesch. Sef>t. 294 fear the enemy like
a πάντρομος πελειάς fears the serpent for her young ones; Danaus
speaking to the Chorus of the Supplices (223): έν άγνω δ’ έσμός ώς
πελειάδων ίζεσθε κίρκων των όμοπτέρων φόβφ. (Cf. Verg. Aen. II 5Ι5-)
But the metaphor of Soph, is more refined. Of course, it won’t
do to say with the Schol.: 8μμα δέ πελείας περιφραστικός ή πέλεια.
The fright is visible in the eyes, cf. Groeneboom ad Aesch. Pers.
168, 69, πτηνής suggests flapping the wings. In a similar way
Track. τδ δ’ άμφινείκητον δμμα νύμφας έλεινόν άμμένει. Jebb is
right in comparing also O.C. 729 όρώ τιν’ υμάς όμμάτων εΐληφδτας /
φόβον.
141. ώς καί: Here the Coryphaeus turns from the introductory
preamble to the present case.
τής νϋν φθιμένης νυκτδς: cf. 21 νυκτός τήσδε. Changing καί into κάκ
(Gleditsch, N.-R.), is an easy but rash solution. Probably it is
a genitive of time (in prose to be compared with τής παρελθούσης
νυκτός ταυτησί Pl. Prot. 310 a), indicating the time within which
something takes place, and specially to be connected with the acc.
c. inf. beginning with σέ. Perhaps, also, it may be taken as a loosely
constructed objective genitive (a schol. would say λείπει τό περί),
either with θόρυβοι, or with θόρυβοι κατέχουσιν.
142. From 1. 164 it clearly appears that the θόρυβοι are the loud
rumours in the camp about Ajax.
κατέχουσ’ ημάς: take possession of us, “beset us” (J.). The
meaning of κατέχειν combines that in O.C. 370, φθοράν, / οία κατέσχε
τόν σόν άθλιον δόμον, and the one where e.g. φάτις, φήμαι, λάθα is
the subject (e.g. Pind. Pyth. I 96 έχθρά Φάλαριν κατέχει παντα
φάτις.)
 parodos, vss. 138-148 49

143. έπί δυσκλεία: consecutive, as έπί λώβα Ant. 792, Eur. Hec.
649 ("δυσκλεεϊς ποιήσοντες ήμας” E.). On the sentiment underlying
this one may compare Soph. /r. 186 N.2 = 188 P. φιλεϊ γάρ ή δύσ-
κλεια τοϊς φθονουμένοις / νικάν έπ’ αίσχροϊς ή έπί τοϊς καλοϊς πλέον.
143, 144. έπιβάντ’: the most natural explanation is to take
έπιβάντ’ with acc. as “going across” (cf. e.g. II. XIV 226).
ϊππομανή: of course goes with λειμών’, "abounding, swarming
with horses". Soph. /r. 591 N.2 = 652 P. (Hesych. καρπομανής· εις
κόρον—perhaps ή καρπω Blaydes Λ». p. 43—έξυβρίζουσα). The idea
of large numbers of horses in the meadow may give rise to an
adjective similar to the one expressing "laden with fruit”. Cf.
φυλλομανής and φυλλομανέω (Theophr. Hist. Pl. VIII 7.4), ύλομανέω
(Strabo XIV 6.5). The only objection to this is that Ajax kills
cows and sheep; nor is this difficulty removed by the explanation
of the Schol.: εΰανθής, έφ’ ω οί ίπποι μαίνονται. But this is no reason
to accept the queer explanation, also occurring in the scholia,
which connects ΐππομανή with τον (i.e. Ajax). Cf. 232 βοτήρας
Ιππονώμας.
145. 146. βοτά καί λείαν κτλ.: the same meaning as is expressed
in 53, 54 by ποίμνας .... άδαστα. βοτά stands for the cattle in
general, cf. 231, 324, 453. βοτά καί λείαν is a hendiadys (cf. El. 36,
Headlam-Thomson ad Aesch. Eum. 247).
146. δορίληπτος: elsewhere in Soph, only infra 894, where the
Ionic form is used metri causa.
147. κτείνοντ’: the pres, partic. depicts Ajax in the act of
performing his deed.
αίθωνι: figurative infra 1088.
148. λόγους ψιθύρους: "whispering”, with the implication of
"deceitful”, “slanderous” (cf. Du. "fluistercampagne”). Exactly the
same use in Pind. Pyth. II 75 οΐα ψιθύρων παλάμαις έπετ’ αίεί βροτών
(not βροτω, cf. Wilamowitz, Pindaros 290 n. i “wie es sonst durch
die Kiinste listiger Menschen geschieht”). In this connection it is
interesting to note Aesch. Suppl. 1042: δέδοται δ’ Άρμονίαι μοϊρ’
Άφροδίτας ψεδυρά τρίβοι τ’ ’Ερώτων, where schol. observes ή αρ­
μονία μετέχει τής ’Αφροδίτης, ψευδής δέ, δτι πολλά ψεύδονται οί
έρώντες (Muller Diet, ψεδυρός "deceitful”, "false”—by dissimilation
from ψευδυρός under the influence of ψίθυρός?—■). ψιθυρίζω, to
whisper in one’s ear, Pl. Euthyd. 276 d, Gorg. 485 d, with later
writers esp. of slanderous things, ψιθυριστής = “slanderer” Ep. Rom.
1.30, ψιθυρισμός = "slandering” 2 Ep. Cor. 12.20.
Kamerbeek 4
so COMMENTARY

πλάσσω»: confingens, thus already in Aesch. Prom. 1030; cf.

Pl. Tim. 26 e.
149. είς ώτα φέρει πασι» Όδυσσεύς: the reading of L is only possible
if one reads with Nauck Όδυσεύς, a form which does not occur
in Soph, (but is found in Eur. Hec. 141). The construction with
the dat. is more elegant.
150. σφόδρα: the only other places in Soph, are El. 1053 and
fr. 575-7 P-; very common in prose (e.g. in Pl.).
151. εύπειστα: apart from the better transmission this is to be
preferred on account of the preceding πείθει. “Things of which a
person can easily be persuaded”, or "which will be easily believed
by a person”.
151-153. πας .... καθυβρίζω»: καθυβρίζω» stands in close con­
nection with χαίρει (“nom. cum partic.”). μαλλο», to which τοϋ
λέξαντος is genitive of comparison, may be taken with χαίρει, or
with καθυβρίζων, but the first explanation is to be preferred, con­
sidering the course of the sentence, τοϋ λέξαντος does not only
refer to Odysseus but to any one who spreads the slander after
him. It is perhaps better to read κλυώ» than κλύω», though the
present—the slander continues to ring in the ears of the hearer—
could also be defended. The dat. rei with καθυβρίζει» is sufficiently
supported by Hdt. I 212 (Μασσαγετέω» τριτημορίδι τοϋ στρατού
κατυβρίσας), and by the dat. with καταγέλα» (e.g. Hdt. Ill 37),
while the analogy of έγγελα», έπεγγελα» (cf. 989) may have been
of some influence. (It has to be regarded as a dat. incommodi.)
For the rest the dat. may also depend on χαίρει (cf. 957).
153. τοϊς σοϊς άχεσιν: cf. 957. τοϊσδε μαινομένοις άχεσιν.
154. 155. τώ» .... άμάρτοι: Ιέναι as a verbum collineandi with
gen. Cf. Eur. Ba. 1099, 1100: άλλαι δέ θύρσους ίεσαν δι’ αίθέρος /
Πε»θέως, στόχο» δύστηνο». Of course τώ» . . ψυχώ» may also depend
on άμάρτοι. τις, as the Schol. rightly observes, stands άπό κοινού
in the second member; the v.l. άμάρτοις (L) came from the pen of
somebody who did not understand. The metaphor of the shooting
of arrows stands for the utterance of words against a person. Cf.
Ant. 1033 ώ πρέσβυ, πάντες ώστε τοξόται σκοπού / τοξεύετ’ άνδρδς
τοΰδε. Cf. also my note ad Eur. Andr. 365.
155. εμού: (against) me, a common man.
154-157. The same thought in Pind. Nem. VIII 21 (with
regard to Ajax): 8ψον δέ λόγοι φθονεροϊσιν άπτεται δ’ έσλώ» άεί,
χειρόνεσσι δ’ οϋκ ερίζει.
 parodos, vss. 149-164 51

διαβολή and φθόνος go hand in hand (Pl. Ap. 28 a).

157. τόν έχονθ’: the rich (and powerful: "the strong” Bowra,
Soph. Trag. 26); the schol.’s "λείπει τδ εδ" is wrong. Cf. Ar. Eq.
1295 and van Leeuwen a.h.l. των έχόντων = “the rich”, Eur. fr.
462 N.2 (Κρήσσαι), Ale. yj.
159. ρΰμα: protection, Aesch. Suppl. 85, Eur. Heracl. 260 (άπασι
κοινόν ρΰμα δαιμόνων έδρα), σφαλερόν If'labi obnoxius”) shows that
πύργου ρΰμα = “protecting rampart” (not "guarding of the walls”).
160, 161 are an argument in support of this explanation. For the
metaphor cf. έρκος ’Αχαιών (Ajax, II. Ill 229), πύργος ’Αχαιών
(Ajax, Od. XI 556), έρκος πολέμοιο (Achilles, II. I 284), Callin. fr.
1.20 D., Theognis 233, infra 1211, 12. Mazon observes: "proverbe
de ma^on”.
πέλονται: The use of πέλω and πέλομαι in Soph, does not differ
from that of Homer.
160, 161. By taking πύργου βϋμα in the sense explained above
something of the metaphor is felt to be carried on in the word
όρθοϊθ’ (cf. Pl. Leg. X 902 e).
μετά "in alliance with”, ύπό "supported by”; αν όρθοϊθ’ might be
rendered by "can be guarded from falling”.
In these lines one may discern the Greek tendency (especially
frequent in Soph.) to make use of polar expressions; but at the same
time a political preference on the part of the poet, a leaning towards
όμόνοια (as against στάσις, Lys. XVIII 17). The lines 162, 163 even
seem to be slightly out of character, though οΐ ανόητοι are in this
connexion the Greeks who defile Ajax.
162, 163. τούς άνοήτους: both general and referring to the
Achaeans.
προδιδάσκειν: As Phil. 1015 and Track. 681 show, the function
of προ- is almost pleonastic: "before”, so that "afterwards” they
know; not implying “gradual teaching”.
τούτων γνώμας: views about these things. For plural γνώμαι cf.
Ant. 635.
In 164 sqq. the general truth of 158, 9 is applied to the case in
question.
164. ύπό τοιούτων: such foolish men.
θορυβή: θορυβεϊν does not simply mean here turbare, as e.g.
Hdt. IV 130. Schol. rightly remarks: κάνθάδε τό θορυβή σύμφωνόν
έστιν τώ τοιούσδε λόγους ψιθύρους πλάσσων. The word contains
already a suggestion of what is expressed in the simile of 168.
52 COMMENTARY

It is construed as κακώς λέγειν τινά. "Such are the men who quarrel
against you", θορυβεΐν is the very verb to denote the angry out­
bursts of a crowded assembly against a single individual, see
Pl. Af>. 17 c. In Soph, only here.
165, 166. ούδέν σθένομεν ... άπαλέξασθαι σοϋ χωρίς: cf. O.C. 1345:
άνευ σοϋ δ’ ούδέ σωθήναι σθένω. άπαλέξασθαι by a scholion correctly
rendered by άντιτάξασθαι. (The form άλέξασθαι already in Homer,
άπαλέξασθαι: Hesych. I, p. 225: άποφυλάξασθαι. Σοφοκλής Ίππδνφ
(Soph. fr. 282 N? = 303 P.)).
167. άπέδράν: the only other place in Soph, where this old short
form occurs is Track. 504 (cf. K.-Bl. II, p. 55).
167-171. The text of the mss. is altered by the editors by in­
serting δ’ (Dawes, Pearson, Jebb), or by erasing ύποδείσαντες
(Dobree, Nauck a.o.) or placing it after φανείης (Lobeck). Probably
the text can remain as it stands, but divided as by myself. Thus
the syllaba anceps of αίγυπιδν is justified by the short pause after
the parenthesis 8τε γάρ—αίγυπιδν. Cf. P. Masqueray, Traiti de
Metrique grecque, § 79, where Eur. Hec. 83 is quoted: έσται τι νέον ■ /
ήξει τι μέλος. (On hiatus and syllaba anceps in anapaestic systems,
made possible by a change of persons, cf. W. J. W. Koster, Traiti
de Mitnque grecque2, p. 162.) άλλ’— after ούδέν σθένομεν .... σοϋ
χωρίς—announces the sudden change when Ajax will appear;
μέγαν αίγυπιόν and εί σύ φανείης, by their placing, are brought
to bear upon each other with added significance.
δτε γάρ δή: "for of course now that they....’’
Ajax’ δμμα is as terrifying as the eye of the dove is timorous (140).
The whole sentence may be said to form a logical whole, if one
assumes that μέγαν αίγυπιδν depends on an unmentioned άποδράσαι.
It may, however, also be taken as the object of παταγοΰσιν, just as
θορυβή (164) has Ajax as its subject. For that θορυβή anticipates
the comparison with the chattering birds appears from Arist. H.A.
632 b, 16-18: (ό κδττυφος) έν μέν γάρ τφ θέρει δίδει, τοΰ δέ χειμώνος
παταγεΐ καί φθέγγεται θορυβώδες.
Image and reality are seen as a whole: the Greeks are the chat­
tering flocks of birds, Ajax is the αίγυπιδς (certainly not "vulture”,
but “lammergeyer” or possibly “bearded vulture'” (J. Maclair
Boraston, The Birds of Homer, J.H.S. 31,1911, p. 230 x)) or "falcon”
(W. M. Ramsay, Asianic Elements in Greek Civilisation p. 63 l)).

x) I am indebted to Dr. W. Kraak for the references.

 parodos, vss. 165-172 53

Cf. my paper Sophoolea III, Mnemosyne 1950, pp. 12-16 for a

detailed discussion of these words.
168. πτηνών άγέλαι: πτηνών άγέλας, Eur. Ion 106.
169. αίγυπιόν: the αίγυπιός which frightens the smaller birds
already in Homer: Od. XXII 302 (of Odysseus and the suitors).
(Cf. also II. XVI 583, 4, Od. XI 605, Aleman 15 D., and my paper
mentioned above.) It is possible that Soph, speaks of άγέλαι (in
Hom. always said of cattle or horses) just because in this Homeric
passage the words o£ S’ έφέβοντο κατά μέγαρον βόες ώς άγελαϊαι
precede.
169, 170. ύποδείσαντες: this in itself already means "to shrink
in fear from” and therefore anticipates πτηξειαν.
τάχ’ άν: with άν and the potential the meaning of τάχα tends to
become modal, = "perhaps", as usual in prose. Yet the meaning
"presently, readily enough” seems preferable.
With 11. 170-171 the poet had in his mind Ale. (?) inc. 10 L.-P.
ίπταζον ώστ’ βρνιθες ώκυν αιετον έξαπίνας φανέντα. Cf. Bacch. V
16 sqq. This seems to prove that έξαίφνης and εί σύ φανείης belong
together, which supports the temporal meaning of τάχα.
171. πτηξειαν: the passage in Od. XXII 304 runs: ταΐ μέν τ’ έν
πεδίω νέφεα πτώσσουσαι ίενται.
σιγή πτηξειαν άφωνοι: Pind. Pyth. IV 57 ίπταξαν άκίνητοι σιωπά.
So at the appearance of Ajax they will be as afraid as the sailors
themselves, now that bad rumours about Ajax are afloat.
Strophe 172-181 = Antistrophe 182-191; epode 192-200.
172. ή βά: Homeric combination, interrogative, cf. e.g. II. V 421;
Aesch. Pers. 633; Denniston, G.P., 284 III II.—Cf. the suppositions
of the Chorus Eur. Hipp. 141 sqq.
σε: The Chorus speak with their thoughts directed on Ajax,
ώ μεγάλα φάτις: the schol. rightly remarks: διά μέσου ή άναφώ-
νησις.
Ταυρυπόλα: As to the form, compound adjectives in poetry often
have three endings (K.-Bl. I, 540 δ). Eur. Ion 1478 Γοργοφόνα is
a good parallel; cf. also Hudson-Williams ad Theogn. 11, 'Αρτεμι
βηροφόνη.
The cult of Artemis Tauropolos was found in Halae Araphenides
(S.-E. coast of Attica), where the ξόανον, alleged to have been
imported from Tauri, was worshipped (Strabo IX 1.22, 399;
Call. H. Dian. 173; Eur. I.T. 1453).
But the connection with Tauri is probably a later construction

I
54 COMMENTARY

(possibly originally of Euripides; cf. v. Wilamowitz, Gl. d. H.l

181 n. i). Ταυροπόλος is to be derived from ταύρος. There are
coins showing her riding on a bull: Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Maced.
50 sqq. (Amphipolis), Thrace 118. The feast of the Tauropolia,
known from Hesychius, is repeatedly mentioned in Men. Epitr.
(cf. van Leeuwen ad 276; L. Deubner, Attische Feste p. 208 sq.).
According to Menander the festival was attended with a παννυχίς.
The cult of this Artemis seems to have been orgiastic. Timotheus
could invoke Artemis by the epithets θυιάδα, φοιβάδα, μαινάδα,
λυσσάδα (i D. = Plut. de superst. 10 p. 170 a, b). This Tauropolos,
whose name according to Ar. Lys. 447 was quite common in the
mouths of Attic women, is supposed to have brought the raging
madness upon Ajax. There is a remarkable communication by
Clearchus in Ath. VI 256 e on Macedonian princesses: μαγευόμεναι
καί μαγεύουσαι ταυροπόλοι καί τριοδίτιδες.... έγένοντο (cf. V.
Wilamowitz, Gl. d. Η. I 182 n. l). The Chorus think that Ajax may
be bewitched.
(On Artemis Tauropolos see also R. Reitzenstein, Epigramm und
Skolion, p. 216).
173. Φάτις: here personified as Fama (ci. Ant. 700).
174. ματερ αίσχύνας έμας: may be compared with Theognis 384
πενίην / μητέρ’ άμηχανίης, Aesch. Sept. 224 Πειθαρχία γάρ έστι της
Εύπραξίας μήτηρ. Dionys. Inc. 4 N.2 p. 794 ή γάρ τυραννίς άδικίας
μήτηρ έφυ.
Cf. Soph. Ο.Τ. 158 ώ χρυσέας τέκνον Έλπίδος, άμβροτε Φάμα.
175. πανδάμους έπΐ βοϋς άγελαίας: the same, but in other words,
as what was said in 54 and 145. πάνδημος, "quod est universi
populi” (E.).
176. If the reading of L A and other mss. (ή που) is correct,
three reasons are given in 176-177 for the anger of Artemis. The
difficulty is that it is hard to see the difference between the first
and the second reason. The reading ή που solves this difficulty,
ή που is used in affirmative (cf. 624, 850) as well as in interrogative
sentences ("I expect...?" Denniston: cf. e.g. II. XV 245, Eur.
Med. 1308, G.P., 286 I and II); our case occupies a more or less
intermediate position. The words ή .... χάριν suppose the general
reason for the anger of Artemis, while ή ρα ... εϊτ’ splits up this
general reason into two possibilities. For ή .... εϊτ’ cf. Eur. Ale.
114 sq. ή Λυκίαν είτ’ έφ’ έδρας άνύδρους .. (είτε ... ή Ι.Τ. 2“J2, El.
896, 7 etc., see Denniston, G.P., 507).
 PAEODos, vss. 173-179 SS

νίκας άκάρπωτον χάριν: χάριν is adverbial accusative "for the

sake of”, frequently used by Soph, άκάρπωτον logically belongs to
νίκας (“by which she did not profit”); the placing of the adj. with
χάριν may be compared with those cases in which it takes the poss.
pron. with it (Phil. 1413) and with Trach. 485 κείνου τε καί σήν έξ
ίσου κοινήν χάριν, and can only be understood if one keeps in mind
the idea of reciprocity which is implied in χάρις as well as in gratia.
(Ci. L. Gemet et A. Boulanger, Le genie grec dans la Religion, p. 45.)
177. κλυτών ένάρων: typically Homeric; κλυτά τεύχεα/Ζ. V 435.
178. ψευσθεϊσα: defrudata. The genit, sep. with this verb is normal,
άδώροις είτ’ έλαφαβολίαις: “or because of the slayings of stags
for which she received no gifts”. Causal dat. construed as parallel
to the partic. (ψευσθεϊσα) (Trach. 239, O.C. 333, see Jebb). Artemis
is called έλαφηβόλος Hymn. Hom. XXVII 2; cf. Call. Hymn. Dian.
260: μή τις άτιμήση τήν "Αρτεμιν (ουδέ γάρ Οίνεϊ / βωμόν άτιμάσσαντι
καλοί πόλνν ήλθον αγώνες ’)) /, μηδ’ έλαφηβολίην μηδ’ εύστοχίην
εριδαίνειν / ούδέ γάρ Άτρεΐδης όλίγω έπι κόμπασε μισθω. Compare
the reason mentioned by Electra for the anger of Artemis against
Agamemnon, Soph. El. 566-570 (on account of the boast of
Agamemnon). Jebb rightly points to the supposition of Dictynna’s
being wroth with Phaedra, Eur. Hipp. 147, άνίερος άθύτων πελάνων.
Cf. further II. I 64-67.
179. ή χαλκοθώραξ ή τιν’ Ένυάλιος: thus the MSS. The schol.
notes expressly: διαστέλλει τόν "Αρεα άπό τοϋ Ένυαλίου ώς έτερον
δαίμονα υπουργόν τοϋ μείζονος θεοΰ καί δήλον έκ των συνδέσμων ·
δηλοϋται γάρ ό "Αρης έκ τοϋ χαλκοθώραξ. Ares, denoted by χαλκεο-
θώραξ, is due to II. V 704 χάλκεος "Αρης. The reading ή is improbable
because with Soph, this particle always opens the clause, εϊ
(Elmsley) gives a clumsy construction, μή (Musgrave, Jebb) and
σοί (Reiske, Radermacher) make good sense but form too radical
a change.
It remains to consider the question whether Soph, can have
made this distinction. In Homer they are identical, while Ένυώ
accompanies Ares. Possibly Enyalios is the elder god; cf. for Myce­
naean evidence Documents p. 126. On the Cypselos-chest Enyalios
carries Aphrodite (Paus. V 18.5). Thue. IV 67 mentions a temple of
Enyalios in Megara. In Athens the polemarch offers sacrifices to
Enyalios (Arist. Άθ. Πολ. 58). The shouts of έλελεΰ are meant for

>) Cf. II. IX 534 sq.

 I

56 COMMENTARY

Enyalios (cf. v. Wilamowitz, Gl. d. Η., 1104,105). In Argos Vollgraff

has found a votive offering to Enyalios (το (Έ) νυ^αλίο ίαρά or τω
Ένυαλίω άρά, B.C.H. LVIII 1934 pp. 138 sqq.). There is no reason
to assume (on the evidence of I.G. N 2.343 C 42 sqq.: νεί τέν Δία τον
'Αρηα, vel τάν ’ Αβάναν τάν Άρείαν, νεί τέν Ίνυάλιον τέν Άρηα) that in
the oath of the Attic epheboi Pollux VIII106 one should divide thus:
Άγραυλος, Ένυάλιος “Αρης, Ζεύς, Θαλλώ, Αύξώ, 'Ηγεμονίη, as
Nilsson Gr, Rel., I 488 n. 3 does. Jebb (App. ad 179) rightly points to
Ar. Pax 456 sq. (Trygaeus): Έρμή 1 Χάρισιν I 'Ώραισιν 1 ’Αφροδίτη 1
ΠόθωΙ “Αρει δέ μή| (Χορ.) μήΙ (Tryg.) μηδ’ Ένυαλίω γε. In this
connection the schol. A ad II. XVII 211 deserves notice: ή διπλή
8τι επιθετικώς .. .. ό “Αρης Ένυάλιος . . . ούχ ώς οΐ νεότεροι Ένυοϋς
υίόν, ούδέ ώς ’Αττικοί (MS ούδέ άττικοί ώς) διαφέροντα τοϋ “Αρεως
θεόν τινα. All these considerations seem to us sufficient to maintain
the reading of the MSS. It should be noted that on Salamis there
was a Ιερόν of Enyalios (Plut. Sol. 9); for the connection with Ar­
temis cf. Arist. Άθ. Πολ. 58 ό δέ πολέμαρχος θύει μέν θυσίας τήν
τε τη Άρτέμιδι τη άγροτέρα καί τω Ένυαλίω. See L. Deubner,
Atlische Feste, p. 209, and for Enyalios on Salamis id. ib. p. 218 sq.
180. μομφάν έχων: cf. Eur. Or. 1069 έν μέν πρώτά σοι μομφήν έχω;
Phoen. 773·, μέμψιν έχων, Aesch. Prom. 445- Cf. further II. I 65:
εϊτ* άρ’ 8 γ’ εύχωλής έπιμέμφεται είθ’ έκατόμβης.
ξυνοϋ δορές: The rare places in tragedy where ξυνός occurs
(epic and Ionic word, also found in Pind.; perhaps archaic rather
than Ionic) are listed by Groeneboom ad Aesch. Sept. 77 (in Soph,
perhaps only O.C. 1752). ξυνέν δόρυ = "alliance” (σύναιχμος is
explained by lexicographers with σύμμαχος). The objective geni­
tive therefore expresses: (by reason of the attitude of Ajax) for
assistance rendered in combat. The motives of Ares, therefore,
are similar to those of Artemis. The suppositions made by the Chorus
are in accordance with the messenger’s report on Ajax, infra 762-777.
180, 181. έννυχίοις / μαχαναϊς: cf. 1036, 37 μηχαναν = "to plan
cunningly”.
έτείσατο λώβαν: τ. λώβαν = “to avenge an insult”, common in
Homer, just as λώβην τεΐσαι. λώβη, contumelia, also infra 561, 1392.
182-184. οδποτε.... πίτνων: correctly explained by the schol.:
ού γάρ έπί τοσοΰτον άφρων εΐ ώς άνευ αίτιας θεών έμπεσεΐν τοΐς ποιμνίοις.
τόσσον undoubtedly goes with έβας.
182. φρενόθεν: a "late” scholion, quoted by Ellendt, says:
ήγουν οίκοθεν, άπέ οικείας γνώσεως.
 pakodos, vss. 180-188 57

γ’ is clearly limitative and thus introduces ήχοι.... νόσος,

έπ’ άριστερά: άριστερός, left, in Homer also boding evil, there­
fore: "the wrong way”, δεξιός and σκαιός, δεξιότης and σκαιότης
mean in the 5th cent. (Pind. Hdt.), respectively: able, dexterous;
awkward, clumsy, (Fr. “gauche”); ability (connected with σοφίη
Hdt. VHI 124, opposite of άμαθία Thue. Ill 37.3); awkwardness,
ignorance etc. (combined with άγνωμοσύνη Hdt. VII 9.2, with
άμαθία Pl. Resj>. Ill 411 e).
οδποτε .... έβας τόσσον: Jebb, by translating "Never of thine
own heart ... wouldst thou have gone so far astray” avoids the
little problem which οδποτε offers: its force is something like:
"on no account” (cf. nunquam). That the Chorus should mean
"never < yet > have you gone so far astray as to ...” is of course
out of the question.
184. έν ποίμναις πίτνων: the partic. (where ώστε πίτνειν might
be expected) may be explained by comparing τόσσον έπ’ αριστερά
βαίνειν with τολμάν or ύπομένειν (see e.g. El. 943 τλήναί σε δρώσαν
άν εγώ παραινέσω). For έν ποίμναις πίτνειν cf. Ant. 782 "Ερως, δς
έν κτήμασι πίπτεις (κτήμασι has here the meaning of κτήνεσι, cf.
Coral, "Ατακτα pp. 260 sq., H. Pemot, Lefond’ ouverture, 1913, p. 29).
184, 185. ήχοι γάρ άν θεία νόσος: Just as the preceding οδποτε γάρ
explains the strophe in a negative sense, these words do so positively;
the two words γάρ are exactly parallel. There is no question of a
causal sentence introduced by γάρ, nor is the sentence given in
parenthesis (cf. G.P., 64 (6) and the examples quoted there).
θεία νόσος: cf. 279 θεού / πληγή, similarly with ήκειν as predicate.
Full emphasis falls on θεία (= έκ θεοϋ) and also on ήχοι (ήκειν is
here equivalent to ingruere and probably perfective). “For the
possibility exists that he may have been stricken with a disease
from some deity”. Cf. 611 θεία μανία ξύναυλος; Phil. 192 θεία γάρ,
.... καί τά παθήματα κείνα προς αύτόν .... έπέβη, ....
185, 186. άλλ’ .... φάτιν: These words hardly form a logical
whole with what precedes; they are to be explained from the dis­
position of the Chorus. For they do admit that a θεία νόσος may have
fallen on him, it is true, but they can hardly believe it and therefore
desire Zeus and Apollo to ward off, not the νόσος, but the φάτις of
the Greeks, δ’ in 187 therefore = "and”, not "but”.
187, 188. ύποβαλλόμενοι / κλέπτουσι μύθους: κλέπτειν stands with
many objects with the meaning "to do secretly”; thus κλέπτειν
μύθους "to speak cunning words” (cf. e.g. Phil. 57). ύποβάλλεσθαι
58 COMMENTARY

has probably pretty much the same meaning: ύποβλήτως λέγειν

(Suid. and schol.); ύποβάλλειν means in Pl. Gorg. 491 a "to suggest”,
ύπο- in our place has the well-known "unfavourable” meaning;
Lys. XIII 25 has ύπο- in ύποβάλλειν, "to suggest”, in the same sense,
ύποβάλλεσβαι med. stands in Ar. Thesm. 564 for: "to appropriate
the child of another”, but this does not explain the medium in
our case, nor is there any question of any metaphor (as Jebb will
have it). The med. used here should rather be taken as a "real one”
(or perhaps "causative”: "causing slander to be spread about at
the cost of Ajax”), ύπόβλητος supposititious, spurious, stands per
metaphoram, infra 481.
189. ή τας ασώτου Σισυφιδάν γενεάς: From οί μεγάλοι βασιλής —
the Atreidai—something like ό βασιλεύς (or οί βασιλής as general
pi.) is to be deduced. (E. Nachmansson, Partitives Subfekt im Grie-
chischen, Goteb. Hogsk. Arsskr. 48, 2, 1942, pp. 21, 22 takes the
genit, as a gen. partit, with the function of a subject. I think it
hardly possible 2). It is, perhaps, possible to take the genit, with
μύθους,, thus: — ή μύθους originated with the άσωτος Σ. γ. =
Odysseus —.) Of course, Odysseus is meant.
άσωτου: άσωτος = perditus, Aesch. Ag. 1597. (τούς άκρατεϊς καί
είς άκολασίαν δαπανηρούς άσωτους καλοϋμεν Arist. Eth. N. 4 ·1 ·
ΙΙΙ9 b.) It was said that Anticleia, the mother of Od., was with
child by the inveterate rascal Sisyphus before she married Laertes.
It is even added that Autolycus, another rascal, had abetted Si­
syphus in order to propitiate him when he discovered that Auto­
lycus had stolen his cattle. The character of Sisyphus has often
been treated by the tragic poets: Satyr play by Aesch. (N.2 p. 74),
Soph. (N.2 p. 251 = II p. 184 P.), Eur. (N.2 p. 572), Kritias (N.2
p. 771 sq.). Odysseus is often called the son of Sisyphus: Aesch.
(Jr. 175), Soph. (fr. 142 N.2 = 567 P.), Eur. Cycl. 102 sqq. See
van Leeuwen ad Ar. Ach. 391.
190. The great difficulty in this line is μ*. All the MSS have
μή μή μ' άναξ έθ’. μ’ cannot be taken as an acc. and the reading μοι
is generally rejected because elision of -ot in the 5th cent, is rare,
μοι, σοι and τοι are sometimes elided in Homer (K.-Bl. I, 239,
v. Leeuwen Ench. D.E.2 79). According to K.-Bl. ib., elision of -01
only occurs with οίμοι before ω (cf. infra 354, 587). Eur. Med. yj,
I.A. 491, Ba. 820 offer no reliable examples. Nevertheless Koster

*) I am indebted to Prof. W. J. Verdenius for the reference.

 parodos, vss. 189-194 59

(Traitp p. 46) does not deny the possibility of this elision. In defence
of μ(οι) it may perhaps be argued that μ(οι) has here the same
function as in οΐμοι, i.e. that of an ethical dat.; the meaning of
μ (01) is practically negligible. Moreover, the whole song of the
Chorus has a strong Homeric colouring. The hiatus after άνα, 1.192,
is defended by referring to II. IX 247: άλλ’ άνα, εΐ μεμονάς γε.
Furthermore a licentia antistrophica has to be accepted (ξϋν-----
έθ’), which need not surprise us in this place of an iambelegus, while
it is moreover not at all certain that Soph, used ξυνός with 0, since
the ΰ may have been subject to correptio attica. The schol. ad 191
says emphatically: τό πλήρες μή μή μοι.
έφάλοις κλισίαις: local dat. and general plur. (cf. II. XII l).
191. 8μμ’ όχων: δμμα stands for “countenance”, as infra 462
καί ποιον δμμα πατρί δηλώσω φανείς, δχων with the locat, some­
thing like: “keeping hidden in”.
άρη: just as supra 129 from αϊρεσθαι: "do not burden yourself
with an evil name”. The a is long, as seen from λώβαν ιδι.
192. άνα: = άνάστηθι, Homeric use, cf. II. VI 331, IX 247
(with hiatus, vide supra), Od. XVIII13. But see also infra ad 193sq.
(Cf. Groeneboom ad Aesch. Cho. p. 262 n. 8).
έξ έδράνων: almost exclusively in the pi. (cf. Groeneboom ad
Aesch. Pers. 4 p. 73 n. 14, to which may be added O.C. 176); here
(as O.C. l.c) "the place where you sit” (f'Adsignificatur sessio et
mora” E.).
193. 4. ποτέ: of course to be taken with όπου.
στηρίζη: The form στηρίζει (MSS) is as the 2nd p. ind. pres. med.
hardly acceptable for the 5th cent. Reading this one should take it
as the 3rd p. and intransitive (as e.g. Thue. II 49.3 οπότε ές την
καρδίαν στηρίξειε); άνα must then be taken as άναστήτω.
As here στηρίζειν = "to set fast” or (intr.) "to be firmly fixed"
is also used by Homer with a local dat. (II. XVI in).
μακραίωνι: conspicuously placed it expresses the impatience of
the sailors (μακραίων δέ αύτοϊς δοκεϊ διά την εύνοιαν). This μακραίων
σχολή had begun, we should suppose, after the όπλων κρίσις.
ταδ’ άγωνίω σχολά: It is impossible to take these words in the
sense of otium negotiosum to indicate that Ajax in his σχολή had
been busily employed in slaughtering the cattle, for the Chorus do
not believe this. The schol. ad 194 explains: τόν αγώνα έμποιοϋντί
σοι, i.e. while Ajax rests, his foes seize the opportunity to let him
run all sorts of risks. But it seems unlikely that so much should
60 COMMENTARY

be contained in these words. Perhaps they only imply a “keeping

far from the battle”, (or even a state of idleness after the struggle,
i.e. after the δπλων κρίσις — cf. 934 sq.: δπλων έκειτ’ άγων πέρι,
cf. 1240). Or is it admissible to hear in άγώνιος the mental agony ?
Cf. άγωνιώντα καί τεθορυβημένον, Pl. Lys. 210 e, and άγωνία Dem.
XVIII 33 and in Arist.
195. άταν ουρανίαν φλέγων: άτα is the ruin which Ajax brings
upon himself by keeping his face hidden. This ruin is represented as
a blaze reaching up to heaven (ουρανίαν, cf. Ant. 418). φλέγων is
trans., as infra 714. Similarly, the δβρις of his foes (in the following
lines) is seen as a fire (cf. Heracl. fr. 43 D., and Hdt. V 77 έσβεσαν
ύβριν in the votive inscription).
196, 197. έχθρών .... βάσσαις: A schol. ad 198 rightly observes:
λείπει < ώς πϋρ >, ώς πϋρ έν εύανέμοις βήσσαις. Sophocles had in his
mind: II. XV 605, 6 μαίνετο δ’, ώς δτ’ "Αρης έγχέσπαλος ή όλοόν πϋρ /
οδρεσι μαίνηται βαθέης έν τάρφεσιν ΰλης and II. XIV 39^, 7 οΰτε
πυρός τόσσος γε πέλει βρόμος αίθομένοιο / οδρεος έν βήσσης, δτε
τ’ ώρετο καιέμεν ΰλην. On the όρμασθαι of the fire cf. II. XVII
737· ® ήύτε πϋρ, τό τ’ έπεσσύμενον πδλιν άνδρών / δρμενον έξαίφνης
φλεγέθει (though δρνυμι and όρμάω are probably not etymologically
related).
The comparison with fire is implied; the connection with what
precedes is established by ώδε (sc. ώστε άταν ούρανίαν φλέγεσθαι).
εύανέμοις βάσσαις: as πτύχας ήνεμοέσσας, Od. XIX 432; χώρω έν
εΰαέι, Hes. Op. 599·
(It is not certain whether the a of εύανέμοις is long or short.
The meaning of the word is not sufficiently bome out by fr. 342 N.2
= 371 P. (εύανέμου λίμνας), while the context of Eur. Andr. 749
would seem to require the meaning "sheltered from the winds”.
But the idea that the δβρις may have its course in "glens sheltered
from the winds” is frigid. It seems better to take Andr. 749, as also
Lucian, άποκηρ. 27 εύήνεμος as: “where the winds are favourable"
or "can do no harm": cf. Eur. fr. 316, 2 N.2 (Danae) καλόν δέ πόντου
χεΰμ’ ίδεϊν εύήνεμον.)
άτάρβητα: adverb to a verb of motion, as O.T. 883, O.C. 1696,
Eur. Ion 717 λαιψηρά πηδά:.
198. καχαζόντων: Hesych.: κακχάζει· άτάκτως γέλα, ασμένως,
άθρόως. Lat.: cachinnari, καγχαζόντων is the best transmission,
but in At. Eccl. 849 the trimeter requires καχάζειν. Ichn. 348 D.
runs: δπως θέλεις κά]χαζε καί τέρπου φρένα. This is of course no
 parodos, vss. 195-200 61

absolute evidence for the form καχαζόντων. (Cf. Pl. Euthyd. 300 d.)
199. βαρυάλγητα: only here. Cogn. acc. to καχαζόντων: "which
causes us sore grief", (άλγέω = "to suffer pain”, so *άλγητος
"that for which one suffers pain”), βαρέα καί άλγεινά (schol.).
200. έστακεν: with similar meaning the aor., infra 950.
Similarly, Hom. II. XI 658: πένθεος, δσσον δρωρε κατά στρατόν;
άχος γένετο XII 392 etc.
Sense and metre coincide.

First Epeisodlon, vss. 201-595

First κομμός. 201-262. Tecmessa and Chorus.

On κομμός cf. E. Diehl in R.E. XI 1, 1195-1207.
The spectators know by this time that Ajax had left his hut at
night to take vengeance on the Atreidae and Odysseus; that he
was struck with frenzy by Athena, rushed upon the cattle, butchered
a number of oxen and sheep, and carried some of them to his hut.
As far as the spectator knows, Ajax is still mad. The Chorus have
learned of the onslaught on the cattle etc., and that Ajax is charged
with the deed; but they cannot believe it. The Chorus think that
Ajax has remained in his hut. Tecmessa now comes forth. She
knows that Ajax has been out that night and has brought some
cattle back with him. She is aware also of his madness, but she
does not know of the charge against Ajax or whence the cattle
have come.
201. ναός άρωγοί; "you who serve on ...." cf. 357. ναϋς may be
the fleet, as δόρυ, Eur. 2.Γ. 1326. According to the Iliad (II 557)
Ajax came to Ilium with twelve ships.
202. γενεάς χθονίων άπ’ Έρεχθειδάν: “belonging to the race
that springs from....” Cf. fr. ad. 274 N.a: (Hesych.) χθονίους Ίνα-
χίδας· αύτόχθονας καί οόκ έπήλυδας. Cf. ν. Wilamowitz, Gl.d.H.,
I 211 n. 2.
It is in the myth of Erechtheus (originally not distinguished
from Erichthonius), son of Gaia, that the Athenians have symbo­
lized their autochthonous claim. That the Salaminian sailors are
thus called is, of course, due to the patriotic pride which laid claim
to the possession of Salamis already in heroic times. The schol.
ad 202, rightly: διά τό τήν Σαλαμίνα συνήφθαι τή ’Αττική καί περισπού-
δαστον τοΐς ’Αθηναίοις αύτήν κτήσασθαι · πρός εύνοιαν ουν των άκροω-
62 COMMENTARY

μενών τοϋτό φησιν. Such a verse doubtless wanned the hearts

of the spectators.
204. τοϋ Τελαμώνος τηλόθεν οϊκου: "the house of Telamon far
from here”. With the first plur. Tecmessa at once makes the Chorus
share in the affliction.
205. δεινός μέγας ώμοκρατης: Tecmessa's description bears
testimony to the dreadful awe she feels for her lord, ώμοκρατης,
“of grim might”; as ώμοδακής in Aesch. Sept. 692 = "with grim
bite”. Ajax is called ώμόθυμος infra 885, ώμόφρων 930; cf. 548.
Cf. Kamerbeek, Studien over Sophocles, diss. Utrecht 1934, p. 105.
206. 207. θολερω: prop, “muddy” (of water, rivers etc. opp.
καθαρός). The full richness of the image, Aesch. Prom. 88g (Io)
θολεροί δέ λόγοι πταίουσ’ είκή / στυγνής πρός κύμασιν άτης. Cf. Eur.
Ale. 1067, θολοί δέ καρδίαν (and Ar. Vesp. 696, ώς μου τόν θϊνα
ταράττεις). Connected with χειμώνι, = "confusing”, “turbid” (cf.
turbidus).
χειμώνι; χειμών stands fig. for "strife” in Ant. 670. χειμών καί
κακών τρικυμία Aesch. Prom. 1015. χειμάζω = "to distress”, Aesch.
fr. 99, 15 NA Phil. 1193-95 οδτοι νεμεσητόν άλύοντα χειμερίω λύπα
καί παρά νοϋν θροεϊν. In a similar way, infra 351-3, ϊδεσθέ μ’ οΐον
άρτι κϋμα φοινίας ύπό ζάλης άμφίδρομον κυκλεϊται. From this it
appears that the rendering of the schol. ad 206 (έν ταραχώδει ζάλη
κεϊται) is not quite correct; χειμώνι is dat. causae, not locativus;
ζάλη is all but the same as χειμών. (Cf. Aesch. Ag. 656; Hes. s.v.
ζάλη · συστροφή άνέμων μεγάλων · ένιοι δέ μετά όμβρου πνοή.)
208, 209. τί δ’ . .. . βάρος: apart from της άμερίας the rest is
well rendered by Triclinius: τίνα βαρεϊαν εναλλαγήν ένήλλακται.
The middle is sufficiently warranted by the frequent use of the med.
άλλάττομαι. The construction άλλάττειν or άλλάττεσθαί τί τίνος is
normal. Accordingly the meaning of ή άμερία is, "the condition
of the day” (i.e. of the day preceding this night), βάρος may suggest
some such addition as μοίρας, καταστάσεως. From a logical point
of view the addition ώρας is hardly satisfactory. The conjecture
of Thiersch, adopted by Pearson, has the merit of being simple
and natural while continuing the image of χειμώνι; but is the word
ηρεμία as spoken by the Chorus compatible with what is said in
11. 928-932? The same applies to Hermann’s εύμαρίας.
210. Τελλεύταντος: there seems to be little objection to fol­
lowing the traditional reading (where the second λ denotes length
by position cf. 331). λ in non-epic poetry seldom or never lengthens
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 204-216 63

the syllable, but we may surely ask whether such a thing cannot be
tolerated in the anapaests of Sophocles. (The licence used by Aesch.
Sept. 488 is quite another thing.) If λλ is rejected, it becomes neces­
sary to insert with Porson σύ, or to read Φρυγίοιο (Jaeger, Rader -
macher; but we have not a single genit, of this form in Soph.: Berl.
Kl. T. V 2, 64 (= Page LPP 3) probably belongs to Eur.’ Telephus).
211. 212. σε λέχος δουριάλωτον / στέρξας άνέχει: cf. Eur. Hec.
121: της μαντιπόλου Βάκχης άνέχων / λέκτρ’ ’Αγαμέμνων. Erroneously
a schol. ad 211: παρέλκεται ή άνά. Correctly schol. ad 212: άνέχει:
άνυψοΐ, τιμά, άνέχειν = “to hold up”, “to hold in honour”. Cf.
Pind. Pyth. II 88 sq.: χρή δέ πρός θεόν ούκ έρίζειν, δς άνέχει τοτέ
μέν τά κείνων, τότ’ αύθ’ έτέροις έδωκεν μέγα κϋδος.
λέχος δουριάλωτον: λέχος stands for άλοχος, as Traeh. 360, εύνή
Eur. Andr. 907. In apposition to σε (not separate object to στέρξας).
212. θούριος: "impetuous”. Homer only θοϋρος; Aesch. has both
forms (Groeneb. ad Prom. 354); with Soph, only in Ajax (613 Ares,
1213 Ajax).
213. άϊδρις: Homeric adj. Also infra 911 the second syll. is long
by position (different in O.C. 548).
ύπείποις: though the meaning "to suggest” (like ύποτίθεσβαι, cf.
Eur. Suppl. 1171) or "to hint”, "to give a clue” (L.-Sc.) is quite
possible, "to answer" would perhaps be better (cf. ύποκρίνεσβαι;
ύπαγορεύειν = "to answer” occurs later).
214. άρρητον: nefandum, as El. 203.
215. θανάτω .... έκπεύση: the word has an ominous connotation
and depicts the fate of Ajax better than Tecmessa can suspect;
there is a tragical irony in it. πάθος is not only "calamity”, but that
which Ajax "πέπονθε”, as is borne out by the passive forms in the
next line. Cf. the answer of the Chorus 228 sqq.
216. ήμίν: The dat. with short 1 in Homer, some lyrical poets,
Ar. and Soph.; rarely with Aesch. and Eur. Only the metre decides
the question. It is not certain whether in such cases the writing is
ήμιν (as advocated by Ellendt2 p. 192, K.-B. I, 339 anm. 2). The
grammarians know of this internal inclinatio, cf. K.-B. l.c. The
traditional writing is often ήμ'ιν but this is of course not reliable.
The forms with ϊ may be secondary (Chantraine, Morph, hist, du
grec, p. 144). Ellendt enumerates 26 cases in Soph, where 1 is cer­
tainly short.
On γάρ in two successive clauses, cf. supra 183, 185. Here γάρ is
each time explanatory of the preceding sentence. There is a striking
64 COMMENTARY

rhythmical parallelism between 11. 2r5, 216. (Cf. E. M. Fraenkel-

Nieuwstraten, Correspondecrende Woordpositie in het Vers, diss.
Utrecht 1946, p. 38. 6·.) θανάτω .... μανία, parallel to each other,
are symbolic of the contents of the play.
ό κλεινός: pathetic after μανία άλούς.
217. νύκτερος: adj. for adv. in the manner frequent since Homer;
it is evident that νύκτερος, referring to Ajax and placed between
i> κλεινός and Αίας, is much more impressive than νύκτωρ (K.-G.
I. 273. 274 b.).
άπελωβήθη: άπολωβάω only here: "to dishonour”. The active
λωβάω is very rare; άρτάναισι λωβαται βίον “brings her life to a
shameful end by a halter” (L.-Sc.), Ant. 54. More literal sense, Track.
r03t. άγωγ’ έξελωβήθην, Phil. 330: "the disgrace I met with”,
άπελωβήθη: “was dishonoured”, "disgraced himself”, (άπο-denotes
that he got into the condition of a λωβητός, cf. άποδείκνυμι etc.;
Brugmann-Thumb, p. 500.)
218. τοιαϋτ’: confirming her statement of 2T6-2T7.
219. χειροδάικτα: probably coined by Soph. (cf. χειρόδεικτος
Ό.Τ. 902; χειροποίητος—Hdt. cf. χειροποιεΐται Trach. 891—has
become usual). Similarly αίμοβαφή.
220. χρηστήρια: σφάγια καί χρηστήρια, Aesch. Sept. 230. χρηστή-
ριον = “sacrificial animal slaughtered before consulting an oracle”,
as clearly appears from Eur. Ion 4T9 (cf. my note ad Eur. Andr.
IIT2). Groeneboom ad Sept. 230 (p. 127, n. 314) therefore rightly
says that χρηστήρια denotes "sacrifices which are ominous of the
future”. The emphatic genit, κείνου.. . τάνδρός (which may be
subj. or obj.) also points in this direction. Radermacher is certainly
wrong when he explains: "σφάγια, deren Schicksal sich durch diesen
Mann vollzogen hat”; especially in view of the sacramental meaning
of σφάγια (Xen. An. I 8.15).
221. 222. οίαν έδήλωσας.... αγγελίαν: οίαν is used predica-
tively; the words of Tecmessa have clarified the αγγελία about Ajax
so that the true purport now appears, (άνδρός is gen. as with περί:
cf. σου infra 998, Ant. rr.) The choice between αΐθοπος and αίθονος
is difficult. Both are supported by MS and other authority, αίθων by
Eustath. 1072, 6 αίθων άνήρ παρά Σοφ., id. 862, ro φέρεται αίθων βοϋς
καί σίδηρός καί άνθρωπος καί λέων· αίθοψ δέ ούδείς αύτών λέγοιτ’
άν, άλλα τούνομα οϊνφ μέλανι επιτίθεται. However, Hes. Op. 363
says: αίθοπα λιμόν (preserved by Rzach and v. Wilam., but
changed into αϊθονα by Bergk and Mazon, for in the epigram
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 217-226 65

Aeschin. III 184 we read: λιμόν τ’ αίθωνα (cf. Plut. Cim. 7, simi­
larly Callim. Η. VI 67 λιμόν / αίθωνα, while schol. Lycophr. 1396
says: Έρυσίχθων Αϊθων εκαλείτο, ώς 'Ησίοδός φησι, διά τόν λιμόν;
cf. Hellanic. apud Ath. X 416 b (cf. v. Wilam. Hellenistische D.
II 39)). Furthermore Timoth. Pers. 223 has αίθοπι μώμω (cf. Agath.
A.P. V217. ιοαίθοπα βασκανίην). Hesych. writes αίθοπος- διάπυρου,
Suidas αίθων ό βίαιος λιμός.
From this we may conclude that αϊθοψ and αίθων were felt to
be synonymous. (Jebb is wrong when he states that αίθοψ can only
refer to complexion; an ending like -οψ loses its original meaning.)
An argument against αίθονος is the occurrence of o instead of ω,
as found as a rule elsewhere (vide supra 147 *)). That Ajax is called
by Menelaus αϊθων ύβριστης (io88) is no reason for not reading αϊθο-
πος here. “Heated” with passion—schol. (and likewise Suidas) ex­
plains θερμού έν ταϊς μάχαις- ή τό θερμόν νΰν έπϊ τοΰ παρακεκινηκότος
κείσθω—makes good sense. Of course, the 0 of αίθονος may be
explained by adducing analogies, but νήφοσι in Theogn. 481, 627
is hardly a case in point, cf. K.-Bl. I, 281 anm. 1. Then there are
the cases summed up ib. 511 anm.i; they are of greater value, but
even here the question in a word like πρηών is more complicated than
it seems. Αϊσων is the only form that remains. It seems better,
therefore, to say that a form like αίθονος must be explained on the
analogy of the ordinary adj. in -ων. αϊθων λήμα, Aesch. Sept. 448;
cf. Eur. Rhes. 122. See now K. J. Me Kay, Studies inAithon I and II,
Mnemosyne 1959, 198-203 and i960, 16-22.
224. άτλατον: cf. O.T. 792 γένος δ’ /άτλητον άνθρώποισι δηλώσοιμ’ όραν.
ούδέ φευκτάν: "and from which there is yet no escape”.
225. τών μεγάλων Δαναών: the chiefs, esp. the Atreidae and
Odysseus; cf. 187.
The reading φευκτάν (without a comma) and ύποκληζομεναν is
quite possible (as is indeed found in most MSS, although this is
not conclusive), ύποκλήζειν is then identical with ύποβαλλόμενοι
κλέπτουσι (187), Δαναών gen. subj. (κλήζειν Track. 659, with about
the same meaning as here.)
226. ό μέγας μϋθος: cf. μεγάλα Φάτις 173—the rumour among the
Greeks spread by the chiefs, άέξειν: “to increase”, “foster”. (Cp.
viris acquirit eundo, mensura ficti crescit.)

x) Cf. αίθωνι Κλέωνι, Hermippus 46. 7. K.

Kauerbeek 5
66 COMMENTARY

227. τό προσέρπον: Aesch. Prom. 127 παν μοι φοβερόν τό προσέρ-

πον, ib. 272 τάς προσερπούσας τύχας. Though it is true that in
tragedy έρπειν is often synonymous with ίέναι (cf. e.g. El. 900)
so that τό προσέρπον becomes "what is going to happen”, it still
often carries a suggestion of danger and alarm. Cf. O.T. 539
τοόργον .... δόλω προσέρπον; of the sickness of Philoctetes (787)
προσέρπει, προσέρχεται τόδ’ εγγύς. Of imminent punishment infra
1255 (with τό φάρμακον as subject).
228. περίφαντος: cf. supra 66 περιφανής, 8l περιφανώς, infra 599
περίφαντος.
Predicative adj. instead of an adv. (K.-G. I, 275); with which
may be compared personal constructions such as δήλός είμι a.o.
(φανερός έστιν ό άνήρ θανούμενος).
229. θανεϊται: cf. 215. Here, too, there is dramatic irony. The
Chorus do not, of course, think of suicide: θανεϊσθαι also = fut.
pass, of άποκτείνειν.
παραπλήκτω: τη μανική (schol.). The usual adj. is παραπλήξ.
Cf. Eur. Her. 935 γέλωτι παραπεπληγμένω; also παραπλάζω already
in Od. XX 346.
230. συγκατακτάς: cf. ad 123. The Homeric aor. also Trach. 38.
συν- has similar force as in συγχέω (or in συνέλεν II. XVI 740).
συγκατακτείνειν, "to help to murder”, in Eur. Or. 1089.
231. κελαινοΐς: This reminds one of μελάνδετος, II. XV 713
(cf. Aesch. Sept. 43 with schol. M). Pind. Nem. X 84 says: κελαινεγ-
χεϊ τ’ “Αρει, cf. Trach. 856 κελαινά λόγχα; ξίφος κελαινόν Eur. Βα.
628, Hei. 1656, Or. 1472. Dodds observes ad Ba. 628 that "the pri­
mary reference is presumably to the colour of the metal (μέλας
σίδηρος Hes. Op. 151), but both words have also the sinister asso­
ciations of Lat. "ater"...." Bloodstains are probably not to be
thought of. (These are suggested-—if the restoration of the text is
correct—at Eur. Oincus Hibeh Pap. I 21 sqq. = v. Arnim S.E.
39, 4, x: λαμπρόν σί]δηρον μ[έλανι βάψαν]τες φόνω.)
ξίφεσιν is a striking instance of pluralis poeticus.
βοτά: cf. 145·
232. βοτηρας: cf. 27 αΰτοϊς ποιμνίων έπιστάταις. In 297 the
shepherds’ dogs are called κύνες βοτηρες.
ίππονώμας: cf. Eur. Hipp. 1399, Ar. Nub. 571: the passages on
which this reading (Porson’s) is based (Adv. p. 186). Transl. “driving
horses”. The shepherds are on horseback, unless the word is used
catachrestically for "horse-feeding” (cf. comm, ad 143).
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 227-238 67

233. κεϊθεν κεΐθεν: purely local sense.

ήμΐν: either plur. modestiae, or Eurysaces has to be taken into
account.
άρ’: cf. the sober but correct remark of the schol.: ώς οικου­
ρούσα τά έξω ή Τέκμησσα ήγνόει · δει ούν τον μεν χορον τά ένδον άπ’
αύτης γνώναι την δέ άπδ τοΰ χοροϋ τά έξω.
234. δεσμώτιν: cf. 105.
ήλυθε: this epic form only here in Soph.; rather frequent in
Eur.; cf. Denniston ad Eur. El. 168.
235-244. Tecmessa relates what she has seen without having
understood the background of the sinister happenings. It is there­
fore wrong to object that the representation of the facts does not
in every respect tally with what was said in 11. ioo-iii.
It is certainly difficult to make out whether one has to read in 1.
235 (with Tricl.) τά μέν είσω (so Brunck and Pearson) or την μέν έσω
(MSS, Jebb, al.). To expunge 236 on account of the slight error
τάς δέ (as Radermacher does) would be wrong. Seeing that την
μέν — τά δέ is lectio difficilior (τάς δέ may be due to την μέν being
taken as a real singularis and not as a collective idea), this seems
preferable.
235. ών την μέν: ών because ποίμναν is a collective noun, τήν μέν
also collective: “one part”.
έσω: within the hut.
σφάζ’: in the proper sense, = “to cut the throat”,
επί γαίας: while standing on the ground.
236. τά δέ . . . . άνερρήγνυ: best to be taken διά μέσου,
άνερρήγνυ: “to rip up”, as lions do (II. XVIII 582).
πλευροκοπών: κατά των πλευρών τύπτων, probably coined by
Sophocles.
237. δύο δ’: If one reads 236 διά μέσου, δύο δ’ is contrasted
with την μέν. Of these δύο one is certainly Odysseus; the other is
uncertain. According to 1. 57, Ajax believes that he had already
killed the Atreidae when attacking the cattle. He comes out with
a scourge in his hand intending to flog Odysseus, which, according
to T., he had already done (299). The Schol. makes conjectures
(e.g. Nestor: ad 238 τοΰ μέν κεφαλήν καί γλώσσαν: ίσως τούτον
ένόμιζε Νέστορα ώς ψευδομαρτυρήσαντα κατ’ αύτοΰ).
237. άνελών: άναιρέω here lit. “to lift up”.
238. Cutting out the tongue (γλώσσαν άκραν, the point of the
tongue) is customary in the case of animals slain for sacrifice, but
63 COMMENTARY

there may be an element of truth in the schol. ad 238 (vide supra}.

It would be necessary to know whether the Ilias Parva makes
mention of evidence given by Nestor against Ajax. In Ovid. {Met.
XIII 63 sqq.) one of the arguments of Ajax against Odysseus is
that the latter has failed Nestor.
239. ριπτεϊ: form supported by MSS and by E.M. p. 463, 56
ρίπτω, άττικόν ή ποιητικόν. It is doubtful if this form has special
intensive force.
θερίσας: "to cut off” (cf. Aesch. Suppl. byj, “to mow down’·’).
241. ίπποδέτην ρυτηρα: ίπποδέτης and ρυτηρα are both nothing
but nomina agentis for “rein” (ρυτηρες = “reins” already in II.
XVI 475). Ajax makes himself a "double lash” by holding the
rein in a strap.
242. λιγυρά: of the lash, already in II. XI 532.
διπλή: heightens the pathos, as O.T. 809. Cf. also van Leeuwen
ad Ar. Av. 1463 sq.
243. δεννάζων: Hesych.: λοιδορών; cf. Ant. 759 (with personal
object). Schol.: βλάσφημων· περιστέλλει δέ καλώς τόν λόγον φάσκου-
σα τά ρήματα μή είναι τοϋ Αϊαντος άλλα θεών τίνος ύποβολή.
δεννάζειν also Theogn. 1211, Eur. Rhes. 925. δέννος Hdt. IX 107.
243, 244. δαίμων / κούδείς άνδρών: cf. Aesch. Ag. 663 θεός τις,
ούκ άνθρωπος; Ο.Τ. 1258 sq. λυσσώντι δ’ αΰτφ δαιμόνων δείκνυσί τις · /
ούδείς γάρ άνδρών, οΐ παρήμεν έγγύθεν.
245. The Chorus, which consist of common men, draw from
the condition of Ajax with genuine Greek directness the conclusion
which, with a view to their safety, is most evident. Cf. the reaction
of the Chorus, 900 sqq.
ώρα: The use of ώρα (= καιρός) here the same as O.T. 466
ώρα viv . .. . φυγα πόδα νωμαν. Cf. Eur. Heracl. 288.
τιν’: Schol. rightly observes: άντΐ τοϋ έκαστον ημών.
245, 246. κάρα καλύμμασι / κρυψάμενον: The head was veiled
from a sense of shame or grief: see already Hom. Od. VIII 92,
άψ ’Οδυσεύς κατά κράτα καλυψάμενος γοάασκεν. Perhaps Hes. Op.
198. Cf. Eustath. II. p. 1343, 62; Ar. Ran. 911 (Nauck T.G.F. p. 50
in praefatione Aesch. Niob.); Pl. Phaed. 117 c. (Similarly at the
approach of death.)
246, 247. ποδοΐν κλοπάν άρέσθαι: in spite of Aesch. Pers. 481,
αίρονται φυγήν, and Eur. Rhes. 54, 126, the form is from άρνυμαι
(cf. K.-B. II, 350). (See also Elmsley ad Eur. Heracl. 505.) (L.-Sc. =
λαβεϊν.)
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 239-254 69

κλοπή = "deceit", "secret deed”, also Phil. 1025. In similar

context Eur. Ion 1254: κλοπή S’ άφϊγμαι διαφυγοϋσα πολεμίους. Cf.
κλέπτειν supra 188, injra 1137. Together therefore ποδοΐν κλοπάν
άρεσθαι = "to fly secretly over land".
For the contrast with "in a ship" cf. Od. I 173, II. IX 329.
249. έζόμενον: apparently aor. (cf. Eur. Phoen. 1516). For the
acc. see Aesch. Eum. 3.
θοόν είρεσίας ζυγόν: the rowing-benches of the ship, which is
quickly rowed on.
250. μεθεΐναι: Lobeck is probably right when he explains this
with εαυτόν μεθεΐναι, ‘‘navi se immittere" sive "committere". Cf.
έφιέναι in PL Resp. Ill 388 e, Tim. 59 d, Prot. 338 a. Lobeck’s
explanation is in accordance with the schol. ad 250: έκαστον, φησί,
δει μεθεΐναι τουτέστι ρΐψαι εαυτόν έν νηί καί φυγεϊν. Making ζυγόν εΐρε-
σίας object of μεθεΐναι gives a wrong idea.
251. τοίας: For the causal asyndeton with τοΐος cf. Ant. 125:
τοΐος άμφί νώτ’ έτάθη.
έρέσσουσιν άπειλάς: έρέσσειν is orig. “to row”. It may therefore
be taken for granted that the metaphor has been called forth
by είρεσίας in 1. 249. But it is also in accordance with the image
of Ant. 159: τίνα δή μήτιν έρέσσων (another usage, Phil. 1135).
Schol.: άντί εύτόνως κινοϋσιν. άπό τών έρεσσόντων άντί έλαύνουσι (cf.
κολφόν έλαύνετον II. I 575). κινοϋσιν. It may be observed that
έλαύνειν in Homer is used both of the driving on of ships (e.g.
Od. VII 109) and of the beating of the sea by the oars (II. VII 6).
(v. Leeuwen ad Ar. Eq. 628 is of course wrong in changing our
text into άράσσουσιν.)
252. δικρατεΐς Άτρεϊδαι: "the two chiefs, the Atreidae”. Cf.
δισσάρχας infra 390. δικρατεΐς λόγχας, Ant. 145: "two spears which
were both victorious”.
253. καθ’ ημών: The expression of fear of the Chorus on their
own behalf is continued consistently.
254. λιθόλευστον 'Αρη: "death by stoning” (a traitor’s death,
cf. 728 and Introduction (p. 14). Cf. Hom. II. Ill 57. Άρης denotes
here a violent death; cf. O.C. 1679. Euripides uses several expres­
sions with λεύσιμος: λευσίμω πετρώματι Or. 50, λεύσιμοι καταφθοραί
Ion 1237, θανάτου λεύσιμον άταν ib. 1240 (this whole passage,
where the Chorus fear Creusa's death and their own ruin, may be
well compared with our passage). (Heracl. 765: text prob, corrupt.)
70 COMMENTARY

Cf. also Aesch. Sept. 199, λευστηρα δήμου δ’ o(S τι μή φύγη μόρου
(cf. Groeneb. a.h.l. with n. 277 and ad Ag. 1118) and Ag. 1616.
Jebb rightly remarks that λιθόλευστον “Αρη is object acc. to
πεφόβημαι as well as “cognate” acc. to ξυναλγεϊν (cf. 283, 790) and
perhaps also to τυπείς.
τυπείς: This aor. already in Homer.
256. αϊσ’ άπλατος: a fate to which none may approach, terrible
and dragging along any one who approaches it into its doom. Cf.
ισχύς άπλητος Hes. Theog. 153, Hes. Scut. 230 (the Gorgons), ib.
250 (Κήρες). άπλατον θρέμμα (Track. 1093, of the Nemean lion).
Cf. also Page ad Eur. Med. 151, 2.
αΐσ’ . . . ϊσχει: cf. e.g. O.C. 369, 70.
257. οΰκέτι: cf. Ar. Ach. 471.
257, 258. λαμπράς. . . . λήγει: The difficulty which this simile
has caused disappears when στεροπή is taken not as "flash of
lightning” but as “the shining light” (of the sun), as Track. 99:
ώ λαμπρά στεροπά φλεγέθων. "For, after having raged like a fierce
Notus, without brillant radiance, he now ceases”. Thus the words
quoted by Jebb from Arist. Probl. 942 a 34 ό νότος, δταν μέν έλάτ-
των ή, αίθριος έστιν, δταν δε μέγας, νεφώδης form a perfect elucida­
tion. The explanation of Jebb: “Attended by the lightning-flash
no more, the storm in his soul is subsiding, after a sharp outburst,
like the wind of the south”, seems unsatisfactory.
It is just the emphasis on the darkness in which Ajax was en­
veloped which forms a good contrast with 259, 260, and is in har­
mony with the image 206, 7.
259. φρόνιμος: mentis compos. Cf. Ελίτ. Hipp. 247: τύ γάρ όρθοϋ-
σθαι γνώμην όδυνα.
260. οικεία πάθη: οικείος suggests here the idea of "being caused
by his own fault”, just as El. 215.
261. παραπράξαντος: The difficulty is whether παραπράττειν
means here συμπράττειν, μετέχειν των αμαρτημάτων, as schol.,
Lobeck and Jebb assume, or "to fail”. The first meaning does not
occur elsewhere. Hdt. V 45 says of Dorieus: .... τοϋτο δε αύτοϋ
Δωριέος τδν θάνατον μαρτύρων μέγιστον ποιεϋνται, δτι παρά τα μεμαν-
τευμένα ποιέων διεφθάρη · εΐ γάρ δή μή παρέπρηξε μηδέν κτλ. Here
it clearly means “to act contrary to”. Since Ajax is described
as παραπλήκτω χερί συγκατακτάς (229), and since παραφρονέω (Phil.
815), παραφρόνιμος (O.T. 692), and the like are used by Sophocles,
the latter view seems preferable.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 256-269 71

262. μεγάλας οδύνας ύποτείνει: ύποτείνειν fairly often stands for

deluding a person with false hopes, wages etc.; cf. v. Leeuwen ad
Ar. Ach. 657. So here, “to suggest”, "to inspire”. (This seems
preferable to L.-Sc.: “intensifies”.)
263. What was said ad 245 also holds good for this verse,
δοκώ: mihi videor, άλλ’: cf. Denniston, G.P., 19 III b.
264. φρούδου: cf. O.C. 660.
μείων λόγος: on the value of λόγος cf. fr. 346 N.2 (Laocoon} =
375 P. μόχθου γάρ ούδείς τοϋ παρελθόντος λόγος, φρούδου τοΰ κακού
is obj. gen. to λόγος.
265. The alternative as put by Tecmessa becomes clear through
271 sqq. It is essential to consider the case from the point of view
of Ajax. The Chorus say in 263 that they are happy because they
think the misery of Ajax is over. Tecmessa, on the other hand,
proceeds to explain that the misery of Ajax is now much greater
and that therefore they too (Tecmessa and the Chorus) will be
even more unhappy than before, because their fate will be identified
with that of Ajax.
λάβοις: "to prefer”, just as O.T. 599: πώς δήτ’ έγώ κεϊν’ άν
λάβοιμ’ άφεΐς τάδε.
267. κοινός έν κοινοϊσι: "a partner among partners”. For κοινός
= κοινωνός, cf. O.T. 240 κοινόν ποεϊσθαι, Ar. Vesp. 9T7 (cf. schol. a.l.).
For the figura cf. infra 617, O.T. 222: άστός εις άστούς τελώ,
Ant. φίλη μετ’ αύτοϋ κείσομαι, φίλου μετά.
ξυνών: cf. 273·
268. τοι: the origin of τοι is apparent here, “in truth, you are
right”. At the same time the use is quite common, as the answer
bears a gnomic character. Moreover, there is a fine logical correlation
with Sp’ in 269.
διπλάζον: the intransitive use of διπλάζειν here (cf. Eur. Suppl.
781) gives the impression of a catachresis (νϋν ούν δεδιπλασίασται τό
κακόν says the schol. ad 265).
269. ημείς.... νϋν: The reading νοσοϋντος as proposed by
Hermann has to be rejected. Tecmessa identifies her condition and
that of the Chorus with the condition of Ajax. “Now above all,
now that we do not suffer (i.e. now that Ajax is no longer in the
clutches of the νόσος, the disease of mind—so, very aptly, the
schol.; we also know this use of the 1st pers.pl.) we are a prey to
perdition”. Radermacher’s explanation (which takes τό διπλάζον
μεϊζον κακόν as an internal acc. to άτώμεσθα) is wrong. The meaning
72 COMMENTARY

of άτώμεσθα appears clearly from Ant. ly. οΰτ’ ευτυχούσα μάλλον

οΰτ’ άτωμένη, and from Ant. 314: έκ τών γάρ αισχρών λημμάτων τούς
πλείονας / άτωμένους ϊδοις αν ή σεσωμένους. Cf. infra 384· For the
whole line of thought, cf. Eur. jr. 205 N.2 (Antiope}·.
φρονώ δ’ δ πάσχω, καί τόδ’ οΰ σμικρόν κακόν ·
το μή είδέναι γάρ ηδονήν έχει τινά
νοσοϋντα, κέρδος δ’ έν κακοϊς άγνωσία. Cf. infra ad 554 s<l·
270. έλεξας: The use of the aor. is similar to that of 99. κάτοιδα
here is not "I know”, but "I understand”.
271-277. Tecmessa’s explanation is entirely built up from the
elements of her preceding words, ήνίκ’ ήν έν τή νόσφ, balanced by
νϋν δ’ .... νόσου, unfolds the thoughts which are implied in ού
νοσοϋντες.
αύτός 272 points back to αύτός 206, ήδεθ’ to ήδονάς έχειν, ηνία 273
to ανιών 206, ξυνών 273 to ξυνών 267, κεϊνός τε . . . . ή πάρος com­
pletely unfolds 267.
272. ήδεθ’ .... κακοϊς: τούτοις τοϊς κακοϊς έν οίσιν εϊχετο. For
the construction of έχομαι, cf. infra 1144; similarly Ant. 1141, ώς
βιαίας έχεται πάνδημος πόλις έπί νόσου. With single dative e.g.
Hdt. Ill 129.
273. τούς φρονοϋντας: φρονεϊν stands here exactly as supra 82,
infra 344: "to be in one’s sound senses”·
274. κάνέπνευσε: άναπνέω with gen. quite common since Homer.
275. έλήλαται: έλαύνειν similarly infra 504, Trach. 1045. Cf.
infra 725 άράσσειν. The perf. denotes here the transition from one
condition into another: "tandis que l’aoriste indique l’entree
dans un etat nouveau, le parfait exprime qu’un etat stable succede
ύ un autre etat, surtout a la suite d’une action” Humbert, S.Gr.,
§ 191, a. It therefore expresses a resulting state, but implies the
transition which has taken place. For the line of thought, cf. Eur.
Hipp. 247.
277. Sp’.... κακά: The verse makes a similar impression as the
final verse of a “Ringkomposition” (cf. e.g. Aesch. Suppl. 417
μών ού δοκεΐ δεϊν φροντίδος σωτηρίου;). There is here no question
of a pure "Ringkomposition” though it can be said that Tecmessa’s
reasoning tends to prove the truth of what the Chorus have said
in 268 (for themselves).
ip’: ip’ in the sense of ip’ ού often in poetry (see Groeneboom
ad Aesch. Prom. 735). A famous example is found in Oedipus’
words O.T. 822: ip’ ίφυν κακός; cf. also El. 614.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 270-282 73

δίς τόσ’: cf. Eur. Heracl. 293. δίς τόσως Eur. EI. 1092, Med. 1194
cf. 1134, Rhes. 160; see Denniston ad EI. 1092.
δίς.... απλών: cf. Track. 619 (χάρις. ... έξ άπλής διπλή).
278. ξύμφημι.... σοι: cf. Ο.Τ. 553·
δή is repeatedly found with an affirmative answer: G.P., 227.14.
279. δέδοικα μή . . . . ήκει: ήκοι is untenable, ήκη possible, ήκει
probable, provided it is taken in a perfective sense. The indie, with
μή with verba timendi when the object of what is feared is actually
felt to be present: Od. N 300: δείδω μή .. . θεά νημερτέα είπεν;
Thue. Ill 53·2 φοβούμεθα, μή άμφοτέρων ήμαρτήκαμεν; Dem. XIX
96 δέδοικα μή λελήθαμεν. Trach. 551 is uncertain. Analogous cases
after όρα, cf. El. 581, 584 (K.-G. II, 394. 6, Goodwin M.T. §369).
θεοϋ / πληγή: vide supra ad 137 and cf. 185, ήκοι γάρ άν θεία νόσος.
279. πώς γάρ: Schol. rightly supplies: πώς γάρ ού θεϊόν τι είη τό
κατά τον Αϊαντα; One would therefore expect the normal πώς γάρ ού.
The only way to solve this difficulty is to assume that Tecmessa
in 281 interrupts the leader of the Chorus.
πεπαυμένος: absolute, just as πέπαυται, 263.
280. μηδέν τι μάλλον: These words are different from e.g. Eur.
Hec. 817, where a schol. explains ούδαμώς (cf. Gregorius Corinth,
ed. Schafer p. 60), for μάλλον has full comparative force. Lat. non
magis quam, Engl, "no more than”, but Dutch “al evenmin als”.
281. έπίστασθαι: has the force of tibi persuasum habere. The gen.
abs. with ώς is fairly frequent with verbs of knowing, considering,
saying, where a clause with ότι or an acc. with partic. (with ώς)
or an acc. cum inf. would be normal. Litt.: "granting the situation
to be thus, you should be convinced”. It is therefore an amplification
of a regular case such as injra 904, ώς ώδε τοϋδ’ έχοντος αίάζειν πάρα.
Good parallel, Aesch. Prom. 760 ώς τοίνυν δντων τώνδέ σοι μαθεϊν
πάρα'). Cf. Aesch. Pers. 170. (K.-G. II, 93 β.)
282. τίς γάρ ποτ’ άρχή τοϋ κακοϋ προσέπτατο: with the same
metaphor. Io in Aesch. Prom. 642-44: καιτοι καί λέγουσ’ αΐσχύνομαι/
θεόσσυτον χειμώνα καί διαφθοράν / μορφής, δθεν μοι σχετλία προσ­
έπτατο. Cf. ib. 115, 555: see Groeneb. ad 642 sqq. and ad 673;
W. Aly, Rh. Mus. LXVIII p. 539. Cf. Eur. Ale. 421. The underlying
idea is probably the image of the bird of prey pouncing on its
victim. It should also be noted that the madness of Ajax, like that
of Io, is seen as a χειμών (2θ6, 207), and that πέτομαι at II. XV 170

l) If this reading is correct.

74 COMMENTARY

stands with νιφάς ήέ χάλαζα as subject. Furthermore Κήρες and Έρι-

νύες are of course winged beings. The form έπτάτο is non-thematic
aor. med. with zero-grade of the root, which is frequent with poets
by the side of the them. aor. and beside έπταν (Ant. 1307).
283. ήμϊν τοϊς ξυναλγοϋσιν: ξυναλγέω is absolute (though it can
be supplemented with τύχας, cf. supra 255); in Aesch. Prom. 288
it is construed with the dative; in Eur. Ale. 633 and Eur. fr.
119 N.2, absolute, τύχας is object of δήλωσον.
284 sqq. After all that the Chorus and the spectators know
already or suspect of the doings of Ajax from the prologue, parodos
and following άμοιβαΐον, the situation is stated more precisely
by Tecmessa’s rhesis, which begins as a messenger's story.
284. ώς κοινωνός ών: not “als ob du dabei zugegen gewesen
warst” (Radermacher), but “being concerned in it”. Cf. Eur. Ion
yyT.'. εί ταύτά πράσσων δεσπότης της συμφοράς / κοινωνος έστιν, ή
μόνη σύ δυστυχείς. Track. Τ2·<), 30 τοιαϋτα δ’ άν λέξειεν ούχ ό τοϋ
κακοϋ / κοινωνός, άλλ’ φ μηδέν έστ’ οίκοι βαρύ. (Wrong: mali auctor,
Ellendt.) Cf. P. J. T. Endenburg, Koinoonia, diss. Utrecht 1937,
p. 28.
285. 286. The words ήνίχ’.... ήθον are significant for the
explanation of άκρας νυκτός. The λαμπτήρες are the braziers of Od.
XVIII 307.
έσπεροι is adjectival, just as 805, O.T. 178. It seems immaterial
whether one translates "late in the evening” (cf. Pind. Pyth. XI 10,
άκρα σύν εσπέρα, "am spaten Abend”—Schroder; Theocr. XXIV
77, άκρέσπερον άείδουσαι, "bien avant dans le soir”—Legrand)
or "at dead of night”. (Cf. Theocr. XI 37 χειμώνος άκρω, "in the
depth of winter”—Cholmeley; v. Leeuwen ad Ar. Lys. 515, "nocte
concubia”.) Schroder rightly observes that the night, when sepa­
rated from the evening, has its culmination-point at the beginning,
and this is pretty well in accordance with schol. a.h.l.: περί πρώτον
ύπνον; see also 1. 291.
ήθον: αϊθειν here intr.; cf. Pind. ΟΙ. VII 48, αΐθοίσας .... φλογός.
άμφηκες.... έγχος: άμφήκης an Homeric epithet; for έγχος
see 95.
287. έμαίετ’ .... έρπειν: The verb μαίεσθαι, prop. = "to grope
for” (cf. e.g. έπιμαίεσθαι Od. IX 441), conveys the idea of "endeav­
ouring by groping” in a singularly plastic way (έπιμαίεσθαι with
genit. = “trying to attain" already at Od. XII 220). έρπειν, „to
move”, "to go”, very frequent in Sophocles.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 283-299 75

εξόδους κενάς is internal acc. κενάς, "fruitless”, "vain”, "idle”;

cf. 478 κεναϊσιν έλπίσιν. τά θηρασθαι κενά, El. 1054-
288. ’πιπλήσσω: Also in Soph. O.C. 1730. Aesch. Prom. 80.
289. άκλητος: cf. Aesch. Prom. 1024; further elaborated by the
two partic. with οδτε.
290. άφορμάς πείραν: πείραν (cf. 2), int. acc. άφορμάω, intr. as
in O.C. 1470.
292. άει δ’ ύμνούμενα: άεΐ θρυλούμενα ύπδ πάντων άνθρώπων
(schol.). Cf. Eur. Phoen. 438: πάλαι μέν οδν ύμνηθέν, άλλ’ όμως έρώ ·;
Pl. Prot. 343 b·' γράψαντες ταϋτα ά δή πάντες ύμνοϋσιν, Γνώθι σαυτόν
καί Μηδέν άγαν.
293. These words are of course equivalent to an existing proverb.
Van Leeuwen cites our passage in connection with Ar. Lys. 515.
Jebb compares fr. 61. 4 N.! (64.4 P.) αίς κόσμος ή σιγή τε καί τά παϋρ’
έπη. Aristotle quotes the line (Pol. 1260 a 30). Cf. Aesch. Sept. 232
(Groeneboom a.l. lays stress upon the Athenian character of such
sayings); Democr. fr. 274 D. κόσμος όλιγομυθίη γυναικί. (Bowra,
Sophoclean Tragedy 23.)
294. έληξ’: The passage in Soph, that comes nearest to this is
Track. 1120: είπών δ χρήζεις λήξον. έπιπλήσσουσα καί λέγουσα may
be supplied. It may also be said that έληξ’ has the value of έσίγησα.
μαθοϋσ’: has the full force of "having been taught by this”,
έσσύθη: Homeric form; συθείς also e.g. O.T. 446.
295. πάθας: Ant. 979, O.C. 7.
The indication έκεϊ corresponds with κεϊθεν κεϊθεν, 233.
296. 297. The δεσμώτιν ποίμναν of 1. 234 is here described more
precisely.
296. άγων όμοϋ: secum una ducens (Ellendt).
συνδέτους: cf. 65. συνδεϊν is not "to bind the one to the other”,
but to bind one single individual; cf. Phil. 1016. The legs are bound
in such a way that they can go only slowly.
297. κύνας βοτηρας: cf. ad 231.
εΰκερών τ’ άγραν: cf. ad 55; the same words in 64. The emendation
εδερόν is unnecessary, for a ram can also be called εδκερως (thus
Bellermann and Campbell).
298. ηύχένιζε: this rare word stands in contrast to έσφαζε,
which is well-known from Homer. The expression άνω τρόπων is
equivalent to what Homer calls αύερύειν. αΰχενίζειν = “to hit
the αύχήν”, i.e. to cut off the head by a stroke from above.
299. κάρράχιζε: see ad 56. It should be preceded by a comma.
76 COMMENTARY

300. ήκίζεθ’: cf. 65. ώστε φώτας, cf. 64.

έν ποίμναις πίτνων: the absurd behaviour of Ajax is summarized
in these words.
301 sqq. After the description of the behaviour of Ajax in the
hut follows Tecmessa’s impression of the conversation with Athena.
Note the consummate technique by which the hearer is confronted
from two sides with the madness of Ajax and by which the im­
pression on his surroundings is set forth.
301. It is not likely that Tecmessa has followed Ajax; we should
imagine her horror-stricken, sitting somewhere in the furthest comer
of the hut. The conversation of Ajax with Athena naturally gives
her the impression of a conversation with a σκιά, an apparition
(ότι ίδιον τοϊς μαινομένοις τό τοϊς ματαίοις λαλεϊν schol.).
άπάξας: The reading ύπάξας introduces a wrong element in the
text (cf. e.g. ύποδραμών Ar. Eq. 676).
302. λόγους άνέσπα: in the choral song which precedes the άγων
between Aesch. and Eurip. the Chorus sing i.a. (Ar. Ran. 895-904):
γλώττα μεν γάρ ήγρίωται, / λήμα δ’ ούκ άτολμον άμφοϊν, / ούδ’ άκίνητοι
φρένες: so we may expect τόν δ’ (Aesch.) άνασπώντ’ αύτοπρέμνοις τοϊς
λόγοισιν / έμπεσόντα •'νσκεδάν πολλάς άλινδήθρας επών. The meta­
phor of the trees pull ' out root and all is very clearly expressed
here. Eustathius therelure says p. 679, 61: ού μόνον έπΐ φυτών τό
άνασπαν λέγεται, άλλά και έπΐ αλαζονείας, ώς δηλοΐ τό παρά Σοφοκλεΐ
λόγους άνέσπα. It is also possible, on account of Pl. Theaet. 180 a,
to think of arrows taken from the quiver. Lobeck: έπύργου λόγους,
gloriabatur insolenter locutus. This is exactly what Ajax did. but
the explication does not account for the metaphor.
303. συντιθεΐς γέλων πολύν: συντιθέναι means here "to mingle
with” (sc. the λόγοι). These words contain an excellent stage-
direction for the scene 91-117. Somewhere Ajax must laugh; prob,
before vs. 108 (or before 105).
[The laugh of Ajax reminds us of the locution Αίάντειος γέλως.
Men. 401 C.A.F. Ill p. 114 (Zenob. Miller, Melanges 355) which
does not, however, originate from Soph.’ Ajax', μέμνηται ταύτης Μέ­
νανδρος έν Π οινθία τη πρώτη, λέγουσι δέ ότι Πλεισθένης ό ύποκριτης
Καρκίνου Αία τα ύποκρινόμενος εΰκαίρως έγέλασε ■ τοϋ γάρ Όδυσσέως
εΐπόντος ότι το·, δίκαια χρή ποιεϊν, μετά ειρωνείας ό Αίας τώ γέλωτι
έχρήσατο.]
304. One is tempted to read in this line "how he had served
the Atreidae and Odysseus out for their hybris”. But κατ’ αύτών is
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 300-309 77

against it. όσην ύβριν is internal acc. and the ΰβρις is the violence
with which Ajax takes vengeance on them, έκτίνεσθαι, therefore,
acquires the pregnant sense of "to inflict by way of vengeance”
(different from Eur. Her. 547).
όσην κατ’ αύτών ΰβριν: ci. fr. 339 N.2 = 368 P., τήν κατ’ Άργείων
ΰβριν (if Ellendt’s conjecture is right). The conj. of Musgrave,
έκτίσοιτ’, has some attraction on account of 1. 113, but is superfluous,
seeing that the vengeance has already been taken for the greater part,
ιών: “in his going”, adds some liveliness to the picture, cf. Ant.
768, Phil. 353, infra, 1386.
305. ένάξας: to Tecmessa or to his original place in the hut. The
reading of L, άπάξας, is not satisfactory, έπάξας seems an old
conjecture made when the archaic ένάξας was no longer understood.
For ένάξας ές cf. e.g. Eur. Hel. 1016 είς αθάνατον αίθέρ’ έμπεσών and
many instances in P. Chantraine, Le Role et la Valeur de έν- dans
la composition, Rev. de Phil. 1942, 115-125.
306. έμφρων .... καθίσταται: “comes to his senses”, as Aesch.
Prom. 848 and Cho. 1026; opp. παράφρων, as έννομος opp. παράνομος
(Groeneb. ad Prom. l.c.).
μόλις πως ξύν χρόνω: somewhat more emphatic than μόγις ποτέ
Pl. Prot. 314 e. Cf. e.g. El. 1013, αύτη δέ νοϋν σχές άλλά τώ χρόνω ποτέ.
307. διοπτεύει: in Homer only II. X 451 in lit. sense (to Dolon),
άτης: άτη documenta insani facinoris (E.).
308. ’θώυξεν: θωυσσειν is prob, an onomatope, as βαόζειν. From
333-335 appears what is meant here (loud and sad lamentation).
In Aesch. Prom. 393 it approaches “increpare”, and in Ag. 893
denotes the buzzing of a gnat.
308, 309. έν δ’ έρειπίοις / νεκρών έρειφθε'ις έζετ’: schol. ad Aesch.
Pers. 425 (άγαϊσι κωπών θραύμασίν τ’ έρειπίων, cf. Ag. 660, Eur. Hel.
1080) runs έρείπια κυρίως τά πτώματα των οίκων. Groeneb. compares
Eur. Ba. 7 δόμων έρείπια; of tom clothes Eur. Troad. 1025, fr. tr.
ad. 7. I. As here Eur. fr. 266 N.2. It is wrong to adopt from the
schol. (as Pearson does) the v.l. έρεισθείς: in this way the beautiful
etymological figura is lost. The aor. ήρείφθην, recurs only in Arr.
An. I 21. 4; Pind. 01. II 43 has έριπέντι (cf. W. Veitch, Creek Verbs
1879, p. 267).
The Latin rendering might be: in strage prostratus, only έρειφθε'ις
is weakened by έζετ’.
άρνείου φόνου is a gen. of explanation (somewhat delayed) of
έν έρειπίοις νεκρών.
έρειφθείς: = πεσών infra 325.
78 COMMENTARY

310. άπρίξ: έμπεφυκότως, Timaeus ρ. 47 (Ε.). With Soph, also

fr. 328.4 N.2 = 354-4 P-: τοΰ γε κερδαίνειν δμως / άπρίξ έχονται.
Aesch. Pers. 1057 has άπριγδα; here, too, the hair is tom out in
despair. Cf. also άπρικτόπληκτα restored by Heath, Aesch. Cho. 425.
δνυξι.... χερί: the function of χερί is of little importance; it is
perhaps best to combine άπρίξ δνυξι (as λάξ ποδ£) and to consider
χερί as a graphic rounding off of the gesture (cf. ποδί I28l).
311. 312. τόν μέν . . πλεϊστον .. χρόνον- έπειτ’ .. . . : Sentences
where a preceding μέν is followed by έπειτα or an equivalent are
very frequent: Denniston, G.P. 376 sq. A peculiarity in the first
member is the separation of τόν and πλεϊστον by ήστο. ήστο, "sat
in dismay”, is thus thrown into particular relief. A separation like
this is made possible by the primarily demonstrative character of
τόν. Cf. also Trach. 248: τόν μέν πλεϊστον έν Λυδοϊς χρόνον.
312. τά δείν’ .... έπη: τά has the force of illa. The thought of
it still haunts the memory of the speaker. Cf. Eur. I.T. 320, ού δή
τό δεινόν παρακέλευσμ’ ήκούσαμεν; Βα. 760, ούπερ τό δεινόν ήν 6έαμ’
ίδεϊν (both in speeches by messengers). See further Jebb in App. ad
Trach. 476. Somewhat different, injra 1226.
έπηπείλησ’: already in Homer.
313. φανοίην: the opt. is obliquus. Ajax said: (I will kill you)
εί μή φανείς παν τό συντυχόν πάθος, συντυγχάνειν likewise, with
the calamity as subject, e.g. Hdt. VIII 136, τά . .. . συντυχόντα σφι
παθήματα, and Thue. Ill 59.3, τόν ξυντυχόντα κίνδυνον. But Phil.
681, 82 has μοίρα .... έχθίονι συντυχόντα.
314. έν τφ πράγματος: cf. Ant. 1229, έν τφ συμφοράς διεφθάρης;
Eur. Hei. 1195. έν τφ δέ κεΐσαι συμφοράς;
κυροΐ: κύρω or κυρέω is a very frequent Ionism in tragedy, and
like τυγχάνω it often stands for "to be in a certain state”, versari.
Cf. with our passage Phil. 899, άλλ’ ένθάδ’ ήδη τοϋδε τοΰ πάθους κυρώ.
It is uncertain whether the reading should be κόροι (as the Schol.
has it) or κυροΐ. (On the opt. forms -οΐμι, -οΐς with verba contracta,
cf. K.-Bl. II, 72.)
315. φίλοι: the same appeal to the sympathy of the hearers
may be found in Soph. El. 307, έν οδν τοιούτοις ούτε σωφρονεΐν,
φίλαι, / οΰτ’ εύσεβεΐν πάρεστιν.
δείσασα: absolute.
The schol. ad 312 is right when it says: πάνυ δέ περιπαθές τόν
έμφρονέστατον Αϊαντα παρά της γυναικός πυνθάνεσθαι τίνα έστίν ά
έπραξεν αύτός—esp. in the light of 292, 3.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 310-32S 79

317. The rhythm as well as the sound of the figura etymologica

make the verse very expressive. The horror of Ajax coming to his
senses again is expressed here in sound.
319. προς . . . κακοϋ τε καί βαρυψύχου: "is characteristic of....’’
Cf. ή κάρτα πρύς γυναικος, Aesch. Ag. 592ί infra 5^1. ΙΟ71,' and
other places. Also in Hdt. and Xen.
βαρυψύχου: the explanation causes difficulties. The word occurs
only here and cannot have the meaning of βαρύφρων in Theocr.
XXV no ("deeply pondering”, Cholmeley) or in Ap. Rh. IV 731
(of Aeetes). Nor is it on a par with βαρυφροσύνη, Plut. Cor. 21,
βαρύτης φρονήματος, Plut. Cat. min. 57, or βαρύθυμος, Eur. Med.
176. The idea undoubtedly is: "he who suffers his soul to be de­
pressed”, "who is lacking in buoyant spirit”. (My remarks in
Studien over Sophocles p. 105 were wrong.) A striking quotation
is made by Jebb from Plut. Mor. 477 e (περί εύθυμίας): έν όδυρμοϊς
τα πολλά καί βαρυθυμίαις καί μερίμναις . . . διατρίβοντας. A schol. ad
318 reminds one of Heracles in the Track. 1074.
Cf. Plato in his Politeia falling in with this rule of behaviour for
the nobility: Καί τούς όδυρμούς άρα έξαιρήσομεν καί τούς οίκτους
τούς των έλλογίμων άνδρών, (III 3®7 c· Φ· θί· O.C. 1636: δ δ’, ώς
άνήρ γενναίος, ούκ οίκτου μετά.
319, 320. As regards the construction of 319, 20: άεί ποτ’
should be taken with έξηγεΐτ’, γόους .... έχειν is object of έξηγεΐτ’,
and πρύς .... βαρυψύχου is the predicate to γόους .... έχειν.
321. άψόφητος: verbal adjective with an active meaning and,
like many such adjectives composed with α privans, construed
with the genitive (K.-G. I, 401 a. 5).
όξέων κωκυμάτων refers back to γόους τοιούσδ’.
322. ύπεστέναζε: ύπο- has the full force of "low” or even clam·,
cf. 1001.
βρυχώμενος: here not "roaring in a loud voice” but "grumbling
deeply”.
323. νϋν δ’ ....: as contrasted with ευθύς έξωμωξεν, 317.
324. άσιτος .... άποτος: the instances of this sort of annominatio
are very numerous. Tecmessa’s anxiety is expressed by the dactyle
in the third foot. Cf. further Od. IV 788; Eur. Med. 24, κεϊται
δ’ άσιτος.
325. σιδηροκμήσιν: "killed by the steel". Similarly δουρικμήτι
λαώ, Aesch. Cho. 365. But cf. άνδροκμήτα πέλεκυν, id. ib. 889 (=
ω άνδρες κάμνουσιν). Cf. Groeneb. ad Aesch. Ag. p. 251, with n. 6.
80 COMMENTARY

θακεϊ: cf. supra ad 106.

325. 326. Lobeck rightly quotes Philostr. Vit. Apoll. II 22, 5
ούδ’ άν τόν Αίαντά τις τον Τιμομάχου άγασθείη, δς δή άναγέγραπται
αύτώ μεμηνώς, εί μή άναλάβοι τι ές τδν νοϋν Αϊαντος εϊδωλον καί ώς
είκδς αύτδν άπεκτονότα τάν τη Τροία βουκόλια καθήσθαι άπειρηκότα,
βουλήν ποιούμενον καί εαυτόν κτεΐναι.
Of this famous picture no copy has been preserved to us (G.
Meautis, Les Chefs-d’oeuvre de la Peinture grecque, Paris 1939,
p. 185).
326. For the situation cf. Eur. Med. y], δεδοικα δ’ αύτήν μή τι
βουλεύση νέον.
δρασείων: from the stem of the fut. by means of the ordinary
desiderative formation; also in Eur. and Ar. ώς with δρασείων is
to be regarded as ώς with the future partic. (cf. also e.g. Xen. An.
I 5.9, δήλος ήν Κϋρος ώς σπεύδων).
327. From this line it appears that Ajax also says something
sometimes, now that he ήσυχος θακεϊ (so ήσυχος means “quiet”,
not "silent”). He may already have expressed a wish to die.
πως makes τοιαϋτα somewhat less positive (cf. El. 372).
328. έστάλην: στέλλεσθαι means here “to come”.
329. είσελθόντες: this does not happen; the Chorus never enters
a palace or hut. In the event Ajax is rolled outside on the eccyclema
amidst the slaughtered cattle, whereas it is supposed that only
the door of the hut is opened. On the eccyclema cf. Margarete Bieber,
The History of the Greek and Roman Theater p. 144. I cannot agree
with Mr. A. W. Pickard-Cambridge’s treatment of this question
(The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, 1946, pp. 109, no). ’)
This is the only way in which the interior can be shown to the
spectators. It is of course absurd to claim with Tycho von Wilamo-
witz that the passage 331-344 only serves to enable the stage­
hands to operate the eccyclema. If this were necessary, it might
have been done before, without directions.
330. Cf. II. XI 793, άγαθή δέ παραίφασίς έστιν εταίρου; ib. XV 4°4>
O.C. Π93 sq. The MSS are unanimous in reading φίλοι; most
editors read with Stob. IV 48 b. 19 Η. λόγοις. The reading of Stob.
however, seems to have originated outside the context. By reading
a comma before φίλοι (the possibility' was suggested by Lobeck, but
rejected), the verse assumes the character of a pathetic appeal,

) See now T. B. L. Webster, Greek Theatre Production, 1956, p. 9, p. 17

 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 32S-338 81

which fits in very well with the situation. The interpretation is also
possible without a comma; in this case the accent would fall on
the mutual relation of the φιλία.
νικώνται: with gen. (as ήττασθαι) also infra 1353; Eur. Med. 315.
331. 332. The position of δεινά brings this word out in full
relief. Bentley, who conjectured δεινοΐς, rightly felt that it does
not belong to λέγεις, but the conjecture is not necessary: δεινά is
internal acc. to διαπεφοιβάσθαι. The "dreadful and lasting (δια-)
frenzy” is the result of the κακά (κακοϊς, dat. causae) which have
fallen on him.
There remains the problem whether ήμϊν goes with λέγεις or is
to be taken as "ethicus” to what follows. The whole structure of
the sentence seems to show that ήμϊν stands άπο κοινού.
332. διαπεφοιβάσθαι: the compound occurs only here, φοιβάζειν
prop, “to bring in mantic ecstasy”, derived from Phoibos Apollon
in that function (v. Wilamowitz, Glaube d. Hellenen, I 325 n. 2).
Thus Lycophron 6 says φοίβαζεν έκ λαιμών δπα (“made her voice
sound in ecstasy”); περί ύψους 8-4, πάθος φοιβάζον τούς λόγους.
333. For a similar cry of despair from the protagonist behind
the scenes cf. El. 77 and, at greater length, Eur. Med. 96 sqq.
334. τάχ’, ώς έοικε, μάλλον: the scholium does not understand
these words: τάχα, ώς φαίνεται, μαλλαν στενάζει. She says to the
Chorus "Soon he will be even more in a frenzy” or "soon you will
have even more cause to say so”.
ή ούκ: with synaloephe, cp. e.g. O.T. 539.
335. Αϊαντος: the subject of the subordinate clause is anticipated
as often, but here in the genitive depending on ήκούσατε.
θωύσσει: cp. note on 308. The Scholiast gives a note that may
be traced back to a stage-direction: έμφαντικώς δέ το θωύσσει· καί
γάρ δει τύν ύποκρινόμενον το τού Αϊαντος πρόσωπον άπηνεστέρω χρή-
σασθαι τω φθέγματι καί κυνικώτερον βαυζειν - διά τούτο είπεν θωύσσει
(with the sense of “yelping”). The impression made by this wailing
is a ghastly one.
337. The Chorus have pity on their master, but are far from
feeling the passionate commiseration aroused in Tecmessa. Their
statements have a dispassionate touch. See, for instance, άνήρ έοι-
κεν ή νοσεϊν as compared with άνήρ φρονεϊν έοικεν (344)·
νοσεϊν: cf. swpra 207, 269.
337, 338. The words echo more or less Tecmessa’s verse 267.
νοσεϊν and λυπεΐσθαι are sharply contrasted.
Kamerbeek 6

L
82 COMMENTARY

τοΐς πάλαι νοσήμασι ξυνοϋσι: "the results of the frenzy which

has fallen upon him not long ago (πάλαι is often used in connection
with things that have just happened), which form his company”.
These νοσήματα are realized in the pieces of slaughtered cattle in
the midst of which Ajax finds himself, πράγη 347 is used in exactly
the same way. παρών rounds off the picture emphatically; its re­
lation to ξυνοϋσι is much the same as that of φιλών φιλοϋντα etc.
This desire for completeness is akin to that for the so-called polar
form of expression.
339. As 1. 531 shows, Tecmessa has sent Eurysaces to a safe
place lest Ajax should murder him.
340, 341. Note the admirable form in which Tecmessa gives
voice to her άπορεϊν (άπορούσης τό ήθος, schol.). The verses are
broken up into small parts whose mutual relation and rhythm
determine the mood. 342, 3 form a pendant to 340, 341.
άμφί σοί βοα: for άμφί cf. El. 1180 άμφ’ έμοί στένεις. (Somewhat
different, supra 303 άμφ’ Όδυσσεϊ.)
μενοινα: vox Homerica, occurs only here in Soph, (in Eur. only
Cycl. 448); used as at Od. XI 532 κακά δέ Τρώεσσι μενοίνα. (μενοινα:
φροντίζει, μέριμνα, προθυμεϊται, όρέγεται, Hesych.)
340-343. It is part of Sophocles' high qualities as a dramatist
that the spectator should in a natural way, by observing the cha­
racter and moods of the persons in the drama, be prepared for the
motives which actuate them subsequently. Thus the cry for his
son arises from Ajax’ desire to see him before his death, for his
decision to die has already been taken. Equally natural is his desire
to see his brother, to whom, moreover, he wishes to give instructions
(cf. 562, 688, 827). From the point of view of the economy of the
drama, the scenes in which Eurysaces and Teucer appear are
prepared in this way. Schol. ad 342 further rightly remarks:
τό δέ άπεϊναι Τεϋκρον χρήσιμον τη οικονομία· παρών γάρ εκώλυεν
αύτόν πράξαι & έβούλετο, νυν δέ μόνης της γυναικός έγένετο κρείττων.
342, 343. These are truly the words and mood of
ό δεινός μέγας ώμοκρατής Αίας.
είσαεί: see also infra 570; Ο.Τ. 275, ΙθΙ3,' Track. 1202.
λεηλατήσει: cf. Eur. Rhes. 293. So Teucer is on a predatory
expedition such as the Greeks before Troy must have regularly
undertaken (cf. Thue. I n.x).
έγώ δ’ άπόλλυμαι: The parataxis has a much more penetrating
effect than would a hypotaxis. Cf. e.g. II. XXII 237.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 339-347 83

344. άνήρ φρονεϊν έοικεν: see ad 337. The humanity of Ajax is

conceived on a much higher plane than that on which the Chorus
move. The relation between the members of the Chorus to the
protagonist often carries a suggestion of that between Polonius
and Hamlet.
ανοίγετε: it remains doubtful to whom this is said. The reference
made by Jebb to Aesch. Cho. 877 is possibly not a case in point.
It is possible that the Coryphaeus summons servants who are sup­
posed to be within (not stage-hands, of course, as Tycho von
Wilamowitz wants us to believe).
345. The Coryphaeus thinks that even a glance at them, simple
sailors, may cause αιδώς in Ajax after his οίμωγαί λυγραί. “αιδώς
steht offenbar im Gegensatz zur besinnungslosen und rasenden
Wut”, C. E. Frhr. v. Erffa. ΑΙΔΩΣ. Phil. Suppi. XXX 2, 1937,
p. 114.
βλέπειν έπί τινι does not occur. It seems better, therefore, to
combine αιδώ κάπ’ έμοί λάβοι βλέψας, i.e. "perhaps he will get
αιδώς, even because of us, when he has looked upon us”, αίδέομαί
τινα is of course normal, but αίδέομαί έπί τινι also occurs (Dion.
Halic. VI 92). The whole is such a close group, however, that the
question is rather immaterial to the sense.
346. ίδού, διοίγω: Tecmessa is represented as opening the hut;
in reality it is the eccyclema which is pushed outwards. (This also
happens in Ant. 1294 and El. 1464.)
347. τά τοϋδε πράγη: πραγος (cf. supra 2l) is vox tragica', cf.
Groeneboom ad Aesch. Pers. 248, not differing much from πραγμα.
The πράγη, the deeds of Ajax, are manifest in the slaughtered cattle,
cf. note to 338 νοσήμασι.
The meaning of scenes in which the eccyclema is made use of is
clearly illustrated by the figurative use of έξώστρα (the same as
έκκύκλημα, Poll. 4.128) in Pol. XI 6. 8 τής τύχης έπί τήν έξώστραν
άναβιβαζούσης την ΰμετέραν άγνοιαν.
κυρεϊ: cf. 3Σ4·
Second κομμός 34θ'429
The first thing that deserves notice in this long kommos is that
only the protagonist sings. Tecmessa and the Coryphaeus speak
only occasionally one or two lines, at the end of a strophe or anti­
strophe, sometimes in the middle; these verses belong to the
metrical structure. The whole passage is divided into three strophic
84 COMMENTARY

pairs. On account of the prevalence of the dochmiacs the rhythms

are expressive of the pathetic state of Ajax. In this scene, after
all the preparations, his situation and character are brought
into full relief.
First strophe and antistrophe 348-355 = 356-363.
The changes by Hermann in 350 (έτ’ instead of τ’) and 358 (άλιον
instead of άλίαν) are unnecessary, άλίαν can be read with synizesis
(cf. Aesch. Sept. 288 κάρδιας; the accent should probably be άλιαν).
Reiske’s πημονάν 1. 360 instead of ποιμένων is accepted by most com­
mentators. I am now convinced that the words are corrupt; Reiske’s
conjecture seems unavoidable though not, in my opinion, entirely
convincing.
348, 349. μόνοι έμών φίλων, / μόνοι τ’ έμμένοντες όρθώ νόμω: "you
alone of my friends < who remain faithful to me > and alone per­
severing in ....”. Instead of the somewhat zeugmatic construction
it might also be said that this τε is used where an apposition would
be more appropriate (Denniston, G.P. 502). (There is perhaps
something to be said for the reading γ’: "yea, alone persevering...”
cf. id. ib. 138, 139.)
έμμένειν in Soph, also at O.T. 351.
350. ορθός νόμος is to be understood as the right rule, or con­
ception, of life, almost “standard of life”. He who keeps to it as a
friend is loyal. Rightly schol.: ορθόν νόμον τόν της φιλίας φησίν.
351-353. ίδεσθέ μ’ οίον: the suffering hero resembles here Pro­
metheus 92: ιδεσθε μ’ οΐα . .. . πάσχω. Cf. also Ant. 940. The middle
είδόμην is rather frequent with Soph. (cf. Groeneboom ad Prom. 1.1.).
There is here no prolepsis of the subject of the in dir. question as at
Prom. 92, but of the object, which can be supplied to άμφίδρομον
κυκλεϊται. As ζάλη means "gust of wind” (in association with im­
petuous sea: πνεύμα θορυβώδες, συστροφή και συρμός μεγάλων άνε­
μων, ταραχή ύδάτων καί κλόνος, etc., cf. supra ad 207) the image
remains within the sphere of 205-207, 257-258. The storm of rage
is blood-red because Ajax has made the onslaught (but cf. also
O.T. 23). The gust is over but he feels like one amidst the seething
waves without a way out. He is not έν εΰδία. κυκλεϊται is not
middle but refl. pass, and με is not the object of κυκλεϊται but of
άμφίδρομον κυκλεϊται ("move(s) in a circle about me”). The stage­
setting is symbolic of the inward state of Ajax and thus runs
parallel with the metaphor contained in his words.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 348-363 85

354, 355. The leader of the Chorus addresses Tecmessa, the

only person to whom the words έοικας μαρτυρεϊν could be directed.
355. τούργον: used in much the same way as πράγη 1. 347. As
this verse obviously points back to 347, there can be no doubt
that the subject to έχει is Ajax.
άφροντίστως: schol. μανικώς, which is correct, but the word has a
euphemistic connotation.
357. γένος.... τέχνας: cf. supra 201. "You who assist in
navigating the ships.” For the genit, with αρωγός cf. Aesch. Eum.
486 (Jebb).
358. δς: used κατά σύνεσιν and anticipating σέ.
With έπέβας supply (from ναίας) νεώς (ναός) or νεών. The tech­
nical meaning of έπιβάτης "marine" is out of the question here,
άλίαν έλίσσων πλάταν paraphrases the idea of “rowing”, έλίσσειν
is said of a quick rhythmical movement (έλίσσειν πόδα, etc.). For
άλίαν πλάταν ci. fr. 142 P., Page L P P 3, 1. 10 (prob, from Eur.’
Telephus) άλίων έρετμών,
360. έπαρκέσοντ’: έπαρκεϊν abs. means "prevail”, “hold good”:
cf. Ant. 611-13 τό τ’ έπειτα καί τό μέλλον καί τό πριν έπαρκέσει νόμος
δδ’. So the verb might express here about the same idea as conveyed
by έμμένειν όρθφ νόμφ 1. 350, "to remain a true support and refuge”.
If we read with Reiske πημονάν the meaning must be "ward off”.
I ποιμένων f: if sound this has to be interpreted asagenit.partit.in
the sense of των κηδομένων, των βοηθών ώς καί ποιμαίνειν τό φροντίζειν
(schol.). των έμέ ποιμαινόντων καί θαλπόντων (schol.). But this course
is impossible because 1) we cannot do without the article 2) Ajax
cannot "call his crew shepherds” (Webster, Museum 1955, p. 26).
If we read (with a colon after δέδορκα) ποϊ μένων έπαρκέσεις, the cor­
ruption is easily understood as resulting from false word division and
mixing up two sentences into one; “how long will you delay to help
me”.
361. συνδάιξον: mostly explained in accordance with the gloss
in Suid. σφάξον σύν τοϊς θρέμμασιν. It would be more in harmony
with the line of thought to render "help me to slay myself”.
362. 363. εύφημα φώνει: as infra 591 and El. 1211, this ex­
pression has not yet assumed the fixed meaning of "to be silent”.
μή κακόν .... άκος: a proverb from the medical sphere underlies
this phrase. Cf. Aesch. fr. 349 N.2 μή κακοϊς ίώ κακά; Soph. fr.
74 N.2 = 77 P.; fr. 530.4, 5 N.2 = 589.4, 5 P ένταϋθα μέντοι πάντα
τάνθρώπων νοσεί, / κακοϊς δταν θέλωσιν ίασθαι κακά. A variation, Eur.
Ba. 839 κακοϊς Θήραν κακά (Winnington-Ingram, Euripides and
86 COMMENTARY

Dionysus, 1948, 104 n. 2). Hdt. Ill 53.4 (Periander to his son)
μή τω κακω τό κακόν ίώ. Thue. V 65.2 διανοείται κακόν κακώ ίασθαι.
The whole idea complete in Plato Prot. 340 e καί είμί τις γελοίος
Ιατρός· Ιώμενος μεϊζον τό νόσημα ποιώ.
The schol., which says πήμα άτης κατά περίφρασιν την άτην, is of
course right on account of πημα κακοΰ Od. Ill 152 (cf. Phil. 765
τό πημα τής νόσου; Eustath. ρ. 1461, 68 'Ομήρου είπόντος πημα άτης
ό ζηλωτής αύτοΰ Σοφοκλής πήμα άτης φησίν, δ εστιν άτη περιφραστικώς).
Mr. Bowra disagrees and translates: "Nor adding ill / To ill make
sorrow greater than your doom”, Sophoclean Tragedy, 31.
364. τόν θρασύν, τόν εύκάρδιον: the repeated article has the
same force as in Track. 1105, 6 ό τής άρίστης μητράς «ονομασμένος, /
ό τοϋ κατ’ άστρα Ζηνός αύδηθείς γόνος.
θρασύν: favourable sense, as in Hom. (esp. of Hector),
εύκάρδιον: not in Hom. (θρασυκάρδιος does occur). Elsewhere,
PAiZ 535, explained by schol. with καρτερικός.
365. άτρεστον: not in Hom., often with the tragedians; cf. Aesch.
Prom. 416 μάχας άτρεστοι.
δαίοις: "doric” form, frequent in choral song, of ion. δήιος, as
δήιος πόλεμος II. VII 119 (for the masculine ending cf. Eur. Troad.
1301, Her. 915): “hostile, destructive strife” (cf. Aesch. Sept. 222;
Eur. Phoen. 1023; and probably Aesch. Prom. 352, see Groeneb.
a.h.l.). Cf. further injra 784, where the form with 5 is also used in
the trimeter, but where the meaning is different.
366. έν άφόβοις με θηρσί δεινόν χέρας: these words present some
difficulty.
l° The prepos. έν may have a local meaning but it also contains
the connotation "as regards”. Cf. 1092 έν θανοϋσιν ύβριστης (and
the Lat. in with abl., frequently used, e.g. by Tacitus).
2° The meaning of άφόβοις1) may be "not fearing”, e.g. Pl. Lack,
vyj b, or "that are not feared”. The latter is the choice of the schol.:
άφόβοις · τοϊς μή φόβον εμποιοϋσι. The first meaning may be explained
as "undaunted” or “fearing no harm <from man>”.
3° In connection with this the word θήρ forms a problem. Is it
used in the usual sense of "wild beast” or (in general) of "animal”
(opp. man) ? The words άφόβοις θηρσί may indeed in a sarcastic way
("undaunted wild beasts”) denote the cattle. But I prefer "tame
beasts”, on account of the contrast to δαίοις (v. Wilamowitz, Gr. Vsk.

L) Cp. C. W. Vollgraff, L'Oraison fun&bre de Gorgias, p. 57.

 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 364-371 87

505: ‘‘harmlos”) not "fearing no harm from man", as Jebb ex­

plains it.
367. οίμοι γέλωτος: the genit, causae is normal. Cf. e.g. O.C. 1399,
where there also follows an exclamatory sentence with otov.
Schol. rightly observes: ότι ούδέν αύτοΰ άλλο άπτεται ώς τά τής
άσχημοσύνης δτι κατά των μηδενύς άξίων ήνδρίσατο. Cf. 382, the
laugh which he fears from Od.; and 1. 79, Athena to Od. In con­
nection with this the laugh of Ajax (303) is noteworthy—that
scornful laugh which Ajax laughs in the midst of his frenzy and
fears for himself, but which Odysseus rejects is a leit-motif of the
drama (cf. also 957 and esp. 383).
What he means exactly with ύβρίσθην is shown by a comparison
of vs. 217 Αίας άπελωβήθη with 560 οδτοι σ’ ’Αχαιών, οίδα, μή
τις ύβρίση / στυγναϊσι λώβαις, ούδέ χωρίς 8ντ’ έμοΰ.
368. τάδε: with the meaning of τοιάδε (as often).
369. The responsion with 384 is imperfect; either the second
ούκ of 369 should be omitted or some such particle as δή should be
inserted after ίδοιμι in 384 (Triclinius). V. Wilamowitz (Gr. Vsk.
506) is in favour of the first but Tecmessa and the Coryphaeus
speak here in full trimeters and the fierceness of the outburst,
so characteristic of Ajax, would thus be weakened.—Jebb rightly
quotes O.T. 430 sq. The absence of the verb in ούκ εκτός; is quite
natural; complete at O.T. 676 οδκουν.... κάκτός εϊ; = abi.
έκνεμή: There is a gloss in Hesych.: έκνενέμηται· έξήλθεν. προ-
νέμεται El. 1384 has about the same meaning as progreditur (per­
haps we may think here of the progress of a fire). Cf. also Pind.
Nem. VI 15 ίχνεσιν έν Πραξιδάμαντος έόν πόδα νέμων.. There is
nothing strange about έκνέμεσθαι = “to go forth”. It should be
borne in mind that νέμεσθαι “to browse” easily develops the
notion "to move forward” and note the intensive νωμασθαι: good
example at Bacch. V 26. πόδα in this connection does not differ
from the same word in the well-known expression βαίνω πόδα (Eur.
El. 94; many loci in Denniston’s note); it is to be taken as a sort
of int. acc. which underlines the action.
άψορρον: prob, adv., as often already with Hom., though Soph,
also knows the adjectival use (Ant. 386, O.T. 431).
371. Though tradition—if not unanimously—assigns this verse
to the Coryphaeus, there is something to be said for giving it to
Tecmessa, in which case the parts between Tecmessa and the
Coryphaeus are in this strophic pair equally divided. Furthermore
88 COMMENTARY

the cry πρές θεών has a more touching note than would be expected
of the Chorus in this κομμός. Dain-Mazon give the line to T..
ΰπεικε: cf. infra 669, 70 και γάρ τά δεινά και τά καρτερώτατα / τιμαϊς
ΰπείκει. Ant. yi$ δσα δένδρων ΰπείκει (and II. I 294)·
372 ώ δύσμορος:: “Wretch that I am” (exclamative). It seems
better to read in 372 χερ'ι μέν (best tradition χερσί μέν; corr.
Herrmann) and in 387 προπάτωρ (best tradition), than in 372
χεροΐν (Tricl.) and in 387 πάτερ (“cod. ant. sec. Tricl.”). Empedocles
100.20 D. has είσόκε χειρ! μέθη.
373. άλάστορας: άλάστωρ often the name for the evil-doer.
(Orestes about himself Aesch. Eum. 236, Men. Circumt. 408).
374, 375. έλίκεσσι βουσι .... κλυτοϊς αίπολίοις: epic style (κλυτά
μήλα, Od. IX 308).
πεσών: cf. είσπεσών 55> 184; πίπτειν is often: "to plunge oneself”.
376. έρεμνύν: a word belonging to epic and tragedy. Here simply
= “black”.
ίδευσα: "I shed”. Lobeck quotes Pind. Nem. X 75 θερμά δέ τέγ-
γων δάκρυα, Track. 848 τέγγει δακρύων άχναν. Cf. Ο.Τ. ~i2y<).
χερί in 372 goes with μεθήκα and with ίδευσα; this fact supports
the somewhat notable dat. with μεθήκα. It is to be observed that
the strictly logical place of μέν would have been after μεθήκα.
To say that έλίκεσσι and κλυτοϊς represent epic style is in itself
not sufficient. The epitheta omantia are not meant ironically,
from the point of view of Ajax, but they nevertheless illustrate
the situation in an ironical way.
377, 378. U. v. Wilamowitz (Vsk. 503 n. 1) is right in saying
that such a hackneyed thought needs no comment, έπ’ έξειργασμέ-
νοις was a common expression as appears from Aesch. Pers. 525,
Ag. 1379, and Hdt.; Groeneb. ad Pers. 525 further quotes Cho. 739
επ’ ίργοις διαπεπραγμένοις. Syntactically it may be observed that
the locution is here linked up with the verb άλγεΐν.
It is unnecessary to read in 378 with v. Herwerden and Pearson
ίχοι instead of ίχειν. It is natural enough to have the inf. after
δπως here. In Greek we have γίγνεται with ώστε c. inf. (examples
K.-G. II, 13 a. 11) or with ώς and δπως c. finite verb: O.T. 1058
ούκ άν γένοιτο τοϋθ’, δπως. . . . ού φανώ τούμδν γένος; cf. Track. 455.
There are more instances where δπως, by passing into another
construction, stands with inf.; cf. K.-G. II, 377 a. 7.
379. The conjecture of Wakefield πάντα δρών is very infelicitous;
what is more natural than πάνθ’ ορών spoken of Odysseus, whom
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 372-384 89

the spectators have seen at the beginning scanning footprints on

the ground ? Moreover, there is a tragical irony, for it might be said
of Ajax: il ne croyait pas si bien dire\ For has not Athena shown
everything to Odysseus? Jebb rightly quotes Phil. 1013.
380. δργανον: As far as I can ascertain, all editors take δργανον
as a substantive. Od. is then called an instrumentum omnium scele­
rum, which may be possible, but there is no parallel to be found
for δργανον used of a person, except a slave (δργανον έμψυχον,
Arist. E.N. 1161 b 4). And moreover, can Od. be called an imple­
ment ? In my opinion δργανον is adj. to τέκνον, and απάντων κακών
is gen. obj. to it. The adjective δργανος takes exactly the same
construction at Eur. Andr. 1014, 15 δργάναν χέρα τεκτοσύνας.
381. άλημα: "that which is ground” for a "scoundrel”; cf. e.g.
τρίμμα (Ar. Nub. 260), παιπάλη (flour, ib.). (Ant. 320 should possibly
also be read άλημα; Lac has άλάλημα, and schol. explains λάλημα τύ
περίτριμμα τής άγοράς οΐον πανούργος, περίτριμμα Ar. Nub. 447>
Dem. XVIII 127.)
κακοπινέστατον: cf. Aesch. Ag. yy(> σύν πίνω χερών.
382. ή που πολύν .... άγεις: II. III 43 ή που καγχαλόωσι....
’Αχαιοί. Cf. the words of the Coryphaeus 957, 8: γελά .... πολύν
γέλωτα. The phrase γέλωτα άγεις has the value of non cessas ridere,
with which may be compared such expressions as εορτήν άγειν,
σχολήν άγειν, ήσυχίαν άγειν, κτύπον άγειν (Eur. Or. 181).
383. Of course the Coryphaeus does not merely want to say that
Od. laughs and Ajax weeps by divine will and that Ajax had better
acquiesce in it: άκουστέον ούν ούτως, ούχ δτι θεώ άρέσκει γελάν
εκείνον άλλ’ δτι θεών βουλομένων και τά κακά μεθίσταται εις τέρψιν
(schol.). This means: "every man should bear in mind that his joy
and sorrow is dependent on the divine will” (not the will of a
particular deity; the tragedians and Plato constantly hover between
οί θεοί, b θεός, τύ θειον, so that one should beware of reading ξύν
τοι θεώ). The consolation given here is similar to that in Track.
132 sqq.
This verse should be considered in the light of 79, 303, 367
(cf. ad 367).
384. All words spoken to Ajax lose their effect on him. He is
caught in the consciousness of his tainted honour and is implacable:
ούκ άφίεται ό Αίας άλλ’ ϋπδ τής ίδιας δυνάμεως έπαίρεται (schol.).
ϊδοιμι δή νιν: δή is very frequent with the imperative δρα etc.
It is emotional and does not belong to the elevated style. Examples
90 COMMENTARY

with the opt. are given by Denniston, G.P., 218 V. It is far from
certain whether this reading of Triclinius (metri causa) is correct;
but <μήν> (Dindorf, Jebb) seems worse (cf. Denniston. G.P., 331
sq.). There is much to be said in favour of omitting the stop after
άτώμενος, so that ίώ μοί μοι interrupts the sentence and the leader
of the Chorus tries to forestall the curse, which nevertheless is
uttered by Ajax.
386. μηδέν μέγ’ εϊπης: the schol. rightly compares El. 830 μηδέν
μέγ’ άυσης. It expresses the same as εύφημα φώνει 362. Cf. Eur.
Her. 1244 ίσχε στόμ’, ώς μή μέγα λέγων μεϊζον πάθης. (έπος έξερώ
μέγ’ infra 422 sq. is different).
ούχ όρας tv’ εΐ κακοΰ: cf. Ο.Τ. 413 (κού βλέπεις tv’ εΐ κακοϋ),
Track. 1145 φρονώ δή ξυμφορας ίν’ έσταμεν; Hdt. I 213 έμαθε ϊνα
ήν κακοϋ, etc. The frequent occurrence of this kind of expression
in Soph, (absent in Aesch., si quid video) is due to the importance
of the tragical situation of his dramatis -personae.
387. προπάτωρ: general for “forefather”, a term which should
be understood without precision. The appeal of the hero, who is
διογενής, to Zeus is quite natural.
388. πώς άν: this manner of uttering a wish (corresponding with
Lat. utinam) is very frequent in tragedy. The main point of the
wish is conveyed by όλέσσας, 390.
αίμυλώτατον: Aesch. Prom. 2θ6αΐμύλας δέ μηχανάς,Άτ. Lys. 1270.
αίμυλαν άλωπέκων. αΐμυλομήτην Hom. Hymn. Merc. 13.
389. The use of άλημα, repeated after vs. 381, is by no means
contrary to the pre-rhetorical style of tragedy.
δισσάρχας: cf. 252 δικρατεϊς Άτρεϊδαι.
390. όλέσσας: the use of the simplex (cf. θάνοιμι) increases the
crispness of the expression.
βασιλής: unusual form of the acc., possibly modelled on the nom.
(Chantraine, Morphologic hist, du grec p. 102); cf. however Άχιλή
Eur. El. 439 and the synizesis of ’Οδυσσέα supra 104.
392. κατεύχη: κατεύχεσθαι: τό καταρασθαι. οΰτω Πλάτων καί Σο­
φοκλής (Suid.). Cf. Ο.Τ. 246; Aesch. Sept. 633 οΐας άράται καί κατ-
εύχεται τύχας.
394, 395. σκότος.... έμοί: a double oxymoron, at once a cry
from the heart of Ajax and an image summarizing his situation,
as was well understood by schol. ad 395: ώς εί τις τόν θάνατον σω­
τηρίαν νομίσειεν. Death, in his eyes, is his deliverance (σεσωσμένον
692). To Tecmessa θανεϊν is that from which she must σωζειν him, 812.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 386-402 91

For the possibly heraclitic element in an oxymoron composed

of antonyms cf. J. C. Opstelten, Sophocles en het Griekse Pessimisme
p. 51 n. 4; J. C. Kamerbeek, Sophocle et Heraclite, Studia Voll-
graff p. 95.
σκότος and έρεβος, “darkness of death” and “underworld” are
synonymous.
ώς έμοί: ώς gives a qualification to the dat. iudicantis. Cf. Ant.
1161 Κρέων γάρ ήν ζηλωτός, ώς έμοί, ποτέ. (Cf. Anecd. Bekker I
p. 74. 3.) There is, however, no objection to taking έμοί as a dat.
commodi. Cf. K.-G. I, 421, 22 and for restrictive ώς in general
id. II, 493, 94. The meaning is: "for me anyway”.
396. έλεσθ': αίρεϊσθαι does not mean here "choose”, as is often
the case in Homer.
οίκήτορα: Ellendt observes that with the exception of O.C. 728,
οίκήτωρ in Soph, is used of the dead in the underworld (Trach.
282, 1161; infra 5x7). If this is not accidental, it is probably to be
attributed to the somewhat archaic and solemn sound of the verbal
substantive in -τωρ. (Soph, knows οίκητήρ O.C. 627 and οίκητής
O.T. 1450.)
398-400. ούτε .... ανθρώπων: the most plausible construction
runs: οΰτε γάρ < είς > θεών γένος ούτε είς δνασίν τινα άμερίων
άνθρώπων βλέπειν ότι άξιός <είμι>. (For the ellipse of the finite
verb cf. e.g. O.T. 769.) είς therefore goes άπό κοινού with the
first member also, which is quite common (cf. e.g. Ant. 1176);
further there is variation in the manner of expression, since the
notion of "benefit” is only expressed in the second member,
βλέπειν είς often occurs with the connotation "praesidii vel auxilii
exspectandi": Ant. 922 τί χρή με την δύστηνον ές θεούς δτι / βλέπειν.
Infra 514» -ΕΙ- 888, 958 ές τίν’ έλπίδων / βλέψασ’ έτ’ ορθήν; ib. 954·
άμερίων άνθρώπων: cf. Ant. 79°·
άξιος deserves special notice; his frenzy makes Ajax feel himself
an unworthy man.
401, 402. άλλά .... αίκίζει: Ajax realizes that Athena is
ruining him; Sophocles assumes, therefore, that he remembers
the scene with Athena (91 sqq.). The case is different from that
of Euripides’ Heracles (χορευέτω δή Ζηνός ή κλεινή δάμαρ Her. 1303).
to whom Hera has always been hostile; and from Hippolytus
(ώμοι- φρονώ δή δαίμον’ ή μ’ άπώλεσεν Hipp. 14ΟΧ), where Artemis
has told him this.
ά Διός: the idiom is really the same as 'Αλέξανδρος ό Φιλίππου.
92 COMMENTARY

άλκίμα: it is quite natural that the goddess of war should be thus

called; said of Heracles, Track. 956.
402. όλέθριον: prob, not adverbial (for which one would expect
όλέθρια) but predicative-proleptic. The explanation of the schol.
μέχρι θανάτου is correct, but does not show how the construction
is to be considered.
όλέθριος (dc re) mostly = "destructive”; the passive meaning
(de homine) is self-evident, "lost”, "undone”. The two parallels in
Soph, are not quite certain: O.T. 1341 (if the reading of the MSS
ολέθρων is correct, the meaning may also be active) and Track. 878
(the reading άλεθρίδ makes it all but synonymous with the preceding
τάλαινα; if one reads όλέθριδ—with ellipse of κλύω—the meaning
becomes active again).
αίκίζει: cf. supra hi; Track. 838; Tim. Pers. 189.
403. 7toi τις ούν φύγη: this deliberative in the 3rd p. properly
replaces the normal one in the 1st p., cf. O.C. 170 ποϊ τις φροντίδος
έλθη (K.-G. I, 221). The alternation with the fut. μενώ may be
explained by the close affinity between the subjunct. and the
future, as it appears repeatedly in Homer. An echo of these words
injra 1006 (Teucer.)
405, 406. εί. . . . πέλας: τά μέν φθίνει, compare 364-366· τά μέν
refers to his heroism. The MSS have 406 φίλοι, τοϊσδ’ όμοϋ πέλας.
Liv. a (reading of Livineius in the margin of an Aldina) τοϊσιδ’.
Read τοϊσι 8’ (the form may be defended with Phil. 956) όμοΰ πέλας.
Ellipse of είμί; τοΐσι δ’: (έν) άφόβοις θηρσί. "And I am in the com­
pany of these”, πέλας with the dative, Aesch. Suppl. 208 (θέλοιμ’
άν ήδη σοΐ πέλας θρόνους έχειν); here it is pleonastic. Metrically
this yields---- as against ----------------- (or if
one reads ούτιν’ ά) so that choriambic and iambic dimeter mutually
correspond (or so that there is a variation in the two choriambic
dimeters).
A schol. Jenense (according to Lobeck) runs: ώφειλεν είπεϊν τά
δ’ όμοϋ, ϊνα ή ακόλουθον πρός τό, εί τά μεν. έποίησε δέ έναλλαγήν.
This means that instead of τά δέ όμοΰ πέλας έστίν sc. έμοί, he says
τοϊς δέ όμοΰ πέλας sc. είμί. The full contrast τά μέν . . . . τά δέ is
very frequent with Soph. Cf. e.g. Ant. 1279.
407. προσκείμεθα: προσκεϊσθαι "to be closely joined with”, "to
be bound up with”, "to suffer from”: cf. El. 1040; κακοϊς γάρ οΰ
σύ πρόσκεισαι μόνη, Eur. jr. 418 ΝΑ (Without much difference
έγκεϊσθαι, see my note ad Eur. Andr. 91.) Ajax means to say that
 FIRST EPEISODION, VSS. 402-412 SQQ. 93

the dishonour of his mad chase will always be attached to him.

Conversely Ant. 1242 sq. δείξας έν άνθρώποισι την αβουλίαν / όσω
μέγιστον άνδρί πρόσκειται κακόν.
408. δίπαλτος: the uncertainty as to the meaning goes back to
antiquity. Schol. ad 1.: άμφοτέραις ταϊς χερσίν olov περιδεξίως με
φονεύοι - παντί σθένει ώς Δίδυμος · ή ό στρατός με φονεύοι λαβών τα δ£-
παλτα δοράτια ώς Πϊός φησιν. Aesch. Sept. 985 (dubious passage)
has τριπάλτων πημάτων. Eur. I.T. 323 δίπαλτα ξίφη is prob, a cata­
chresis for “the swords wielded by two men”. In Troad. 1102, 3
δίπαλτον κεραυνοφαές πΰρ reminds us of the zig-zag flashes of light­
ning. In any case -παλτος, if taken as a verbal adjective (δίπαλτος
might be derived from παλτόν = “javelin”), is active here, as is
very common, and the explanation of Didymus stands a fair
chance of being right. Compare the frequent (in)geminare said of
the throwing of spears or brandishing of the sword. I am inclined
to render δίπαλτος with ictibus ingeminans. (On δίπαλτος cf. H. L.
Lorimer, A.B.S.A. 37, 172-186.)
410, 411. τοιάδ’ . . . . φωνεϊν: acc. c. inf. in highly affective
exclamation, cf. Aesch. Ag. 1662 άλλά τούσδ’ έμοΐ ματαίαν γλώσσαν
ώδ’ άπανθίσαι; Eum. 837 έμέ παθεΐν τάδε. (K.-G. II, 23 c.)
χρήσιμον: Schol. τοιαϋτα φωνεΐν ά πρότερον ούκ άν ετλη γενναιότατος
ών. With the same concept, γενναίος, a schol. ad Eur. Phoen. 1740
explains τό χρήσιμον φρένων (Lobeck). Cf. O.C. 1636 (quoted above
ad 319). Tecmessa’s despair is due to the fact that she no longer
recognizes the Ajax she once knew.
πρόσθεν: cf. 318.
412 sqq. This invocation shows clearly that Weinstock (So-
phokles1 p. 43) is right in calling this άμοιβαϊον, as far as Ajax is
concerned, essentially a monologue. For these words are not really
different from the numerous passages in tragedy where the hero
(or heroine) in his loneliness addresses nature (cf. Groeneboom,
Prometheus p. 105). Groeneboom quotes the sober words of Apsines
(Rhet. Gr. Sp. I p. 400): κινεί δ’ έλεον και λόγος προς τόπον τινά γενό-
μενος. There is, however, something of a deeper significance in our
passage. The scenery round Troy, familiar to Ajax, is addressed
because it has been a witness to his greatness (421 sqq.). Nothing
is more classical and nothing does more to make man the centre
of the universe than this hypostatizing of the surrounding scenery
so that it may serve as the background of man in his greatness
and fall.
94 COMMENTARY

412. πόροι άλίρροθοι: Aesch. Pers. 367 is there to prove that the
schol. (as also Suidas and Harpocration) is wrong in saying ποταμοί
είς θάλασσαν ρόοντες. The meaning is "sounding straits of the sea”.
Cf. also Eur. Hipp. 1205 and πόροι άλός Od. XII 259. It must
remain undecided whether the sea in general is to be thought of
here, or the straits of the Hellespont.
413. νόμος έπάκτιον: νόμος of rare occurrence; in Homer only
at II. XI 480 έν νόμεϊ σκιερφ, a mountain pasture where there are
also trees (Mazon translates "forft”). 601 infra may indicate that
we must think of pasture-ground. (Prob, to be compared with Soph.
fr. 505 N.2 = 549 P. όπακτίας / αύλώνας.)
414. πολύν πολύν: the geminatio, sparingly applied by Soph.,
has the same place here as in the strophe.
δαρόν: the adj. δηρός in Hom. only in δηρόν χρόνον, II. XIV
206 = 305, where Aristarchus took it as an adv. (Schol. Aristonic.
II. XIV 206 (ή διπλή), ότι παραλλήλως δηρόν καί χρόνον). In any case
Soph, felt δηρόν to be an adj. and the combination is rather frequent
with the tragedians (cf. χρόνος .... δαρός, Eur. Her. 702).
415. κατείχετ’: κατεχειν similarly used Track. 249.
416 sqq. After ίστω (4x7) the editors mark a full-stop, so that
άλλ’ ούκότι μ’ has to be supplied with the verb καθεξετε. It seems
to me that the text brings out the fierce embitterment of Ajax even
more clearly if the words τοϋτό τις φρονών ίστω are taken διά μόσου.
In this case ούκότι in 416 anticipates ούκότ’ in 421, μ’ in 416 άνδρα
. .. τόνδε in 421, 2.
416. άμπνοάς not in the sense of αναπνέω in Hom., but “the
act of breathing”; schol. άμπνοάς όχοντα · ζώντα.
417. τοϋτό τις φρονών ίστω: "let every sensible man know this”.
420. έύφρονες Άργείοις: the schol. ad 418, which reads . . . olov
όμοί όχθρα'ι ροαί, εϋφρονες δέ τοϊς ’Αργείοις τοϊς όμοΐς < έχθροϊς >,
is probably not mistaken (cf. 459 where Ajax expresses his belief
that he is also hated by the plains of Troy). Schol. ad 420: εϋφρονες ·
διά τό ποτόν seems too matter-of-fact.
423 sqq. Ajax is emphatically pictured as the epic hero who is
in deadly earnest about αΐέν άριστεύειν. His words echo those of
Achilles at II. XVIII 105 ήμαι παρά νηοσίν, τοΐος όών οίος οΰ τις
Αχαιών χαλκοχιτώνων έν πολεμφ. It is certainly not the intention
of the poet to emphasize Ajax’ ΰβρις with these words. It should,
on the contrary, be claimed that the behaviour of Ajax would be
hard to explain if this were not his firm conviction, for it was
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 412-430 95

on this that Ajax’ claim on the arms of Achilles was based (cf.
441-444).
424. στρατού is to be joined with οΰτινα; the genit, is partitive,
which is so much the more natural because the idea is "the best
of the army” (cf. 1300).
427. πρόκειται: προκεϊσθαι is said of the dead who lie exposed;
cf. infra 1059. The full meaning of άτιμος is realized if one considers
that the resentment of Achilles, also, is nourished by the fear of
losing his τιμή.
428, 429. άπείργειν: Ellendt quotes άπείργω τινά βουλόμενον
ένεργεΐν τι ... . (cod. Vat. 1410 ap. Bekk. p. 1331). This holds good
for Soph. So the desire to "restrain” prob, refers to the intention
of Ajax to commit suicide.
έχω is construed zeugmatically, first with an inf., then with a
dependent question; cf. Ant. 2jo. έώ dependent dubitative. Though
ούδ’ instead of οΰθ’ is plausible, the change made by Elmsley
seems superfluous; we know from many MSS-texts that ού ...
οΰτε is by no means rare. Cf. El. 1412, O.C. 451, 496 (most editors
change the transmitted text). Eust. p. 914, 32 explains: οΰτω καί
Σοφ. έν Α tαντί δυσίν έννοίαις μίαν αιτίαν έπάγει, ένθα λέγει ώς οΰτε
κωλύειν έχω σε τοϋ λαλεϊν οΰτε συγχωρεϊν, τοιαϋτα παθόντα κακά.
The explanation seems only partly correct. It might even be argued
that οΰτε goes partly από κοινού with the first member also: the
construction does not then differ very much from Ant. 270.
συμπεπτωκότα: συμπίπτειν = incidere in also at O.T. 113· Almost
the same as έντυγχάνειν, 433.
430-595. Second Scene of the first efieisodion. Ajax, Tecmessa,
Chorus.
After the stirring lyrical scene follows the exposition of the situ­
ation in an iambic dialogue. Electra explains her situation in a si­
milar way, El. 254 sqq., after a preceding κομμός.
430. The exclamation αίαϊ introduces the exposition by Ajax of
the connection between his name and his fate; he now begins to
realize the evil portent that is inherent in his name. The play
on names was a favourite occupation with the Greeks. It also occurs
in later antiquity, plays an important part in Shakespeare, and is
ultimately rooted in the magical force of names. The name is the
person, the denomination is the thing (δς άν τά ονόματα έπίστηται,
επίσταται και τά πράγματα, Pl. Crat 435 d). Cf. E. R. Dodds ad Eur.
Ba. 367: "To us a pun is trivial and comic because it calls attention
96 COMMENTARY

to the irrelevant; but the Greek felt that it pointed to something

deeply relevant”. Powers and things can only be mastered by naming
them.
Sometimes mythical names seem to have been specially made for
the story to which they become attached (e.g. perhaps Eteocles
and Polynices—but these names may also be primary; Pentheus;
cf. Aesch. Sept. 577; Eur. Phoen. 636 αληθώς δ’ όνομα Πολυνείκη
πατήρ / έθετό σοι θεία προνοία νεικέων έπώνυμον; Eur. Βα. 5θδ
ένδυστυχήσαι τοΰνομ’ επιτήδειος εϊ, ib. 367', Chaeremon fr. 4 N?
Πενθεύς έσομένης συμφοράς έπώνυμος.. Legrand, Etude sur Theocrite
352, n. 2 gives instances with reference to Theocr. XXVI 26 and
VII 99-100: Aesch. Prom. 85, 850, Ag. 681, 1081-82, Eur. Troad.
990, Phoen. 1494, Rhes. 158. Cf. Arist. Rhet. II 23, 1400 b), some­
times the art of έτυμολογεϊν seems to us to be still more a mere
game (a number of examples are given by Platnauer ad Eur. I.T.
32). Whether Sophocles introduces an innovation here, or falls
back on others (e.g. Aeschylus, who plays the game with Helena,
Apol'o, Prometheus) as in jr. 880 N.2 (= 965 P. Σοφοκλέους γένος
καί βίος 2θ) on Hom. Od. I 62, is difficult to make out. (Pindar
Isthm. VI 53 derives Ajax from αίετός, later authors give the story
of the hyacinth with the letters A I, which sprang from the blood
of Ajax: Euphorion Υάκινθος 40 Powell (Schol. K Theocr. X 28,
cf. Eustath. p. 285, 33), Theocr. X 28, Mosch. 3.6, Verg. Buc. Ill
106, Ov. Met. XIII 397.) The most important thing in this place,
however, is that Ajax reflects on his fate in connection with his
name, i.e. his person.
430. Sv .... ώεθ’: potential of the past.
έπώνυμον: the adj. is already used in Homer (Od. XIX 409 of
Odysseus in connection with 407) with a name which conveyed
something particular; cf. II. IX 562; the name given after something;
Hom. Hymn. Ap. 373, Aesch. Prom. 733 (cf. Eur. Phoen. 636, 37;
ib. 1494; Ion 1594, El. 1275). One could render it here with “stri-
king(ly)”. Vide infra 574 and 914.
431. έπώνυμον has to be closely connected with ξυνοίσειν; ξυμφέ-
ρειν is here = congruere and τοΐς έμοϊς κακοϊς is dependent on it.
432. πάρεστι: same use as in El. 959 ή πάρεστι μέν στένειν.
δες .... και τρίς: cf. infra 94°·
432, 433. γάρ .... γάρ: cf. supra 184, 5·
There is an intentional monotony in τοιούτοις κακοϊς, τοΐς έμοϊς
κακοϊς (431), κακοϊς τοιοΐσδε (429)·
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 430-440 97

434. Schol. περιπαθώς τά τοϋ πατρός κατορθώματα παραλαμβάνει ·

ούκ έλάσσονα γάρ τοϋ πατρός ποιήσας άτιμος έλαύνομαι.
The father of Ajax, Telamon, took part of the expedition of
Heracles against Troy and got Hesione as a reward: Diod. S. IV
32.5: ό S’ 'Ηρακλής έστεφάνωσε Τελαμώνα άριστείοις, δούς αύτω τήν
Λαομέδοντος θυγατέρα 'Ησιόνην ούτος γάρ κατά την πολιορκίαν
πρώτος βιασάμενος εΐσέπεσεν εις τήν πόλιν ....
435. καλλιστεϊ’: "the most beautiful part of the booty”. This is
not the same as 464 άριστεϊα (cf. Phil. 1429; C. W. Vollgraff,
Decret d’Argos, Kon. Ned. Akad. LI 2, 1948, p. 46 and Radermacher
Berl. Phil. W. 1917 pp. 28-30; cf. Eur. I.T. 20 sqq.).
There would be nothing notable in τά πρώτα άριστεύσας: cf. infra
1300 (which moreover shows that here, too, Hesione is meant, as
the schol. rightly remarks), τά πρώτα καλλιστεία makes the locution
pregnant, so that άριστεύσας acquires the meaning of “after having
won by his prowess”.
436. πάσαν εύκλειαν: cf. 465.
437. There is a striking symmetry with 434:
δτου πατήρ μέν τησδ’ άπ’ Ίδαίας χθονός - - - - -
έγώ δ’ ό κείνου παϊς, τόν αυτόν ές τόπον.
There is a similar relation between 439 and 435, 440 and 436.
438. Τροίας: explicative or appositive genit, to τόπον. Τροία is
used in the Homeric manner.
έπελθών: it is possible but by no means certain that έπ- has here
the meaning of "after him” (Jebb, Bruhn), as in έπιγίγνεσθαι, but
a meaning intermediate between ingressus and aggressus seems
more probable. For έπέρχεσθαι ές cf. Od. VII 280.
σθένει: "fighting forces”, as prob. II. XVIII 274.
439. άρκέσας: the parallelism with vs. 435 in itself makes it
plausible that άρκεϊν has the meaning of sufficere (trans.) or praestare;
cf. also infra 590. The sense development of άρκεϊν seems to be:
to ward off—to be strong enough—to suffice; if with the second
meaning it takes a cognate accusative, we can translate “to perform”.
Compare έπαρκεΐν Pind. Nem. VI 60 πέμπτον επί είκοσι τοϋτο
γαρύων / εύχος άγώνων άπο, . . . . , τέ γ’ έπαρκέσαι (Ρ. Maas) κλειτά
γενεά. (Aesch. Ag. 1170 is too doubtful.)
έργα .... χειρός .... έμής: deeds of my hand.
440. άτιμος: cf. 426. Άργείοισιν belongs to it. Immediately upon
άτιμος follows the argumentation about the armour of Achilles.
The father won the prize of the άριστεία, to the son it was denied.
Kamerbeek 7
98 COMMENTARY

The schol. ad 433 rightly remarks: περιπαθώς τά τοΰ πατρος κατορ­

θώματα παραλαμβάνει (“zieht zum Vergleich herbei”).
441. καίτοι.... δοκώ: cf. Ο.Τ. 1455· £/. 33ζ·
In a passage like this the exactness of Denniston's remark is
realized: “There is usually a certain combative tone in καίτοι”
(G.P., 556). (A striking instance also found in Ant. 502.) The
translation should be "and yet”. There is a defiant note in the
combination of the apparently restrictive γ’ and the very vigorous
expression for “know” (έξεπίστασθαι), seemingly weakened by δοκώ.
442. ών: in a few cases Soph, has δς pron. poss.
443. κρίνειν: decernere.
κράτος άριστείας: the triumph of being the best, κράτος, as with
Homer repeatedly = “preponderance”, with Soph, often = "vic­
tory”, “triumph”, cf. El. 85, 476; infra 768. This κράτος applied
to the concrete situation means the obtaining of the arms of Achilles.
Cf. Pind. Isthm. VIII 5 άέθλων δτι κράτος έξεΰρε, by schol. explained
in the following words: δτι δή των άθλων νίκην καί επικράτειαν εύρεν
άνδρείως άγωνισάμενος.
έμελλε: one of the numerous instances where an unfulfilled past
is expressed by the imperfect. (“Seules les differences d’aspect font
employer un theme de preference a l’autre”, J. Humbert, Syntaxe
grecque § 113, p. 81.)
444. ούκ . . τις . . . άλλος άντ’ έμοϋ: cf. Ichn. 326 ούκ άλλος
έστίν κλοπεύς / άντ’ εκείνου; O.C. 488; Track. 1226. Other examples
in Groeneboom ad Aesch. Prom. 467. The verb μάρπτειν, which
combines the meanings "to snatch away” and “to lay hold of”,
has a strong plastic force.
445. παντουργω: Philolaus II D. has παντο-εργός, “accom­
plishing everything”. Soph, uses it here in the sense of πανούργος,
as at Aesch. Ag. 221, 1237 παντδτολμος = πάντολμος (Jebb; the
comment on this already in Eustath. p. 525, 40 and elsewhere,
vide Lobeck; cf. παντορέκτης (Έρως) [Anacr.] 10.II (if not = παντ-ο-
ρέκτης)). For the whole phrase cf. Aesch. Sept. 671 φωτ'ι παντόλμω
φρένας.
The alliterations (playing with τ, <p, π and p) in 445 and 446
deserve notice.
446. έπραξαν: the verb has the pregnant sense of “seeing it
through that a person gets something”, “procuring a thing for a
person”. It may be compared with the middle in the sense of
“exacting (money) for oneself”. Ellendt’s κατεχαρίσαντο is correct.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 441-449 99

άνδρός .... κράτη: the usual rendering is "while rejecting my

valour (valiant deeds)”, "not counting my valour". It might be
asked in this case whether the middle form would not be more
appropriate (Hdt. I 199, Thue. V 22.1, in Soph, himself e.g. Phil.
1122) and whether κράτη, like κράτος 443, had not better be taken
in the sense of νίκην and άνδρός τοϋδ’ as genit, separ.
447. Granting that the reading άπήξαν is correct, we must
explain: “if this mine eye and my mind, warped, had not swerved
(broken off) from my purpose (resolution)”, .... διάστροφος goes
in the first place with όμμα. Cf. Athena’s words supra 51. This is
an ordinary symptom of madness, e.g. Aesch. Prom, sq. εϋθύς
δέ μορφή καί φρένες διάστροφοι / ήσαν, where the eye is not men­
tioned, but see ib. 882 τροχοδινεϊται δ’ δμμαθ’ έλίγδην,/έξω δέ δρόμου
φέρομαι λύσσης / πνεύματι μάργω γλώσσης άκρατης. Cf. Hippocr.
π.ί.ν. 7 τά όμματα διαστρέφονται. Eur. Ba. 1122 and 1166 sq. (some­
what different Soph. Track. 794), Her. 932. (Compare on this Page
ad Eur. Med. H74sq..) The rolling of the eye, which is a symptom,
is then transferred to the φρένες, the more easily because διάστροφος
in general means perversus, "distorted”, etc. (Cf. also O.T. 528
έξ όμμάτων δ’ όρθών τε κάξ ορθής φρενός.)
It may therefore be assumed that both Aeschylean passages above
mentioned were in the mind of Sophocles; in the first passage also
occurs the verb ήισσον (676). It might, however, be argued that
the diction calls up a strange image. Now the "Roman” family
(GRQ) has άπεϊρξαν; this reading was known to Lobeck. He quotes
i.a. a schol. from the Roman ed. pr. of the scholia: άντί τοϋ άπήγαγον·
γρ. καί άπεϊρξαν, ο έστιν έκώλυσαν. For άπείργω cf. 50, 7°· 42^, 949)· H
is hard to see how the reading <μ’> άπεϊρξαν (as Blaydes writes) could
be corrupted into άπήξαν. But suppose Soph, wrote (μ’) άπηξαν. The
aor. ήξα (of άγειν) is rare and is mostly smoothed away; there are,
however, the so-called aor. mixtus forms in Homer and Thalheim
maintains at Antiph. V 46 the transmitted form άξαι. The change
into άπήξαν was simple, while the pron. μ’ (if Soph, wrote it) had
to disappear, άπάγειν = "to lead away from” is quite common.
(Cf. my paper Sophoclea III, Mnemosyne S. IV, 3.1 (1950), pp.
16-18). But άπήξαν could also be transitive Eur. Ba. 147).
448, 449. δίκην.... έψήφισαν: "to procure a judgment by votes”.
Jebb rightly refers to Pind. Hem. VIII 26 κρυφίαισι γάρ έν ψάφοις
Όδυσσή Δαναοί θεράπευσαν. It may be compared with what Ajax
says supra 98. ώδ’ of course implies "in this dishonest manner”.
100 COMMENTARY

Jebb is right in saying that ψηφίζειν is here not identical with

έπιψηφίζειν, or with the middle (“to decide by votes”). Eustathius
p. 361, 29 reckons this ψηφίζειν among Sophocles’ “anachronisms”:
ψηφίζειν γάρ οΰπω είδησαν (ήδεσαν) ήρωες (probably an Aristar-
chean doctrine).
450. Compare what was said above ad 401 sq.
γοργώπις: "torvis oculis fulgens". Cf. Groeneboom on Aesch.
Prom. 356, where the various forms of the epithet are enumerated.
In Soph, the word occurs fr. 844.2 P. (τήν Διός γοργώπιν Έργάνην)
= fr. 760 ΝΑ
αδάματος: although the MSS have άδάμαστος the editors since
Elmsley write άδάματος, because there are some places where
άδάμαστος is metrically impossible (O.T. 205, 1315; O.C. 1572).
This is why Elmsley and Ellendt reject the form άδάμαστος, in
which they are not fully warranted, however, as the poet may have
had II. IX 158 (άδάμαστος said of Hades) in his mind. As regards
the meaning, “irrepressible”, “unconquerable” seems more con­
vincing in the context than παρθένος, άζυγος, as the schol. and
Suidas have it. The word has been restored in the 5th century
epigram quoted in Greek Lyric Poetry p. 356 by Bowra (cf.
C. W. Vollgraff, Grec ancien et grec moderne, Melanges Gregoire,
p. 623).
451. έπεντύνοντ’: this is the reading transmitted by the Roman
class and by A and there can be no objection to it. έντύνειν is a com­
mon epic word for “preparing”, έπεντύ(ν)ω and έπεντύνομαι in Hom.
(II. VIII 374, Od. XXIV 89). There is perhaps this slight ob­
jection to έπευθύνοντ’ that Ajax did not really come to the act of
stretching forth his hand against the Atreidae and Odysseus.
452. έσφηλεν: to bring to perplexity and disaster,
λυσσώδη: already in epic, II. XIII 53.
453. Cf. 366.
454. έπεγγελώσιν: cf. 969, 989, and note ad 367. Cf. also for the
compound fr. Eurypylos (Suppl. Soph. D. p. 24, 49 = 210.49 P. =
Page 4): έπεγχανεΐν.
455. έμοϋ μεν ούχ έκόντος: it goes without saying that this
phrase only qualifies έκπεφευγότες.
έμοϋ μέν ... . εί δέ: this μέν clearly shows the transition from
emphatic to antithetic μέν. The following δέ is only indirectly
correlated with it: supply "but the gods would have it”, μέν
"solitarium” supra 80.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 450-460 101

455. 456. The wording reminds one of El. 696 sq. όταν δέ τις
θεών I βλάπτη, δύναιτ’ άν ούδ’ άν ισχύων φυγεϊν.
456. τάν (τοι άν): excellent reading of Elmsley, which, according
to Lobeck, is also found in Mosq. a. Cf. for instance Aesch. Sept.
552 for this τάν in apodosi.
Again and again we hear in the words of Ajax his unshakable
sense of superiority.
457-480. After the harrowing analysis of his situation follows
the conclusion, introduced by the crisp monosyllables καί νΰν τι
χρή δράν; and ending with the inescapable pronouncement 479,
480.
457. δράν in this verse is a striking example of the “dramatic”
use of the verb of which Bruno Snell has sketched the development.
457-459. όστις .... μισεί δέ μ' κτλ.: όστις is linked up with the
subject of δράν and the construction detaches itself from the relative
clause, just as e.g. supra 434-437 and Eur. Hel. 639-641.
An hypophora similar to that in 460 sqq. (έχθαίρομαι, .... μισεί,
. .. . έ'χθει) is found in El. 537 sqq., Dem. XVIII 28, Thue. I 80.4.
(See Schmid, G. d. Gr. L. I 2, p. 492 n. 2.)
457, 458. θεοϊς / έχθαίρομαι: Oedipus says (O.T. 816) τίς έχθρο-
δαίμων μάλλον άν γένοιτ’ άνήρ .... Ar. Vesp. 418 has θεοισεχθρία
from θεοϊς έχθρός: see ν. Leeuwen a.l. Aesch. Ag. 1090 μισόθεος =
θεομίσητος (schol. Μ); cf. θεοστύγητος Aesch. Cho. 635, θεοστυγής
Eur. Cycl. 602.
Eteocles calls the family of Oedipus θεών μέγα στύγος (= θεοϊς
μέγα στυγούμενον), Aesch. Sept. 653, with which compare also ib.
702 θεοϊς μέν ήδη πως παρημελήμεθα. Eteocles is hated by the gods
as a member of his family, Ajax as an individual. Besides the hatred
of the gods there appears at once, in Ajax’ case, the hatred of men,
and, characteristically for the loneliness of Sophocles’ hero, nature
joins in this hatred (459). Allowance must be made, of course, for
the circumstance that he has lived in these plains as a foe, but
this is not the most important factor: cf. 420.
459. The rhythm is remarkable for the tribrach in the 5th foot,
consisting of one word only, but there are more instances (e.g.
O.T. 1496).
460. πάτερα: the following member is άλλα δήτ’ ιών 466. Cf. El.
535-7 (K.-G. II, 532 a. 10).
οίκους: sing, and plur. are used indifferently for “native country”,
etc. Ct. Phil. 58-60, a passage which in other respects also may be
102 COMMENTARY

compared with this one. The idea of the offended hero wishing to
sail homeward is found in the Iliad: IX 356 sqq.
ναυλόχους έδρας: τον ναύσταθμον (schol).
ναύλοχος (epic word) also Track. 633, where it may be a substan­
tive.
461. μόνους: predicat. These words also, as they stand here,
can only be explained by the peculiar mental state of Ajax. If he
goes, it is the fleet and commanders who are μόνοι, not the other
way about, λιπών and μόνους belong to both members. The com­
bination λείπειν .... μόνον is very common, e.g. Phil. 470, O.C. 501.
(It would seem that the schol. ad 464 γυμνόν] άντί τοϋ έρημον’ μεγα-
λοφυώς δέ οίεται εαυτόν τό παν είναι properly belongs here. Then
the lemma would have been μόνους] άντί τοΰ ερήμους.)
περώ: in a very literal sense; cf. Ant. 337; very frequent in Homer.
462. ποιον όμμα .... δηλώσω: O.T. Ι371 έγώ γάρ ούκ οίδ’ όμμασιν
ποίοις βλέπων / πατέρα ποτ’ αν προσεΐδον εις 'Άιδου μόλων. Hdt. I 37
(the son of Croesus) νϋν τε τέοισί με χρή όμμασι ές τε άγορήν και έξ
άγορής φοιτέοντα φαίνεσθαι; Eur. Ι.Α. 455,’ Plaut. Cas. 939-
464. Cf. 435- γυμνόν: is explained by τών άριστείων άτερ, as
κενήν by ανθρώπων δίχα, Phil. 31. γυμνόν itself, on account of the
Homeric meaning, already suggests that Ajax is not in possession
of the arms (of Achilles).
465. ών .... στέφανον εύκλειας: στέφανον εύκλειας forms one
notion (στέφανος = laus victoriae also Phil. 841), of which ών is
genit, explic. The whole wording of 464, 65 is a slight variation
of 435, 36·
466. άλλα δήτ’: chiefly "in questions which follow a rejected
suggestion (including hypophora)’’, Denniston, G.P., 273. "Well,
then, shall I go... ?” Cf. El. 537, Ichn. 300 (Cyllene 299: ούδ’ αδ
τοιοϋτόν έστιν, άλλ’ άλλον τιν’ έξευροϋ τρόπον. Chor. άλλ’ ώς κερά-
στης κάνθαρος δήτ’ έστΐν Αίτναϊος φυήν;) Other examples G.P. l.c.
467. έρυμα: the town-wall.
μόνος μόνοις: cf. infra 1283 "Εκτορος μόνος μόνου; Eur. Heracl.
807 άλλ’ έμοί μόνος μόνω / μάχην συνάψας; Med. 513 τέκνοις
μόνη μόνοις; Pl. Prot. 316 c. One hesitates to say whether Ajax has
in mind a series of single combats or a combat in which he alone
stands up to all the Trojans. Cic. Tuse. IV 23 (52) perhaps points
to the second alternative.
468. δρών τι χρηστόν: commentators compare Eur. I.A. 371
δράν τι κεδνόν.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 461-473 103

There is a significant distinction of verbal aspect in ξυμπεσών and

δρών.
λοίσθιον: the same adverb Ant. 1304.
469. άλλ’ . ..γ’: “But no, .Acting as he said, he would
please the Atreidae by weakening the forces of the Trojans, and
they would not understand it was an act of suicide.
470. ούκ έστι ταϋτα: cf. Track. 449. The asyndeton as in Eur.
Ale. 53.
πείρα: cf. supra 2.
470, 471. Orestes in his despair expresses himself in a similar
way, Eur. Or. 1060:
άλλ’ εΓ δπως γενναία καί Άγαμεμνονος
δράσαντε κατθανούμεθ’ άξιώτατα.
κάγώ μέν ευγένειαν αποδείξω πόλει,
παίσας προς ήπαρ φασγάνω ■
But Orestes is a desperado and only that.
471, 472. δηλώσω .... γεγώς: a normal construction of the verba
declarandi. Cf. Ant. 20, El. 24.
φύσιν γ’: his madness made him fall short of the standards set
by his heroic φύσις.
άσπλαγχνος: δειλόψυχος (schol.), "sans coeur”. (In later Greek
"relentless”: Romanos, Doomsday 253.) Cf. εΰσπλαγχνία Eur.
Rhes. 192, κακοσπλάγχνους Aesch. Sept. T.yj.
Without έκ κείνου the construction would be perfectly clear and
the sense simple; the words έκ κείνου carry the suggestion: “that
my φύσις has not fallen short of my father’s”. But the words as
they stand do not say more than: "that I, his son, am not, in the
nature of my heart at least, a coward”.
473-480. A hero like Ajax fulfils his true destiny only in the
glory of his deeds. A short and glorious life is by all means prefer­
able to a long and inglorious one. This alternative is the back­
ground of the story told by Achilles II. IX 410-416. How much
more then is death desirable when life has lost the prospect of an
heroic destiny. These are heroical ethics as opposed to the bourgeois
craving for living on a tout prix. Cp. Ortega y Gasset, Essais es-
pagnols pp. 192-3: "C’est li une fa^on de sentir propre a l'esprit
industriel, h l’ime bourgeoise. Vivre, vivre ύ tout prix; ne pas se
risigner i reconnaitre dans la mort l’attribut essentiel de la vie”.
"Tel un mobile qui parcourt une trajectoire, la vie dds le premier
moment, est lancee ύ sa consommation. Autant vaut dire qu’on
104 COMMENTARY

vit que Ton devit”. "II semblerait plus conforme a la dignite

humaine de profiter de ce fait inevitable de la mort et d’inscrire
celle-ci sous le regime de la volonte (id. ib. p. 194).
473. αισχρόν γάρ άνδρα: where we prefer to say “it is a shame
for a man to ..." Cf. Aesch. fr. 177 N.2 (όπλων κρίσις or Θρήσσαι,
see M. Pohlenz, Erlauterungen2 p. 74) τί γάρ καλόν ζήν βίοτον δς
λύπας φέρει;
τοϋ μακροϋ χρήζειν βίου: cf. O.C. Ι2ΙΙ δστις τοϋ πλέονος μέρους /
χρήζει τοϋ μέτριου πάρεις / ζώειν, Ο.Τ. 518 οΰτοι βίου μοι τοϋ μα­
κραίωνος πόθος, / φέροντι τήνδε βάξιν. τοϋ μακροϋ βίου = "man’s
normal long life", hence the article.
474. κακοΐσιν δστις μηδέν εξαλλάσσεται: "Metonymia est, ac­
commodatis ad hominem, quae in eius conditionem cadunt”
(Ellendt). Stephanus translates: "qui nullam vicissitudinem in
malis suis accipit”. Cf. Pind. Isthm. III 18 αιών δέ κυλινδομέναις
άμέραις άλλ’ άλλοτ’ έξάλλαξεν.
The sentiment is illustrated by Ant. 463 sq. δστις γάρ έν πολλοϊσιν
ώς έγώ κακοϊς / ζή, πώς 58’ οΰχΐ κατθανών κέρδος φέρει; and
by fr. 866 N.2 = 952 P. δστις γάρ έν κακοΐσιν ίμείρει βίου, / ή δειλός
έστιν ή δυσάλγητος φρένας (Jebb).
κακοΐσιν is to be considered as a dativ. respectus (K.-G. I, 440. 12).
475. 476. παρ’ ήμαρ ημέρα: “day after day”. The days of life
are seen as a monotonous series, as a rank of soldiers placed side
by side.
άνδρα.... δστις is to be understood as the object of τέρπειν
(otherwise the sentence would be no more than a rather trite
pessimistic utterance) and of the participles προσθεΐσα καί άναθεΐσα.
Supply from τοϋ κατθανεϊν, τω κατθανεΐν going with προσθεΐσα.
The metaphor has been taken from the game of draughts. Each
day of life brings man nearer to but also (in as much as he keeps
on living) removes him from the boundaries of death (άνατίθεσθαι =
"to withdraw one's opinion” like a piece at chess or draughts, e.g.
Pl. Prot. 354 e and passim).
τοϋ γε κατθανεΐν: the particle lays stress upon death as the
ultima linea rerum. (The metaphor may also have been derived
from the stadion, death being the γραμμή which formed both the
starting-point and the finish; the removal is thus at the same time
an approach, γραμμή, Eur. El. 956, cp. Dem. XVIII 97.)
477, 478. ούκ αν πριαίμην οϋδενός λόγου βροτόν / δστις: ούδένος
λόγου έμοί αν άξιος γένοιτο βροτός δστις. (βροτόν at the end of the
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 473-482 105

line has a certain stress importing the limitations of mortal man.)

478. κεναΐσιν έλπίσιν θερμαίνεται: cf. Ar. Eq. 210 αϊ κε μή θαλφθή
λόγοις. τό γάρ τοιοϋτον έξαπαταν <έστιν> εαυτόν έν ψευδολογία διάγοντα
(schol.) Eustath. ρ. 651, 6ο and 1407, 4§ τήν ελπίδα θαλπωρήν λέγει
καί ή τραγωδία κεναϊς έλπίσιν θερμαίνεται, έλπίσιν κεναϊς .... έξήρετ’,
Ei. 1460 sq.
479. 480. The sentence is an admirable instance of concise
directness. The last clause is final in the full sense of the word.
For the wording cf. Pl. Epist. VII 334 d. Groeneboom ad Aesch. Ag.
582 gives the variations of the formula πάντ’ άκήκοας λόγον; cp.
e.g. Phil. 1240.
480. εύγενή: there would be little sense in trying to ascertain
whether εύγενής denotes here nobility of birth or nobility of
character. Ajax stands for that noble conception of ethics to which
the phrase noblesse oblige is fully applicable. Aristotle (Rhel. II 15,
1390 b) distinguishes: Έστι δε εύγενές μέν κατά τήν τοϋ γένους
άρετήν, γενναϊον δέ κατά τό μή έξίστασθαι της φύσεως. But the φύσις
of Ajax is in this speech determined by descent from an heroic
father. Conversely the Homeric οδ μοι γενναϊον means "it is not
in my nature”, i.e. "I was not to the manner bom” (II. V 253).
Notice how Tecmessa in 1. 524 uses εύγενής.—Cf. Phil. 874 άλλ’
εύγενής γάρ ή φύσις κάξ εύγενών, and Ant. 37 sq. καί δείξεις τάχα /
εϊτ’ εύγενής πέφυκας εϊτ’ έσθλών κακή.
It is interesting to observe how Libanius Deci. p. 1040 (= VIII
p. 386, Foerster) puts the following words into the mouth of Ajax:
δει γάρ τούς άγαθούς ή ζην εύδοκιμοϋντας ή τεθνηκέναι. Isocrates
(πρός Νικοκλέα 36) αίροϋ τεθνάναι καλώς μάλλον ή ζην αίσχρώς.
The pathetic protest against the heroic and nobiliary attitude in
Eur. (I. A. 1250): τό φως τόδ’ άνθρώποισιν ήδιστον βλέπειν. / τά νέρθε
δ’ ούδέν · μαίνεται δ’ δς εύχεται / θανεϊν · κακώς ζην κρεΐσσον ή καλώς
θανεϊν.
481. ύπόβλητον: prop, "supposititious", "spurious”, i.e. "not in
keeping with one’s φύσις”. Cf. O.C. 794 ύπόβλητον στόμα (somewhat
different). Eustath p. 106, 7 says that Soph, speaks of ύποβολιμαίους
λόγους in the sense of μή γνησίους.
482. άλλά της σαυτοϋ φρενός: "but everyone will say that you
have spoken a word bom of your own soul”. There is, therefore,
a brachylogy: supply (from ούδείς) έκαστος in the second member
(K.-G. II, 566 k).
As shown by ύπόβλητος the word is understood as "engendered
106 COMMENTARY

of the mind,” “child of the mind”. Weinstock's rendering (Sophokles

p. 65) "dein eigenst Wesen wurde Wort” goes too far. Grammatical­
ly speaking, φρενός is gen. originis, not subjectivus. The schol.
here is correct: γνήσια της διανοίας <σου> τά είρημένα καί ούχ ύπό-
βλητα.
483. παϋσαί γε μέντοι: γε sometimes strengthens the imperative
(Denniston, G.P., 125, 7). The combination with μέντοι is not un­
common (ib. 412) and it has a strongly adversative force here.
483. 484. δός.... κρατησαι: "suffer friends to overrule your
purpose” (Jebb). For the nuance of διδύναι one may compare
ένδιδόναι. The subject of κρατησαι is of course the άνδρες φίλοι. So the
idea of overruling his own purpose is out of the question; they ask
him to let them triumph over his γνώμη.
484. φροντίδας: "thoughts”, not "cares”, though there may be
a shade of the latter meaning in it.
485 sqq. Whereas the speech of Ajax may be easily analysed
according to the few unshakable views of the hero and the consist­
ency of his γνώμη, an analysis of the speech of Tecmessa by
logical points is practically impossible, and that for two reasons:
it is not in her nature or in accordance with her position to express
herself with the clarity of the hero; secondly, her motives are purely
emotional. This is the reason why from the outset commentators'
opinions differ in some important respects: Brunck and Hermann,
on the evidence of a note by Eustath. (παρά Σοφοκλεϊ άναγκαία τύχη
ή δουλική ρ. 1089, 38), claim that Tecmessa, referring to her own
slavery, admonishes Ajax by the example she sets in bearing it.
Lobeck and others rightly oppose this interpretation by pointing
out that it would greatly exceed the limits of Tecmessa’s modesty.
There is no strictly logical line of thought in her reasonings.
(Webster, Introduction, p. 154 urges too much the logical point).
She wants him to live, for her own sake and for the sake of her child,
and she makes a pathetic appeal which is all the stronger because
she too has experienced, as he is now doing, the grip of the άναγκαία
τύχη. The particle δ’ of 487, therefore, has the value of: "I speak
en connaissance de cause, for
485. της άναγκαίας τύχης: the fortune (disaster) imposed by
ανάγκη “fate” (in the plain sense of the word, free from metaphysical
speculations). Since there is always the idea of “binding”, “yoke"
in the word άνάγκη and its derivations, it is evident that she is
thinking of her own slavery, but also of the calamity that has fallen
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 483-494 107

upon him. For the rest it should be observed that before the cata­
strophe Tecmessa utters the words πρόστητ’ άναγκαίας τύχης (803),
so that one might speak of a sort of dramatic irony.—When
Sophocles wrote this line the poem of Simonides containing the
saying άνάγκαι ούδέ θεοί μάχονται was already old, and not long after
Sophocles’ Ajax Eur. wrote his hymn to ’Ανάγκα (Ale. 962 sqq.).
The idea has become very common (e.g. Eur. Hel. 5x4).
488. σθένοντος έν πλούτω: έν πλούτω is probably instrum. In a
later period έν with a dative is often equivalent to an instrum,
without έν. Cf. in Soph, έν φίλαισι χερσιν έκόσμησα, El. 1138;
σπώντας έν χηλαϊσιν άλλήλους, Ant. 1003.
εϊπερ τινός σθένοντος: τινός has been attracted by πατρός....
σθένοντος; Φρυγών belongs to τινός. είπερ τίνος, therefore, stands
for είπερ τις άλλος έσθενε. Similar attraction O.C. 734. Ar. Pl. 655.
Without attraction (for which there is no occasion) O.T. 1118, O.C.
1664. Cf. K.-G. II, 573. Connected with a superlative Trach. 8,
Eur. Andr. 6. One may explain with the schol.: ώς ούκ άλλου τινός.
489. νϋν δ’ είμί δούλη: cf. Hecuba in Eur. Hec. 357.
που: this addition is typical of Tecmessa; it is the addition of a
woman who resigns herself to the hardness of fate.
490. χειρί: a graphic expression of the power which Ajax, her
conqueror, has over her.
τοιγαροϋν: "synonymous with τοιγάρτοι first occurs in Soph.”
(Denniston, G.P., 566 sq.). “That’s why”, "hence”.
491. τό σόν λέχος ξυνήλθον: λέχος is acc. of direction, often
found in the tragedians, in keeping with the epic use; σοι may be
conveniently supplied. Perhaps the poet thought of έμόν λέχος
άντιάουσαν (II. I 31, cf. Od. XXIII 296).
εδ φρονώ τά σά: εύνους σοι καθίσταμαι (schol.). The acc. is perhaps
best understood by assuming that εδ φρονώ has the value of φιλώ.
The poss. pron. neut., descriptive of the person, is quite usual.
492. άντιάζω: prop, "to approach with entreaty”, "to entreat”.
Similarly Phil. 809, El. 1009, Eur. Ion 1119, etc.
πρός τ’ έφεστίου Διδς: cf. έφέστιον ήγαγε δαίμων, Odysseus to
Calypso (Od. VII 248). So Tecmessa had been led to the hearth
of Ajax and can therefore invoke Zeus, the protector of the έστία
(the same as Z. Έρκεϊος), as well as the εύνή.
493. ή συνηλλάχθης έμοί: cf. Eur. Andr. 1245 Έλένω συναλλαχ-
θεΐσαν εύναίοις γάμοις (schol. άντί τοϋ πρδς γάμον συναφθεϊσαν).
494. βάξιν: the word is found especially in the tragedians.
108 COMMENTARY

βάξις άλγεινή = "diatribe”, "iible Nachrede”. The opposite, βάξιν

καλήν λαβόντε El. 1006. β.α. λαβεϊν has the value of a pass, inf.,
hence ύπ’.
495. χειρίαν άφείς τινι: ύποχείριος is “subjected to the power of”;
cf. χείριος Eur. /«ώ-. 411, Ion 1257.
άφείς: both έφείς and άφείς are possible. Perhaps άφείς is better
because the notion of "abandon” is more appropriate than that of
permittere (έφείς).
τινι: she means "falling a prey to the first comer”.
The concubine of Ajax has been secure from invective just be­
cause she belonged to Ajax; if, after his death, she falls into the
hands of the very first stranger, she will be subject to humiliation,
above all from his enemies.
The observations of the schol. ad 495 are quite right.
496. εί γάρ θάνης: Jebb rightly remarks that the omission of
άν is no objection. The reading of A: ήν is therefore less good. The
conjecture of Bothe (Jebb, Raderm.) ή deserves consideration but
is not strictly necessary.
άφής: the reading άφείς in 495 throws into relief the repetition
of the verb here and makes it easier to supply an object, άφιέναι
in the sense of "abandonner” may almost be called a vox Sophoclea
(cf. e.g. Ant. 887).
497. ταύτη . ... τη τόθ’ ήμερα: Tecmessa’s mental stress finds
expression in this pleonasm.
498. ξυναρπασθεϊσαν: as O.C. 819. It is evident that the poet has
in mind the scene of Hector and Andromache, II. VI. This is clearly
shown by the opening words of 500: cf. II. VI 459 and 504 ~ II.
ib. 462 sq.
499. δουλίαν .... τροφήν: cf. σίτον ελευθέριον Theogn. 916; θήσσαν
τράπεζαν Eur. Ale. 2.
500-503. It is these lines which reveal unmistakably what was
meant by Tecmessa in 494 sq.
5ΟΟ~5Ο4: τις έρεϊ — έρεΐ τις is a striking example of “Ring-
komposition” (v. Otterlo, Beschotimngen over het archaische element
in den stijl van Aeschylus, diss. Leiden 1937, does not mention
the passage on pp. 23, 24); no doubt the words of Homer have
inspired it.
500. 501. πικρόν .... λόγοις ίάπτων: the words as used here
probably suggest a metaphor connected with the shooting of arrows,
πικρός “offending” cf. πικρούς λόγους Pl. Gorg. 522 b. ίάπτειν
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 495-505 109

“throw”, "hit”, "injure” (also fig.); in the sense of "injuring”

already Od. II 376. Even stronger infra 724 sq. όνείδεσιν ήρασσον.
Ad Aesch. Sept. 382 θείνει δ’ όνείδει Groeneb. notes: "his words are
like the lashes of a whip”. It is doubtful, however, whether he is
right in mentioning our passage as a parallel. For words like arrows
cf. e.g. Eur. ]r. 499 N.2 μάτην άρ’ είς γυναίκας έξ άνδρών ψόγος /
ψάλλει, κενόν τόξευμα^βε my note ad Eur. Andr. 365 and cf.
ψόγον ίάπτειν τινί Rhian. ap. Stob. Ill 4.33 H. = fr. 1.4 Powell).
As the object of ίάπτων supply με.
501. ϊδετε την όμευνέτιν: schol. refers to II. VI 460 (Ovid still
has the τόπος, Met. XIII 512).
όμευνέτιν: neither Eur. Med. 953, nor Ion 894 (both όμευνέτης)
contains an indication of the word having in itself a derogatory
meaning
503. λατρείας: for λάτρον (Aesch. Siippl. ion), λάτρις, λατρεύω,
λατρεία cf. v. Wilamowitz, Eur. Herakles‘ II p. 180 and Groeneboom
ad Aesch. Prom. 966. It stands here for "slaveries”, "menial tasks”,
just as Heracles Track. 70 is the λάτρις of Omphale. The proper
meaning is "hired service”.
οϊας .... όσου: Greek allows of two interrogatives or relatives
under one predicate (K.-G. II, 522). Cf. infra 557, 923; El. 751;
Ant. 942; Track. 1045. Cf. also e.g. Isocr. VI 42 τίς ούκ οίδεν, έξ
ο’ίων συμφορών είς όσην εύδαιμονίαν κατέστησαν.
τρέφει: τρέφειν used figuratively is a vox Sophoclea (cf. e.g. O.T.
356). Practically it is all but equivalent to έχειν, though it must be
admitted that the use here is more or less zeugmatic, for in ζήλον
τρέφειν there is at once the idea of "having happiness” and "breed­
ing (fostering) envy”, while λατρείας τρέφειν in itself is less easy
to understand. Schol., not bad: αόξει, έχει.
504. 505. δαίμων έλα: O.C. 1749 sq. ελπίδων γάρ ές τίν’ <έτι> με
δαίμων τανϋν γ’ έλαύνει; "To what last hope doth fate now urge us ?”
It is therefore possible to interpret as follows: "Fate will drive me on
•«whither it will>”, or to explain έλαύνειν as "afflict”, in which case
δαίμων is infortunium. Cf. Trach. 1044 sq. κλύουσ’ έφριξα τάσδε
συμφοράς, φίλαι, / άνακτος, οΐαις οίος ών έλαύνεται. Cf. supra ad 137
πληγήν δαίμονος (Eur. Cret. Suppi. Eur. V. A. p. 24 1. 30).
505. Full weight falls on this line. She appeals to his nobleman’s
sense of honour in response to his own words in 1. 473: αισχρόν γάρ
κτλ. The schol. rightly remarks: θαυμαστώς δέ ή προσθήκη τοϋ γένους·
αίσχος γάρ πρόστριψη και τω υίω έπϊ τοιούτοις αύτόν καταλιπών. It is
110 COMMENTARY

in fact more likely that τώ σώ γένει refers to his offspring than to

his ancestors.
506, 507. Another reminiscence of the Iliad: Hecuba and
Priam in XXII. The verb αίδεϊσθαι ib. 82.
αϊδεσαι.... προλείπων: the action of προλείπειν is represented
by the partic., depending on αϊδεσαι, as already being in progress,
πατέρα is of course the object to προλείπων, but in consequence of
the following αϊδεσαι δέ μητέρα (which is to be supplied with
προλείπων), it is also the object to αϊδεσαι. Compare also Priam’s
appeal to Achilles, II. XXIV 486 sqq.
^,υγρω / γήρα: γηραϊ' λυγρω, II. V 153·
506 sqq. αϊδεσαι: for his parents, οίκτιρε, for his son. ϊσχε κάμοϋ
μνήστιν, for Tecmessa herself. Schol. ad 506: θαυμαστώς δέ έπί
μέν έαυτης οΰδαμοΰ τοϊς τοιούτοις όνόμασι χρήται, ούτε αίδέσθητι
ούτε οϊκτειρε, έπΐ δέ των γονέων καί τοϋ παιδός.
508. κληρούχον: μέτοχον, κεκληρωμένην, κλήρον έσχηκυϊαν. Every­
where else this word has the well-known technical meaning. Its use
here is etymological rather than figurative. Thus Arist. E.N. 1153
b 33 κληρονομιά in the sense of “share”.
508, 509. ή . . . . μολεϊν: τούτο οίκείως (appositely) έκ της φύσεως
στοχαζομένη παρέλαβεν (schol.). Cf. II. XXIV 491 s(l·
ζώντα πρός δόμους μολεϊν: and not as in the words of Aesch. Ag.
434 sqq. αντί δε φωτών τεύχη καί σποδός εις έκάστου δόμους άφικνεΐται.
510. οϊκτιρε . . . . εΐ: verba affectuum are in Attic very often
followed by a clause with εί (K.-G. II, 369. 8). But this is not a
pure example of it, for the dependent question όσον .... νεμεϊς
depends on οϊκτιρε so that the latter has a pregnant sense: "have
pity .... and consider”. The clause with εί, though referring to
οϊκτιρε, is yet the protasis, of which the clause δσον .... νεμεϊς is
the apodosis. It may be said that the relation of the clause with
εί to οϊκτιρε and δσον .... νεμεϊς is analogous to that of a proleptic
object to a main clause and a dependent question. If another
interpretation is preferred, a colon should be placed before δσον
instead of a comma.
The whole period is an admirable example of the fulness of the
pathetic appeal, as it finds expression in the distribution of the
words over the verses and in the subtle grammatical structure.
Note for example how in vs. 510 the ideas "to have pity” “your son”
and “young” go together.
510, 511. νέας/τροφής: Soph, also has the combination O.C.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 506-512 111

345 (Oedipus speaking about Antigone): έξ δτου νέας / τροφής έληξε

(in the same place), νέα τροφή = "being brought up as a child"
(metonymic use O.T. i). Pind. ΟΙ. II43 νέοις έν άέθλοις ("dansles jeux
oil concourt la jeunesse" Puech). Cf. also παιδεΐος τροφή Ant. 918.
511, 512. σοϋ μόνος: μόνος has the value of μονωθείς, as O.C.
1250 άνδρών δέ μοϋνος.
διοίσεται: Hesych. (and Suidas) explains διάξει, βιώσεται,
so that the middle has here the sense of διαφέρειν τον αιώνα,
Hdt. Ill 40, άπαις διοίσει, Eur. Rhes. 982; and Jebb quotes
Hippocr. De artic. p. 823 διαφέρονται = "they pass through
life”. In this case ύπό in ύπ’ όρφανιστών μή φίλων will have to be
explained either as "under the power of”, which is very rare
(άρετώσι δέ λαοί ύπ’ αύτοϋ Od. XIX 114 is not very convincing), or
it will have to be construed with στερηθείς. “Owing to” qualifying
the whole sentence is less suitable, because the όρφανισταί are
not guilty of the fact that he “will spend his life bereft of his
father”. O.T. 1488 οΐον βιώναι σφώ προς ανθρώπων χρεών cannot
very well be compared. The explanation of Lobeck, according
to which διοίσεται is passive and has the sense of διαφορηθήσεται,
i.e. diripietur, vexabitur, deserves consideration, διαφέρειν Eur.
Ba. 754 has the sense of "tearing asunder” (L.-Sc.); διαφορεϊν =
diripere Ar. Av. 338; cf. Pl. Epist. VII 337 d and 351 b.
συνδιαφορεϊν π.ύ. 40.1.—Cf. Eui. Ale. 656sq. ώστ’ ούκ άτεκνος
κατθανών άλλοις δόμον / λείψειν έμελλες ορφανόν διαρπάσαι.
όρφανιστών: the word only here and in an inscr. of Selymbria
B.C.H. 36.549 (L.-Sc.). The meaning "one who takes care of orphans”
is an example of catachrestic use (Eust. p. 533, 33 τούς ύπέρ ορφανών
ύπερισταμένους). There may be some reason for the question,
granting that Lobeck is right, whether όρφανισταί has not the same
meaning as χηρωσταί (II. N 158, Hes. Theog. 607), i.e. persons who
in the absence of sons divide the possessions of the deceased. This
would not give a sense of reality to the words of Tecmessa, it is
true, seeing that Telamon and Teucer are both alive, but yet the
words όρφανισταί μή φίλοι may, in a somewhat figurative way, be
meant for the Greek commanders. They will treat the lad as
όρφανισταί μή φίλοι do.
μή: possibly caused by et; it is also possible that φίλων is used
predicatively ("guardians not being φίλοι”) *).
*) Cf. A. C. Moorhouse, On negativing Greek Participles. Cl. Qu. 1948,
pp. 35 sq.
112 COMMENTARY

514 sqq. Schol.: καί τοΰτο 'Ομηρικόν: cf. II. VI 413 and 429·
515. ηστωσας: άιστόω already in Homer "to make invisible”,
"destroy”; of the human race Aesch. Prom. 232. The contraction
only here (or perhaps also Soph. jr. 493 N.2 = 536 P.).
516. Though the usual reading άλλη μοϊρα makes tolerable sense
(which, however, does not entail the view of Jebb, who sees in Ajax
an instrument of μοίρα), the division άλλ’ ή (of L A; I admit that
tradition gives little hold on these points) has to be considered.
Thus: no comma after δορί; (καί) μητέρ’ first meant as object
to ηστωσας, then she interrupts herself, άλλ’ ("but no”) ή Μοϊρα
(fully personified, as e.g. Phil. 1466) <την μητέρα> τόν φύσαντά τε
καθεϊλεν. The view of some scholars, who argue that Soph, states
emphatically that άλλη μοϊρα, and not Ajax, is to be held responsible
for the death of her parents, thus to exonerate Tecmessa from the
reproach of being callous, does not seem convincing. There would be
more pathos in the text as given by L A. When the town was
destroyed her parents were killed, not necessarily by the hand of
Ajax, which, as a matter of fact, is exactly what she does not say;
she does not wish to provoke him by such reproaches. (Compare also
Briseis in II. XIX 291 sqq.). But perhaps the Greek is too broken.
(On Tecmessa cf. R.-E. s.v. For us Soph, is the first to mention
her. Qu. Sm. V 521 sq. is founded on Sophocles; in Dictys, De B. Tr.
II 18, Ajax kills her father.)
τόν φύσαντά: ό φύσας = "the father” is frequent in Soph.
517. καθεϊλεν: cf. O.C. 1690, Track. 1063 (= "to kill”),
θανάσιμους: with slight catachresis for θανόντας (or τεθνηκότας);
similarly O.T. 959. It is a predicative prolepsis as a result of the
action καθεϊλεν. Cp. Track. 1161: άλλ’ δστις 'Άιδου φθίμενος οΐκήτωρ
πέλοι.
For οΐκήτωρ cf. supra ad 396·
518. 519. Sophocles does not make Tecmessa say (as Homer
makes Andromache) that he is her father and mother; it should
be clear that with his death she is an outcast, without a fatherland
and a means of living (πατρίς and πλούτος). Cf. also Aesch. Cho.
239 sqq.; Soph. El. 1148-1158; Eur. Ale. 646 sq.. See Bowra,
Sophoclean Tragedy, pp. 21, 22.
519. έν σοϊ .... σφζομαι: as Eur. Ale. 278 έν σο'ι δ’ έσμέν καί ζήν
καί μή, Ο.Τ. 3^4. O.C. 247 έν ύμμι γάρ ώς θεω / κείμεθα τλάμονες.
See Groeneb. ad Aesch. Pers. 170-172.
520-522. A dignified modesty pervades the whole passage:
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 514-522 113

κάμοϋ: after the parents and the son. τερπνόν εϊ τί που πάθοι:
αίδημόνως δε αύτόν ύπομιμνήσκει τά της εύνής. A striking comparison
is made by the scholiast with Eur. Hec. 828 (ό δέ γε Εύριπίδης
μαστροπικώτατα (the perfect procuress) εισάγει τήν Έκάβην. There
is no reason for the schol. to be shocked; the passage in Eur. shows
a splendid verve.) Hecuba calls in the aid of Agamemnon, referring
to hours of love he had with her daughter Cassandra: ποϋ τάς φίλος
δήτ’ εύφρόνας δείξεις, άναξ, / ή των έν εύνή φιλτάτων άσπασμάτων / χάριν
τίν’ εξει παΐς έμή, κείνης δ’ έγώ; κτλ. (Matthiae and Murray cancel
the next two verses, wrongly as it seems). Vergil remembered the
words τερπνόν εί τί που πάθη (πάθοι): Si bene quid de te merui,
fuit aut tibi quicquam Dulce meum, Aen. IV 317 sq. (On Sophocles'
Ajax and Dido in Vergil see W. F. Jackson Knight, Roman Vergil,
1944. ΡΡ· 99-ι°°·)
520, 521. There seems to exist a subtle distinction between
μνήστις and μνήμη in these two verses, μνήστις, verbal noun = “the
act of recalling” (recordatio'), μνήμη = “remembrance”, “memory”
(memoria). This is also borne out by the somewhat personifying
προσεΐναι (comitem esse — inesse): cf. infra 1079 δέος ω πρόσεστιν
αισχύνη θ’ όμοϋ.
τοι: “forces the general truth upon the consciousness of the
individual addressed” (Denniston, G.P., 542, 10). Though the
sentence is not a proverb, yet this use of τοι is the same as the one
frequent in proverbs. For this reason the opt. πάθοι is to be preferred
to πάθη. (The loci where εί stands with the coni. gen. in Soph.:
supra 496 and O.T. 198, 874, O.C. 1443 are all of a different cha­
racter). The optativus iterativus (rather potential) is often found
in proverbial sayings, see Groeneboom ad O.T. 314, 315 άνδρα
δ’ ώφελεϊν άφ’ ών / έχοι τε καί δύναιτο, κάλλιστος πόνων. Cf. Ant.
666, prob, also Ant. 1032.
άνδρί: less correct Raderm.: "i.e. άνδρί εύγενεΐ”. Meaning: a man
<deserving that name>. Similarly O.T. l.c., Ant. 710.
που: soltens, as it were with instinctive modesty, what even
in a general utterance she thinks too personal and intimate.
τερπνόν: there is here prob, a distant association with 966 sq.
He gives her πικρόν in exchange for τερπνόν (cf. O.C. 615 τά τερπνά
πικρά γίγνεται).
522. χάρις . . . . άεί: we do not know whether Tecmessa models
her words on an existing proverb. (Oedipus says O.C. 779 ότ’ ούδέν
ή χάρις χάριν φέροι; the relation between χάρις and χάριν is here
Kamerbeek 8
114 COMMENTARY

perhaps slightly different.) The wording is typically Greek: no­

where is the reciprocity of χάρις better realized than here (Sen.
de Ben. II 12 gratia gratiam parity, the all-pervading tendency
towards personification appears from τίκτειν. Dutch: ‘"t Is liefde-
dienst die liefdeswederdienst verwekt”. Cf. also Eur. Hel. 1397.
523. δτου: the genit depends on άπορρεϊ: "from whose mind
the memory of the benefits passes away”, άπορρεΐν, of disappearing
prosperity, El. 1000. Cf. infra 1267 χάρις διαρρεΐ. π.ύ. 33.3: καί των
μεν αμαρτημάτων άνεξάλειπτος ή μνήμη παραμένει, των καλών δέ ταχέως
άπορρεϊ. Similar metaphor Theogn. 109, no ήν δ’ έν άμάρτης / των
πρόσθεν πάντων έκκέχυται φιλότης. έκχεΐν also Aesch. new fr. Niobe
(273.20 Mette (1959)).
524. These words are a direct answer to the last words of Ajax
479 sq. as appears from εΰγενής. The force of έθ’ is best felt if one
paraphrases: "that man could not show himself in such a way that
he could still be regarded as noble”. E. Wolf (Sentenz und Reflexion
bei Sophokles 45, 46) rightly remarks that 523 sq. express the same
thought as 520 sq. but are formulated in a negative-declarative
way, whereas the former contain an exhortation. "Die Ursache ist
das Streben nach Eindringlichkeit”. But the dramatic moment is
especially caused by εΰγενής (cf. L. Massa Positano, L'unita dell’
Aiace di Sofocle, 50).
525. Sv: announces Sv in 526 with θέλοιμ’, as is often the case,
δυσωπητικά ("putting to shame”) τά τοιαϋτα (schol.).
The Coryphaeus tries to mediate, as between Oedipus and Creon,
or between Electra and Chrysothemis.
ώς κάγώ: SC. έχω.
527. καί.... τεύξεται: “Approval, surely she shall have ap­
proval. ..
γοϋν has a cutting tone and is characteristic of Ajax’ ethos,
καί often stands before κάρτα, λίαν, μάλα etc. with emphatic
effect, thus acquiring the force of “actually" (Denniston, G.P., 317).
528. τδ ταχθέν: Ajax alludes especially to the command which
he gives in 530. τδ ταχθέν is therefore δ αν ταχθή. τάττειν has a
military ring.
τολμά: τολμάν = in animum inducere as in El. 1051.
529. άλλ’ .... πείσομαι: a clear example of assenting άλλά (“but
of course”) with fut. after an imper. “The speaker not only agrees,
but repudiates the very idea that dissent is possible” (Denniston,
G.P., 16).
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. S23-S3S 11S

530. The desire to see his son appeared already in 339.

531. καί μην .. . . γ’: καί μήν mostly introduces a new thought
or circumstance, e.g. the announcement of a new comer. Thus it
can be used to agree with a person's words but at the same time
introduce something new (clear example O.T. 290 καί μήν τά γ’ άλλα
κωφά και παλαί’ έπη). φόβοισι, accentuated by γ’, changes και μήν
here from seemingly assentient into adversative. In 539 πέλας γε
has the opposite effect of φόβοισι γ’ here; the phrase might here be
paraphrased as “most certainly, but...”, 539 as “Oh yes, this
can be done, for ...".
φόβοισι: causal dative. The plural gives a general character to
those fears, which is for Ajax an inducement to ask after their
particular reason (532).
έξελυσάμην: schol. των φόβων χάριν ρύσασθαι θέλουσα έξήγαγον.
The term is rather vague, esp. because the verb is used absolutely,
what she wishes to imply is that she had preserved him from
threatening danger, έκλύεσθαι, e.g. in Track. 21, = σωζειν.
532. έν τοϊσδε τοϊς κακοϊσιν: Ajax refers to his own madness.
The dialogue assumes a poignant character just because it deals with
that which neither wishes to call by name.
533. γε: affirmative, as is frequently the case in dialogue. It
may be said that μή θάνοι still depends on φόβοισι.
534. Ajax’ γέ τοι gives after Tecmessa’s γέ που a bitter justi­
fication of her fear. "Certainly that would have consorted well
with my genius” (Denniston, G.P., 550, 4, 1).
For an explanation of the genit, to πρέπον it should be observed
that without πρέπον the words would have all but the same meaning:
cf. Eur. Ale. 499 καί τόνδε τούμοϋ δαίμονος πόνον λέγεις. Furthermore
Pl. Menex. 239 C has πρεπόντως των πραξάντων in the sense of άξίως
τ.π. The dat. would moreover suggest the wrong idea that the
killing of his son would be suitable to his δαίμων, while the obvious
meaning is "inherent”. The rendering is therefore: "This would
indeed be peculiar to my δαίμων”.
δαίμονος: it would not be incorrect to say Soph, means here
sors or infortunium, but there is more in it, just as O.T. 1194,
Track. 910. It is the divine power as it is revealed in the unbreak­
able union of destiny and individual (in the sense of Heraclitus’
ήθος άνθρώπω δαίμων. See Weinstock, Sophokles, 51, 52; Kamer-
beek, Studien over Sophocles, 114; id. Studia Vollgraff, 98).
535. άλλ’ ούν .. . . γε: the particles are repeatedly thus combined
116 COMMENTARY

in Soph. (AmZ. 84, Phil. 1305, El. 233, 1035). Denniston tfi.P.
443, 4) rightly renders the words: "Well, anyhow, whether πρέπον
or not, I stopped that happening”.
’φύλαξα τοϋτό γ’ άρκέσαι: "I was watchful to avert that” (ut hoc
■prohiberem, E.). άρκέω has here its primary meaning and is the same
as άπαρκέω. (For άρκέω cf. supra yb, 439; infra 727.)
536. έπηνεσ’: for the aorist cf. ad 99. Many examples in Groene-
boom ad El. 668.
πρόνοιαν ήν έθου: cf. ad 13. πρόνοια: provida cura (E.).
537. After having got the approval of Ajax, Tecmessa hopes
that he will give her some other command than to bring their son.
εκ τώνδε: "under these circumstances” (cf. infra 823, Aesch.
Pers. 788, Track. 1109, Eur. Andr. 1184, Med. 459), i.e. now that,
with your approval, I have removed the child, ώς is used in a
restrictive sense, as in Andr. l.c., Thue. IV 17.1 ώς έκ των
παρόντων.
The repetition of άν is very common, cf. my note ad Andr. 935.
The verse reminds one of Ant. 552 (Ism. τί δήτ’ άν άλλά νΰν σ’ έτ’
ώφελοϊμ’ έγώ;). There is indeed a close affinity between the cha­
racters of Tecmessa and Ismene.
538. δός μοι προσειπεϊν αύτόν: it is quite acceptable to take δός
in the sense of "allow me”, so that αύτόν may in the first instance
be taken as the object to προσειπεϊν. Similarly O.C. 1105.
εμφανή: cf. Track. 119 όψη δ’ αύτόν αύτίκ’ εμφανή.
539. καί μην . . . . γε: cf. ad 531·
προσπόλοις: so-called dative of the agent (dativ. auctoris). From
examples like this and Ant. 504, 1218 (Bruhn, Anhang § '47) it
appears that the use of this dative is held within too narrow limits
by K.-G. I, 422 c and Humbert, Synt. grecque § 400. The datival
character is best felt when paraphrasing: "he is an object of care
to the attendants" (1. 542 shows that a male person is meant).
540. μή ού: since μέλλειν expresses a negative idea and τί μέλλει
takes the place of μή μελλέτω, μή ού is normal Greek and is left
untranslated (cf. the excellent remarks by Humbert, Synt. grecque,
§ 575)· Exactly the same Aesch. Prom. 627 τί δήτα μέλλεις μή ού
γεγωνίσκειν τό παν; Eur. Troad. y<qy, Ar. Ach. 320 and other places
mentioned by Groeneb. ad Prom., and by v. Leeuwen ad Ach.
παρουσίαν έχειν: the periphrasis is somewhat forced, more so
than e.g. Aesch. Sept. 1030 έχουσ’ άπιστον τήνδ’ αναρχίαν πόλει or
Ant. 300 πανουργίας έχειν or infra 564 Θήραν εχων. This line reveals
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 536-546 117

Ajax’ impatience, notwithstanding 536, but it would be wrong

for that reason to find a sarcastic tone in 536.
541, 542. δεύρο .... κυρεΐς: Tecmessa turns to another doorway
than the one through which Ajax has appeared (or in which he is
visible), i.e. to an adjacent room, where Eurysaces is in charge
of the servants. As appears from the imp. 2nd p. she sees the servant
who is holding Eurysaces by the hand. There is no transition from
the 3rd to the 2nd p., as in Eur. Ba. 173, 346; προσπόλων is gen.
part, to δσπερ and σύ may be supplied as an antecedent.
εύθύνων κυρεΐς: "(you who) happen to ...”. For κυρέω see ad 314.
εύθύνειν: guiding sc. the uncertain steps of the child. The schol.
(εύθύνων: διδάσκων, παιδεύων) is beside the mark.
543. έρποντι φωνεΐς: "Is the man whom you call coming?"
έρπειν cf. ad 287.
λελειμμένω λόγου: λείπεσθαι with genit, is used for lagging behind,
e.g. in a running-competition. Thue. I 131.1 (the ephors to Pausani­
as) άλλα πέμψαντες κήρυκα οί έφοροι καί σκυτάλην εΐπον τού κήρυκος
μή λείπεσθαι: "to come immediately with the herald”. So what is
meant is probably “or does he not listen to your command” (not:
"has he failed to hear thy words”, J.).
544. καί δή: non-connective; "signifies, vividly and dramatically,
that something is actually taking place at the moment” (Denniston,
G.P., 250). It is here not very much different from καί μήν:
cf. Eur. Med. IIl8 καί δή δέδορκα τόνδε των Ίάσονος / στείχοντ’
όπαδών. This passage at the same time illustrates the gen. part,
προσπόλων.
εγγύθεν: it is doubtful whether it means ex proximo (E.), or, as
for example O.T. 1259, the same as εγγύς.
545. αΐρ’: schol. πρόσφερε is incorrect (but it should be observed
that αΐρε is used in a familiar way = cedo: Ar. Pax 1, 1227). The
child is lifted up and Ajax takes it into his arms, like Hector
Astyanax at II. VI 466 sqq., of which Soph, is thinking: cf. ταρβήσει
and ταρβήσας II. ib. 469. For the emphatic place of οΰ at the end
cf. e.g. Ant. 255. The repeated imperative with rhythmical variation
is expressive of the impatient yearning of Ajax. Without such a
variation, El. 675 τί φής, τί φής ....
546. νεοσφαγη .... φόνον: i.e. the newly slaughtered cattle at
his feet, φόνος stands for the blood (or the bloody victim). The
relation between the verbal part of νεοσφαγή and φόνον is such
that in a sentence φόνον would be internal acc. (“cogn. acc.”) of
118 COMMENTARY

σφάττειν. που in combination with the participle is all but equivalent

to forte (si forte).
547. δικαίως: vere, "in the full sense of the word”. It is stronger
than έτεόν Od. XVI 300.
548, 549. As to the construction, αύτόν is object to πωλοδαμνεΐν
and subject to έξομοιοϋσθαι; φύσιν is accusative of respect.
πωλοδαμνεΐν in a literal sense, e.g. Rhes. 187. Because it is used
metaphorically, the object is the person who is compared with
πώλος, πώλος is often used for a young maiden (e.g. Eur. Hec. 142),
sometimes also for a young man (Aesch. Choef>h. 794 in a continued
metaphor). Plut. de lib. ed. 18 (13 e), rather nicely: οΰτω σκιρτώσα
νεότης πωλοδαμνεΐται.
ώμοΐς έν νόμοις πατρός: ώμός is one of the key-words to denote
Ajax’ nature, cf. ad 205; “in accordance with the standards of his
father’s rugged nature”. It is to be observed: (1) that the poet
causes Ajax to be conscious of his nature as it reveals itself also to
others; (2) that his pride in his own being remains unshaken: his
son must be like him. Luck has been against him; that is all. As
the scholiast puts it: μεγαλοφρονών δέ νόμους την φύσιν ώνόμασεν
κα'ι τό έθος τοϋ γεγεννηκότος. The φύσις of the father will be νόμος
for the son.
550, 551. Cf. Hector’s wish II. VI 476-481. In the mouth of
Ajax there is no equivalent for: πατρός γ’ όδε πολλόν άμείνων.
There is in the nature of Ajax and in this tragical situation no place
for any word that may cause him to be reconciled to his fate, or
that may divert from the tragical centre, Ajax himself. (The idea
that another who will take the place of the doomed speaker may be
more fortunate is also found, in another context, Eur. Ale. 179-182—
parodied Ar. Eq. 1250-1252.) Vergil had this place in mind when he
wrote: Disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem, / Fortunam
ex aliis Aen. XII 435. Cf. also Accius Arm. iudic. fr. 10: virtuti
sis par, dispar fortunis patris. It is interesting to note that Dionys.
Hal. Ant. VIII41') makes Coriolanus say: τρέφετε τά παιδία ταϋτα
— οίς θεοί δοϊεν είς άνδρας έλθοϋσι τύχην μέν κρείττονα τοϋ πατρός,
αρετήν δέ μή χείρονα. (Influence of the praetexta? Or simply a
τόπος of Greek rhetoric?)
552. καίτοι: "As a matter of fact”.
σε ... . έχω: Cf. fr. 525 N.2 = 584 P.: πολλά σε ζηλώ βίου, έχω

x) Reference due to Lobeck.

 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 547-555 119

is here I have reason to, rather than I can·, as in O.C. 820 τάχ’
έξεις μάλλον οίμώζειν τάδε.
553. όθούνεκ’: supra 123.
έπαισθάνη: with acc. also 996, O.T. 424 άλλων δέ πλήθος ούκ
έπαισθάνη κακών.
For this and the following verses (the happiness of ignorant
youth), cf. Trach. 142 sqq. (esp. of women), O.C. 1229 sqq. ώς εύτ’
άν τό νέον παρή / κούφας άφροσύνας φέρον (Opstelten ο.Ι. 107 η. 3)·
These lines were perhaps in the mind of Euripides at I.A. (yjy
ζηλώ σε μάλλον ή ’μέ τοϋ μηδέν φρονεϊν. Different, id. ib. 1243 sq.
αίσθημά τοι / κάν νηπίοις γε τών κακών έγγίγνεται. On the other hand,
Med. 48 νέα γάρ φροντίς ούκ άλγεϊν φιλεϊ.
554, 555. 554 b *s omitted by most editors (not by G. Hermann);
it is well transmitted and only wanting in Stob. IV 24.54 H.
Jebb, who strikes the verse out, notes that it is quoted by Eusta­
thius (Eumathius) c. 2 § 7 {Erotici Script. II p. 174 Hercher, p. 530
Hirschig) who, as Lobeck observes, derives much from the Ajax. It
is further translated by Publilius Syrus 876 sq.: Suavissima haec est
vita, si sapias nihil: / Nam sapere nil doloris expers est malum.
It should be included l) and taken διά μέσου. It is a bitter reflection
of Ajax on his own condition: as long as he was in this madness,
he was not conscious of his κακόν: καί νϋν φρόνιμος νέον άλγος έχει
says Tecmessa in 1. 259 and the whole dialogue from 263-281
expounds the idea that conscious grief is a double evil (cf. Eur.
jr. 205 N.2 quoted ad 269). Hence the schol. ad 554b, which says,
very prudently, δει λαβεΐν τοϋτο ώς επί παιδιού · ού γάρ καθόλου την
άφροσύνην προκρίνει, goes wrong in its appreciation of this passage
through its moralizing standpoint. (Cf. H. D. F. Kitto, Greek
Tragedy, 1939, pp. 117, 118: "no amount of morals will make a
good play, and no moral analysis will explain a play".) For if it
referred to the child, it would be absurd to call τό μή φρονεϊν a
κακόν; when made to bear on Ajax’ madness, άνώδυνον κακόν is a
splendid oxymoron summarizing the situation. L. 554, referring
to the child (φρονεϊν μηδέν and μή φρονεϊν are not the same either), is
elaborated in 1. 555, as the longer passage Trach. 144-147 is elabo­
rated by ές τοϋθ’ έως .... Here, too, the subj. generalis with έως
is without άν (similar cases in K.-G. II, 449 a. 4). Moreover, it is to

ή Such is also the opinion of L. Massa Positano, L'Unitd dell* Aiace di

Sofocle, p. 58.
120 COMMENTARY

be noted that 554 b is said by Ajax under the influence of his desire
for death. Cf. Aesch. jr. 266 καί τούς θανόντας εί θέλεις εύεργετεΐν /
εϊτ* ούν κακουργεΐν, άμφιδεξίως έχει / τφ μήτε χαίρειν μήτε λυπεϊσθαι
φθιτούς, Electra (with the urn, El. 1170) τούς γάρ θανόντας ούχ
όρώ λυπουμένους, and Ο.Τ. 139°·
χαίρειν and λυπεϊσθαι are essential to the condition of man: Trach.
126-135, Eur. I.A. 31 δει δέ χαίρειν και λυπεϊσθαι’ θνητός γάρ έφυς.
The adjective ανώδυνος {de homine "without grief”) Phil. 883
and frequent in the Corpus Hippocraticum (see H. W. Miller,
Medical Terminology in Tragedy, T. A. Ph. A. LXXXV 1944, p. 159).
556. προς τούτο: προς το μαθεϊν τύ χαίρειν καί τύ λυπεϊσθαι.
δει σ’ δπως: δπως with fut. indic, often indicates by itself a strong
exhortation; so there is here a mixing of this construction and δει
withacc. c. inf. Similarly Phil. 55, Cratin. ap. Athen IX 373 e (Crat.
108 K.): δεϊ σ’ δπως εύσχήμονος / άλέκτορος μηδέν διοίσεις τούς τρόπους
(Κ.-G. II, 377 a. 6).
556, 557. πατρός: goes with έχθροΐς. By its position σ’.... πατρός
preludes οίος έξ οΐου; it may even be said that in the second in­
stance σ’, which arose from the mixing of corstructions, may be
considered as the proleptic object to δείξεις, while πατρός is a
prolepsis of έξ οϊου.
557, οίος έξ οίου: cf. ad 5θ3·
’τράφης: cf. 1229, Phil. 3; it does not differ much from γέγονας.
558, 559. The best comment is given by the vss. Trach. 144 sqq.
τέως: interim
The κοϋφα πνεύματα, the light breezes which nourish young
creatures, such as young plants, cf. Dio Chrysost. XII 30, 386 R.,
quoted by Lobeck, τρεφόμενοι τη διηνεκεΐ τού πνεύματος έπιρροή
αέρα ύγρόν έλκοντες ώσπερ νήπιοι παΐδες (where the first generations
of men are referred to).
κοΰφος referring to youth also O.C. 1230. Schol.: κούφη καί απαλή
ζωή · τή δέ μεταφορά των μικρών φυτών έχρήσατο άτινα ούδέν σφοδρόν
δύναται ύποφέρειν, ού καύσωνα (hot wind), ούκ άνεμον.
558, 559. νέαν / ψυχήν άτάλλων: Hom. II. XIII 27 άτάλλειν intr.
= "to gambol”, άτιτάλλειν in Homer = "to rear”, "to foster”,
"to pet”. But in Hom. Hymn. Merc. 400 άτάλλετο is equivalent
to έβόσκετο, Pind. fr. 214 S. άτάλλοισα equivalent to τρέφουσα.
So it is possible that Soph, uses άτάλλων in the sense of τρέφων.
If, as suggested by Jebb, he has thought of II. VI400 (παϊδ’ έπί κόλπφ
έχουσ’ άταλάφρονα, νήπιον αδτως) the intr. meaning (with acc. of
 FIRST EPEISODION, VSS. 556-565 SQQ. 121

respect) is perhaps to be preferred (βόσκου and άτάλλων = τρέφων

is not very elegant).
μητρί τήδε χαρμονήν: the acc. stands in apposition to the action.
Homer II. VI 481 χαρείη δέ φρένα μήτηρ is in the poet’s mind, though
the context is different, χαρμονή: only here in Soph.
560. οίδα: “j’en suis sur”.
561. λώβαις: supra 181.
ούδέ χωρίς 8ντ’ έμοϋ: cf. supra 166. He means: "bereft of me,
my support”.
562. This explains why Ajax in 1. 342 calls for Teucer. If he had
been present he would have entrusted him personally with the care
of Tecmessa and Eurysaces. In the economy of the play, the way
is thus paved for Teucer’s appearance and he is organically inter­
woven with the whole. Teucer comes too late to prevent Ajax’
resolution. The spectator is held in suspense wondering if and when
Teucer will come.
562. πυλωρόν: used more or less metaphorically, as a schol.
(quoted by E.) observes: από μεταφοράς των φυλασσόντων τάς πύλας.
λέγει ούν άποσοβοϋντα καί μή έώντα προσβαλεϊν κακόν τι.
φύλακα άμφί σοι: άμφί σοι, just as verbs of concern are used with
άμφί, or περί, and the dative.
563. τροφής άοκνον: schol. "rec.”: άνατροφής πρόθυμον φροντιστήν.
Cf. προθυμίαν άοκνοτάτην, Thue. 174.1. άοκνος impiger, Hes. Op. 495.
All adj. with α privans can be construed with a genit, obj. For
the rest τροφής may also go with φύλακα, in which case πυλωρόν is
best taken substantively with φύλακα .... τροφής in explicative
apposition; or else πυλωρόν may be regarded as adj. to φύλακα.
έμπα: cf. ad 122 (schol.). Schol. a.h.l.: όμως.
564. τηλωπός οΐχνεΐ: the second member of the compound
τηλωπός has a faded meaning, "far (away)”; οΐχνέω is much the
same as οϊχομαι, "though he has now gone away”, τηλωπός, Phil.
216. Similarly θυραϊον οίχνεϊν, El. 313.
The vv. 11. mentioned by the schol., τηλουργός and φρουράν, are
hardly likely.
δυσμενών Θήραν έχων: cf. 343 λεηλατήσει, and infra 720.
Θήραν έχων: cf. Phil. 840. For the periphrasis cf. supra 540,
infra 880.
565 sqq. Ajax turns to his men requesting them to see that
Teucer gets the necessary instructions and Eurysaces is taken to
his (i.e. Ajax’) parents, όπως .... δείξει καί.... θήσουσ’, therefore.
122 COMMENTARY

forms the contents of (άγγείλατ’) έντολήν but at the same time

(supply δπως δείξετε) of τήνδ’ έπισκήπτω χάριν. He addresses them
with great warmth: κοινήν . .. χάριν: "a kind turn by you as well
as by him (Teucer)”. This connection is made by τε . . .. τ’. He
addresses them in their character of warriors and seamen (565
άσπιστήρ is the same as άσπιστής with Hom., άσπίστωρ Aesch.
Ag. 404). It is perhaps no mere illusion to hear in the tribrach of
the 4th foot the strong emotion which has taken possession of Ajax,
while it cannot be mere accident that after the rigid άνδρες άσπιστηρες
the verse surges on with the words ένάλιος λεώς.
569. δείξει: δεικνύναι = "to take to”; cf. Hom. Hymn. Ven. 134
άδμήτην μ’ άγαγών .... πατρί τε σφ δεϊξον καί μητέρι and Phil.
492, 609 .(See J. Gonda, Δείκνυμι, diss. Utrecht 1929, p. 38.)
Έριβοία λέγω falls outside the construction; cf. Aesch. fr. 175
N.2 ’Αλλ’ Άντικλείας άσσον ήλθε Σίσυφος, / τής σής λέγω τοι μητρός, ή
σ’ έγείνατο, and very often in Dem., as Lobeck observes.
Full stress is thus laid on Έριβοία; the mother of Ajax has to be
distinguished from Hesione, the mother of Teucer. Pindar also
mentions Έριβοία as the mother of Ajax, Islhm. VI 43. She is also
called Περιβοία (Apollodorus III 12.7, Pausanias I 42.2).
570. γηροβοσκός: on the importance attached to this by the
Greeks, see H. Bolkestein, Wohltatigkeit und Armenpflege im vor-
christlichen Alterlum, 1939, p. 80 (with notes 5, 6, 7).
είσαεί: supra 343.
571. According to Jebb there are three objections to the best
transmitted text (μέχρις ού μυχούς κίχωσι τοϋ κάτω θεού): (ι) μέχρις
is a non-Attic form for μέχρι, cf. K.-B. I, 297 c (but it should be
observed that Xenophon esp., often has μέχρις); the atticists
reject μέχρις and άχρις, and the inscriptions confirm this view
(Meisterhans3 pp. 212, 219). (2) Thus the first foot is an "anapeste
dechire”. But this view is disputable as μέχρις οΰ can be taken as
one word (Koster, Traiti V 14 and V 15). (3) μέχρι(ς) and άχρι(ς)
do not occur in the tragedians.
Because μέχρι οδ is quite common in prose, whereas έστε is less
usual in prose and unknown in inscriptions, the words μέχρις οδ
may have found their way in the text instead of έστ’ άν (conj.
G. Hermann; μέχρις άν T Suid. vv. γηροβοσκώ et μυχός). On
account of είσαεί and for reasons of method the rejection of the
verse, as by Elmsley, Dindorf, Jebb, and Radermacher, is not to
be recommended.
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 569-576 123

μυχούς .... τοϋ κάτω θεοϋ: cf. Anacr. 43-5 B·4 = 44-5 D. ’Αίδεω
γάρ έστι δεινός μυχός, Aesch. Prom. 433. Eur. Heracl. 218, Her. 607.
There is no objection to the combination μυχούς κίχωσι: cf.
Eur. Ba. 903 λιμένα δ’ έκιχεν, and infra 657.
τοΰ κάτω θεοϋ: cf. El. 292 οι κάτω θεοί.
572. His first care is for his γένος; the son of Tecmessa is to be
his legal heir. His second care is of course for his arms, esp. his
shield; what has happened to Achilles’ arms, shall not happen
to his. A witty scholion remarks: πιθανώς τον Αϊαντα επί τόν περί
των όπλων λόγον ϊέναι συνεχώς · άπτεται γάρ αύτοϋ μάλιστα ■ άνθρώπινον
δέ και μάλα φυσικόν τό συνεχέστερον μεμνήσθαι περί ών έν νω έχομεν.
άγωνάρχαι: άγωνοθέται (schol. and Suidas).
572, 573. μήτ’ άγωνάρχαι τινές. . . μήθ’ ό λυμεών έμός: "neither
any stewards of games nor this destroyer of mine”. The article
to λυμεών is all but indispensable and has virtually the force of
a demonstrative. Though the position of έμός is uncommon (but
found in Eur. Hipp. 683, Herod. I 30 (where see Groeneboom),
cf. Theocr. IV 49 (cp. Cholmeley and Gow) it may be defended on
the grounds that: (1) ό has demonstrative force so that Homeric
examples like τοϋ βασιλήος άπηνέος in II. I 340 may be compared;
(2) ό λυμεών έμός is felt as ό λυμαινόμενος έμέ or ό λυμηνάμενος έμέ
just as in Eur. l.c. ά γεννήτωρ έμός = ό γεννήσας έμέ (thus rightly
Radermacher).
λυμεών: λυμαντής (Track. 793). Iuz pessumdat. γυναικών λυμεώνας,
Eur. Hipp. 1068.
574. αύτό: announces έπτάβοιον άρρηκτον σάκος emphatically,
έπώνυμον: here = "giving his name”, "after whom is called”
(as the eponymous heroes Dem. XXIV 8, Eur. Ion 1577 and the
eponymous officials. Cf. also Isyl. Epid. Paean 47 Powell). Cf.
supra 430 *). (According to its formation the word simply means
“to which is attached the name”. It is uncertain whether έπώνυμος
is used in an active sense O.T. 210 τασδ’ έπώνυμον γας (of Dionysus
and Thebes); Groeneboom thinks it is.)
575, 576. διά πολυρράφου .... πόρπακος: it is possible that
Sophocles uses πόρπαξ instead of τελαμών and that πόρπαξ is nothing
but the Spartan equivalent of it, as is claimed by van Leeuwen ad
Ar. Eq. 849. It is also possible, however, that we have here merely
an anachronism, as was already observed by Eustath. p. 995, 19.
x) See also, Sulzberger, όνομα έπώνυμον, R.E.G., XXXIX, 1926, pp.
381-449.
124 COMMENTARY

In this case it remains more than likely that he thought of a Spartan,

not of an Athenian shield. The word occurs for the first time in
Bacch. fr. 4.31 εν δέ σιδαροδέτοις πόρπαξιν (probably p.p.t.). It is
understood to be a leathern thong attached to the inner side of
the shield by means of πόρπαι, through which the hand could be
put (cf. Eur. Hel. 1376) and which was used among the Spartans
until the time of Cleomenes (Plut. Cleom. 11) instead of the όχά-
νη(-ον). (Cp. H. L. Lorimer, Homer and the Monuments, p. 167).
576. έπτάβοιον: έπταβόειος II. VII 220, XI 545.
577. τά δ’ άλλα .... τεθάψεται: the future perfect has almost
the value of an order.
κοίν’: adverbial, as Ant. 546 (uncertain ξύν’ O.C. 1752, conj. of
Reisig).
578 sqq. After the pathos of the preceding long periods, rounded
off by the significant words of vs. 577, the style changes into a
series of impatient staccato sentences followed by a short dialogue
culminating in the άντιλαβαΐ of 590-594. (Cp. O.T. 616-630.)
579. πάκτου: "close”. Cf. Ar. Lys. 264 μοχλοΐς δέ καί κλήθροισί
μου / τά Προπύλαια πακτοϋν. (Acc. to Pollux X 27 as early as
Archilochus (//. 187 B.)). πακτοϋν: κλείειν, άσφαλίζεσθαι Suid.
Whether the eccyclema is accepted or not, the audience see the hut
being shut up.
έπισκήνους: before (in front of) the hut (so, in public). Cf. Ant.
1247 sqq.
580. φιλοίκτιστον γυνή: when the subject denotes a general
conception, the predicate is mostly neuter (already in Homer,
II. II 204). This saying is to be compared with Eur. Med. 928
γυνή δέ θήλυ κάπΐ δακρύοις έφυ (cf. Her. 536)·
φιλοίκτιστον: apt to οίκτίζειν or οίκτίζεσθαι, "plaintive”. (But
φίλοικτος "piteous", Aesch. Ag. 242, and φιλοικτίρμων “merciful”,
Eur. I.T. 345.)
For τοι in proverbs and general sayings cf. ad 520, Denniston,
G.P., 543, infra 1350.
581. πύκαζε: πυκάζειν for "close” is etymologically (πυκνός cf.
Dutch "dichtdoen”) and semantically (cf. Lat. operire) quite
natural. Schol. άσφαλίζου (cp. mod. Gr. (ά)σφαλνώ).
θάσσον: as in Homer. Cf. ocius and Fr. plus vite que fa.
πρός: cf. supra ad 319.
582. θρηνεΐν .... πήματι: the vv. 11. θροεϊν and τραύματι probably
owe their origin to a failure to see that image and reality overlap
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 576-587 125

here. The weeping Tecmessa is compared to a doctor muttering

formulae instead of plying the knife.
έπωδάς: charms used for healing. Cf. Aesch. Eum. 649 τούτων
έπωδάς ούκ έποίησεν πατήρ / ούμός, O.C. 1194- and Track. 1000 sqq.;
Pl. passim·, Hippocr. π.ί.ν. I.
τομώντι πήματι: τομής δεομένω. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 848 sqq. (and
see Cho. 539): ότιρ δέ καί δει φαρμάκων παιωνίων, / ήτοι κέαντες ή τε-
μόντες εύφρόνως / πειρασόμεσθα πήμ’ άποστρέψαι νόσου (thus Porson;
F has πήματος στρέψαι νόσον). These lines show that πήματι may
denote the calamity as well as the complaint. Cf. Phil. 765 τό πήμα
τής νόσου. Similar imagery supra 362 sq.
τομάω is a desiderativum, as θανατάω “to long for death”,
φαρμακάω “to need medicine” (Lucian. Lexiph. 4, quoted by Jebb).
The verb does not occur in medical language (H. W. Miller o.l.
p. 162).
583. προθυμίαν: this refers to the whole passage 578-82. For
προθυμία, the ardent desire to act (with the danger of rashness),
cf. Track. 669 (perhaps also O.T. 838).
584. μ’ άρέσκει: άρέσκειν often construed with the accus. in
Attic, with Soph, only here (K.-G. I, 294 a. I. El. 147 άραρεν is
aor. intr. of άραρίσκειν).
γλωσσά σου τεθηγμένη: Van Leeuwen ad Ar. Nub. 1108 explains
εύ μοι στομώσεις αύτόν as follows: "ei praebebis γλώτταν εύ τεθηγμέ-
νην”. Cf. O.C. 795 πολλήν έχον στόμωσιν (see also infra 651). For
θήγω cf. further τεθηγμένους λόγους, Aesch. Prom. 311, and the
loci ib. quoted by Groeneboom. The image in our passage derives
a special pointe from the preceding τομώντι πήματι. Undoubtedly
the second locution was prompted by the first.
585. δρασείεις: cf. ad 326. The use of the same word by Tecmessa
depicts her agony; she is possessed by the question τί δρασείει;
It is the same question which keeps the spectators in suspense till
Ajax' suicide. The dactyl in the third foot is expressive of her
anguish, (δρασείειν in comical parody Ar. Pax 62.)
586. κρίνε: κρίνειν often for άνακρίνειν, "interrogate”, e.g.
Track. 195.
εξέταζε: O.C. 211 (here, too, after preceding verbum interrogandi).
By σωφρονεΐν he means the submission which is becoming to a
woman. This line is charged with threatening portent.
587. άθυμώ: note the contrast with the προθυμία of Ajax. For
the verb cf. El. 769.
126 COMMENTARY

καί: "even so”.

Her last appeal to him is once more by his son (emphatically
τοϋ σοϋ τέκνου) and at last by the gods, by whom she had not yet
conjured him (except πρύς έφεστίου Διάς, 492).
588. μή προδούς γένη: the periphrasis is much more emphatic
than μή προδως would be. In a similar emphatic appeal, Phil.
Η-ή σαυτόν θ’ άμα / κάμ’, ύντα σαυτοϋ πρόστροπον, κτείναςγένη. Cf.
Ο.Τ. 957 αΰτός μοι σύ σημήνας γενοϋ.
589. άγαν γε λυπείς: cf. Ant. 573 δγαν γε λυπείς καί σύ καί το σύν
λέχος. (Cyllene says, Ichn. 393» ήδη Η·ε πνίγεις καί σύ χαί βόες σέθεν.)
For άγαν γε see also injra 983.
With Eteocles Ajax might have said θεοϊς μέν ήδη πως παρημελή-
μεθα [Sept. 702). He owes them nothing for they have turned from
him: in 1. 457 δστις έμφανώς θεοίς /έχθαίρομαι (cf. Aesch. Prom. 985).
589. 590. θεοίς .... έτι: είμ’ οφειλέτης is an emphatic οφείλω.
Similarly with inf. Eur. Rhes. 965 όφειλέτις δέ μοι / τούς Όρφέως
τιμώσα φαίνεσθαι φίλους.
590. άρκείν: schol. ad 589 explains: έπί τιμή πράττειν των θεών.
For άρκείν cf. supra ad 439> 322, O.C. 262. The connotation is
here “to be of service”. Cf. Verg. Aen. XI 51 iuvenem exanimum et
nil iam coelestibus ullis Debentem. (The explanation of Ellendt,
which goes back to Triclinius, is too far-fetched: nescisne me non
amplius hoc debere diis ut opituler, sc. tibi.)
591. εύφημα φώνει: cf. supra 362.
τοΐς άκούουσιν λέγε: perhaps Eur. Her. 1184sq. is an echo of this,
but the context is quite different. (The reading of Theocr. XV 90
πεισομένοις επίτασσε quoted by Jebb is based on a needless conjec­
ture.)
592. σύ δ’ ούχι: "will you not ...”.
593. γάρ: "yes for ...". Cf. 1357. Denniston, G.P., 73 V 1.
ού ξυνέρξεθ’ ώς τάχος: addressed to the attendants (541).
Cf. note ad 344. The most probable explanation is that ξυνέργειν
(Ionic form for ξυνείργειν, cf. O.T. 890 έρξεται, but είρξω Phil. 1407)
is equivalent to πακτοϋν and πυκάζειν. (Different, schol. ad 593
and Suidas: τοΐς θεράπουσι κελεύει αύτήν άποκλείειν: in that case
it is to be supposed that Tecmessa wants to rush in after Ajax,
who orders to keep her out.)
594. μαλάσσου: μαλάσσεσθαι is the very last thing the ήθος of
Ajax admits of; his φρένες are περισκελεΐς (649).
595. άρτι: nunc ipsum, nunc demum (έξακμάσαντος τοϋ καιρού
 FIRST EPEISODION, vss. 588-595 12Z

schol.). The verse shows us the hero fully conscious of his own
character and being.

First Stasimon 596-646

Strophe 596-609 = Antistr. 609-624
Strophe 624-635 = Antistr. 635-646
The situation is such that the spectator can only expect the
suicide of Ajax. The Chorus sing of the happy fatherland and their
own fate in a far country (str. a) and of Ajax’ reprobation (antistr.
a); they depict the despair of the mother of Ajax when she comes
to hear of it (str. β), and of his father (antistr. β). It is worth
noticing that the Chorus do not appear to think that Ajax intends
to commit suicide; what they do say is that it would be better if
ό νόσων μάταν were dead (635). The Chorus do not really under­
stand the situation Ajax is in. Being ordinary people they cannot
understand the absolute demand made upon Ajax by his heroic
ethics. Nor is it clear to them that the frenzy has been long over.
Suppose that Sophocles had depicted the Chorus as fully realizing
that Ajax was going to commit suicide. Then there would be no
background against which the heroic figure could stand out. The
Chorus would either have to try to dissuade Ajax from his intention,
or (as is the case here) remain inactive: both these possibilities would
be unsatisfactory. Only in this way does the hero obtain the lone­
liness in which his greatness becomes clearly visible.
596-598. ώ κλεινά Σαλαμίς: cf. the oracle in Hdt. VII 141 and
142: Ώ θείη Σαλαμίς. Though κλεινά can only after 480 B.C. be
applied with full justice to Salamis, there is here no anachronism.
Of course the patriotic sentiment of the Athenian is resonant
in these opening lines.
σύ μέν: the address to Salamis is sustained even in the antistr.
ναίεις: ναίειν = "lie”, “be situated”, as used by Homer (II.
II 636, ναιετάειν IV 45); with later authors, οΐκεϊν.
άλίπλακτος: Aesch. Pers. 307 (Salamis) θαλασσόπληκτον; Pind.
Pyth. IV 14 άλιπλάκτου .... γάς Έπάφοιο, “lashed by the sea”.
The reading best transmitted is άλίπλαγκτος, which is infra 695
used of Pan ("roving over the sea”). As in the end πλάζω and
πλήττω spring from a common root, it is not impossible that Soph,
has used άλίπλαγκτος in the same meaning as άλίπλακτος, as was
128 COMMENTARY

already observed by Lobeck. (Cf. the vv. 11. at Aesch. Prom. 467).
εύδαίμων: used predicatively with emphasis,
πασιν περίφαντος αίεί: it is highly improbable that περίφαντος
should mean “famous’’ here (L.-Sc.); it denotes the conspicuous
position of the island.
600-604. As appears from 614, the reading of which is reliable,
the words Ίδαία (Ίδαία) μίμνων (μίμνω) λειμωνία ποίαι μήλων must
be corrupt. To this must be added the question of εΰνομαι, emended
by Bergk; this requires the reading μίμνων.
With v. Wilamowitz (Vsk. 509) we read: Ίδαδι μίμνων ποία
λειμωνίδι μήλων, which forms though not a perfect, yet a satis­
factory responsion with 614:

In both an iambic metron followed by a choriambic dimeter or

glyconic.
παλαιός άφ’ ού χρόνος: properly παλαιός έστι χρόνος άφ’ ού in­
serted adverbially in the sentence; cf. Phil. 493 παλαιόν έξότου
δέδοικ* (emendation by Triclinius). Accordingly “for a long time
already’’. Cf. Is. V (Phil.) 47 ού πολύς χρόνος έξ ού.
(There is another reading possible: έγώ δ’ ό τλάμων παλαιόν άφ’
ού [χρόνος] μενών Ίδαία λειμωνία ποία μη- / λων.

614 -------------- M-W-

Iambic dimeter and glyconic correspond.)
λειμωνίς ποία μήλων: "the grass of the meadows in which the
cattle are grazing’’. The dative is locative and goes with μίμνων
and εύνώμαι. The reading of Bergk, Raderm. and Wilam. Ίδαδι
is confirmed by the form Ίδηίς in Steph. Byz., λειμωνίς by Dionys.
Perieg. 756. The complaint about bivouacking on the pasture-
land may be compared with Aesch. Ag. 559. For εύνή = "bivouac”
cf. II. X 408.
604. άνήριθμος: schol. έν ούδενΐ άριθμώ ταττόμενος άλλα περιερ-
ριμμένος. άναρίθμητος “unregarded”, Eur. Ion 837. Hei. 1679· Μ the
explanation of the schol. is correct, the use is catachrestic. έν
άριθμώ είναι = "to be held in some account” is in later times a
common expression (Dutch: “in tel zijn”). Cf. Theocr. XIV48 άμμες
δ’ ούτε λόγω τινός άξιοι οΰτ’ άριθμητοί (οΰτ’ έν λόγω ούτ’ έν άριθμώ,
 FIRST STASIMON, vss. 600-610 129

oracle in schol. a.l.). If this explanation is not accepted, it is

necessary either to consider άνήριθμος χρόνω as a close group, so
that they are the same as άνηρίθμω χρόνω in prose, or to read with
Hermann and many editors μηνών instead of μήλων (cf. Track.
247, El. 232).
605. τρυχόμενος: cf. Track. Iio—there also followed by a par­
ticiple boding evil.
606. έλπίδ’: ελπίς often neutral or unfavourable. Cf. infra 1382.
(On ελπίς in general see F. Martinazzoli, Ethos ed Eros nella poesia
greca pp. 109 sqq.)
έτι: used to denote a point of time in the future in an anxious or
minatory way. Cf. El. 66, Track. 257 (minatory); El. 471 (anxious).
με ... . άνύσειν: acc. c. inf. with same subject. Cf. Groeneboom
ad Aesch. Prom. 268. The pers. pron. is usual in such cases, not the
refl. pron.
607. άνύσειν: άνύειν is best explained as intr. (absol.) (= “to
cover some distance”, Od. IV 357, XV 294, Track. 657 πρίν τάνδε
πρός πόλιν άνύσειε) and 'Άιδαν as acc. of direction, cf. O.C. 1562,
Eur. Suppl. 1142 (ποτανοί δ’ ήνυσαν τον "Αιδαν — άίδαν L Ρ).
άπότροπον: schol. ad Ο.Τ. 1313 explains δ άν τις άποτρέψαιτο.
άίδηλον 'Άιδαν; as the (perhaps correct) etymology of 'Άιδης
(ά— f ιδ) was current among the Greeks (Pl. Gorg. 493 b), there is
undoubtedly a play on words here, though it is uncertain whether
άίδηλος is to be taken as άφανίζων, as “he whom one dare not look at”
(the meaning of the preceding άπότροπος might point to this), or
as “obscure” (The Homeric sense is "destroying”, "hideous” etc.;
cf. Bacch. XIII (XII) 209 άϊδής.)
609. καί: to the evils summed up in 600-607 this one is added.
Schol.: olov πρός τοϊς πρώτοις κακοΐς ώσπερ δεύτερόν έστί μοι κακόν
τό τοϋ Αιαντος ξυνεστηκός·.
δυσθεράπευτος: this word, which occurs in Hippocr. (Medic. 10),
springs from medical usage (cf. θεραπεύειν with Pl. a.o.): in­
tractabilis (E.).
610. έφεδρος: one who is posted in reserve to fight the conqueror
of two combatants. Cf. Ar. Ran. 792, where Sophocles έμελλεν ....
έφεδρος καθεδεΐσΘαι during the match between Euripides and
Aeschylus; Aesch. Cho. 866; Eur. Rhes. 119; Pind. Nem. IV 96
Xen. An. II 5.10. To the calamities against which the Chorus have
to fight must therefore be added δυσθεράπευτος Αίας whom they
now have to face (ένταϋθα ούν φησιν βτι έσχατος καί ώς έφεδρος
Kamerbeek ο
130 COMMENTARY

έλείφθη μοι ό Αίας εις κακόν.). In ξύνεστιν there is a suggestion of

"not being able to detach oneself from” {O.T. 303, O.C. 514).
611. θεία μανία: cf. supra 185 θεία νόσος.
ξύναυλος: found literally in O.T. 1126 (cf. έναυλος Phil. 158).
The μανία is felt as a living being: ξύναυλος = ξυνοικών ("dwelling
with”), cf. Phil. 1167 (J. C. Kamerbeek, Sophoclea II, Mnemos.
IV, I 198-204), O.T. 1205.
612. έξεπέμψω: "you have let go from you”. The middle also
Od. XX 361; cf. Aesch. Pers. 137 (of which our passage is reminis­
cent), E. Lobel, A Greek Historical Drama, col. II 1. 12. (Proc.
Brit. Ac. XXXV).
πριν δή ποτέ: once, some day in the past, δή is often used em­
phatically with adv. of time, cf. Phil. 806 πάλαι δή; for the com­
bination cf. Thue. I 13.5 αίεί δή ποτέ. There is here strict correlation
with νϋν δ’ αδ, 614.
θουρίω: cf. ad 212.
614. κρατοϋντ’: κρατέω often found in absolute sense: infra 765,
Track. 182, etc.
φρενός οίοβώτας: schol. ώς Sv είποι τις αύτός <τήν> έαυτοϋ διάνοιαν
βόσκων καί μηδενί πειθόμενος, "feeding alone his thoughts", φρενδς
is gen. obj. to the verbal idea. The Homeric οίοπόλος may have
served as example, or perhaps οίόφρων, Aesch. Suppl. 795.
615. ηύρηται: passive (the middle is rare; see Dodds ad Eur.
Ba. 203); the meaning does not differ appreciably from γεγένηται.
616. έργα χεροϊν: this combination is felt as one whole (cf. Pind.
ΟΙ. VIII 42 χερός έργασίαις) to which μεγίστας άρετας is a genit,
qualit., as 1004 τόλμης πίκρας (K.-G. I, 264 c). For the accumulation
of genitives cf. 309.
617. άφιλα I παρ’ άφίλοις: see supra ad 267. "Ingrata ingratis”:
the deeds won no kindness from the hostile Atreidae (άντί άχάριστα).
617 sqq. άφιλα .... έπεσ’: άφιλα is used proleptically. έπεσ’,
metaphor from dice {Track. 62, Eur. El. 1100, Or. 603 etc.). (Diehl
wrongly compares this place with Ichn. 11.)
έπεσ’ έπεσε: such repetition becomes a mannerism with Eur.
παρ’ .... Άτρείδαις: "in the estimation of”; παρά strengthens
this meaning which is normal for the dative alone (cf. Track. 589;
K.-G. I, 421 b).
620. μελέοις: the idea "unhappy” is tinged with indignation
here, just as may be the case with "malheureux”, “ongelukkige”,
"wretched".
 FIRST STASIMON, vss. 611-635 131

624. ή που: cf. supra 382.

έντροφος: though the conjecture of Nauck, σύντροφος (Raderm.,
Jebb, Pearson a.o.j, makes good sense and completes the responsion,
yet the transmitted δντροφος (with licentia antistrophica) is to be
preferred, δντροφος is also found O.C. 1362 σύ γάρ με μόχθω τωδ1
δθηκας έντροφον, = “living in". The difference in meaning from
σύντροφος is very slight.
παλαια: time, thought of as a concrete thing, a living being, grows
old like man himself. Dutch “oude dag” is the same. For the whole
expression cf. νέα τροφή, O.C. 345.
624, 625. μεν ... . δέ: conveys little more than τε .. .. καί
(as is often the case with anaphora). See Denniston, G.P., 370 I.
626. νοσοϋντα φρενομόρως: αντί είς την μοίραν των φρένων νοσοϋντα
δ έστι φρενοβλαβώς, μανικώς. (Preserved by Jebb, ν. Wilamowitz,
Masqueray; Radermacher considers it an impossible compound.)
Generally compared with Eur. Her. 1024 λυσσάδι μοίρα. Dindorf’s
φρενοβόρως (~ θυμοβόρος II. XIX 58, Aesch. Ag. 102—uncertain
reading) may be correct.
627 sqq. αϊλινος: a fierce cry of grief (cf. Groeneb. ad Aesch.
Ag. 121 with n. I on p. 143; Eur. Or. 1395). This cry is here con­
trasted with the complaining notes of the nightingale (the complaint
of the latter, El. 107 τεκνολέτειρ’ ώς τις άηδών, ib. 148, 1077, Track.
963 όξύφωνος ώς άηδών, Ant. 423)·
άηδοϋς: in apposition to οίκτρας δρνιθος, cf. Eur. Ba. 1365
δρνις .... κύκνος, and Dodds ad Eur. Ba. 1024-26. The form as
if the nom. were άηδώ K.-B. I, 497,2. For the course of the whole
sentence cf. O.T. 1278 sq.
631. όξυτόνους: cf. El. 242 πτέρυγας / ύξυτύνων γόων.
632 sqq. χερόπληκτοι .... πεσοϋνται δοϋποι: “the hands will
beat the breast with a dull sound”, δοϋποι may be said to represent
an internal acc. with a transit, verb (χεϊρες πατάξουσι δούπους).
πεσοϋνται: a zeugma. With άμυγμα supply έσται. (Or one may say
that πολιας άμυγμα χαίτας = πολιά χαίτα άμύξεται.)
άμυγμα: used somewhat catachrestically. Strictly speaking άμύσ-
σειν is "to scratch”, "to lacerate”, σπάραγμα "a tearing (of hair)":
cf. Eur. Andr. 826 σπάραγμα κόμας όνύχων τε δάι* άμύγματα θήσομαι;
Aesch. Cho. 24 πρέπει παρηΐς φοινίοις άμυγμοϊς. For the rest Eur.
Hec. 656 shows that conversely σπαραγμός can also be used for the
tearing of the cheeks.
635. κρείσσων .... μάταν: the correction δ for ή (Lobeck) is
132 COMMENTARY

required for the metre and is supported by the schol.: ό γάρ μεμηνώς
και τάς φρένας διεφθαρμένος κρείσσων 'Άιδα κεύθων οίον άμεινον τω
μεμηνότι έξιέναι τοϋ βίου. Personal construction with partic. as in
δήλός εΐμι etc. Cf. O.T. 1368 κρείσσων γάρ ήσθα μηκέτ’ ών ή ζών τυ­
φλός. (Of course ή in our passage with "he” as subject would also
have given excellent sense.)
νοσών μάταν: δ έσπ μεμηνώς (schol.).
636. 8ς . ... ’Αχαιών: The reading is uncertain; άριστα is a note
by Livineius in an Aldina. (άριστος is an addition by Tricl.; a schol.
ad 636 λείπει γάρ τό άριστος.) The general line of thought is clear
("Ajax, second to none as regards noble descent, no longer..."
etc.) and may be compared with Phil. 180 ούτος, πρωτογόνων ίσως
οίκων (there is a variant reading from Suidas ήκων) ούδενός ύστερος
κτλ. Now the reading άριστος would be easy ("Ajax, noblest of the
Achaeans by his descent from the line of his fathers”) but for a
metrical objection (moreover ήκειν with reference to descent is
not usual). Herodotus often uses εύ ήκειν τινός, "to be well off
for something”. Without έκ and reading άριστα one may therefore
interpret: "noblest of the Achaeans from the line of (his) fathers”,
έκ by itself denotes the descent, while ήκων has more or less a
double function (perhaps one may say that the expression has not
yet become fossilized).
637. πολυπόνων: refers to the exertions of war.
639, 640. ούκέτι συντρόφοις όργαϊς έμπεδος: for οργή indoles cf.
Groeneb. ad Aesch. Prom. 80. (Pind. Pyth. IX 43 μείλιχος όργά is
not an oxymoron.) The plur. is easy to understand, if one compares
τρόπος, τρόποι (cf. also Ant. 356).
συντρόφοις: the disposition grows together with the person,
just as Philoctetes’ step has become his σύντροφος {Phil. 203). In
like manner Thue. II 50.1 calls the diseases which will occur in a
country τά ξύντροφα (something like τά είωθότα); cf. Hdt. VII 102
τή Έλλάδι πενίη μέν αίεί κοτε σύντροφός έστι, άρετή δέ έπακτός έστι.
ούκέτι όργαϊς έμπεδος: properly a variation of Hom., II. VI 352
τούτω δ’ ούτ’ άρ νΰν φρένες ίμπεδοι οΰτ’ άρ’ όπίσσω (cf. ib. XX 183).
Ajax does not persevere in the qualities of character which belong
to him. (One hesitates to say whether the dative is used as e.g.
with έμμένειν or as a dat. instrum, of the type τοϊς σώμασιν άδύνα-
τοι, ταΐς ψυχαϊς ανόητοι, Xen. Mem. II i.31; cf. K.-G. I, 317 a. 19.
The schol. νΰν ούκέτι ήθεσιν εμμένει may be an indication of the
first explanation; and see ad 640.)
 FIRST STASIMON, vss. 636-645 133

640. άλλ’ έκτός όμιλεΐ: he does not stand on the firm ground of
his own disposition, but being knocked loose from it, is conversant
with <another manner of behaving>. This is what Jebb’s explana­
tion comes to. It is better, perhaps, to take όμιλεΐ as a zeugma,
so that it belongs as regards its meaning to the first member:
Ajax is no longer conversant with his όργαί (which are felt as a
being, cf. Phil. 203 and Eur. Or. 354 εύτυχία S’ αυτός όμιλεϊς) but
roams outside them. “Not with his inbred thoughts / Dwells he
assured, but a stranger outside them”, Bowra, Soph. Trag., p. 29.
εκτός necessitates the assumption of some such idea as πλανάται in
the second member, instead of όμιλεΐ. In this case it is not necessary
to supply έστι in the first member, as Jebb does, and the dative
όργαϊς depends on έμπεδος as well as on όμιλεΐ. For πλανασθαι "to
wander in mind” cf. Aesch. Prom. 472 sq. αίκές πεπονθώς πημ’
(Heimsoeth, Groeneboom) άποσφαλείς φρένων/ πλανά . . . . Cf. Eury­
pylus (Suppi. Soph. D. p. 23 1. 36, 2x0.36 P., Page Gr. L. P. 4, 1)
έπεί κτησίων φρένων έξέδυς.
641. ώ τλάμων πάτερ: this is the best reading, just as Eur. Andr.
348 ώ τλήμων άνέρ (here τλήμων is required by the metre; άνήρ
is the usual reading). Nom. and voc. are combined as early as Homer
(K.-G. I, 48). (For O.C. 978 the MSS are divided.)
643. δύσφορον άταν: δύσφορος here of course in the ordinary
sense (cf. supra ad 51).
644, 645. αιών: here = “life-destiny", as Trach. 34, Phil. 179,
O.C. 1736.
έθρεψεν: τρέφειν, which does not differ much from ϊχειν, is a
vox Sophoclea: cf. Trach. 117 (reading of the MSS). Conversely
Phil. 793 τόν ΐσον χρόνον τρέφοιτε τηνδε την νόσον.

Second Epeisodion, vss. 646-692

Ajax comes out of the hut with his sword. The close of the first
epeisodion shows clearly that he has the hut shut up and remains
within. Consequently he is not on the scene during the choral
song. It seems more difficult to decide where Tecmessa and Eury-
saces are. Have they left the scene at 595, and if so, are they with
Ajax or have they gone to another place, notably to the place
where Eurysaces was before under the charge of the attendants
(539) ? It seems probable that Tecmessa and Eurysaces are in the
same apartment as Ajax and that they leave the hut with him
134 COMMENTARY

at 646. For it is hardly likely that at the end of the preceding

epeisodion Tecmessa should have left Ajax alone. (But see ad 593.)
In that case there would have been nothing to prevent him from com­
mitting suicide in the hut. If 646 (or somewhat later) Tecmessa
comes from another side, her appearance is not motivated; nor is it
satisfactory to imagine her on the stage during the choral song.
On Ajax’ "Trugrede" cf. J. C. Kamerbeek, Studien over Sophocles,
1934,115-125 and the literature of the subject quoted there; further
C. M. Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy, 1943, 39 sqq. (with whose views
on this subject I cannot agree).
The schol. ad 646 expresses the right view that Ajax έξερχεται
ώς δή κατακηληθεϊς ύπδ Τεκμήσσης μή σφάττειν έαυτδν καί προφάσει τοϋ
δεΐν εις ερημιάν έλθεϊν καί κρϋψαι τδ ξίφος έπί τούτοις άναχωρεΐ καί δια-
χρήται εαυτόν · Then it continues: παρίστησι δέ ό λόγος (fabula docet is
a favourite reference in ancient criticism; for the rest, λόγος is the
speech of Ajax) ότι καί οί ίμφρονες (mentis compotes', the schol.
rightly understands Ajax to be in full possession of his faculties)
καί παρακολουθοϋντες τη φύσει των πραγμάτων (et rerum naturae
bene periti', this bears especially on 669-677) όμως ύπδ των τοιούτων
παθών (passions) έπί τδ χείρον άπολισθάνουσιν......... Then follows
a noteworthy comparison with Deianira’s words and behaviour,
Track. 436 sqq. To this it only remains to add that the πάθος
through which Ajax is carried away is inexorably inherent in his
character. He knows exactly what the order of the universe requires
of him but he would not be the man he is if he were to submit to it.
This does not exclude his being in earnest at 652 sq.; he undoubtedly
has tender feelings for Tecmessa and for his son, but he does not
suffer himself to be dominated by them. He desires solitude to
commit his deed and for that purpose he has recourse to this
“Trugrede”; the greatness of this man, the significance of his deed,
nay the tragedy of it all, culminates in the agonizing irony of his
speech.

646. ό μακρδς .... χρόνος: γένοιτο δ’ άν παν έν τφ μακρω χρόνω

Hdt. V 9· Restricted to the duration of man’s life, Phil. 305 sq.
πολλά γάρ τάδε / έν τώ μακρω γένοιτ’ άν άνθρώπων χρόνφ (as Hdt.
I 32). Cf. also Aesch. Ag. 551 where likewise a connection is made
between πάντα and χρόνος (if Wilamowitz is right). See Kaibel
Epigr. Gr. 27—4th cent., = Z.G.2 II 1680 = A.P. VII 245, wrongly
ascribed to Gaetulicus: ώ Χρόνε, παντοίων θνητοΐς πανεπίσκοπε δαί­
 SECOND EPEISODION, vss. 646-650 135

μων. At 1. 714 the motif of ό παγκρατης χρόνος is taken up by the

Chorus. (Cf. O.C. 609: "Here the poet as a very old man remembers
his own verses from an earlier period”, Kitto, Greek Tragedy, 389.)
647. φύει . . άδηλα: "brings to light what is hidden” (causes to
grow like plants the seed of which has been hidden in the ground).
κρύπτεται: "hides in its own bosom”. The middle also supra 246
and Track. 474. The chiasm is very significant and makes the double
concept an indivisible whole, to which the play of sounds adds effect.
648. άελπτον: this motif is taken over by the Chorus at 716.
Cf. Archiloch. 74 D. Χρημάτων άελπτον ούδέν έστιν ούδ’ άπώμοτον,
Theogn. 659 Ούδ’ όμόσαι χρή τοϋτό τι ’ μήποτε πράγμα τόδ’ ίσται, and
Eur. jr. 761 Ν.2 άελπτον ούδέν, πάντα δ’ έλπίζειν χρεών.
648, 649. άλλ’ .... φρένες: άλίσκεσθαι is often used with a partic.
in the sense of "being caught in the act”, convinci. The idea is
therefore that time checks the formidable oath (schol.: ότι καί
όμόσαντές τινες έν μεταβολή γίνονται τω χρόνω) and likewise a stub­
born mind (φρένες, in my opinion, has the sense of a singular:
φρήν and φρένες are used indiscriminately by Sophocles—E.) in
their resolution, so that they appear to be less δεινός and less
περισκελεΐς than was first thought. Excellently rendered by Jebb,
"is -proved weak". Ajax has not sworn an oath, but he thinks of his
περισκελεΐς φρένες. χώ: the article is used expressly, because the
poet makes an allusion to the verse of Archilochus (as in Ant. 388,
where the φύλαξ says: βροτοϊσιν ούδέν έστ' άπώμοτον). περισκελεΐς
φρένες is compared with χώ δεινός όρκος: he thinks of his own
φρένες, saying it first in a general sense without the article, after­
wards to make clear what he means by κάγώ γάρ.
περισκελεΐς: the literal sense appears clearly from Ant. 475
τόν έγκρατέστατον σίδηρον όπτόν έκ πυρός περισκελή θραυσθέντα καί
βαγέντα πλεΐστ’ άν είσίδοις. This is a prelude to the image he uses
in 651. (From σκέλλειν "to cause to dry”, i.a. σκληρός, άσκελής. The
schol. explains: αί άγαν σκληραί ψυχαί.)
650-652. κάγώ γάρ .... γυναικός: γάρ almost =γοϋν (Denniston,
G.P., 66, 8). Leaving βαφή σίδηρος ώς apart, one may translate:
"<in like manner) anyway, I too, who then (i.e. only a short while
ago) maintained that fearful stubbornness (τα δείν’ is acc. of the
int. obj.), was melted by this woman". (This also makes it probable
that Tecmessa comes out of the hut behind him.) στόμα cannot
be translated for it is ambivalent. It is the mouth of Ajax (cf. 312,
but also 584 γλώσσα τεθηγμένη) but at the same time the sharp
136 COMMENTARY

edge of the sword to which he compares himself (II. XV 389,

N.T. Luc. 21.24).
βαφή σίδηρος ώς: like iron (a sword) plunged into water. But hot
iron is hardened by plunging it into water: cf. Od. IX 391 ώς δ’ δτ’
άνήρ χαλκεύς πέλεκυν μέγαν ήέ σκέπαρνον / είν ΰδατι ψυχρω βάπτη μεγάλα
ίάχοντα φαρμάσσων · το γάρ αύτε σιδήρου γε κράτος έστίν. From βάπτη
and κράτος it appears that Sophocles has thought of this.
So it should be connected with what precedes; but it may be
connected as well with what follows, in which case it means that
Ajax is not at all melted. The ambiguity is probably intentional
(Jebb rightly argues in the Appendix a.h.l. that the view of the
schol., who refers to the dipping of the sword into oil, which would
make the iron soft, does not hold good: this was only done lest
the iron should break when it was plunged into water, cf. Plut.
de primo frigore 13, p. 950 c., and Plin. N.H. 34.41, § 146, quoted
by J.) When βαφή σίδηρος ώς is connected with what precedes, it is
not necessary to read βαφείς, as is shown by Plut. de dejectu or.
41, p. 433a τούναντίον τε πάλιν αύ περιψύξει τινί καί πυκνώσει τοΰ
πνεύματος οίον βαφή σίδηρον τύ προγνωστικόν μόριον έντείνεσθαι καί
στομοϋσθαι τής ψυχής ούκ άδύνατόν έστι. Sophocles was also in
Plutarch’s mind at Mor. 988d τής μέν ανδρείας olov βαφή τις ό θυμός
έστι καί στόμωσις.
652, 653. δέ: this continues the ambiguity, for it may be ren­
dered by "for”, or by “but yet”. The infinitive, too, makes the words
ambiguous; for they may be interpreted as: "Pity forbids me to
leave her”, and as: "I regret to leave her” (for the latter cf. Od.
XX 202 ούκ έλεαίρεις άνδρας .... μισγέμεναι κακότητι καί άλγεσι
λευγαλέοισιν). Surely Bowra overstresses the words, translating:
“From pity I cannot leave / Her widowed with her foes, my boy
an orphan” (Soph. Tragedy p. 40).
The placing of viv is such that it first suggests connection with
οικτίρω; secondly, it is object to λιπεΐν with χήραν as predicate and
παϊδά τ’ ορφανόν as complement, παρ’ έχθροϊς, of course, qualifies
the whole, χήρα (χήρη) for “widow” is Homeric.
654-656. From what now follows his hearers cannot but infer
that he wishes to purge himself of the stains of the onslaught on
the cattle and thus to be reconciled to Athena. Washing off one's
stains with sea water is an act known already in Homer (II. I 314).
As appears from 412 sqq., the sea to Ajax is the familiar aspect of
the world in the sight of which he wishes to perish in loneliness.
 SECOND EPEISODION, vss. 652-659 137

Achilles likewise sought the solitude of the sea when bereft of

Briseis (II. I 350), and after the death of Patroclus (II. XXIV 12).
His defilement is to Ajax the dishonour of his madness and only
by his death can he purge himself of its stains and thus escape the
μήνις βαρεία. Odysseus, who in his eyes is to blame for everything,
he calls ό λυμεών έμός (573)·
πρός λουτρά: “to the sea which will wash me” (πρός τε λουτρά
rare for πρός λουτρά τε, cf. supra 53).
655. λύμαθ*: λϋμα lit. sordes but also "disgrace” (cf. O.C. 805).
656. μήνιν βαρεϊαν .... θεάς: Ajax is conscious of being struck
by Athena, as was already apparent from 401 sqq.
έξαλεύσωμαι: έξαλύξωμαι, derived from Hesych. and the lemma
of the schol., adopted by most editors, has the same meaning.
This form finds no support, however, in the Sophoclean use of
άλύσκω, which is active Ant. 488, El. 627 (both with the genit.),
as in Homer. (The correct reading Hes. Op. 363 is δ δ’ άλέξεται
αϊθοπα λιμόν.) The MSS have έξαλεύσωμαι; this aor. form does not
occur. But An. Bekker 383, 4 has άλεύσω: άντ'ι τοϋ φυλάξω (Soph,
/r. 902 N.2 = 993 P., quoted here by Blaydes). Cf. Suidas άλευε-
Τωνες τό φυλάξαι ούτως λέγουσι · καί παροιμία · άλευ’ άπό μείζο-
νος άνδρός. Furthermore Aeschylus uses the aor. forms άλευσον
(Suppi. 528), άλεύσατε (Sept. 87), άλευσον (ib. 141), in the sense of
averte, avertite·, the aor. ήλεύατο (and many forms without υ)
is usual with Homer; and Ar. Eq. 1080 has έξαλέασθαι (in an oracle-
parody). These facts make the form έξαλεύσωμαι quite acceptable
in my opinion; it is to be regarded as an Ionism. (Cf. also Pearson’s
note adfr. 993 and Inachos Tebt. Pap. Ill 692 col. IV fr. 2.17.)
657. μολών .... κίχω: μολών έκεϊσε ένθ’ άν κίχω χώρον άστιβή.
Cf. Ο.Τ. 79^ έφευγον, ένθα μήποτ’ όψοίμην. Of course χώρον is
also felt as acc. of direction with μολών.
άστιβή: "untrodden”. Aesch. Sept. 859, O.C. 126.
κίχω: cf. supra 571; "reach” has here the connotation of “find”.
658. έγχος: cf. supra ad 95.
κρύψω: The sword is stained and curse-laden; therefore it must
be buried, κρύψω is intended to be ambiguous, as appears from 899
κρυφαίω φασγάνφ περιπτυχής. Soph, means to say that Ajax thinks
of stabbing himself.
659. γαίας .... δψεται: If κατορύττειν were used instead of
όρύττειν, the interpretation might be (with sword as object) "bury­
ing it in the earth there where nobody will be able to see it". (Mas-
138 COMMENTARY

queray, neglecting όρύξας,, translates: "je le cacherai dans la terre,

oil personne ne le voie plus”. But Mazon: "et 14, creusant le sol,
j’y enfouirai ce fer . . . . si bien que nul ne le puisse plus voir”.)
But of this there seem to be no instances, όρύξας is absolute and
γαίας is part, genit, with ένθα, it is true, but it should be supple­
mented with (εις) τοσοϋτον (cf. Xen. Oec. 19 όπόσον βάθος όρύττειν):
"after digging such a deep pit in the earth that no one will be able
to see <the sword hidden in it> any more”.
μή: because the relative clause is final or final-consecutive: cf. El.
436 sq. It is precisely because Ajax speaks in an ambiguous manner
that the mode of expression is somewhat obscure.
660. Whereas the hearers think of the burial of the cursed
sword, Ajax reflects on the sword as it will lie with him in the grave:
cf. supra 577 τά S’ άλλα τεύχη κοίν’ έμοί τεθάψεται. It should be
imagined how strange this verse would be if Ajax were not speaking
in an ambiguous manner.
In the same way Electra speaks of gifts in the tomb [El. 438):
κειμήλι’ αύτη ταΰτα σωζέσθω κάτω.
661. Ajax reverts to the subject of the sword, the gift of Hector,
in 817 sqq., Teucer in 1025 sqq.
The exchange of girdle and sword is described in II. VII 303 sqq.
Ajax’ girdle proved for Hector as ill-omened as Hector's sword
for Ajax. For it was by that girdle that he was tied to the chariot
of Achilles, as Sophocles tells in 1030. (Leaf ad II. 1.1.; cf. A.P. VII
151. 152).
χειρί: that Ajax, speaking of the sword which has rested in his
hand, uses this word with έδεξάμην is very natural.
662. Note the subtle play of p and 8 in this verse.
661-663. (έξ οδ).... ούπω:ηοίίΓθπι .... until the present day;
so οδπω comes near in meaning to never. Cf. Owen on Eur. Ion 346
'οδ .... πω "never yet”, somewhat colloquial (-?-) for "never
at all” ’. Cf. ib. 1278, O.T. 105 ούγάρ είσεΐδόν γε πω. "Really never".
(Bruhn a.h.l. ούπω: "bedeutet hier nicht nondum, sondem niemals,
nimmer”, but he knows of no certain parallels in tragedy.) II. Ill
306 οδ πω is rather "in no wise” (Leaf). Trach. 159 is a different case
because ποτέ precedes. The translation "never more” is impossible.
(Correct Masqueray: "je n’ai jamais eu que ....”.)
663. τι κεδνόν: something good. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 648: πώς κεδνά
τοϊς κακοΐσι συμμείξω. But it also suggests "something friendly”,
τι φίλον. Cf. II. IX 586 κεδνότατοι καί φίλτατοι. Pind. 01. VIII 80
 SECOND EPEISODION, vss. 660-666 139

κατακρύπτει S’ ού κόνις / συγγόνων κεδνάν χάριν: "la poussidre du

tombeau ne leur dirobe pas la chire gloire de leur posterite”
(Puech).
665. The wording of the proverb may have been somewhat
different. The highly poetical diction of tragedy, to which άδωρα
δώρα belongs, makes its use in a common proverb unlikely: [Men.]
Sent. ι66 έχθροϋ παρ’ άνδρύς ούδέν έστι χρήσιμον, άδωρα δώρα: so the
χάρις was άχαρις (cf. Aesch. Prom. 544 and the examples quoted
there by Groeneboom; see also my Sophocle et Heraclite, Studia
Vollgraff, p. 95) or, as the epigram A.P. VII 152. 7 sq. says:
Ούτως έξ έχθρών αύτοκτόνα πέμπετο δώρα, / έν χάριτος προφάσει μοίραν
έχοντα μόρου. Of course, Eur. Med. 618 κακοΰ γάρ άνδρός δώρ’ δνησιν
ούκ έχει reminds us of our verse (cf. Clem. Strom. VI 2, 740) and
later on the verse of Sophocles is sometimes quoted with κακών in­
stead of έχθρών (Theophylactus Sim. Hist. VII 13, nob). Perhaps
Ar. Vesp. 1160 is also reminiscent of this verse (έχθρών παρ’ άνδρών
δυσμενή .... καττύματα).
666. τοιγάρ: "in consequence”, "that's why”, "accordingly”.
The speaker announces a purpose which is the result of what
precedes (Denniston, G.P., 565 sq.).
666, 667. The difference between εΐσόμεσθα and μαθήσομεσθα
is very slight here: cf. Ar. Vesp. 376 tv’ είδη μή πατεΐν τα τοΐν θεοΐν
. . . . ψηφίσματα.
θεοϊς είκειν .... ’Ατρείδας σέβειν: the schol. observes with fine
penetration έπιφθόνως (invidiose) έφρασεν έν ειρωνεία άντιστρέψας
τήν τάξιν ■ έδει γάρ είπεϊν θεούς μέν σέβειν είκειν δέ Άτρείδαις, ώς
τών ’Ατρειδών οΰν ήδη καί θεομαχούντων, i.e. claim divine honour
by their conduct, είκειν suggests submission to other men, σέβειν as
a rule to gods; when referring to men, it is often said cum invidia,
cf. Aesch. Ag. 925 λέγω κατ’ άνδρα, μή θεόν, σέβειν έμέ, Aesch. fr.
159· 3 Ν.2 γίγνωσκε τάνθρώπεια μή σέβειν άγαν, Eur. Med. 155
εί δέ σύς πόσις / καινά λέχη σεβίζει. (For the rest it is a curious fact
that σέβειν is etymologically related to Old Indian tyajati "to
desist from” and that the causative σοβέω properly means: "to
cause to retire", “to drive away”; ώσθ’ ύπεικτέον says Ajax in the
next verse.) The words are ironical and ambiguous. The hearers
infer submission to gods and authorities, while Ajax means a re­
tiring from life. These words of seeming humiliation are in reality
expressive of grim bitterness (schol. ad 667 μιμείται τύν σώφρονα,
κεκίνηται δέ ύπύ τοϋ πάθους); the enjambment of είκειν is suggestive
140 COMMENTARY

of the effort with which this word passes his lips; the σέβειν after
’Ατρείδας rounds the sentence off with inflexible determination.
What follows is asyndetically connected with it.
668. ύπεικτέον: distantly connected ("Femverbindung") with
371 ώ προς θεών ύπεικε καί φρόνησαν εύ. What Ajax says here is
what Creon requires of his subjects (Am/. 666 sqq.), that is the
submission to authority which Ismene and Chrysothemis are
willing to give, but which Antigone and Electra refuse. It is in
flat contradiction of his nature. (Schadewaldt is wrong in assuming
Ajax’ sincerity in these words: cf. Pohlenz, Erlauterungen1 p. 74,
L. Massa Positano o.l. p. 67.)
τί μή: thus all the MSS and Stob.; elliptic for τί μή ύπείκωμεν;
Aesch. Ag. 672 λέγουσιν ήμας ώς όλωλότας, τί μή; (ν. Wilamowitz
and Groeneboom abide by the original reading). Eum. 203 εχρησα
ποινάς τοϋ πατρός πραξαι. τί μή; (thus F, adopted in the text by v.
Wilamowitz, who at Suppl. 999 changes even τί μήν into τί μή).
The change into τί μήν (τί μήν ού, El. 128ο, is necessary) gives good
sense (= "of course”—Denniston, G.P., 333 III b) but is unnecessary.
669-677. Between είσόμεσθα εϊκειν .... ώσθ’ ύπεικτέον. τί μή;
and ήμεϊς δέ πώς ού γνωσόμεσθα σωφρονεϊν; (a ring-composition,
with which may be compared Aesch. Suppl. 407-417), the moti­
vation of εϊκειν and σωφρονεϊν is given: in nature winter makes way
for summer, night for day, sleep for the state of being awake.
In nature we observe an order of succession which ensures its
continuance. In like manner man has to accede to the rules of
human order. The counterparts, in their regular order, make way for
their counterparts. The passage seems to be in line with Heraclitus’
doctrine of opposites. The schol. ad 669 notes: έκ γάρ έναντιότητος
τό παν συνέστηκεν . . . . '). The order in the moral world brought
into relation to the order in nature Pl. Gorg. 507 e. Cf. also Hera­
clitus’ 'Ήλιος γάρ ούχ ύπερβήσεται μέτρα, etc., and Diog. Apoll.
fr. 3 D. ού γάρ άν οϊόν τε ήν οΰτω δέδασθαι άνευ νοήσιος, ώστε πάν­
των μέτρα έχειν, χειμώνός τε καί θέρους καί νυκτός καί ήμέρας καί
άνέμων καί εύδιών (quoted by Bowra, Soph. Trag. p. 42). A similar
argumentation is found in Eur. Phoen. 535-548. (More remotedly
related is Eur. Her. iox sqq.)
669. τά δεινά: not, with v. Wilamowitz, to be changed into θεία.

ή Cf. Studia Vollgraff, p. 89.

 SECOND EPEISODION, vss. 668-675 141

Ajax, thinking of himself (ό δεινός 205), mentions the forces of nature

which retreat as he himself has to retreat.
τά δεινά: τά θεία καί δέος έμποιοϋντα (schol.). Cf. πολλά τά δεινά,
καρτερώτατα: cf. έκαρτέρουν, 650.
670. τιμαϊς: all but abstr. pro conor.: "for that which enjoys
honour” (cf. άρχαί magistratus, and the like).
τούτο μεν: continued by δέ . . . . έν δ’ (cf. O.C. 440).
670. 671. νιφοστιβεϊς / χειμώνες: prob, “the winters with
snowy paths” (στίβος = “path”, Phil. 157). (Aesch. Prom. 791 has
ήλιοστιβεϊς, which, if correct, means “where the paths of the sun
are”.) The word occurs only here.
671. έκχωροϋσιν: "make place for”.
672. έξίσταται: synonymous with εκχωρεί.
νυκτός αΐανής κύκλος: “the dark sky of the night” (correct is
Masqueray’s “la voute obscure de la nuit”). For κύκλος, the vault
of the sky, cf. Phil. 815. The v.l. αΐανής does not make much differ­
ence, but renders the style weaker.
αΐανής (prob, to be preferred to αίάνός notwithstanding v. Wila-
mowitz, Hermes 1924, 249) is to be distinguished from its homonym
αΐανής, "eternal” (which is less good here on account of λευκοπώλω;
the second explanation given by the schol., άδιάλειπτος, gives a
contresens here), prop, “sad”, “terrible” (Archiloch. 90 D. προύθηκε
παισΐ δεΐπνον αίηνές φέρων from Et. Μ. αίηνές ■ τό δεινόν καί
πολύστονον—and note that the idea of δεινότης is required here), then
"dark”, with the connotation "ominous”, (schol. ad 672 ό σκοτεινός
κύκλος). Cf. Eur. Phoen. 543 νυκτός τ’ άφεγγες βλέφαρον ήλιου τε φώς/
ίσον βαδίζει τόν ενιαύσιον κύκλον (περιφραστικώς ή νύξ Σ.). αΐανής
in the sense of θρηνητικός (cf. Suid.), Aesch. Pers. 636. The
Eumenids call themselves Νυκτός αίανή τέκνα, Aesch. Eum. 416,
where the meanings δεινός and σκοτεινός are likewise promiscuous.
673. λευκοπώλφ ήμέρα: after Aesch. Pers. 386 λευκόπωλος ημέρα
πασαν κατέσχε γαϊαν εύφεγγης ΐδεϊν (cf. in metaphorical language
ib. 301 λευκόν ήμαρ νυκτός έκ μελαγχίμου).
φλέγειν: epexegetic infinitive = fulgere (not urere or incendere),
with φέγγος as acc. of int. obj. Cf. further ad 714.
674. 675. δεινών τ’ .... πόντον: by τ’ this member of the
enumeration is added to the second. Masqueray renders: "le souffle
des vents furieux, quand il cesse, apaise la mer gemissante” l).
*) Mazon’s "Le souffle des vents redoutables endort la mer aux flots
grondants” is right.
142 COMMENTARY

French logic makes him translate something that is not in the text.
Lobeck in eloquent terms argues that έκοίμισε is only defensible
because ύπείκει, έκχωροϋσι, έξίσταται precede and give to έκοίμισε
a pregnant sense: "ceases and puts to sleep". This is actually what
Tecmessa and the Chorus should understand. But from the point
of view of Ajax the words mean exactly what they stand for.
δεινών άημα πνευμάτων is the image of the madness which has
passed over him, στένοντα πόντον his own existence. He is possessed
with the thought of suicide. His passion will give rest to his groaning
life. At 832 he asks if Hermes will εδ κοιμίσαι him (cf. Ant. 804 τόν
παγκοίταν θάλαμον, 8l0 ό παγκοίτας 'Άιδας). Did not 206 say Αίας
θολερω κεϊται χειμώνι νοσησας?
675. έν δ’: adverbial, "and among them also”, “and with them
also”, "and similarly”. The same use O.T. 182, Track. 207, O.C. 55. It
is not quite certain wether O.T. 0.7 gives another instance; I think it
gives nothwithstanding Μ. OAcouri, Stirilitesmystirieuses etc., 1938
p. 17. Herodotus also knows this use, e.g. 1185 έν δέ δή και την Νίνον.
παγκρατης ύπνος: a variant of the Homeric ύπνος πανδαμάτωρ
(II. AA1N 5). The metaphor έκοίμισε forms the transition to the
example with ύπνος.
676. λύει πεδήσας: "releases after having bound” (πεδάω of
sleep, Od. XXIII17). But also continuing the ambiguity of έκοίμισε,
with oxymoron and ύπνος as the sleep of death (cf. ύπνος χάλκεος,
II. XI 241; the god of sleep, twin brother of Death, ib. XVI 672,
682, XIV 231), "unbinds by fettering”, or even “delivers by
fettering”, for death is a release to him (σεσωμένον 692).
ούδ’ άεΐ λαβών έχει: "et ne les tient pas toujours dans son etrein-
te” (Masqueray). Here, too, the veiled sense springs from a feeling
that death, which will get him in his power, will be a release.
λύει πεδήσας .... λαβών έχει: a χιασμός as significant as supra 647.
677. γνωσόμεσθα: with inf. here a variant of μαθησόμεσθα. Cf.
Ant. 1089 καί γνφ τρέφειν τήν γλώσσαν ήσυχωτέραν. πώς ού perhaps
affords an argument for retaining τί μή in 668.
σωφρονεΐν: cf. 132, 1075, 1259, 1264.
678. έγώ δ’ έπίσταμαι γάρ: examples of the postponement of γάρ,
Denniston, G.P., 96. But δ’.... γάρ is rather awkward. Some scholars
(Madvig, Jebb) read: έγωγ’ · έπίσταμαι κτλ. To this it may be
objected that in this case the question ήμεϊς πώς ού....; (and ήμεϊς
can hardly be regarded as a genuine plural, on account of 666, 667)
is answered with έγωγε. The same holds good for the explanation
 SECOND EPEISODION, vss. 675-681 143

έγώ S’ · sc. γνώσομαι σωφρονεϊν. It is perhaps possible to assume with

Radermacher and others an anacoluthon: έγώ S’ —, so that γάρ is
anticipatory and the verb to έγώ 8’ is dispensed with. (Instead of
έχθαρώ there is the clause with δτι depending on έπίσταμαι.)
άρτίως:: "only now” (schol.: άντί του νΰν).
679-682. As appears from τ’ .... τε, έχθαρτέος <έστίν> and
βουλήσομαι depend on δτι, but because ύπουργοΰντα ώφελεϊν δεϊ
is expected instead of ύπουργών ώφελεϊν βουλήσομαι, the second
sentence almost seems to be independent. In the second sentence
Ajax also says what is really in his heart and by βουλήσομαι the
saying is made to refer more closely to his own person.
The words of Ajax call to mind a maxim by Bias. (Old men)
κατά τήν Βίαντος υποθήκην και φιλοϋσιν ώς μισήσοντες καί μισοϋσιν
ώς φιλήσοντες (Arist. Rhet. II13, 1389 b). From Rhet. II 21, 1395 a
(which hints at the necessity of using proverbs pour le besoin de la
cause against the traditional interpretation: To δέ ήθος βέλτιον,
δτι οϋ δεϊ, ώσπερ φασίν, φιλεϊν ώς μισήσοντας άλλα μάλλον μισεϊν ώς φιλή-
σοντας) one gets the impression that especially the second part of
what Ajax says interprets the maxim of Bias best. This appears
also from Diog. Laert. I 5.87 έλεγέ τε τδν βίον ουτω μετρεΐν <δεϊν> ώς
καί πολύν καί όλίγον χρόνον βιωσομένους, καί φιλεϊν ώς μισήσον-
τας · τούς γάρ πλείστους είναι κακούς. Like so many "Maxims of the
Wise”, this one, too, is a political rule, which had its origin in the
practice of the πόλις. (On Bias and Heraclitus cf. Studia Vollgraff
p. 89.)
679. ές τοσόνδ’: only to that degree; similarly τοσαϋθ’, 68l.
For ές cf. ές πλέον O.T. 700, εις πλεϊστον O.C. 739·
680. ώς καί φιλήσων αύθις: one may paraphrase, “as is compatible
with the idea that he will hereafter be a friend”, αύθις combines
the notions of change (reversal) and hereafter.
ές τε τόν φίλον: ύπουργέω being invariably construed with a dat.
commodi, these words are somewhat loosely constructed and serve
as an introduction to the second member: "and towards a friend,
him...” (unless one ought to think, with Ellendt, that ές τόν φίλον
depends on ώφελεϊν). In connection with the end of the tragedy
it may be observed, that Ajax’ words, ironical as they are, are also
prophetical: for Odysseus will prove a φιλήσων αύθις.
681. βουλήσομαι: the future of verbs denoting a wish or question
is often used for the present as a more refined form. Page ad Eur.
Med. 259 justly remarks: "the tense of βουλήσομαι is modified by
144 COMMENTARY

the futurity of the content of the wish”. Cf. infra 825, O.T. 1077,
O.C. 1289 (K.-G. I, 172, 4).
682, 683. τοϊς πολλοϊσι .... λιμήν: all commentators explain
βροτών as gen. part, to τοϊς πολλοϊσι. This seems the most likely
explanation, though there may perhaps something be said for
connecting βροτών with εταιρείας λιμήν. At any rate τοϊς πολλοϊσι
is dat. incomm. and the utterance is as pessimistic as the reflection
of Bias, τούς γάρ πλείστους είναι κακούς. For εταιρείας λιμήν cf.
Theognis 113, 114 Μήποτέ τοι κακόν άνδρα φίλον ποιεΐσθαι έταΐρον, /
άλλ’ αίεί φεύγειν ώστε κακόν λιμένα. It is quite possible that for
himself Ajax makes a contrast between the (perhaps βροτών)
έταιρείας λιμήν and the λιμήν of Hades, for which he longs. For
death is the λιμήν κακών: π.ύ. IX 7 ήμΐν μέν δυσδαιμονούσιν άπό-
κειται λιμήν κακών ό θάνατος. At Ant. 1284 the Underworld is
called δυσκάθαρτος "Αιδου λιμήν. Cf. Epigr. 67 Kaibel όλβιον εύαίωνα
βίου πλεύσαντα πρύς δρμον, ib. 647·6; 256.10. Leonidas Α.Ρ.
VII 452 κοινός πασι λιμήν Άίδης, id. ib. VII 47ζ1 Α.Ρ. IX 49, !72·
The metaphorical use of λιμήν also in Aesch. Suppl. 471 κούδαμοϋ
λιμήν κακών (different: Aesch. Pers. 250, Ant. 1000, Eur. Or. 1077).
Cf. also Eur. Andr. 748 sq., 891, Med. 768 sqq., Hipp. 139 sq.
(E. E. Pot, De Maritieme Beeldspraak bij Euripides, diss. Utrecht
1943, pp. 73 sqq.). Cf. Cic. Tuse. D. I 49.118: (death) portum potius
paratum nobis et perfugium putemus. Epict. IV 10.27 εί ούτως τάλας
είμί, λιμήν τό άποθανεΐν. ούτος δ’ έστίν ό λιμήν πάντων, ό θάνατος,
αυτή ή καταφυγή. The portus salutis (cf. portum Quietis Ap. Met.
XI 15) of those who are initiated into the mysteries of Bacchus:
Eur. Ba. 903 (cf. Herm. Trism. VII 1 τοϊς της σωτηρίας λιμέσι and
W. Vollgraff, B.C.H. 48, 1924, 179-185). Philosophiae portus:
Verg. Catal. 5.8, Cic. ad Fam. VII 30.2, Lucian. Haliens 29.
684. άμφί.... τούτοισιν: άμφί = de (περί τούτων cf. supra 303).
τούτοισιν: all that I have said, άμφί.... τούτοισιν instead of ταϋτα
is said as gropingly as ές τόν φίλον, 68o, for τώ φίλω or τόν φίλον.
εύ σχήσει: prosperum finem res inveniet (Ellendt).
Ajax breaks off his double-edged speech with further vagueness
and ambiguity. The schol. remarks: δρα πόσον έπικρατεϊται ύπό τοϋ
πάθους <ό> λογισμός· ό τά σοφώτατα γοϋν είπών εαυτόν άναιρεϊ. Ex­
cellent also is the schol. ad 687: τά μέν της άναιρέσεως δήλα τώ θεατή
άγνοεϊ δέ ό χορός· πεπίστευκε γάρ τοϊς ύπ’ αύτοϋ λελεγμένοις.
685. διά τέλους: to the end, throughout (with allusion to the
end of his life), going with τελεϊσθαι.
 SECOND EPEJSODION. vss. 682-692 145

686, τούμον ών έρα κέαρ: this also is ambiguous, of course, έράω

going with θανεϊν, Ant. 220 ούκ έστιν οΰτω μωρός ός θανεϊν έρα.
An echo of these words infra 967 (and perhaps also in έρωτι 693,
the Chorus not understanding the meaning of this έρα).
κέαρ: κήρ does not occur in the tragedians; prob, a form analogous
to εαρ, ήρ.
687, 688. ταύτά .... τιμάτε: lit. “honour these things, I pray
you (μοι dat. eth.), the same (things) as she (is to honour)”. By
ταύτά τάδε is meant: θεοΐς εΰχεσθαι τελεϊσθαι τούμόν ών έρα κέαρ.
688, 689. The instruction to Teucer falls outside the deceit.
A message to Teucer could only contain the information that Ajax
would soon return, if the fiction that Ajax would purge his stains
were maintained
688. σημήνατε: admonete. The thought of Teucer, 342 and 562.
689. μέλειν: personal1). Cf. El. 342 κείνου λελήσθαι, της δέ
τικτούσης μέλειν (schol. a.h.l. φροντίζειν), Aesch. Ag. 369, Eur. Her.
772. This means of course that Teucer must see to Ajax’ funeral
and take over the care of his sailors.
690. έκεϊσ" οποί πορευτέον: his hearers must understand “where
I must go now” (to the λουτρά to purge himself). He means “there
where I feel I must go” (the underworld) or “where one has to go”
(for all men it is true that calcanda semel via leti). To die is a journey
one has to go. γάρ is significant and its force can only be grasped
in the light of Ajax’ hidden purpose.
691. τάχ’ .... ίσως: τάχα makes the probability greater than
ίσως alone.
692. σεσωμένον: to the Chorus and Tecmessa it means cured of
his νόσος and purged of the stains; to Ajax himself, cleared of the
disgrace by death. Thus also Iphigeneia (Eur. I.A. 1440) when
facing death: σέσωσμαι, κατ’ έμέ δ’εύκλεής έση (cf. perhaps also
Phoen. 989). As often in Sophocles the scene ends with a significant
word (cf. e.g. O.T. 146, Track. 177). 812 is associated with this word:
σωζειν θέλοντες άνδρα γ’ δς σπεύδει θανεϊν. See also 779 with note,
(σεσωσμένον is the form transmitted, as usual in tragedy. The atticist
form is σεσωμένον, but the inscriptions require σεσωιμένον. Accord­
ingly v. Wilamowitz, Murray, Groeneboom write Aesch. Ag. 618
σεσωιμένον; Murray, I.A. 1440, however, σέσωσμαι.)

*) Though infra. 990 does not make this absolutely certain.

Kamerbeek io
146 COMMENTARY

Second Stasimon, vss. 693-719

Strophe 693-706 = Antistr. 706-719
The Chorus, convinced by the words of Ajax that he has resolved
to yield to the gods and the commanders, strike up a joyous song
in which Pan is invoked to give expression to their joy. The motifs
of the antistrophe are fully in line with the words of Ajax: cf.
schol. ad 714, τά ύπό τοϋ Αϊαντος διά πολλών εΐρημένα διά βραχέων
διεξήλθεν. The joyful note of this song (on the question whether
it ought to be called an ύπόρχημα or not cf. A. M. Dale, The Lyric
Metres of Greek Drama, p. 200, ead., Stasimon and Hyporcheme,
Eranos 48, 1950, 1-2), founded on a tragical delusion, is sharply
contrasted with the suspense and the fatal issue of what follows.
For their character and effect, the choral songs at O.T. 1086-1109,
Ant. 1115-1152, and Track. 633-662, are similar.
693. έφριξ’ έρωτι: the aor., as supra 536. Aesch. jr. 387 N.2
(e schol. ad Soph. O.C. 1049), 35 corrected by Brunck, έφριξ’ έρωτι
τοΰδε μυστικού τέλους, έρως is used here, where “joy” would be
expected. It seems to convey (notwithstanding Jebb): wishful
expectancy. He who is seized by this feels winged with joy.
φρίσσειν = horrere·, the shiver that comes over one out of fright
(but sometimes of joy, too) and makes one’s hair stand on end; is
illustrated by Eur. Hel. 632, γέγηθα, κρατί δ’ όρθιους έθείρας /
άνεπτέρωκα. The choice of words results from the ambiguous
character of the situation.
περιχαρής: the opposite of περιώδυνος, also Ar. Vesp. 1477 and
in prose writers.
άνεπτάμαν: out of fright: Ant. 130J άνέπταν φόβω, of suspense:
O.T. 487 πέτομαι δ’ έλπίσιν, of yearning: Eur. El. vyy-ΊΉ ούκ έπ’
άγλαίαις, φίλαι, θυμόν ούδ’ έπί χρυσέοις ίρμοις έκπεπόταμαι τάλαιν ’ . . . .
Cf. άναπτεράω, e.g. Aesch. CAo. 227 άνεπτερώθης "you were brought
into a state of wishful expectancy”: έπήρθης. Ar. Nub. 319 ή ψυχή
μου πεπότηται, Αν. 1444 S<T έπ! τραγωδία άνεπτερώσθαι καί πεποτήσθαι
τάς φρένας, Vesp. 93·
694, 695. Πάν Πάν: for the geminatio cf. Theocr. I 123.
Pan, Arcadian god of mountains and herdsmen became familiar
to the inhabitants of Athens only after the battle of Marathon
(story of Philippides, Hdt. VI 105). Cf. Simon. (?) 143 D. Τόν
τραγόπουν έμέ Πανα, τόν Άρκάδα, τόν κατά Μήδων, / τόν μετ’ ’Αθηναίων
 SECOND STASIMON, vss. 693-699 147

στησατο Μιλτιάδης. Speaking of Psyttaleia the Messenger says in

Aesch. Pers. 448 sq. ήν ό φιλόχορος / Πάν έμβατεύει πόντιας άκτής
έπι. Pind. /r. 99 S. calls him χορευτήν τελεώτατον and fr. 95 runs:
Ματρός μεγάλας οπαδέ, σεμνάν Χαρίτων μέλημα τερπνόν (cf. Pyth.
Ill 78, cult hymns to Pan and Rhea Ar. Av. 745). Mood similar
to that of our strophe in Scol. An. 4 D. (A. L. II 182 = Ath. XV
094d): ΤΩ Πάν, ’Αρκαδίας μέδων κλεεννας, / όρχηστά, Βρομίαις δπαδέ
Νύμφαις, / γελάσειας, ώ Πάν, έπ’ έμαϊς / εΰφροσι ταϊσδ’ άοιδαϊς κεχαρη-
μένος. (On Pan i.a. Nilsson, Ges. d. Gr. Rel. I2 235; v. Wilamowitz,
Gl. d. Η. I 247 and esp. with a view to our passage II 177.)
άλίπλαγκτε: predicative adjunct to φάνηθ’, though attracted by
the vocative, as δύστηνε φανείς, Phil. 760, pontivagus, so that it
does not differ much from ύπέρ πελαγέων μολών; probably re­
miniscent of the relations between Pan and the Salaminians: cf.
Aesch. Pers. 448 sq.
695. Κυλλανίας: the well-known mountain in Arcadia.
696. χιονοκτύπου: this reading (Roman class) is made necessary
by the metre and is defensible only if one takes as its meaning:
"battered by snowstorms, harassed” (κτύπος = din, thundering
noise). For Pan the mountain dweller cf. Hom. hymn. XIX 6 sqq.
δς πάντα λόφον νιφόεντα λέλογχε / καί κορυφάς όρέων και πετρήεντα
κέλευθα.
697. δειράδος: "ridge of a chain of hills” (L.-Sc.) already in Hom.
hymn. Ap. 281.
698. θεών χοροποί’ άναξ: who makes the dances of the gods.
He accompanies the Nymphs, the Charites, and is χορευτής τελειό­
τατος. So the genitive is especially associated with χορο-.
699. Μύσια: P. Oxy. 1615 gives this reading against the tradition
of the mediaeval MSS. (Suidas possibly knew this reading: s.v.
νύσια). Κνώσια means the dances of the Kuretes, Μύσια those in
honour of the Μεγάλα Μάτηρ (cf. Pind. fr. 95): so Μύσια may be
the right word (cf. v. Wilamowitz Gl. d. Η. II 177 n. 2). Νύσια
associates Pan with Dionysus, and this is far from untenable,
notwithstanding v. Wilamowitz, considering the Attic scolion
cited above, the more so since the connection between Dionysus
and Crete is as evident as that between Cnossus and the Magna
Mater, cf. Eur. Ba. 120 sqq. It is hard to distinguish between
Kuretes and Korybantes (cf. Strabo 469 sq.). Cf. also the schol.
ad 700, which says: των δέ ορχήσεων ή μεν Βερεκυντιακή λέγεται ή
δέ Κρητική ή καί πυρρίχη · Νύσια ούν αϊ Βερεκυντιακαί (της γάρ Νυσίας
148 COMMENTARY

έστίν ή Βερέκυντος), Κνώσια δέ Κρητικαί. The impossibility of

localizing Nysa makes any decision doubtful.
Κνώσι’: the dance was the glory of Cnossus. Cf. i.a. Hom. II.
XVIII 591; C. W. Vollgraff, Le decret d’Argos relatif a un Pacte
entre Knossos et Tylissos, Verh. Kon. Ned. Ak. LI 2, 1948. pp. 76,
77, n. 129. Schol. Pind. Pyth. II 127 Σωσίβιος δέ (λέγει) τά ύπορχη-
ματικά πάντα μέλη Κρηταικά λέγεσθαι.
The asyndeton Μύσια Κνώσι’ reminds us of Eur. Ba. 140 ές
8ρεα Φρύγια, Λύδια.
700. αύτοδαή: αύτομαθή, ά έκ φύσεως έχεις, ού διδακτά (schol.).
ίάψης: ΐάπτειν used by Aesch. Suppi. 547 for "to move quickly”,
so that όρχήματα ΐάπτειν may mean "to make quick movements in
dancing”. Thus the Chorus Ar. Ran. 324-336 ask Iacchus to join
the dance: έλθέ τόνδ’ άνά λειμώνα χορεύσων οσίους εις θιασώτας.........
θρασεϊ δ’ έγκατακρούων πόδι τάν άκόλαστον .... χορείαν. The
relation between έγκατακρούων and χορείαν is here similar to that
between ίάψης and όρχήματ’. (Cf. Hom. Od. VIII 264, where,
however, χορός denotes the place of dancing.) Aesch. at Sept. 299
and Ag. 510 uses ΐάπτειν for “to sway” (swing), so that there is
nothing to prevent us from assuming that it was used like iactare
(manus, bracchia, cf. e.g. Lucr. IV 769) though the words are
not etymologically related, όρχήματα in that case is to be regarded
as the acc. of the interior object, while it should be remembered
that movements of legs and arms constitute the dance (for the
hands, specially with Cretan dances, cf. Ath. I 22b, quoted by Jebb).
Finally it should be borne in mind that the invocation to Pan
to dance means nothing but the έρως of the Chorus to dance.
701. χορεϋσαι: the aor. as with Alcaeus 39 D. Νϋν χρή μεθύσθην.
On account of the antistr. (μαραίνει τε κα'ι φλέγει) Hermann and
Lobeck assume a lacuna here, τε καί and an inf. praes. (cf.
the fragm. of Alcaeus) may be supplied here.
702. V. Wilamowitz (Gl. d. Η., II 177 n. 2) observes that Apollo
καθάρσιος must come because Ajax must purge himself. Otherwise
Apollo may very well have been invited to enter the joyous dance:
Apollo and Pan in the Att. scol. 3 and 4.
Ίκαρίων: called after the isle of Icaria (II. II 145).
πελαγέων: Od. V 335 (aequora).
υπέρ .... μόλων: cf. Ant. 105.
703. άναξ ’Απόλλων: the schol. says ό άναξ ’Απόλλων in order
not to read ξυνείης.
 SECOND STASIMON, vss. 700-709 149

704. είίγνωστος: easily recognized, s.v.a. εναργής.

705. ευφρων: propitius, friendly disposed (cf, 420). On the mean
ings of εΰφρων cf. Ed. Fraenkel ad Ag. 806.
706-718. The strophe expresses the joy of the longing for the
dance, which is dancing itself. It is a palpable illustration of the
concurrence of poetry and dance and of the mental state underlying
it. The antistrophe states the reasons for the expression of joy.
706. The introductory sentence is a causal asyndeton. Hence the
metrically impossible v.l. γάρ; Elmsley’s 8’ (= γάρ) is possible
but not necessary (cf. K.-G. II, 344 8).
Ares, the personification of warlike fury (etym. prob, "he who
hurts”, "damages”; W. Schulze, Qu. ep. 454; P. Kretschmer,
Glotta ii, 1921, 195 sqq.), is represented here as the daimon of
Ajax’ madness (schol. ’Άρης· ή λύσσα, ή μανία; cf. Plut. Amat.
757b τό θυμοειδές έν ήμΐν Άρην κεκλήσθαι νομίζουσι). It is pretty
certain that Ajax’ άχος and ομματα are meant, cf. supra 153 and 51;
thus Lobeck and v. Wilamowitz (GZ. d. H. II 177 n. 2), in contra­
distinction to Jebb, Radermacher, Masqueray. In this way the verse
is in good harmony with the words of Ajax at 675. The relation
between subject and predicate is of the same nature as in Track.
653 νϋν 8’ Άρης οίστρηθείς — unnecessary but characteristic is
Musgrave’s αύ στρωθείς: similarly he proposed to read here άπο-
στατών — έξέλυσεν επίπονον άμέραν. Uncertainty already existed
in antiquity as appears from a note ad 706, άπό των όμμάτων τοϋ
Αίαντος.
The designation άχος for the madness of Ajax is a case of sub­
stituting cause for result. Moreover, we feel here the influence
of Homeric reminiscencies, as II. XVII 591 τον 8’ άχεος νεφέλη
έκάλυψε μέλαινα. λύειν άχος has the underlying idea of a veil. (II.
XVII 83 Έκτορα 8’ αίνόν άχος πύκασε φρένας; Aesch. Sept. 228;
cf. further Groeneboom ad Prom. 145.)
706, 707. Note the close correspondence, even in the division
of the words, with the strophe, and the striking vowel-assonance
of this verse and the following (ευ, α, ω, o).
708, 709. The image of the mist or darkness implied in έλυσεν
άχος involuntarily calls up the opposite image. But this corresponds
at the same time with the words of Ajax 672 sq.
709. πάρα: on this depends λευκόν εύάμερον πελάσαι φάος as
acc. c. inf. (as with εξεστιν e.g. Thue. V 47.2), πελάσαι is therefore
150 COMMENTARY

intrans., as is often the case, and takes the genit., as πελασθήναι

Phil. 1327.
λευκόν εΰάμερον φάος: "the shining light of the bright day”,
εύημερία is fine weather and prosperity (Pind. Isthm. I 40, Eur.
El. 197); εύημερέω O.C. 616; τό τε τής άγανόφρονος 'Ησυχίας εύή-
μερον πρόσωπον Ar. Αν. 1322; χρόνω δ’ έξέλαμψεν εύάμερος Eur.
Hypsip. 64 II 62 (Italie). For the whole image cf. Aesch. Pers.
300, 301 έμοϊς μέν είπας δώμασιν φάος μέγα / και λευκόν ήμαρ νυκτός
έκ μελαγχίμου.
710. θοαν ώκυάλων: ώκύαλος is Homeric and the combination
is a variation of Od. VII 34 νηυσΐ θοήσιν τοί γε πεποιθότες ώκείησιν.
711. λαθίπονος: έπιλήσμων τής λύπης, πόνος, therefore, does not
differ much from άχος 706. The adj. occurs only here and in Trach.
1021. Formation similar to λαθικηδής, II. XXII 83. Supply έστίν.
712. αύ suggests the (supposed) return of Ajax to the normal
service of the gods. The Chorus conceive from the words of Ajax
(655, 666) that he will by now have brought an expiatory sacrifice
to the gods.
θέσμι’: θεσμός is "ordinance” (TracA. 682), hence θέσμιος "ritual”,
θέσμια subst. "the rites”.
πάνθυτος: for the formation cf. e.g. πάμπληκτος Trach. 505;
“consisting of all sorts of sacrifices”.
έξήνυσεν: έξεπλήρωσεν. The "Femverbindung”, with 925 sq.: έμελλες
στερεόφρων άρ’ έξανύσσειν κακάν μοίραν άπειρεσίων πόνων shows that
a dramatic irony was intended here by the poet, for in reality Ajax
is himself the sacrifice (cf. for a similar play on "sacrifice” Eur.
El. 1137, 1141, cf. also Med. 1054). πάνθυτος is in fact a vague word
and may just as well mean “completely sacrificed”, cf. πάμφλεκτος
Ant. 1006, El. 1139.
713. εύνομία σέβων μέγιστα: this denotes exactly the attitude
which Ajax pretends to assume (σέβειν 667). εύνομία legum obser­
vantia, as he described the laws which regulate the universe,
εΰνομίη *) once in Homer, Od. XVII 487 θεοί έπιστρωφώσι πόληας,
άνθρώπων δβριν τε καί εύνομίην έφορώντες (cf. Pl. Soph. 216b).
714. πάνθ’ ό μέγας χρόνος μαραίνει τε καί φλέγει: the last words
probably belong to the text, seeing that the joy of the Chorus would
be expressed most ambiguously by μαραίνει alone, μαραίνεσθαι is

*) On εύνομία, W. Jaeger, Sitzber. Ak. f. W. phil-.hist. Kl. Berlin, 1926»

69-85. V. Ehrenberg Aspects of the Ancient World, p. 70.
 SECOND STASIMON, vss. 710-718 151

used by Homer for "extinguish”, "bum low”: φλόξ έμαράνθη II.

IX 212 and a schol. renders φλέγει rightly with ζωπυρεϊ. The words
are a triumphant confirmation of the opening words of Ajax at 646
and φλέγει is an echo of φλέγειν, 673. It must be admitted, however,
that if the last words are omitted, μαραίνει in the general sense of
"destroy” refers to άλίσκεται, 648, only. But μαραίνειν connotes
in the first place something beautiful that is made to waste away,
as is clearly shown by the example quoted by Jebb and Rader-
macher: ό πάντα μαραίνων τα καλά χρόνος, Dion. Hal. Ant. II 3· It
suggests pining away with a disease, languishing, withering, blind­
ing. Cf. Sophron jr. 54 K. τό γάρ άπεχθόμενον γήρας άμε μαραϊνον
ταριχεύει, Archytas ap. Stob. Ill 1.108 p. 58 Η. νοσοί μακραί
άπομαραίνοντι τάν εΰθάλειαν τάς εύδαιμοσύνας, and Epigr. Kaibel
201.2 (Cos) άρπάξας σ’ Άίδας σάν έμάρανεν άκμάν. For the contrast
φλέγειν .... μαραίνειν cf. ζαφλεγέες τελέθουσιν: φθινύθουσιν άκήριοι,
II. XXI 464 sqq. (For a possible connection with Heraclitus cf.
Sludia Vollgraff p. 90.) In any case, the Chorus utter an ambiguity
without being conscious of it.
715. 716. κούδέν .... άέλπτων: variation of κούκ έστ’ άελπτον
ούδέν, 648.
άναύδατον: here, what one would not venture to say or to think
possible (schol. άπόρρητον, άνέλπιστον, άλεκτον).
φατίσαιμ’: φατίζειν is a comparatively rare verb; it occurs in Soph,
only here and O.C. 139.
716. έξ άέλπτων: adverbial, ex insperato. Cf. ΐζ άέλπτων κάπρομη-
θήτων, Aesch. Suppi. 357.
717. μετανεγνώσθη: there is nothing against taking this verb
in its normal passive sense. Ajax himself had said, 1. 651, έθηλύνθην
στόμα πρός τησδε της γυναικός. άναγιγνωσκειν = “to persuade",
withAor. Ρ,, is very common. Hence schol.: μετεπείσβη. μετεβλήθη.
718. θυμοϋ .... μεγάλων νεικέων: genitivi separ, dependent on
μετανεγνώσθη («i persuasum est ut desisteret. ...), while Άτρείδαις
is to be regarded as dependent on the notion "to become reconciled
to”, implied in μετανεγνώσθη θυμοϋ .... νεικέων. The reading θυμών
(Ογρ) is accepted by Dain and by Schadewaldt (Studi Ital.-di Fil.
Cl. 1956, p. 494).
Third Epeisodion, vss. 719-814 and 815-866.

As appears from their song, the Chorus expect the return of Ajax,
reconciled to the gods; they expect that everything will come right.
152 COMMENTARY

The spectator or reader, even if he has taken in the words of Ajax

better than the Chorus, or if he knows or foresees the issue, even so
cannot entirely disengage himself from the disposition of the
Chorus. The scene with the Messenger cleverly spins the threads
of the action further and prepares us for what follows. The Messen­
ger, whose acting naturally expresses anxiety, immediately breaks
the joyful mood of the Chorus. A spectator may first be under the
impression that he brings fatal tidings about Ajax, since nothing is
more exceptional for a Greek tragedy than the way in which
Ajax’ suicide is practically brought on to the stage: nothing would
be more usual than tidings about it brought by a Messenger, but
the aims of Sophocles here reach much higher.
The first message (Τεϋκρος πάρεστιν: a fact prepared for by
342 sq., 562 sqq., 688) gives a short relief; unjustly, however, for
the passages mentioned suggest already that Teucer will be too late.
Teucer’s arrival, in a way, announces the ruin of Ajax. Then follows
the alarming news of Teucer’s bad reception. This shows the lasting
embitterment against Ajax and the controversy about his body
is thus prepared. The Messenger wants to announce this to Ajax
and hears of the latter’s absence. This causes him to tell of Calchas’
injunction to keep Ajax within his hut that day. At the same time
Calchas' view of the situation in which Ajax finds himself becomes
manifest. The Chorus and Tecmessa get ready to seek Ajax: from
a purely technical point of view, this allows the clearing of the stage
for Ajax’ lonely suicide (as a rule stage and orchestra are seldom
deserted in Greek tragedy), which then follows almost at once.
The contrast between the two scenes of this epeisodion is, apart
from the consummate dramatic effect, also in a higher sense of
deep significance. The increasing alarm caused by the words of the
Messenger, which results in fruitless action, stands in sharp contrast
to the sustained rest, of a singular pathos, with which Ajax faces
death. Whereas Calchas speaks of the possibility of Ajax’ being
saved yet σύν θεω (779), no conciliatory word, not even to the gods,
comes from the lips of Ajax. Whereas in the first scene the fate of
Ajax is seen as the entanglement of an offender, which to a seer
may afford arguments for a kind of theological casuistry, in the
second we see a .man possessed by a longing to die striding into
death with grim resolution.
Man is seen as a toy of fate and the gods, yet at the same time as
a being who takes his lot in his own hands. The hero is a committer
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 719-722 153

of ΰβρις but his greatness is inconceivable detached from that ΰβρις.

The motives which govern the conduct of Ajax are laid bare with
great clearness but the whole proceeding remains a mystery; the
dilemmas, guilty or guiltless ? free will or the will of fate ? remain
unanswered. The function of poetry is to depict, to present an image
of events and throw its lights and shadows on them; it is neither
theology nor philosophy, which seek to explain the relations of
things exhaustively.

719. τό πρώτον: ‘‘in the first place”. Though τό πρώτον has a

temporal sense in Soph., there is no objection to τό πρώτον in cases
where πρώτον or πρώτα is mostly used (as e.g. Track. 232): cf. K.-G.
I, 315, the less so as the connotation is all but temporal.
The asyndetic statement in direct speech following upon άγγεϊλαι
does not mark the Messenger as a man of the common people, as
Radermacher asserts, but is suggestive of the haste with which
he wishes to bring his message.
720. Τεϋκρος: the coming of Teucer is prepared for by 342 sq., 562
sqq., 688; in their turn these words prepare for his appearance later on.
Μυσίων: a glance at the map shows that the southern side of
Ida lies on the boundary of Mysia. See further infra ad 881. The
Mysians are allies of the Trojans {II. II 858).
721. κρημνών: in Homer = “steep bank” {II. XII 54), here, an
overhanging steep. Cf. Soph. fr. 505 N.2 = 549 P. κρημνούς τε καί
σήραγγας ήδ’ έπακτίας / αύλώνας.
στρατηγιον: praetorium (cf. supra 49)· μέσον in the middle (of
the camp), i.e. far from the hut of Ajax {supra 4). The Argives
were in council before the commander’s tent (749), as II. VII 382;
Agamemnon’s headquarters are in the middle.
722. κυδάζεται: λοιδορεΐται, ύβρίζεται. According to the schol.
the word was taken (probably by Aeschylus: Aly, de Aeschyli
copia verborum 102 sq., cf. schol. ad Ap. Rh. I 1337, vide Boisacq)
from the Syracusan dialect. Epicharmus wrote: "Αμυκε, μή κύδαζέ
μοι τόν πρεσβύτερον αδελφόν {fr. 6 Κ,; cf. fr. 35-6). Aesch. fr. 94
οΰτοι γυναιξί <χρή> κυδάζεσθαι· τί γάρ; ό κύδος· λοιδορία, κακολογία
Hesych. The middle in Ap. Rh. I 1337 S> πέπον, ή μάλα δή με κακφ
έκυδάσσαο μύθω. Cf. Schol. ad Ar. Nub. 616: κυδοιδοπαν: γίνεται άπό
τοϋ κύδος άρσενικώς, δ σημαίνει την λοιδορίαν. From the same root
Homeric κυδοιμός, κυδοιμέω. It is therefore an appropriate word for
reviling a person in the tumult of a meeting.
154 COMMENTARY

723. πρόσωθεν: goes with μαθόντες (or with στείχοντα: when they
saw him coming in the distance), έν κύκλω goes with άμφέστησαν.
Cf. Supra 353 άμφίδρομον κυκλεΐται.
724, 725. όνείδεσιν / ήρασσον: cf. Phil. 374» Ar. Nub. 1373
άλλ’ εύθέως άράττω / πολλοΐς κακοϊς καί αίσχροϊσι, my note ad Eur.
Andr. 31, and infra 1244. The imperfect expresses the duration.
This verse, too, was in Vergil’s mind, at Aen. IV 447).
οΰτις έσθ’ δς οΰ: complete, instead of the shorter and more common
ούδείς δστις οΰ.
726. 727. τδν τού .... ξύναιμον: so they spoke of ό τοϋ ....
ξύναιμος. Similar character of the article at O.T. 1288, and also used
predicatively with άποκαλεΐν at Eur. I.A. 1354 ot με τδν γάμων
άπεκάλουν ήσσονα (cf. Ba. 725)· άποκαλεΐν is often "to call” i.m.p.:
Pl. Gorg. 512 c ώς έν δνείδει άποκαλέσαις άν μηχανοποιόν, cf. Xen.
Mem. 12.57- The connotation does not differ much from "to taunt”.
It is not necessary to write στρατω instead of στρατού.
727. ώς: <saying> that, implied in όνείδεσιν ήρασσον.
άρκέσοι: with the same meaning as supra 535; one may supply
έαοτω. The opt. of the fut. in Soph, also supra 3x3, Ant. 414,
Phil. 376, O.T. 1271. They said: ούκ άρκέσεις.
728. τδ μή ού: τδ μή, instead of ώστε μή or μή only, is very com­
mon ; the double negation after ούκ άρκεϊν normal. Cf. Groeneboom
ad Aesch. Prom. 918. άρκέω is entirely verbum impediendi: schol.
κωλύσοι.
πας: cf. supra 275.
καταξανθείς: The figurative use of καταξαίνειν (prop, to card
wool) already in Aesch. (Ag. 198; cf. Aesch. (?) Myrmid. Page
Gr. L. P. 20.1,2 μή δόκει ποτέ πέτροις καταξανθέντα Πηλέως γόνον).
The board with pins, across which the wool is drawn, is called
κνάφος and Hdt. tells about an oriental death-penalty by means
of επί κνάφου ίλκειν (I 92). Euripides often uses the verb in a figu­
rative sense (e.g. Med. 1030 κατεξάνθην πόνοις) and Groeneboom
ad Ag. 198 reminds us of the Ξάντριαι of Aeschylus. Soph., there­
fore, uses it here in the sense of lacerare, cf. Philostr. Imag. I 18
at δέ καί ξαίνουσι τδ θήραμα (Pentheus, quoted by Groeneb.).
Aristophanes may have had our passage in mind at Ach. 319 sq.
είπέ μοι, τί φειδόμεσθα των λίθων, ώ δημόται, / μή ού καταξαίνειν τδν
άνδρα τούτον είς φοινικίδα; cf. also van Leeuwen a.h.l. and the
schol. The fear of being stoned with Ajax is already expressed by
the Chorus in 253 sq.
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 723-737 155

730. κολεών .... ξίφη: "that the swords were pulled through the
sheaths and drawn’’. It is hard to make out whether κολεών is a
gen. separat, with έρυστά or with έρυστά διεπεραιώθη, or whether
it is dependent on Si- (same difficulty in Eur. Andr. 1044 διέβα Si
Φρυγών). έρυστά denotes the pull with which they begin to draw
the sword; είρύω is used in Track. 1032 for stringere. The use of
διαπεραιόω is exceptional. The sequence ώστε .... ώστε is unob­
jectionable.
731. τοϋ προσωτάτω: superi, of τοϋ πρόσω, which is usual in
prose (Xen. An. I 3.1); prop, a gen. part, of the locality within
which one moves (K.-G. I, 384 sq.). We say: feeling ran kigk,
the strife ran kigk.
TS2. άνδρών .... λόγου: έν with dat. is equal to the single
instrum. (K.-G. I, 465; it may be thus imagined that the cessation
of the strife rests on the conciliatory word). G. Hermann paraphra­
ses the words as follows: τών γερόντων συναλλασσόντων αυτούς
διά λόγων. (Eur. Suppi. 602 διά δορός είπας, ή λόγων ξυναλλαγαϊς;
(ξυναλλαγαΐ quite different at Ο.Τ. 34)·) It is possible, however,
to explain ξυναλλαγη as an intervention: τη συναντήσει τοϋ λόγου
τών γερόντων (schol.). The schol. ad 731 reminds us of Nestor’s
intervention in the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon.
733. ήμιν: as to the form cf. supra 216 (K.-B. I, 339). It is an
ethical dative ("where shall I find Ajax?” Jebb).
734. τοϊς κυρίοις: generic plur.; he means Ajax only. It is a question
whether τοϊς κυρίοις here = "He whom most it touches”, as rendered
by Jebb (cf. Aesch. Cho. 689 "die Zustandigen”, von Wilamowitz),
or simply "les maitres”, i.e. "le maitre” (thus Masqueray; more
likely, as I think).
πάντα λόγον: all the facts of the case, as Track. 484 έπεί γε μέν
δή πάντ’ έπίστασαι λόγον.
735. 736. The comparison of a man in his behaviour to a chariot
drawn by horses also underlies 11. 1272-75 of Ant. In our passage
the image is rather vague. Ajax has yoked “a new resolve”, "a new
behaviour” to his “new habitus”. There is a "Femverbindung”
with 124 όθούνεκ’ άτη συγκατέζευκται κακή, the more significant
because the Chorus labour under a delusion; Ajax is still συγκατε-
ζευγμένος άτη κακή, or, at least, the Chorus should say so. There is
moreover a dramatic irony in the possibly sinister meaning of νέος
(with Soph. e.g. Phil. 784).
737. ίού ιού: a cry of grief and despair, esp. with the discovery
156 COMMENTARY

of something terrible or fatal: Phil. 38, O.T. 1071,1182, Trach. 1143.

The Messenger realizes that the ruin of Ajax is near at hand now
that he has gone out.
738. βραδεϊαν: predicative, to be rendered by “too late” (cf.
tardus, Fr. tard); βραδύς in 739 = “too slow”.
τήνδε την οδόν: internal accus. by the side of the accus. of the
object. The fault lies either with Teucer or with himself, άρα,
cf. ad 980.
740. χρείας: necessity, i.e. "urgent matter”,
ύπεσπανισμενον: ύποσπανίζεσθαι occurs Aesch. Pers. 489 and Cho.
577 and means there, with genit., “to be in want of”. But χρείας
τησδε is here dependent on τί; so the whole sentence means: "what
is there of this urgent matter (of which you speak) that has been
insufficiently done”, i.e. "how far has this urgent matter been
too slow in being dispatched”.
741. άπηύδα: the verb is poetical and equivalent to άπαγορεύω.
741. 742. ένδοθεν .... παρήκειν: put rather pleonastically on
account of the great emphasis with which the Messenger speaks;
cf. for equal emphasis 753 sq. Ajax must at all costs stay indoors;
hence the rare combination “from within out of the house”; μή
(which we neglect) follows only before έξω παρήκειν.
742. ’ξω παρήκειν: παρήκειν means here “to pass along” (viz.
a watch which has to prevent this.); cf. παρέρχομαι which comes
to mean "to overreach”. So we have here the intransitive idea beside
the transitive παρίημι: cf. Eur. Suppl. 467 sq. έγώ δ’ άπαυδώ πας
τε Καδμείος λεώς / "Αδραστον ές γην τήνδε μή παριέναι. Instances
of παρήκειν used in this manner are wanting, it is true, but this is
no reason to believe that Sophocles, who e.g. Phil. 229 says εϊπερ
ώς φίλοι προσήκετε, could not have used παρήκειν in a similar way.
743. άλλ’ .... τοι: "τοι brings the point home to the person
addressed, while the other particle retains its normal force” (Den-
niston, G.P., 548)· Cf. e.g. Ant. 834 άλλα θεός τοι και θειογενής.
οϊχεται: ominous, cf. the irony of 735 sq. οΐχεσθαι of the dead,
e.g Phil. 414 and passim in the tragedians.
κέρδιστον: "wisest”, as Aesch. Prom. 385.
τραπείς: τρέπεσθαι for a change of conduct (cf. νέοισιν....
τρόποις, 736) also O.C. 1537.
744. θεοϊσιν .... χόλου: somewhat pregnant: ώς τοϋ των θεών
(genit, object.) χόλου λήξη καί τοϊς θεοϊς καταλλαχθή. Cf. Eur.
Med. 896.
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 738-7S4 157

745. The excitement of the Messenger finds expression in the

alliterations of the verse.
μωρίας .... πλέα: cf. infra 1150 άνδρ’ .... μωρίας πλέων.
746. εύ φρονών: not “kindly disposed’’, but “with clear sense”
(the usual meaning in Sophocles, cf. e.g. O.T. 570; for the φρονεϊν
of the seer cf. ib. 316,326). There is a contrast with μωρίας: cf. O.T.
435 sq. (Teiresias),
ημείς τοιοίδ’ έφυμεν, ώς μέν σοί δοκεϊ,
μωροί, γονεϋσι δ’, ο'ί σ’ έφυσαν, έμφρονες.
747. ποιον: cf. O.T. 4371 refers to τι. The following words are
unobjectionable and there is no interruption. The elaborated idea
is: ποιόν τι ό Κάλχας έμαντεύσατο καϊ τί είδώς περί τοϋδε τοϋ πράγματος;
Provided emphasis is laid in 747 on είδώς and in 748 on τοσοϋτον,
there is no necessity to assume <σύ> as subject to είδώς.
748. τοσοϋτον: prob, also going with the second member in the
sense of μέχρι τούτου, as would appear from the schol.
749. γάρ: in the second verse of a messenger-story also El. 681;
cf. O.T. 1241 ("be it known”).
συνέδρου καί τυραννικού κύκλου: the circle of chiefs in council
at which Calchas is present.
750. μεταστάς: Calchas leaves the circle and goes to Teucer, who
is some distance away. The idea is of course that the kings hold
council over Ajax. Calchas and Teucer were seated, as appears
from 780.
’Ατρειδών δίχα: "so that he drew apart from the Atreidae”.
οίος .... δίχα: cf. γυμνόν .... άτερ supra 464.
751. For the hand-grasp cf. Groeneboom ad O.T. 760.
752. παντοία τέχνη: goes with εΐρξαι. For the expression cf.
πάση τέχνη, μηδεμιή τέχνη (Hdt.), πάση τέχνη καί μηχανή, etc.
753. 754. We observe here the same emphatic tone as supra
741 sq.
753. κατ’.... τόδε: mark the solemn reverberation of the pro­
phetic words. On the tragical “day” cf. ad 131.
τό νΰν τόδε: cf. Ar. Pax 858 τα νϋν τάδε hoc temporis articulo
(v. L.), Eur. Heracl. 641 (h.l. of course used adjectively to ήμαρ).
754. άφέντ’ έαν: άφιέναι opposed to εϊργειν, άφέντ’ έαν is some­
thing like παριέναι (cf. 742) or άφιέναι (796).
ύπό σκηναϊσι: σκηνής ύπαυλον, 79θ·
In Sophocles, warnings of seers usually derive their dramatic
effect from the circumstance that they always come too late.
158 COMMENTARY

756. τηνδ’ έθ’ ημέραν μόνην: this reading of Pap. Oxy. 1615
adopted by Pearson offers, above the reading distilled from the
mediaeval MSS τήδε θήμέρη μόνη, the following advantage: it
tells us that only this day will Athena (continue to) vex Ajax.
With the dative (and without έτι) the future can have no other
meaning than "Athena will vex on this day only”. (In this case she
has not yet vexed him, whereas Ajax himself says άλλά μ' ά Διός
άλκίμα θεός όλέθριον αίκίζει). Moreover, the death of Ajax will then
be conceived in a much more direct way as a retaliation of the
goddess. It must be observed, however, that 778 has τηδε θήμέρα.
There is no reasonable objection to the crasis θήμέρα: cf. O.T. 1283
and Ar. Av. 1071.
757. ώς έφη λέγων: "as he went on to say”. Cf. Ar. Av. 472.
758. τά γάρ περισσά κάνόνητα σώματα: σώμα denotes the person,
as O.C. 355, prob. Aesch. Prom. 463, not different from άνήρ.
(This appears also from the following δστις.)
περισσός is "exceeding the limit”, which Hdt. VII 10 ε calls
ΰπερέχοντα. (Cf. Ant. 68, Track. 6x7, Eur. Ba. 428, Hipp. 445.)
κάνόνητα (this reading is almost unanimous; only Suidas has
άνόητα, the only support for which would be άνους, 763; cf. also
1272 and L. Massa Positano, L'Unita etc. p. 84 n. 2): "and <hence>
worthless”. For the connection between these concepts cf. Is.
XII 77 τά περιττά των έργων και τερατώδη και μηδέν ώφελοϋντα
τούς άλλους. Jebb rightly remarks that it is of no consequence that
from an objective point of view Ajax is not άνόνητος; in the eyes
of the wrathful goddess, whose mood Calchas interprets, he is
περισσός and therefore άνόνητος. Moreover, in the blindness of
his passion the hero, whatever his greatness, has become άνόνητος
for his men, for himself, and for every one else.
759. πίπτειν βαρείαις δυσπραξίαις: really a vague expression which
does not necessarily imply the death of Ajax.
760. δστις: freely referring to τά ... σώματα, “whosoever”.
Cf. El. 1506, Ant. yoy-yag, Eur. El. 934, Med. 220. Already in Homer
II. XIX 260 etc. (K.-G. I, 56 β).
760, 761. ανθρώπου φύσιν / βλαστών: the same as βλάστην βλαστών
or φύσιν φύς (K.-G. I, 305b). (Cf. also Track. 1062, granting that the
reading of the MSS is correct: γυνή δέ, θήλυς ούσα κούκ άνδρός φύσιν. χ))
μη κατ’ άνθρωπον φρονη: but ύπέρ άνθρωπον, ύπερφρονη. This is

*) Schwyzer-Debrunner, 75 γ. δ,
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 756-768 159

said of him who commits an act of ΰβρις, the one who does not
realize the limits set to man. H. D. F. Kitto, Greek Tragedy, 145
admirably remarks: "it is τύ φρονεΐν, prudence, that haunts So­
phocles’ verses, not τύ δίκαιον, justice”, πολλω τύ φρονεΐν / εύδαιμο-
νίας πρώτον υπάρχει, Ant. 1347-
φρονη: the subjunctivus generalis without άν is of course ex­
cellent, although φρονεί would also be quite possible.
762. As far as 780 the words of Calchas are quoted in direct
speech.
δ’: explanatory, enim.
This passage completes the picture of Ajax' personality, his
attitude and his relation to the gods. His outrageousness is not a
consequence of the contumely offered to him: his response to that
contumely was a consequence of his outrageousness.
763 sqq. The idea of the father giving good advice to his son
before the latter’s going to war is taken from epic poetry, cf. II.
IX 252 sqq., XI 782 sqq.
764. αύτύν έννέπει: many verbs of address are construed with
the acc. where the dative would be expected (examples in K.-G.
I, 295 a. 3).
765. κρατεΐν: in the usual sense of "triumph”,
σύν θεώ: i.e. with (the help of) the gods.
766. ύψικόμπως: one of the more than 60 άπαξ εΐρημένα in this
play (as enumerated by Earp).
κάφρόνως: Ajax is άφρων, άνους because he does not φρονεΐν κατ’
άνθρωπον.
767. θεοΐς .... όμοϋ: σύν (τοϊς) θεοΐς.
ο μηδέν ών: "the man of nought”, "a mere nonentity” (J.),
ό μηδείς and ό μηδέν (or τύ μηδέν) are thus used; μηδ-, not ούδ-,
because it concerns a conception which can be rendered by an
hypothetical clause: cf. infra 1094,1114, O.C. 918, El. 1166. Unlike
El. 1166 and infra 1231, μηδέν is used predicatively here.
768. κράτος κατακτήσαιτ’: with emphasis instead of κρατησειεν.
This shows clearly the concrete sense in which κράτος is to be taken.
767, 768. θεοΐς μέν . . . . εγώ δέ: Ajax’ ΰβρις strongly worded.
Jebb rightly observes that this trait is absent in Ajax’ words at
II. XVII 634; one may compare Od. IV 504 (Ajax the Locrian)
φή ρ’ άέκητι θεών φυγέμεν μέγα λαΐτμα θαλάσσης. Cf. Pohlenz,
Erlauterungen2 ρ. 76: "Sophokles ubertragt auf den Telamonier
die Hybris, die bei Homer δ 504 der Sohn des Oileus zeigt”.
160 COMMENTARY

768, 769. δίχα/κείνων: the placing is highly expressive,

έπισπάσειν κλέος: Hdt. Ill 72 says Ενα τι τη άληθείη έπισπάσωνται
κέρδος. Aesch. Pers. 476 sq. ών άντίποινα παϊς έμός πράξειν δοκών /
τοσόνδε πλήθος πημάτων έπέσπασεν (cf. Hom. Od. XVIII 73> XXIV
462 έπίσπαστον κακόν). Groeneboom thinks the metaphor is taken
from the act of hauling in the nets, as Hesych. says (2 p. 168):
έπισπάσει · έπιτεύξεται. Σοφοκλής Άτρεϊ ή Μυκήναις (Soph. /ζ.
137 Ν·2 = 141 Ρ.) έπΐ των τοϊς λίνοις λαμβανόντων. (Instances of
active forms where the middle would be expected are given by
K.-G. I, no, 2. The present case may be compared with Ant. 464
κέρδος φέρει and supra 436 εύκλειαν φέρων.)
770. τοσόνδ’ έκόμπει μϋθον: the summing up of what precedes
with έκόμπει, referring to ύψικόμπως, is in accordance with the
archaic style of the whole passage.
771. δίας Άθάνας: the case to be expected with άντιφωνέω and
other verbs of contradiction, such as άνταγορεύω, is the dative or
the acc. (on the analogy of άπαμείβομαι, προσαυδάω etc.), as Phil.
1065 μή μ’ άντιφώνει μηδέν. It might be argued that the genit, depends
on άντι-, but it should be remembered that άντί ‘'against” does not
occur, strictly speaking (instead of it Hom. has άντα, άντία, cf.
Διός άντα έγχος άεϊραι, II. VIII 424)> while άντί "over against” is
almost exclusively restricted to Dorian: thus Cretan άντί μαιτύρον
(Buck, Gr. D.2 § 136, 8). Xen. An. IV 7.6, however: άνθ’ ών, lit.
"in the face of which”, and I.G. II, 2.2.1534.99 άντι τοϋ Μινω-
ταύρου "opposite the Minotaur” (K.-G. I, 453). Whether O.C.
1326 άντι παίδων τώνδε (instead of the ordinary πρός) can be ex­
plained from the original meaning of άντί is not quite certain.
A remarkable case is O.C. 1651 χειρ’ άντέχοντα κρατός “holding
his hand before his face”, which seems to prove that Soph, could
use a compound with άντι- in a local sense with a genit, depending
on it. The next step would yield the meaning "against” in a hostile
sense.
It is possible that δίας Άθάνας was thought parallel to καλώς
λέγοντος πατρός, and that the clause with ήνίκ’ took the place of
the participle, after which the poet ventured upon the bold turn
δίας Άθάνας ___ άντιφωνεϊ (the words might be rendered as follows:
"As to Athena .... he hurled at her face”). The interpretation
δεύτερον .... έπος with δίας Άθάνας depending on δεύτερον
(Tournier) is impossible.
είτα δεύτερον: "Then once again” (J.).
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 768-779 161

772. ηύδάτ’: the middle not differing from the active form, as
Phil. 130, 852, and in the sense of iubere, as O.C. 864, 1630. (A
passive interpretation is not quite impossible.)
έπ’ έχθροΐς: cf. supra 18.
773. άρρητον: nefandum dictu, cf. supra 214.
774. 775. τοϊς .... πέλας / ίστω: πέλας is mostly construed
with the genit, though the dative also occurs (cf. πελάζω); the dative
is the more understandable, as πέλας ίστω = βοήθει.
775. καθ’ ήμας: in that part of the line where we stand,
έκρήξει μάχη: of course not "will break forth” (for then Ajax
would not desire the battle), but as a late gloss says, ήγουν σχίσμα
ποιήσει or ρήξουσιν ήμας (Lobeck). Cf. ρήξε φάλαγγα II. VI 6 (this
does not seem to support the explanation of ρηξήνωρ given by
M. Boas, Weekblad voor Gymnasiaal en Middelbaar Onderwijs,
14 Sept. 1939, p. 33.) (άναρρήγνυμι intr., O.T. 1075).
776. λόγοισι: it will be seen that there is hardly any difference
here between μϋθος (770), έπος (773), and λόγος.
τοιοΐσδέ τοι λόγοισι: to τοϊς (MSS) it may be objected that
Sophocles nowhere else uses the predicative order in this way, with
τοιοΰτος, τοσοϋτος, τοιόσδε, τοσόσδε. If, therefore, τοϊς is maintained,
the predicative character of τοιοΐσδέ is emphasized in a way unu­
sual with Soph, but unimpeachable in itself.
άστεργη: schol. άμάλακτον, άδιάθετον. Cf. O.T. 229. This rare
word is used by Lycophron Al. 1166 (Lobeck).
777. έκτήσατ’ οργήν: cf. El. 1003, 4 μη μείζω κακά / κτησώμεθ’ ....
οό κατ’ άνθρωπον φρονών: cf. 761 and for the archaic style see ad 770.
For the phrase ού κατ’ άνθρωπον cf. Aesch. Isthm. i (17.1 Mette 1959)·
The picture of Ajax as given by Calchas reminds us of some
characters of the Seven as described by Aeschylus—an almost
godless committer of ΰβρις. As of Capaneus, one might say of Ajax
ό κόμπος δ’ ού κατ’ άνθρωπον φρονεί {Sept. 425)· Cf. also, for οό κατ’
άνθρωπον, Ant. 768 μεΐζον ή κατ’ άνδρα.
778. έστι: the present has much greater force than a future
would have; similarly έστιν (ζή), 783.
τηδε θήμέρα: cf. for the erasis ad 756.
779. γενοίμεθ’ αύτοΰ .... σωτήριοι: the object, genit, to σωτήριος
as to λυτήριος El. 635, 1490 (if it is not a subst. there). Cf. also
K.-G. I, 371, a. 19.
σύν θεω: a conscious reference to 763 and in contrast to δίχα
κείνων 768 sq. But there is a pathetic irony in the use of σύν θεφ
Kamerbeek XX
162 COMMENTARY

σωτήριοι, if one thinks of Ajax’ last word in the preceding scene:

σεσωμένον (692). Cf. also infra 812.
780. τοιαϋθ’: This is the reading of L,G and R, neglected by all
editors. It is to be preferred to τοσαϋθ’, for Calchas’ speech is rather
long.
δ δ’: specified by Τεϋκρος.
εύθύς έξ έδρας: prob, "immediately after rising” (έδρα = "seat”
and "the sitting”; ευθύς έξ can hardly be separated). The words
in themselves could mean “immediately after the sitting” (cf.
έδραν ποιεϊν “to convene a sitting” And. I in) but why should
Teucer wait so long when he himself has no part in it (749 sq.) ?
Moreover, if "immediately after the sitting” should be correct, it
would be difficult to explain why he does not come himself; ap­
parently he is awaiting the results of the discussion.
781. έπιστολάς: on έπιστολή "commission "cf. Groeneboom ad
Aesch. Prom. 3.
782. φυλάσσειν: epexegetic inf. to which έπιστολάς should be
supplied as object: "to observe them” (same use of φυλάσσειν at
Track. 616). An "absolute” rendering is also possible: “de faire
bonne garde” (Masqueray).
εί δ’ άπεστερήμεθα: "if we are deprived”, i.e. of the possibility
of keeping Ajax in his tent; "if our mission is already in vain”,
άποστερέω has the sense of frustrare or of decipere, fallere in spe
decipi, falli. Cf. the nuance of άφαιρεϊσθαι, Phil. 1303 and Eur.
Andr. 913.
783. ούκ έστιν: i.e. he is a lost man, vixit (for which Greek has
no equivalent).
σοφές: i.e. clever as a seer. The verse is called to the membeis
of the Chorus in a loud and ominous way. Note the staccato effect
of the many dissyllabic words and the alliteration of the x's.
784. Saia: “unhappy”, "wretched”. Supra 365 the word has
the ordinary epic meaning; at Aesch. Cho. 429 sq. it is rather
"hateful”. Cf. also Eur. Her. 1024. Homer does not know the mean­
ing "unhappy”. We may compare σχέτλιος and its various
meanings. Schol.: δάιον κοινώς τύ πολέμιον, Άττικώς τό δύστηνον.
γένος: "creature”. Probably after the example of II. VI 180,
IX 538.
785. Spa: non de adspectu dictum, sed de considerando eius
nuntio (E.) τόνδ’ is proleptic.
θροεϊ: cf. supra 67.
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 780-792 163

786. ξυρεϊ γάρ έν χρφ τούτο: τούτο is subject, ξυρεϊ έν χρώ, lit.
“grazes the surface of the skin” (so "threatens to wound”; “le
rasoir est entre cuir et chair” (Masqueray); Hdt. IV 175 κείροντες
iv χροί, Xen. Hell. I 7.8): έστι παροιμία έπΐ των έπικινδύνων πραγμά­
των (schol.). From the same province έπΐ ξυρού ίσταται ακμής, II.
X 173, and the variation to it. Ant. 996, έπΐ ξυρού τύχης. The form
χρφ (for χρωτί Ant. 246, χροί Track. 605) after the so-called attic
2nd deci, is found also in Xen. l.l. and Thue. II 84.1 (cf. K.-B. I,
511). Perhaps here used by Soph, because he is quoting a proverb.
μή χαίρειν τινά: ώστε μή χαίρειν τινά, cf. infra 822.
787. Enter Tecmessa with Eurysaces on her arm (809).
It would have been quite possible, of course, to let Tecmessa ap­
pear immediately upon the arrival of the Messenger. But by this
arrangement Sophocles enlivens the dramatic effect of the scene
and attains a climax through Tecmessa (who stands nearer to Ajax
and to us than the Chorus) where it seems very hard to attain.
There must have been a similar situation in Eur.’s Dictys (fr.
342 N.2), from which the schol. a.h.l. quotes the words: τί μ’ άρτι
πημάτων λελησμένην / όρθοϊς;
πεπαυμένην: as we say: "having come to rest from”.
788. άτρύτων: άτρϋτος inexhaustus; cf. Pind. Pyth. IV 178
έπ’ άτρυτον πόνον.
έξ έδρας: έδρα here "the sitting down”, cf. note ad 780 and infra
811.
789. ώς: causal (not dependent question).
790. πραξιν: in concordance with εδ and κακώς πράττειν this
word is often used of the situation (plight) or predicament in which
a person finds himself, so that it can i.m.p. mean "misfortune”:
cf. Aesch. Prom. 695 πέφρικ’ είσιδοΰσα πραξιν ’Ιούς, Track. 151 sq. τότ’
άν τις εΐσίδοιτο, την αυτού σκοπών / πραξιν, κακοϊσιν οΐς έγώ βαρύνομαι.
The Messenger has explained how matters really are with Afax.
ήν ήλγησ’ έγώ: for the aor. cf. 536 etc.
791. 792. όλώλαμεν: Tecmessa can speak thus because her
weal and woe are bound up with Ajax. The Messenger does not
understand this and answers somewhat bluntly “of your fortune
I know not, but as to Ajax ....” The words are therefore not
similar (as van Leeuwen ad Ar. Av. 893 thinks) to El. ιιιοούκοΐδα
την σην κληδόν’, where τήν σην means "of which you speak”.
Cf. Eur. Rhes. 866. On the other hand, Tecmessa’s 1st p.pl. invites
comparison with Deianeira’s σεσώμεθα, Track. 83 (J.).
164 COMMENTARY

792. 8τι: makes οΰ θαρσώ dependent on οίδα, while Αϊαντος

depends on πέρι.
794. και μην Ουραίος: ‘‘Plato and Sophocles use καί μην, usually
with an echoed word, in substantiating a required condition”
(Denniston, G.P., 353 (3)). Cf. El. 556, 1045; O.T. 749.
ώδΐνειν: though Homer uses the verb once of the Cyclops (Od.
IX 415), it is nearly always found with a woman as subject, even
when it does not mean "to have the pains of childbirth”. With
Soph, further of Iole, Trach. 325. ώδίς of painful suspense (of
Electra) Aesch. Cho. 211, of anxious distress (of Deianeira) Trach.
42. It is therefore not surprising that it is followed by a dependent
question, explained in a sober but excellent way by a late schol.:
ζητεϊν μετά πόνου (with dependent question also Eur. Heracl. 644).
τί φής: τί έστιν δ λέγεις, i.e. quid dixeris, not quid dicas.
195, 796. A variation of the wording of 741, 2 and 753, 4.
έξεφίεται: a strong έφίεται.
796. σκηνής υπαυλον: ΰπό σκηναϊσι. έναυλος is opposed to
θυραϊος Phil. 158. The tum of expression is abundant, as Groene-
boom ad El. 1386 (δωμάτων ύπόστεγοι) remarks; he further quotes
δόμων έφέστιον, Aesch. Eum. 669. Cf. ένοικος πόλει Κεκροπία,
Limenius, Paean 20.
άφιέναι μόνον: clearer and more significant than άφέντ’ έαν, 754.
797. έπΐ τφ: "wherefore” (on what evidence). As with the verba
affectuum (schol. διά τί); probably not "with a view to what” (the
Messenger’s second answer suits the former interpretation better).
798. 799. τήνδε.... φέρειν: the schol. says φέρειν · άντι είναι,
which at once states the difficulty. It is true that an intransitive
φέρειν is not impossible: cf. Hdt. VIII 87 φέρουσα of a quickly
moving ship and O.C. 1694 τό φέρον έκ θεοϋ and further φέρειν εις
pertinere ad; on this last the conjectures of Jebb and others are
based (Αϊαντος εις όλεθρον). Cf. Eur. Suppi. 295. It seems better,
however, to take όλεθρίαν as an elliptical object to φέρειν, so that
either φοράν, or μοίραν may be supplied, φορά is used by Soph.
Trach. 1212 for “burial”, but the proper sense is “carrying”.
"That this going forth of Ajax will carry min with it". It remains
only to consider whether Αϊαντος depends on έξοδον or on όλεθρίαν
(cf. Aesch. Ag. 1x57). Such an elliptical expression does not sound
stranger than άνταίαν έπαισεν 1307 (cf. K.-G. I, 267). Lobeck’s
explanation of the text: “Metuit Teucer ne hic exitus Ajacis, quem
nunciat, perniciosus ei futurus sit”, is rendered impossible by the
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 792-804 165

fact that neither Teucer nor the Messenger announces the going
forth of Ajax; the Messenger has only just heard of it. It is going
too far to assume a mixing of όλεθρίαν είναι and εις όλεθρον φέρειν.
See further ad 801-2.
800. τοϋ .... μαθών: this construction of μανθάνειν is very
frequent with the poets.
801. τοϋ Θεστορείου μάντεως: II. I 69 Κάλχας Θεστορίδης.
801, 802. καθ’ ημέραν / την νϋν: the adjunct of time in connec­
tion with ελπίζει φέρειν (for the expression cf. supra 753).
δτ’ . . .. φέρει: now that <ήδε ή έξοδος> carries with it for him
death or life (according as he is allowed to have his way or is
frustrated). Arguments might be advanced against this interpre­
tation to the effect that the έξοδος can only bring him death. But
what is meant here is that this έξοδος is to Ajax a matter of life
or death, φέρειν is used much in the same way as El. 1042. It remains
to investigate, in connection with these verses, whether in 799
the words of the Messenger may not be interrupted, so that όλεθρίαν
is attribute to έξοδον and the object to φέρειν should have been
θάνατον (for interruptions by another person cf. O.T. 325, O.C. 35 —
Schmid-Stahlin I 2 p. 489), thus: “that this going forth of Ajax,
baleful, carries with it....” Those present would already under­
stand what he means to say. After Tecmessa’s question the
Messenger first gives answer to that question and says what he
wished to say by means of another construction, or rather in three
parts of a sentence which, being loosely constructed grammatically,
depict the tension and excitement of the Messenger and of this
moment in Ajax’ tragedy: θάνατος ή βίος. At all events the fact
that έξοδος is most probably the subject to φέρει in 802 lends
support to any interpretation which makes έξοδον the subject
to φέρειν in 799.
803. πρόστητ’: "place yourselves in the way of ....” The
preposition πρό is sometimes used in the sense of "screening from”,
cf. Xen. An. VII 8.18 όπως τα όπλα έχοιεν πρό των τοξευμάτων.
One may compare Eur. Andr. 221, where the nuance is somewhat
different. Quite different El. 980.
άναγκαίας τύχης: cf. ad 485. This implies the fate of Ajax as
well as her own; indeed, her fate is involved in her husband’s.
804-806. σπεύσαθ’: construed with the acc. c. inf., as e.g.
Hdt. I 74 έσπευσαν άμφότεροι ειρήνην έωυτοϊσι γενέσθαι, Pl. Crito
45c τοιαϋτα σπεύδεις περί σαυτόν γενέσθαι.
166 COMMENTARY

σπεύσαθ’ ot μέν: the sentence does not run quite smoothly: in­
stead of the new imperative ζητεΐτ’ one would expect a second
infinit. dependent on σπεύσαθ’.
805. εσπέρους .... αντήλιους: the acc. to be taken with ίόντες.
For εσπέρους cf. Aesch. Prom. 348 πρός εσπέρους τόπους, άκτάν προς
εσπέρου θεοΰ, of Pluto, Ο.Τ. 178. Infra 874·
άγκών: “bend”, esp. of elbow; “angle”; here "bend of the coast”
[not “ravine”), cf. of the Nile, Hdt. II 99 τόν πρός μεσαμβρίης αγκώνα.
άντηλίους: “turned towards the sun”. The form is Ionic, cf.
άπηλιώτης; also Aesch. Ag. 519 δαίμονές τ’ άντηλιοι and Groeneboom
ib. p. 208 n. 6.
The two divisions of the Chorus will leave the orchestra from two
sides through the parodoi. The οί μέν (804) are undoubtedly the
Messenger and some servants of Ajax.
807. φωτός ήπατημένη: the schol. paraphrases: οΐον St’ ών εύνοϊ-
κώς έπραξα εις αύτόν ήπάτησέ με. This supposes a construction
φωτός ήπ. = ύπό φ. ήπ., which is adopted by Jebb and Rader-
macher. But Denniston ad Eur. El. 123 and Murray rightly pro­
nounce Or. 497 to be corrupt and at El. 123 read with Hermann
σφαγαΐς.*) Further, Groeneboom ad Aesch. Sef>t. 792 rightly pro­
nounces μητέρων τεθραμμέναι = ύπό μ. τεθ. to be doubtful Greek
and interprets this passage and Phil. 3 differently (which, indeed,
Jebb also does). Lobeck pointed to the two possibilities of inter­
pretation: της γνώμης αύτοΰ άμαρτοΰσα ΟΓ αύτοΰ εκείνου άπο-
σφαλεΐσα. There is no objection to the rendering "deceived in the man”
(i.e. deceived in the expectations built on him).
808. της παλαιας χάριτος έκβεβλημένη: the χάρις of which she
spoke in 522 (της τοϋ γάμου καί της συνουσίας, schol.). For έκβάλλειν
cf. Xen. An. VII 5.6 έδεισε μη έκ της Σεύθου φιλίας έκβληθείη.
The homoeoteleuton is rendered by the Frenchman Masqueray,
who seems to have the effect of the rhyming Alexandrines in his
blood, in an excellent way by defue .... exclue.
809. τί δράσω: φησίν οδν έν άπόρφ γενομένη, τί δράσω; οΐον πώς
μόνον σε καταλίπω; (schol.).
ούχ ίδρυτέον: I must not stay here. For the meaning cf. II. Ill 78.
810. Tecmessa will find Ajax’ body nearer the hut than where
the Chorus are seeking. There is a conscious reminiscence of 690,
έγώ γάρ εΐμ’ έκεΐσ’ οποί πορευτέον.
ι) But cf. Schwyzer-Debrunner p. 119 8, disputed by Koster, Mnem.
IV, S. V, 1952, 89—94.
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 805-814 167

811. χωρώμεν, έγκονώμεν: for the asyndeton cf. supra 60, 115,
infra 844, 988, 1414; Track. 1255, El. 115, Eur. Hec. 507.
έγκονώμεν: in Homer only as partic., with later writers in the
imper. or exhortative subjunctive; infra 988.
έδρας; cf. 788. έδρας άκμή, cf. Phil. 12 άκμή μακρών λόγων, El.
22 έργων άκμή. Eur. Or. 1292 ούχ έδρας έργον, Phoen. 588 ού λόγων
έθ’ άγών, II. XI 648 ούχ έδος έστί.
812. The reading followed here is from Jebb and goes back to
Hermann. Only θέλοντας forms a good explanation for σπεύδη,
while the latter accounts for the incorrect άν, which crept into
the text because somebody did not lealize that the subjunctivus
generalis in Attic poetiy can very well dispense with άν.
The reading makes the sentence general and dependent on ούχ
έδρας άκμή (= ούχ ίδρυτέον), which prevents the verse from hanging
loosely and giving a βάθος, which would certainly be the case
if one reads with Pearson σώζειν θέλοντες άνδρα γ’ δς σπεύδει θανεΐν
thus tagging θέλοντες on to χωρώμεν, έγκονώμεν. It is of course
absurd to assert that now Tecmessa does not foresee that Ajax
is going to commit suicide, as Radermacher does, who rejects the
verse (with Dindorf, followed by Masqueray). γ’ is used epexege-
tically to qualify the whole participle construction, so that it
comes under Denniston’s division p. 139 II. My interpretation is
therefore: “It is not the moment to sit idle when it comes to saving
a man who is running into death”.
813. χωρεΐν έτοιμος: for the ellipsis of the copula with this and
similar adjectives see K.-G. I, 40c. Cf. O.T. 92, Eur. Med. 612.
Much less common is e.g. Aesch. Cho. 412.
814. With this verse the members of the Chorus leave the
orchestra at a quick pace along the πάροδοι.
The withdrawal of the Chorus from the orchestra during a tragedy
(μετάστασις, Pollux IV X08) is rare in the extant dramas: Aesch.
Eum. 231 (the change of scene from Delphi to Athens makes this
necessary), Eur. Ale. 747 (the Chorus accompany the funeral of
Alcestis) and Hel. 385 (the Chorus go into the palace with Helen).
(In Ar., Eccl. 310.)
It is clear that Sophocles wishes the suicide of Ajax to take place
in solitude. The only possible way to effect this, if he did not wish
to have it announced by a Messenger (φθάνει Αισχύλος έν Θρήσσαις
την άναίρεσιν Αίαντος δι’ άγγέλου άπαγγείλας, schol. ad 815), was
for the Chorus to withdraw from the orchestra. The contrivance is
168 COMMENTARY

very ingenious seeing that the Chorus now leave to seek Ajax and
the next scene shows him in a lonely spot. So there is a change of
scene: a deserted place on the sea-shore; in the centre there must
have been bushes (probably painted on panels; cf. Auct. ad Her­
ennium I ii Aiax in silva postquam rescivit quae per insaniam
fecisset, gladio occubuit), where out of sight of the spectators he
falls on his sword (this appears from 892, cf. A. W. Pickard-Cam­
bridge, The Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, Oxford, 1946, p. 49:
it is otherwise not clear to me how exactly the latter understands
πάραυλος 892). For the change of scenery nothing more will have
been needed than the removal of the panels which represented the
hut of Ajax and the fixing up of the panel for the νάπος.
As regards the sword, it is possible that the point of it was visible
to the spectators, although this need not for Sophocles’ time be
inferred from Achilles Tatius III 20, 77 and from Hesychius s.v.
συσπαστόν, which show that there was a time when mock-swords
were used on the stage of which the blade ran back into the hilt
when one fell on it (Hesych. Συσπαστόν των Τραγικών τι έγχειρίδιον
έκαλεϊτο, ώς Πολέμων φησί, τδ συντρέχον έν Αϊαντος ύποκρίσει).
Although the suicide is somewhat screened by the bushes, the
words of the schol. έστι δέ τα τοιαϋτα παρά τοϊς παλαιοϊς σπάνια ·
είώθασι γάρ τά πεπραγμένα δι* άγγέλων άπαγγέλλειν, retain their
value. It may be observed that the suicide is the central motif
of this drama, different from the suicide of Haemon or Deianeira.
It was the only way to do full justice to the grand sombreness of
the deed.
815. σφαγεύς: the nomen agentis has its full force here; the sword
is personified (cf. 822 εύνούστατον, and infra 1025 sq.), like the bow
of Philoctetes Phil. 1128 sqq. In Eur. Andr. 1134 this nomen agentis
is used in the same way as our duster, plunger, etc. (cf. τομεύς,
a shoemaker’s implement, Pl. Ale. I 129 c). Personification of
weapons is found everywhere in literature; perhaps the most
grandiose instance in Aesch. Sef>t. 727, the ξένος .... Χάλυβος.
ή: i.e. ούτως ώστε.
τομώτατος: τομδν τδ τμητικδν (Suid.); Pl. Tim. 6l e.
816. εϊ τφ καϊ λογίζεσθαι σχολή: a striking proof of Sophocles'
sense of psychic reality. Though a clause like this may be reckoned
among the conventions of the dramatic monologue (the weakness
and the strength of the genre), a similar criticism of one’s own
thoughts will be found in the "monologue int6rieur” of the psycho-
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 815-822 169

logically most direct authors. "If a man—he means himself—has

leisure even to consider the matter".
817. δώρον μεν κτλ.: The motif of 661 is taken up again. Ti>
ρά ot δάνος ώπασεν Έκτωρ says Euphorion fr. 42, Powell (ex Et.
M. p. 247). The motif of the sword coming from the enemy en­
hances the pathos; this appears even in a stronger measure with
Vergil, where Dido stabs herself with the gift of Aeneas: non hos
quaesitum munus in usus (Aen. IV 647; cf. Ον. Her. VII187: Quam
bene conveniunt fato tua munera nostro).
ξένων: in so far as they had exchanged ξένια Ajax may, in a grim
way, call Hector his "guest-friend". The word as it is used here is
a remarkable illustration of the semantic potentiality contained
in ξένος (cf. Lat. hospes and the use of it by Dido, Aen. IV 323).
817. άνδρός 'Έκτορος: cf. II. XI 92 έλε δ’ άνδρα Βιήνορα, Od.
XXI 26 φώθ’ Ήρακλήα; Aesch. Sept. 620 φώτα Λασθένους βίαν (it
would seem that Λ. β. should not be placed between commas),
El. 45 παρ’ άνδρός Φανοτέως, and perhaps O.C. 109 sq. οίκτείρατ’
άνδρός Οίδίπου / τόδ’ άθλιον εϊδωλον. The meaning does not differ
much from that of a definite article. It seems to be used to counter­
balance γη of 819.
819. έν γη πολέμια: it seems better not to seek personal enmity
in these words or to assume connection with 459.
820. σιδηροβρώτι: only here. έκβρώματα="saw-dust”, Track. 700.
νεηκονής: what Homer calls νεήκης; Soph, derives it from άκόνη,
a synonym of θηγάνη.
821. περιστείλας: i.e. carefully, but it should be remembered
(in connection with 577 and 658) that περιστέλλειν is used specially
of "committing to the earth” (infra 1170, Ant. 903).
822. διά τάχους: cf. 833.
θανεϊν: ώστε θανεϊν. The idea expressed here may be paraphrased
as follows: "most kindly to me to die <through it> a speedy death".
Cf. supra 786. (The dative here depends on εύνούστατον so that the
relation is different from Aesch. Sept. 731; quite different also O.C.
790, where ένθανεϊν stands in apposition to τοσοϋτον.) We hear
that the sword is to be τομώτατος in three respects: it is the gift
of Hector, his greatest enemy, it is planted in hostile soil only
just whetted, and he has planted it with care, his greatest friend
to give him a speedy death. The desire to convey the sarcastic
grimness of Ajax in pregnant language leads to the syntactically
not quite-rational last verse: εύνούστατον and θανεϊν are at the
170 COMMENTARY

beginning and at the end. The sword will bring him the. benefit
of death, will save him (σεσωμένον 692).
823. οΰτω μέν εύσκευοΰμεν: the word occurs only here. The
ethos of this passage is perhaps conveyed better by Masqueray
(“Ainsi nous νοίΐέ paris”) than by Jebb ("Thus on my part all
is ready”), καλώς παρεσκευάσμεθα καί έχομεν πάντα ών δει προς
θάνατον (schol.).
έκ .... τώνδέ: έκ των παρόντων, cf. ad 537· The explanation
of the schol., μετά δέ ταϋτα, and of Jebb, "in the next place”,
is too weak.
824. καί γάρ είκός: Zeus is the forefather of his family, cf. 387.
άρκεσον: h.l. "to aid”.
825. αίτήσομαι: for the future cf. supra ad 681. For the prayer
cf. Theognis 14.
μακρόν: used as in Track. 1217 πρόσνειμαι δέ μοι / χάριν βραχεΐαν
πρύς μακροϊς άλλοις διδούς.
αίτεΐσθαι is construed with two acc. (as e.g. Eur. Ale. 300 αίτήσομαι
γάρ σ’ άξίαν); the inf. is epexegetic.
827. Τεύκρω: that Teucer was to take charge of him was al­
ready said in 688.
βαστάση: "lift up” <and bury>; cf. 920, Eur. Suppl. 767 (βάσταγ-
μα), Ale. 724.
828. πεπτώτα: the same form also Ant. 697, 1018.
περί νεορράντφ ξίφει: echo of VS. 30 σύν νεορράντω ξίφει.
For πεπτώς περί cf. φασγάνω περιπτυχής, 899, and cf. 9θ7> άπο-
θνήσκων περί φασγάνω Od. XI 4241 φασγάνω άμφικυλίσαις Pind.
Nem. VIII 23. We say "run through”.
829. 830. These words are a preparation for the action of the
tragedy after Ajax' death.
829. κατοπτευθείς: in Soph, also at Phil. 124, μή κατοπτευθώ παρών.
830. Of course Soph, had II. I 4, 5 in his mind. Cf. also Aesch.
Suppl. 800 sq. κυσίν δ’ ίπειθ’ έλωρα κάπιχωρίοις / ΰρνισι δεϊπνον ούκ
άναίνομαι πέλειν. Further Ant. 205 sq., El. 1487 sq. Verg. Aen.
IX 485 heu terra ignota canibus data praeda Latinis / alitibusque
iaces.
831. τοσαϋτά: not more than this, ού μακρόν γέρας,
προστρέπω: with two acc. as verb of supplication (this will be
readily understood if one compares the etymology of Lat. rogare).
The schol. rightly observes that προστρόπαιοι are the same as
ίκέται; cf. προστρόπαιος εστίας μολών Aesch. Ag. 1587, θεούς δέ
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 823-833 171

προστροπαϊς ίκνουμένη Aesch. Pers. 216. For προστροπή cf. Aesch.

Cho. 21, 85, Eum. 718, O.C. 558. The intransitive use of τρέπειν is
by no means exceptional (cf. K.-G. I, 91). Pind. Nem. IV 55 has
the form προστραπών in the sense of "after having turned against”.
As in our passage προστρεπειν is found at O.C. 50, Eur. Suppl. 1195;
common is προστρέπεσθαι, Aesch. Eum. 205 (where the literal
sense “to turn oneself towards" has been retained), Soph. /r.
760.3 N.2 = 844.3 P.
832. Έρμήν χθόνιον: i.e. Hermes ψυχοπομπός (a later name;
Schol. πομπαΐον· τόν ψυχοπομπόν; ψυχοπομπός of Charon, Eur. Ale.
361; cf. also Aesch. Pers. 626), who is the leader of departed souls
on their journey to the nether world and who lays them to rest
in sleep. For κοιμίσαι see supra ad 675. (Cf. Eur. Hipp. 1386). The
schol. points to II. XI 241 κοιμήσατο χάλκεον ΰπνον. Έρμης χθόνιος
also El. in, Aesch. Cho. 1, 124, Eur. Ale. 743. On Thessalian
inscriptions, I.G. IX 2. An offering was made to him on the third
day of the Anthesteria.
πομπαΐον: O.C. 1548 Έρμης ό πομπός. For Hermes in this function
cf. Od. XXIV I sqq., Hymn, εις Έρμήν 572 οίον δ’ είς Άΐδην τετε-
λεσμένον άγγελον είναι, Aesch. Cho. 622 (only as guide, not to the
nether world, and with play upon words, Aesch. Eum. 91; similarly
Eur. Med. 759, cf. Phil. 133). He also leads the souls out of the
nether world (cf. Aesch. Pers. 629 and Ar. Pax 648 sq.). See especial­
ly Μ. P. Nilsson Gesch. d. Gr. Rel. I2 pp. 509 sq., from whom many
of these particulars are taken. It is worthy of note that in Sophocles’
verse Hermes, the god of sleep and death, is united. "Man sagt,
dass er Schlafgott sei, weil Tod und Schlaf Briider sind” (Nilsson,
o.l. p. 509). Cf. Od. XXIV I sqq. Syntactically it is most natural
to take πομπαΐον predicatively.
833. ξύν άσφαδάστω καί ταχεΐ πηδήματι: Ajax prays for εύθανασία,
as Cassandra in Aeschylus (Ag. 1292 sqq. έπεύχομαι δέ καίριας
πληγής τυχεΐν, / ώς άσφάδαστος, αιμάτων εύθνησίμων / άπορρυέντων, δμ-
μα συμβάλω τόδε. σφαδάζειν = “to trample" with impatience (of a
horse: Aesch. Pers. 194, Eur. fr. 821.3 N.2) and “to struggle
convulsively ’’with death, Eur. fr. 1020 N.2 (quoted by the schol.).
(On the question whether the correct spelling is άσφάδαστος see
Groeneboom, Pers. p. 112, n. 142a.) Plato on the tyrant: σφαδασμών
τε και οδυνών πλήρης, Resp. IX 579 e-
πηδήματι: cf. Eur. Hei. 96 (Teucer on Ajax), οίκεΐον αύτόν ώλεσ’
άλμ’ έπϊ ξίφος. This πήδημα was to him—to quote Euripides—at
172 COMMENTARY

the same time πήδημ’ ές 'Άιδου (Theseus on Phaedra, Hipp. 829).

Cf. further Lycophron, Al. 465 sq.
834. πλευράν .... φασγάνω: probably Euphorion thought of
this: Πλευρά τε και θώρηκα διήρικεν ΐνίου άχρις (Jr. 41 Powell e schol.
Pind. Nem. VII 39).
According to the schol. ad 833 (a tradition followed by Aesch.)
Ajax was invulnerable except in the armpit (because Heracles’
lion-skin had not covered him there). This legend, Jebb rightly
remarks, is altogether ignored by Sophocles.
835. There may be some connection between the fact that Ajax
calls for help to the Erinyes when on the point of committing suicide
and what is said of Epicaste after her suicide, Od. XI 279 τω δ’
άλγεα κάλλιπ’ όπίσσω / πολλά μάλ’, όσσα τε μητρός έρινύες έκτελέ-
ουσιν. (Μ. Delcourt, Le Suicide par Vengeance dans la Grece ancienne,
Rev. de l’Hist. des Rel. 1939, pp. 154-171, goes too far in assuming
for Sophocles’ Ajax a suicide by way of vengeance: this may have
been the significance of the original myth, it is not Sophocles’
meaning.) Otherwise the help of the Erinyes is called for in Homer
i.a. against those committing perjury (in one breath with γη and
ήέλιος, II. XIX 259). Furthermore it seems reasonable that after
Hermes these maidens, being chthonic powers, should be invoked
to take revenge for Ajax, who is on the point of becoming the
possession of the earth. The Erinyes call themselves (Aesch. Eum.
417) Άραί. Cf. Electra’s prayer El. Ill sqq. ώ χθόνι’ Έρμή καί πότνι’
Άρά, / σεμναί τε θεών παϊδες Έρινύες, / αί τούς άδίκως θνήσκοντας
όραθ’, κτλ.
άρωγούς: like other similar words, means “aiding” as well as
"avenging”; cf. El. 1392 παράγεται γάρ ένέρων δολιόπους άρωγός.
τάς άεί τε παρθένους: cf. Aesch. Eum. 69 sq. For the use of τάς
άεί cf. O.C. 1700 ώ τον άεί κατά γάς σκότον είμένος. We should also
allow the possibility of tmesis here: Sappho has άιπάρθενος έσσομαι
(inc. 1. 3 L. 1925) and compounds with άει- are common.
836. άεί θ’ όρώσας: O.C. 42 τάς πάνθ’ όρώσας Εύμενίδας. In the
same way Helios, when summoned to witness, is called δς πάντ’
έφορας καί πάντ’ έπακούεις.
837. σεμνάς: as the Erinyes are called, esp. in Attica: O.C. 90,
458; cf. El. 112, Aesch. Eum. 1041.
τανύποδας: the picture Aeschylus draws of them furnishes a
striking illustration of this, καμψίπους, Sept, J91, means the same
(cf. Groeneb. a.l.). They pursue through the air in “Knielauf”:
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 834-840 173

ύπέρ τε πόντον άπτέροις πωτήμασιν / ήλθον διώκουσ’, οΰδέν ύστερα νεώς

(£μ»ι. 250).
μαθεϊν εμέ: μαθεΐν is a complementary inf. to καλώ δ’ άρωγούς;
εμέ is proleptic.
838. Ajax once more states positively that he feels himself
driven into death by the Atreidae. It is strange that Odysseus is
not mentioned; it does not help very much to say with Ebeling,
Hermes, 76 (1941) p. 300 n. 2: Odysseus is only the factotum of the
Atreidae.
839. σφας; this form occurs only once in Homer (II. N 567), in
Soph, a few times (Ant. 128 required by the metre, O.T. 1470,
O.C. 486).
κακούς κάκιστα κα'ι πανωλέθρους: while κακούς is in predicative
apposition to σφας, πανωλέθρους has a predicative-proleptic function
and is connected with the adv. κάκιστα by καί. For κακός κακώς cf.
infra 1177, 1391, Phil. 1369. πανωλέθρους also El. 1009.
840. ξυναρπάσειαν: in keeping with the idea of the Erinyes as
beasts or birds of prey.
841. 842. These lines are, at least partly, suspectl). Schol.
ad 841: τώς αύτοαφαγεϊς; ταϋτα νοθεύεσθαί φασιν ύποβληθέντα προς
σαφήνειαν τών λεγομένων. The poet can hardly make Ajax wish
something that is in flat contradiction with what according to
tradition has actually happened: neither Menelaus nor Agamemnon
was murdered by his offspring and Odysseus is not mentioned here;
φιλίστων does not occur as an adj. To reject 841 and 842 entirely
would leave ώσπερ εΐσορώσ’ έμέ too abrupt; to reject 841 only (as
Radermacher does) would leave the unsatisfactory τώς αύτοσφαγεϊς
(in the acc.) at the end of the sentence. In the light of Aesch. Sept.
484 (and its occurrence in Homer) there can be no great objection
to τώς = ούτως (Ichn. col. XII 296 τώς is relat. = ut, as Aesch.
Sept. 637), no more than to the Ionism όλοίατο. So that Pearson’s
reading τώς[ ] όλοίατο, though uncertain, seems to be the
best solution. The reading προ (842) deserves notice; the meaning
would be “under the eyes of".
840. εΐσορώσ’: with the Erinyes as subject and in connection
with 836 in the plain sense of "they behold”. Neither of the Erinyes
nor of the Atreidae can Ajax maintain that they "sit by with folded
arms" when he falls by his own hand.
*) D. L. Page, Actor's Interpolations inGreek Tragedy, Oxford 1934. P- IT7:
839-842: "explanatory interpolation”.
174 COMMENTARY

841. αΰτοσφαγεΐς: in Eur. Phoen. 1316 said of Menoeceus. The

fact that it has the wider sense of “killed by his own kinsfolk”
(cf. Ant. 56) is not a strong argument for or against the spuriousness
of this passage. Cf. αύτοφόνως Aesch. Suppl. 65.
843. ποίνιμοί τ’ Έρινύες: cf. Track. 808 ών σε ποίνιμος Δίκη /
τείσαιτ’ Έρινύς τ’.
844. γεύεσθε, μή φείδεσθε: for the asyndeton see supra ad 811;
cf. for the place of μή φείδεσθε Eur. Hec. 387 κεντεΐτε, μή φείδεσθ’.
The metaphor of preying animals or blood-sucking demons appears
in the verb γεύεσθε.
πανδήμου στρατού: as πανδήμφ πόλει Ant. 7 (used differently
supra 175). Cf. ad 1055.
The curse is consistent for a man who considers himself at enmity
with the universe and for whom personal honour comes before any
other consideration.
845 sqq. It would not have been surprising if Ajax had invoked
Helios specially to be a witness to the injustice done to him, just as
Helios is often invoked as a witness to treaties and oaths. (II. Ill
276 sqq., XIX 258 sqq.; Zeus, Ge and Helios on inscriptions in
oaths, Cook, Zeus II 729 sqq., Nilsson,o./.2 139). He asks him how­
ever,—and the conception is quite poetical—to tell his fate to
his parents. (The idea of Helios, who sees everything, announcing
something, is also found Od. VIII 270.) But what impresses most is
this: the hero who is leaving the earth addresses himself to the sun,
the symbol of cosmos and life. In his last attachment to life he
addresses himself even a second and a third time to the light of the
day. In like manner Dido addresses herself in her soliloquy to Sol
(Aen. TV 607), but especially as a witness to the injustice done to
her (the Dirae ultrices follow, whereas with Ajax the Erinyes
precede). (Cf. Ennius, Medea XIV R., and for "Ηλιος πανόπτης
Groeneboom ad Aesch. Prom. 91-92.)
845. τόν αίπύν ούρανόν: the sun climbs and descends, cf. Od.
XI 17 sq.
τόν .... ούρανόν διφρηλατών: similarly (parodying Euripides) Ar.
Thesm. 1067 (Νύξ) άστεροειδέα νώτα διφρεύουσ’. Cf. Eur. Andr. 1010.
847. χρυσόνωτον: χρυσήνιος in Hom., epithet of Ares (Od. VIII
285) and of Artemis (II. VI 205). Other compounds with -νωτος:
χαλκόνωτος, σιδηρόνωτος (Eur. Troad. 1136, Phoen. XI30), Ar. in
parody γοργόνωτος, τυρόνωτος (Ach. 1124 sq.). The reins are adorned
with gold-leaf.
 THIRD EPEISODION, vss. 841-856 175

έπισχών: holding in (fig. supra 50).

848. άτας τάς εμάς: "my disasters” (caused by an unjust lot or
unjust gods); cf. 643, where the nuance is somewhat different.
849. τροφώ: this word used for the mother has a somewhat
pathetic ring (καί ταϋτα περιπαθή καί άνθρώπινα. Heracles to Hyllus:
κάλει δέ την τάλαιναν ’Αλκμήνην, Trach. 1148).
850. ή που: cf. in this play 382, 624, 1008 (cf. Denniston, G.P.,
286).
851. Jebb rightly points to the Homeric character of this con­
ception : Hecabe and Priam after Hector's death, II. XXII 405 sqq.
852. ούδέν έργου: ούδέν ώφελεϊ (somewhat different nuance,
supra 12). The one word τάλαινα already makes him fear lest he
allow himself to be carried away by his sentiments.
853. σύν τάχει τινί: the ethos of τινί has a grim character which
any translation fails to convey.
854. Θάνατε: Thanatos is one of those deities who, not belonging
to the gods with a cult and to what v. Wilamowitz calls "den
Glaube” of the Hellenes, form part of the sphere of poetry and
plastic art. In this capacity he appears in Euripides' Alcestis and
on numerous sepulcral lecythoi and reliefs; as early as Homer he is,
personified, the brother of Hypnos {II. XIV 231). From Aeschylus'
Philoctetes we have {fr. 255 N.2): ώ θάνατε παιάν, μή μ’ άτιμάσης
μολεϊν · / μόνος γάρ εΐ σύ των άνηκέστων κακών / ιατρός, άλγος δ’
ούδέν άπτεται νεκρού (cf. Eur. Hipp. 1373)· Similarly Phil, 797
ώ θάνατε θάνατε, πώς άεί καλούμενος / οΰτω κατ’ ήμαρ ού δύνα μολεϊν
ποτέ;
Seeing that the quotations from Aeschylus and Euripides speak
of "Death, the Healer”, it may not be too far-fetched to regard
έπίσκεψαι as springing from medical terminology: έπισκοπεΐν is
especially used for visiting the sick, Xen. Cyr. VIII 2.25, cf. V4.10.
(See J. D. Meerwaldt, Ad Antigones Exordium, Mnem. IV S. I,
1948, p. 293.)
855. καίτοι: belonging to the category described by Denniston
as "used by a speaker in pulling himself up abruptly”; to be trans­
lated by "but” rather than by "yet” (G.P., 557). Cf. Aesch. Prom.
ΙΟΙ καίτοι τί φημι etc.
856. The second address to Helios and the beam of the bright
day is different in character from the first; it is a parting-word
comparable to Eur. Ale. 244 "Αλιε καί φάος άμέρας and to Eur.
Hec. 412. Cf. further Ant. 808 sq.
176 COMMENTARY

τδ νϋν σέλας: "the bright light which still I see”.

857. xat .... προσεννέπω: with a change of construction instead
of a second vocat.; similarly 862; Aesch. Prom. 91-92; O.C. 1091
(K.-G. I, 50.7). (There is no good reason for reading with Rader-
macher a comma after 855 and to reject 857.)
858. πανύστατον .... ύστερον: κοδποτ’ αύθις Ant. 810; cf. Eur.
Hec. 411 and O.T. 1072, extremum fato quod te adloquor hoc est
Verg. Aen. VI 466. See the repetition ύστατον in 864.
859. ώ φέγγος, ώ .... πέδον / Σαλαμΐνος: philological elucidation
is powerless to explain adequately the beauty of poetical vision
displayed here. The ripple in the rhythm (ιερόν) adds to the intensity
of emotion. The last words of Ajax, full of σέλας and φέγγος, are
in accord with the search for the light of Dido, ϊερδν in this place
and in the mouth of Ajax is of course much more them just an
epitheton omans.
860. βάθρον: cf. supra 135. εστίας βάθρον represents a single
concept (the hearth as I see it stand on its base); πατρώον "of my
paternal home”.
861. κλειναί τ’ Άθήναι: the address to Athens arises of course
from the poet’s national feeling.
καί τδ σύντροφον γένος: the article as in Phil. 986 & Λημνία χθων
καί τδ παγκρατές σέλας. The schol. explains: οι ομήλικες. The
meaning seems rather “kindred to” (viz. me or us, the Salaminians).
862. 863. Something of the doctrine of the elements seems to
glimmer through in the farewell to light, land and rivers though
unintentionally and without any system (different in Aesch. Prom.
88 sqq.).
862. For the address to the rivers cf. supra 418. There is a
pathetic wandering of Ajax’ thoughts: from the sun which he sees
to the fatherland seen in a distant splendour and back to the rivers
and plains before his eyes.
καί .... προσαυδώ: cf. 857.
863. The fact that the rivers and plains where he has lived are
called his τροφής is quite in accordance with the all-pervading
Greek anthropomorphism.
864. Αίας: περιπαθώς καί τδ όνομα άνακαλεϊται (schol.). Cf. supra 98.
865. The motif of 855 comes back in a somewhat altered form.
This last word of Ajax has an unpleasant sound.
THIRD EPEISODION, VSS. 8S7-86S—EPIPARODOS, vss. 866-874 177

Έπιπάροδος of the Chorus, vss. 866-879

The two hemichoria enter the orchestra shortly after each other
by the two entrances.
866. πόνος .... φέρει: a πολύπτωτον to be compared with Aesch.
Pers. 1041 δόσιν κακάν κακών κακοϊς. Cf. infra 1197 arl(^ the places
cited by Groeneboom a.l. “An Englishman would inevitably say
‘Toil, toil, toil’ ” (Webster, Introduction, p. 160). πόνος is strain
and the feeling of fatigue caused by it. "Toil brings toil upon toil”.
The dative as in μή τίκτειν σ’ άταν άταις, El. 235, is strictly speaking
not dependent on the verb: cf. O.T. 175 άλλον δ’ άν άλλω προσίδοις
instead of έπ’ άλλω, Eur. Or. 1257 μή τις πήματα πημασιν εξεύρη.
Eur. Hei. 195 έμολε δάκρυα δάκρυσί μοι φέρων is a case which
resembles ours to a high degree. The rhythm is so suggestive that
it calls up the action before our eyes; with πα πα the Chorus make
a brief halt.
869. κούδεις .... τόπος: if the reading of this verse is correct
(which is doubted by many, i.a. v. Wilamowitz, Gr. Vsk. 288) the
interpretation should be as follows: “And no place knows that I
have learned it along with it” (learned it·, where Ajax can be found;
with it: with the place; not bad is Masqueray’s: "Aucun lieu ne m’a
vu decouvrir ce que je cherche”). It would be going too far to assume
that συμμαθεϊν stands here for ώστε με συμμαθεϊν (Elmsley, Her­
mann) *); this cannot be defended by adducing e.g. 786. The view
of Lobeck, who takes συμμαθεϊν in a causative sense (= συνδιδάξαι),
is untenable.
El. 93 τά δέ παννυχίδων ήδη στυγερά! / ξυνίσασ’ εύναί μογερών
οϊκων, / όσα τον δύστηνον έμόν θρηνώ / πατέρ’, is a good parallel for
τόπος έπίσταται.
870, 871. ιδού .... κλύω: cf. O.C. 1477 εα εα, ιδού μάλ’ αύθις άμφ-
ίσταται διαπρύσιος ότοβος, ΕΙ. 1410 ιδού μάλ’ αύ θροεϊ τις.
872. ημών γε .... ομιλίαν: “Yes <you hear> our party, of your
shipmates”: ήμάς γε τούς συνναύτας. The verse reminds us of El. 1104
ημών ποθεινήν κοινόπουν παρουσίαν, but the relation of things is
different.
873. τί ούν δή: the cases of hiatus after τί are summed up by
Groeneboom ad Aesch. Pers. 693 (Koster, Traite, p. 32).
874. έστίβηται: στιβέω is a synonym of στείβω and occurs prac-

!) Assuming this one might read τόπους.

Kamerbeek 12
178 COMMENTARY

tically only here; it has the pregnant meaning of pervestigare,

explained by the occurrence of στίβος = vestigium (e.g. Aesch.
Prom. (yjq, Cho. 228; Soph. Ichn. 109; Xen. An. I 6.1). Cf. κύων
στιβεύς Opp. Cyn. I 463, ή στιβεία Diod. Sic. IV 13.1 etc. (v. d.
Wijnpersse o.l. pp. 82, 83).
There is, therefore, a striking dramatic rhyme with the opening
lines of the tragedy. The situation with respect to the spectators
is the reverse of that of the initial scene, where both Odysseus and
the spectators are informed by Athena of what has happened; here
the Chorus are groping in the dark and calling in vain for the aid
of the gods and others, while the spectator knows all. Whereas in
the first scene the suspense of the spectators may be formulated in
the question: what is going to happen—in what condition are we to
see Ajax? in this scene the question that might be asked is: when
will the Chorus find the dead? The only solution dramatically
possible is given here by Tecmessa’s finding Ajax.
874. πλευράν: one of the numerous names for parts of the body
which are used geographically (cf. Πλευρών).
έσπερον: supra 805.
875. έχεις ούν: same tension expressed by the bacchius as 873.
Correct, Masqueray: "As-tu trouve?”.
876. γε: ironically affirmative; the acc. goes with έχεις. Exactly
the same Eur. Suppl. 818, Adrastus: έχεις (τά τέκνα). Chorus:
πημάτων γ’ άλις βάρος.
κούδέν εις 8ψιν πλέον: “but as regards seeing him no gain (pro­
gress)”.
877. άλλ’ ούδέ μέν δή: “and surely no more..μέν is the weak
form of μήν. The same combination also El. 913, Track. 1128
(Denniston, G.P., 395).
877, 878. τήν άφ’ ήλίου βολών / κέλευθον: cf. άντηλίους 805. άφ’
ήλιου βολών = προς άνίσχοντος ήλίου. Eur. Or. 1258 sq. τρίβον ....
τόν πρός ήλίου βολάς.
878. δηλοϊ φανείς: δηλόω used intransitively, as e.g. Ant. 242.
As regards the acc. τήν .... κέλευθον, it is best taken as an acc.
of space or way; poets also use it frequently with verbs denoting
rest, such as κεϊσθαι, στηναι, ήσθαι etc. (K.-G. I, 313 a. 13).
Accordingly the interpretation should be: “And clearly he has
not been seen anywhere along the path at the eastern side of
the ships’ camp”.
 EPiPARODOs, vss. 874-878—kommos, vss. 879-881 179

Κομμός, VSS. 879-973

In the strophe 879-890, which corresponds to 925-936, 11. 885,
886 present some difficulty. If in 885 ϊδρις (reading of most MSS)
is retained (with Pearson), λεύσσων in 886 should be deleted in
order to get an (imperfect) responsion with 931 (------------- -- ----- );
if ϊδρις is deleted (with Mosq. a, b) and λεύσσων retained,
there will be a good responsion, ϊδρις may have found its way into
the text to account for the genit, ποταμών and perhaps even as a
gloss on λεύσσων (because the reader wants the result of the λεύσ-
σειν). With Jebb, Radermacher, Masqueray, Dain it seems better
not to read ϊδρις.
879. τις αν .... άπύοι: this form of expressing a wish has become
a well-known formula with πώς. Cf. supra 388 sqq., Aesch. Ag.
1448 τίς άν .... μόλοι (K.-G. I, 235). δήτα with the interrogativa
is very frequent (Denniston, G.P., 270 (1)).
879, 880. άλιαδαν: “sons of seamen”, used instead of "fishermen”
(αλιεύς). Schol. Ar. Plut. 912 has οί τών άλιέων παΐδες (cf. Groeneb.
ad Aesch. Pers. 402). Essentially υΐες ’Αχαιών is something similar
and so is Δαναίδαι, Eur. Hel. 239 (and passim in I.A.).
φιλοπόνων: the fisherman is “pre-eminently the pauper” (H.
Hoppener, Halieutica, diss. Utrecht 1931, p. no).
άύπνους άγρας: the fisherman’s trade is the only industry among
the Greeks that requires night work. At A.P. VI 11 a fisherman is
called νυκτερέτης; cf. Pl. Soph. 22od; Arist. H.A. IV 537 a 18 (Hop­
pener, o.l. pp. 100, 101, III n. 3). For έχων άγρας cf. supra 564.
881. ή τίς ’Ολυμπιάδων / θεάν: the reading of A θεών is possible
provided it is taken as a gen. pi. of ή θεός; θεάν, however, is more
probable. It is not likely that οί 'Ολυμπιάδες θεοί are meant, nor
(when reading ’Ολυμπιάδάν) οί Όλυμπιάδαι θεοί; or αΐ ’Ολυμπιάδες
θεοί or θεαί in the sense of “the goddesses of the (ordinary) Olym­
pus”. What are meant are the nymphs or Oreads of the Mysian
Olympus (cf. supra 720). Cf. Strabo X 470 .... την τε ’Ίδην καί
τόν "Ολυμπον συγκεχυμένως πολλάκις ώς τό αύτό όρος κτυποϋσιν. είσϊ
μέν ούν λόφοι τέτταρες "Ολυμποι καλούμενοι της "Ιδης κατά την Άν-
τανδρίαν, έστι δέ καί ό Μυσός "Ολυμπος, όμορος μέν ούχ ό αύτύς δέ
τη "Ιδη. And further he quotes from Sophocles’ Polyxena the
words of Menelaus to Agamemnon: σύ δ’ αύθι μίμνων που κατ’ Ίδαίαν
χθόνα / ποίμνας Όλύμπου συναγαγών θυηπόλει (Soph. /r. 479 N.a =
522 P.).
180 COMMENTARY

882, 883. ή ρυτών Βοσπορίων ποταμών: to explain these words

(with Jebb): τις θεάν τών .... ποταμών (with the genit, instead of
the adj. ’Ολυμπιάδων, which is in itself possible), entails the dif­
ficulty that in this case λεύσσων after two feminine subjects would
apply only to the first subject τίς άλιαδαν (this is not exactly im­
possible, but see K.-G. I, 81.5 and a. 3). There can be no ob­
jection to the construction τις ποταμών (for which cf. the part of
Xanthos in II. XXI and cf. II. XX 7, 8 οΰτε τις οδν ποταμών
άπέην, νόσφ’ Ώκεανοϊο, / οΰτ’ άρα νυμφάων κτλ.).
882. ρυτών: cf. O.C. 1598·
883. Βοσπορίων: also at Aesch. Pers. 723 and 746 the Hellespont
is meant. Hence: streaming towards the Bosporus (= the Helles­
pont).
885. εί ποθι: sicubi = alicubi; cf. Phil. 1204 εί ποθεν. In the same
way εί τις sometimes = τις. (Xen. An. V 3.3. See K.-G. II, 573, 574.)
885-887. άπύοι: the usual explanation, going back to the schol.
εϊποι (‘Ofor tidings from some toiling fisher”—Jebb; “qui pourrait
nous dire”—Masqueray), gives a distorted connection with λεύσσων.
άπύειν (ep. ήπύειν) can very well be construed with a personal
object: Od. IX 399 αύτάρ ό Κύκλωπας μεγάλ’ ήπυεν (“he called for
the Cyclopes in a loud voice”); cf. Od. X 83; Eur. Or. 1253 τί δέ με
τόδε χρέος άπύεις ("Why dost thou call on me for this task?”—
N. Wedd); Aesch. Sept. 143 λιταϊς σε θεοκλυτοϊς άπύουσαι πελαζό-
μεσθα (thus the MSS; most editors read άυτοϋσαι, with Seidler).
Hence: "Who .... could call for me the man of fierce spirit, if
anywhere he saw him wandering about” (i.e. “Would there were
somebody who” etc.).
885. ώμόθυμον: cf. supra 205 ώμοκρατής, 548 ώμοϊς έν νόμοις,
injra 930 ώμόφρων.
The wish that fishermen, nymphs, or rivergods may show him
Ajax suggests the kind of landscape in which they are seeking.
887. σχέτλια: the predicate in the neutr. pi. to an inf. as subj.,
as injra 1126, Phil. 524 etc. (K.-G. I, 66, 67), with ellipsis of the
copula, as with χαλεπόν, άξιον etc. (K.-G. I, 40). It is a matter of
doubt whether this is to be regarded as an ionism; also Pind. 01.1 52
has έμοί δ’ άπορα. Cf. Ar. Eq. 30, 609; Lys. 142. See Groeneboom
ad Herod. Ill 49 and ad Aesch. Cho. 960.
σχέτλιος de re for the first time in the Odyssey (σχέτλια έργα);
σχέτλιος in tragedy often = τλήμων (Aesch. Prom. 644); hence
"It is a desperate-making thing”.
 kommos, vss. 882-892 181

888. τόν μακρών άλάταν πόνων: schol. τόν έπιπόνως πλανηθέντα.

The πόνοι are to be taken as the internal object to άλασβαι, as Eur.
Andr. 305 sq. μόχθους οΰς άμφί Τροίαν δεκέτεις άλάληντο νέοι λόγχαις.
The attribute μακρών makes this even more plausible. (Aesch.
Prom. 900 άλατείαις πόνων: Groeneboom would take πόνων in a
qualitative sense here, which does not seem very likely in our
passage; cf. also Eur. Hel. 523 άλατεία βιότου.)
889. ούρίω μή πελάσαι δρόμω: it is possible to take ούρίω δρόμω
instrumentally and to supply αύτφ (Ellendt, Jebb and the scholia).
But it seems more natural to consider ούρίω δρόμω as dependent
on πελάσαι and to take the intransitive πελάζειν in the same way as
the transitive in such instances as κράτει δέ πέλασον, Pind. 01. I 78,
and παϊδα .... ποικίλαις τέχναις πέλασσαν, Bacch. X 32. With the
v.l. ούριων δρόμων there is no choice.
890. άλλ’ .... όπου: άμενηνόν: schol. έφ’ έαυτοϋ, ούκ έπί τοϋ
Αϊαντος, σχέτλια άν εϊη μή έπιτετυχηκέναι αύτώ άλλ’ ήσθενηκέναι
με τη ζητήσει. It is indeed hard to imagine how the Chorus can call
Ajax άμενηνός. Yet the separation of άμενηνόν and άνδρα is un­
satisfactory. The only solution seems to be this: after all that has
happened to Ajax and after all his supposed wanderings the Chorus
think he has become faint and feeble; the poet purposely makes
them use this word on account of its sinister associations.
άμ. άνδρα .... λεύσσειν όπου: prolepsis, and ellipsis of έστίν.
891. Tecmessa prob, entering centrally comes upon Ajax lying
in the centre of the stage behind the bushes. Whatever dramatic
effect the scene can give is attained by the poet.
892. τίνος βοή πάραυλος: the rendering near, close at hand, is
possible (logically going with τίνος), πάραυλος = “neighbouring”
in O.C. 785 and in fr. 462.2 N.2 = 503 P. (very uncertain and
conjectural). More probable: "ill-sounding”, prop, "beside the flute­
playing”, "out of tune”, as παράμουσος Aesch. Cho. 467 (fig.),
παρωδοϊς αϊνίγμασιν Eur. I.A. 1147 (fig·); to be compared with
κώμον άναυλότατον Eur. Phoen. 791 and ϊτω ξύναυλος βοά χαρα
Eur. El. 879.
πάραυλος in the doubtful /r. ad. 93 N.2 μέλη πάραυλα κάκρότητα
κύμβαλα. (Similar difficulty with έναύλοις, Eur. Her. 879: Tyrwhitt
and others read άναύλοις; Soph. Phil. 158 uses it undeniably as
the opposite of θυραϊος.)
έξέβη νάπους: νάπος or νάπη, “woody dell” or "slope”, cf. Eur.
Andr. 284 ύλόκομον νάπος. The genit, sep. dependent on έξέβη.
182 COMMENTARY

894. δουρίληπτον: the Ionic form metri causa, cf. supra 146
(It is the same as αιχμάλωτος, which occurs also in prose.)
895. οϊκτω .... συγκεκραμένην: cf. Ant. 13Π δειλαία δέ συγκέκρα-
μαι δύα (Ar. Plut. 853 parodying οϋτω πολυφόρω ξυγκέκραμαι δαί-
μονι). The phrase means that she is possessed with the anguish
which finds expression in her lament. For a similar use of έγκειμαι
see my note ad Eur. Andr. 91.
896. οίχωκ’: the form II. X 252 (παροίχωκεν J)), Aesch. Pers.
13, Soph. fr. 220.1 N.2 = 241 P., Herod. II 37. The form is Ionic
(Hdt. I 189 and elsewhere). The tradition of the MSS is every­
where in favour of οϊχωκα and notwithstanding Herodianus it
seems better to write this form. The meaning is exactly the same
as that of όλωλα; thus οίχομαι is found passim in tragedy: οίχομαι
.... ίλωλα Trach. 1143 sq., διοίχεται infra 973.
διαπεπόρθημαι: II. II 691, Aesch. Pers. 714; έκπεπόρθημαι Trach.
X104. πέρθειν with men as object, infra 1198.
897. τί δ’ έστιν: cf. O.T. 319, I144; El. 921.
898. άρτίως νεοσφαγής: there is "Femverbindung” with 546
νεοσφαγη που τόνδε προσλεύσσων φόνον. Cf. the echo of 828 and 830.
The same words Trach. 1130 τέθνηκεν (Deianeira) άρτίως νεοσφαγής
(Eur. Hec. 894). The same pleonasm Pl. Leg. VII 792 d τόν άρτίως
νεογενή (Lobeck).
899. κρυφαίφ φασγάνω περιπτυχής: cf. note ad 658 κρύψω τόδ’ έγχος.
For περιπτυχής cf. ad 828 (cf. probably Od. XI 424 άποθνήσκων περί
φασγάνω). He lies "wrapped round the sword”; a commoner use
of περιπτυχής infra 915. He enfolds the sword so that it is hidden.
900. There remains a sharp difference between Tecmessa and the
Chorus. The death of Ajax is her ruin because her whole existence
rests on his; the Chorus feel their safety is threatened. Cf. 253 sqq.
ώμοι έμών νόστων: the genit, with interjections of grief etc. is a
genit, causae, as with the verba affectuum (properly speaking it
indicates the starting-point).
νόστων: if the plural has any significance, it may be "chances
of return” as φυγαί, Ant. 363, signifies “means of escape”.
901. The text of these words is uncertain; 947, 8 are certainly
right (cf. v. Wilamowitz, Gr. Vsk. 332 n. 4). If in 901 ώμοι is read
instead of the ίώ μοι of the text, the palaeographic probability that
in 900 ίώ μοι was erroneously written for ώμοι is removed. But ώμοι

l) Thus Aristarchus (or παρώχωκεν; MSS παρώχηκεν).

 kommos, vss. 894-907 183

in 900 is necessary on account of the antistrophe. Hence I prefer

in 901 the reading of G. Wolff and Wilamowitz (Z.c.) ίώ μοι, άναξ,
κατέπεφνες to the unelegant ώμοι .... ώναξ. Pearson’s <άμ’> is not
very convincing in view of the question infra 905.
There is a contrast between κατέπεφνες (of the Chorus) and
οϊχωκ’ κτλ. (of Tecmessa).
902. Hermann strikes out ίώ (before τάλας), so that the
responsion becomes:
902---- ---------948--------
When reading ώ instead of ίώ the responsion becomes:

τόνδε συνναύταν: the words have a pathetic ethos; they call to

mind 348 sqq. ίώ, φίλοι ναυβάται, μόνοι έμών φίλων....
903. ταλαϊφρον: there is something to be said for the lectio rarior
seeing that the MSS have Ant. 39 unanimously ώ ταλαϊφρον.
(The adj. also Ant. 866, 877; Eur. Hel. 524.)
904. αίάζειν πάρα: πάρα has the sense of "there is every reason
to”. Similarly 982 πάρα στενάζειν, El. 788 (after the announcement
of Orestes’ death) νϋν γάρ οίμώξαι πάρα. For the structure of the
sentence cf. A nt. 1179 ώς ώδ’ έχοντων τάλλα βουλεύειν πάρα, infra
981 sq. supra 281; Aesch. Ag. 1393. For the rest τοϋδ’ is masc.:
cf. 923. It seems as if Tecmessa in the emphatic ώδε τοϋδ” έχοντας,
were administering a reproof to the Chorus.
905. έπραξε: the term is vague: "did he perform it ?”, "did he
attain his end?” It comes near to O.C. 1704 έπραξεν οΐον ήθελεν.
Possibly: "has he fared?”
άρα: instead of άρα after an interrogative (to be distinguished
from άρα interrogative particle: Denniston, G.P., 45 (5)).
906. δήλον: there is little to be said for Radermacher’s view,
that it is adverbial (it finds no support in O.C. 321). Nothing is
more impressive than this short sentence.
906, 907. έν γάρ ot χθονί / πηκτόν τόδ’ έγχος: “his sword planted
here in the ground”, oi can be regarded as the dat. auct. to πηκτόν.
πηκτόν: cf. έπηξα δ’ αύτόν, 821.
περιπετες: the adjective is passive: ώ περιπέπτωκεν. For περί- see
ad 899.
κατηγορεί: “indicates or proves this” (Dutch: "wijst uit”), as
accusare, arguere. Cf. the reading defended by me at Ant. 1301,
οΐδ’ όξύθηκτος ήδε, and Aesch. Ag. 271, Sept. 439 κατήγορος.
184 COMMENTARY

909. άτας: the context shows that άτα has here the full force
of “blind folly”.
οϊος: preluding άφρακτος φίλων, as Phil. 487 μή μ’ άφής έρημον
ουτω χωρίς ανθρώπων στίβου.
αίμάχθης: cf. Ant. 1175 «ΰτόχειρ 8’ αίμάσσεται.
910. άφρακτος: it may be that we ought to write άφαρκτος, but
it is uncertain: Ant. 958 κατάφαρκτος L, κατάφρακτος A al., Eur.
Hipp. 657 άφρακτος (Murray, with the MSS), O.T. 1387 φραγμός.
The schol. paraphrases rightly: αφύλακτος, ού πεφραγμένος καί
τετειχισμένος τοϊς φίλοις διά τό άπατηθέντας καταλιπεΐν σε. There is
a reminiscence of εϊρξαι 753, είργειν 795.
φίλων: for the genit, see ad 321.
911. εγώ δ’ ό πάντα κωφός, ό πάντ’ άιδρις: cf. Ο.Τ. 39^ sq. έγώ ....
ό μηδέν είδώς Οίδίπους.
ό κωφός: ό άναίοθητος.
912. κατημέλησα: Ajax έπραξε, because the Chorus κατημέλησεν.
He could not carry out his design against the Atreidae because
Athena was watchful: καν έξέπραξεν, εί κατημέλησ’ έγώ, 45-
πά πά: the Chorus wish to see Ajax, but are prevented by
Tecmessa.
914. δυστράπελος: intractabilis, pertinax, does not differ much
from δυσθεράπευτος, 609. ό αμετακίνητος έν όργή ή διαθέσει. A
person is called εύτράπελος when he easily conforms to company
and circumstances.
δυσώνυμος: the words of Ajax 430sqq. form a commentary on
this.
915. οδτοι θεατός: the connotation is: “he must not be seen”.
The form of the words makes them almost a piercing cry.
915. 916. περιπτυχεΐ / φάρει: I can hardly imagine that "the
φάρος has been brought by a πρόσπολος from the tent hard by”
(Jebb). She enfolds him in her own φάρος, φάρος denotes a mantle
worn by women or by men; the meaning “shroud” is undoubtedly
also present to the author's mind. The a must be short: cf. Track.
916, jr. 333 N.2 = 360 P. The act of shrouding the body of amurdered
person also in Eur. El. 1231.
περιπτυχεΐ: a reference to 899.
916. παμπήδην: παντελώς (root πδ: πάομαι — κτάομαι; παμπησία
Aesch. Sept. 817). Theogn. 615; Aesch. Pers. 729, and jr. 156
θεός μέν αιτίαν φύει βροτοΐς, / όταν κακώσαι δώμα παμπηδην θέλη.
917. δστις καί φίλος: "καί following a relative often gives an
 kommos, vss. 909-922 185

effect of limitation, by imposing an additional qualification”

(Denniston, G.P., 295): "one at least who is a friend”. Cf. Eur.
Ion 232 Πάντα θεάσθ’, S τι και θέμις, δμμασι.
918. προς ρίνας: Od. XXII 18 αύτίκα δ’ αύλός άνά ρίνας παχύς ήλθεν /
αίματος άνδρομέοιο. Cf. 1411 sq. Our text says literally "to the
nostrils”. The Messenger in Ant. says more drastically: καί φυσιών
όξεΐαν εκβάλλει ροήν / λευκή παρειά φοινίου σταλάγματος (1238 sq.).
Aesch. Ag. 1389 κάκφυσιών όξεΐαν αίματος σφαγήν. Cf. also Herod.
II 72 έπεί το αΐμ’ άν έξεφύσησεν. Statius Theb. Ill go keeps to
the tradition.
919. πληγής: with a slight shift of sense, the wound itself,
μελανθέν: taking a dark colour (when it becomes clotted),
άπ’ οικείας σφαγής: cf. Ant. 1176 προς οικείας χερός.
920. βαστάσει: cf. 827 with note. The first thing Tecmessa
thinks of is the burial of Ajax. It must be performed by Teucer.
The order in which the questions are uttered is therefore quite
logical.
921. The reading of Wakefield and most editors: ώς άκμαϊ’ άν,
εί βαίη, μόλοι, gives a highly unsatisfactory sense: “how timely
would he come, if he came....” But the transmitted text gives
much better sense: ώς = utinam, μόλοι pure optative, βαίη by
attractio modi. Thus "Oh may his arrival be timely, if come he
does”, ακμαίος and συγκαθαρμόσαι may then be connected more
closely.
For ώς = utinam cf. Hom. II. XVIII107 ώς ίρις έ'κ τε θεών εκ τ’
άνθρώπων άπόλοιτο, Od. XVII 243 ώς έλθοι μέν κείνος άνήρ, ΕΙ. 126
ώς ό τάδε πορών ολοιτ’, Eur. Hipp. 407 ώς όλοιτο παγκάκως. For the
optative expressing a wish in the apodosis with εί + opt. in the
protasis cf. Xen. An. V 6.4 εί μέν συμβουλεύοιμι ά βέλτιστά μοι
δοκεί, πολλά μοι καί άγαθά γένοιτο ·, Eur. Or. 1086 μήθ’ αίμά μου δέξ-
αιτο κάρπιμον πέδον, / μή λαμπρός αιθήρ, εί σ’ εγώ προδούς ποτέ /
έλευθερώσας τούμον άπολίποιμι σέ. (K.-G. II, 478 a. 4; cf· § 573ι a· 2).
άκμαϊος instead of an adverbial adjunct of time (for obvious
reasons because the emphasis should fall on the person who comes
in time to perform an action), in the manner of έσπέριος ήλθεν,
χθιζός έβη (K.-G. I, 274). Cf. καιρίαν δ’ ήμϊν όρώ στείχουσαν Ίο-
κάστην Ο.Τ. 631, καίριος ήλυθες Eur. ΕΙ. 598·
922. πεπτώτ’: cf. 828 with note.
συγκαθαρμόσαι: una componere; the schol. renders it with περιστεϊλαι
(cf. injra 1170 and e.g. Eur. Or. 1066). (It is doubtful whether
186 COMMENTARY

Eur. El. 1228 καθάρμοσον σφαγάς really means ‘‘close the wounds”
(whatever this may imply) rather than a further explanation of
κάλυπτε, while σφαγάς stands for the murdered person.)
923. οίως: perhaps coined by the poet to get a combination like
that of 557 (the tradition of the text at Ar. Vesp. 1363, quoted by
Jebb, is divided). Cf. further supra 904.
924. ώς .... άξιος: Jebb denies the possibility of an ellipsis of
είναι; and yet this is the first thing that occurs to an unbiased
reader of the verse. The schol. explains: ώς καί τούς δυσμενείς
έλεεϊν. This may point to an ellipsis of ών with άξιος; but in that
case one would expect παρ’ εχθρών, παρ’ έχθροϊς, in any case, goes
closely with άξιος: "in the eyes of”. Cf. Track. 589 δοκεϊς παρ’ ήμϊν
ού βεβουλεϋσθαι κακώς, Hdt. I 32·9 ός άν τελευτήση εύχαρίστως
τδν βίον, οδτος παρ’ έμοί τύ οΰνομα τοΰτο δίκαιός έστι φέρεσθαι, and
supra 620. Of course, Jebb’s explanation also remains possible:
ώς άξιος = "how worthy ....’’ etc.
925. 926. έμελλες .... άρ’ έξανύσσειν: expressed in a genuinely
Homeric way, in the style of ούκ άρα μέλλον εγώ γε / εύφρανέειν
άλοχον, II. V 686. "You were fated, it appears....” This makes an
epic form such as έξανύσσειν (cf. άνύοσεσθαι, Od. XVI 373) all the
more plausible. The Chorus use the same verb as supra 712 θεών δ1
αύ πάνθυτα θέσμι’ έξήνυσ’: cf. note there.
The difficulty of the words έξανύσσειν κακάν μοίραν άπειρεσίων
πόνων may be formulated as follows: is μοίραν objectum affectum
or effectum, in other words is by μοίραν meant the fate of Ajax’
life which he has now ended, or the death which he has effected ?
It cannot be said that the dying of Ajax is in itself a μοίρα άπειρε-
σίων πόνων (this may be true of the survivors but not of Ajax him­
self). The translation is therefore: “make an end of your evil doom,
the doom of endless πόνοι”. This view is corroborated by 711,
Αίας λαθίπονος πάλιν. "Mettre un terme douloureux ύ tes maux
infinis” (Masqueray) may be read into the words. There is a pos­
sibility of this translation being correct, provided άπειρεσίων πόνων
is taken as a freely constructed genitivus separativus and έξανύσσειν
κακάν μοίραν as a pregnant phrase for έκπληρώσαι κακάν μοϊράν τε
καί λήξαι .... There are instances of unusual separativi with
Soph.: Phil. 1044 της νόσου πεφευγέναι, Ant. 488 άλύξετον μόρου.
Finally there remains the possibility of "Satzhaplologie": <άπ’>
άπειρεσίων πόνων. A notable place is Track. 1021 λαθίπονον δ’ όδυνάν
οΰτ’ ένδοθεν ούτε θύραθεν έστι μοι έξανύσαι βίοτον, where έξανύσαι
 kommos, vss. 923-936 187

practically means reddere. In O.C. 1562 (according to probable

conjecture) it refers to death.
926. στερεόφρων: “with your unbending soul”. Creon calls his
own αμαρτήματα: στερεά θανατόεντ’ (Ant. 1262). Jebb cites from
Plato's Politicus 309 b: τό στερεόν ήθος of the φύσεις επί την ανδρείαν
μάλλον συντεινούσας. This shows that the meaning is more favour­
able than ώμόφρων, ώμόθυμος, ώμοκρατής.
927. τοϊά: meaning: that this would happen could be gathered
from the complaints of bitter enmity which you etc.
928. μοι: kind of ethical dative: "so that I heard it”.
929. πάννυχα καί φαέθοντ’: schol. κατά νύκτα καί ημέραν. That the
threats should continue throughout the night is quite common,
but the remarkable thing is that the brightness of the day is trans­
ferred to the threats uttered in the daytime. Cf. νύκτερος Αίας,
supra 217.
930. ώμόφρων: one of the epithets characteristic of Ajax. Cf.
ad 885.
931. έχθοδόπ’: the Iliad has έχθοδοπέω, “to act in a hostile
manner” (I 518). The other instance in Soph, is at Phil. 1137,
στυγνόν τε φώτ’ έχθοδοπόν. The etymology of the second member
is unknown. (See, however, M. Leumann, Homerische Worter.
p. 158 n. 1).
932. ούλίιρ σύν πάθει: ουλιος is another epic word: II. XI 62.
Also in Pindar. In tragedy only here. It is very doubtful whether
πάθει can be rendered by “passion” (Masqueray), instead of "frame
of mind” (cf. Phil. 899). (Thue. Ill 84.1, where διά πάθους occurs
possibly in the sense of "with passion” l), is generally held to be
spurious.) But cf. perhaps Democr. fr. 31 D.
934. μέγας .... χρόνος: "Now it appears clearly that that time
was the great beginner of disaster”. The lateness of this realization
is suggested twice in this song by άρα + imperf. For the time which
introduces disaster or joy cf. Ar. Pax 435 σπένδοντες εύχόμεσθα
την νϋν ημέραν / Έλλησιν άρξαι πασι πολλών καί άγαθών; see also
Thue. II 12.3 and the opening words of the choral song, Eur.
Andr. 274.
935, 936. άριστόχειρ άγών: the contest to decide which was the
best warrior. Cf. supra 64 εύκέρων άγραν, El. 699 ώκύπους άγών.

*) Cf. however, E. Topitsch, Wiener Studien 1942, 9-22, who translates:

Bedrangnis.
188 COMMENTARY

936. The lacuna before όπλων (-««»-) cannot be filled up with

certainty. The reading of Triclinius Άχιλλέως is not more than a
gloss on όπλων.
938. χωρεΐ πρός ήπαρ: cf. Aesch. Ag. 791 δήγμα δέ λύπης ούδέν
έφ’ ήπαρ προσικνεΐται, Eur. Suppi. 599· ήπαΡ as the seat of emotion
repeatedly in tragedy and also in physiological theory (cf. Pl.
Tim. 'j'i c and Arist. P.A. IV 676 b 24).
γενναία: “genuine and strong” (cf. my note Mnem. Ill S. 8,
1939, p. 54, in connection with Aesch. Ag. 1198 πήμα γενναίως παγέν;
the original meaning is "suitable to one’s hereditary character”,
II. V 253).
δύη: sorrow. This passage is a clear illustration of what is meant
by δειλαία συγκέκραμαι δύα, Ant. 1311.
940. καί δίς: cf. supra 432.
941. άποβλαφθεΐσαν: with gen. sep. in the sense of orbatam.
The genit, with βλάπτειν = “to hinder from” is found in Hom. and
cf. Aesch. Ag. 120 βλαβέντα λοίσθιων δρόμων. Theogn. 223 νόου
βεβλαμμένος έσθλοϋ, expers.
942. δοκεϊν: (with ταϋτ’, a vague word for Tecmessa’s suffering,
as object) "to guess”, “to conjecture” (δοξάζειν schol.).
φρονεΐν: “to understand”, "to realize”. Cf. Track. 1145 οΐμοι,
φρονώ δή ξυμφορας 'ίν’ εσταμεν.
943. ξυναυδώ: ξύμφημι.
944. The fear expressed in 498 sqq. and 511 sqq. returns here.
945. 0I01: Jebb is right in supposing that it is to be taken in
the sense of ότι τοιοϋτοι. Instances of this in Homer; cf. Groeneb.
ad Aesch. Prom. 908 (ή μήν ότι Ζεύς καίπερ αύθάδη φρονών / εσται
ταπεινός, οΐον έξαρτύεται / γάμον γαμεϊν....).
σκοποί: of course the Atreidae are meant, who as her task-masters
έπιτηροϋσιν her with hostility. As early as Homer σκοπός stands
for "overseer” (δμωάων, Od. XXII 396), while Pindar uses the
word more than once for “ruler” (e.g. 01. I 54 Όλύμπου σκοποί.
Nem. V 27).
έφεστασι: to be master, as των έφεστώτων in 1072, but the notion:
"to watch over” is implied (this meaning only Ar. Vesp. 955).
946-948. άναλγήτων: “hard-hearted”, "ruthless”. Cf. injra 1333.
Cf. O.T. 12 δυσάλγητος γάρ άν / εϊην τοιάνδε μή ού κατοικτίρων έδραν.
άναλγήτων .... τωδ’ άχει: many commentators explain τώδ’ άχει
as an instrumental: "by uttering such woe”. But it would be a
forced interpretation to call Tecmessa’s fear expressed in 944, 45
 kommos, vss. 936-954 189

an άχος. The correctness of the schol. τώδ’ άχει · τη παρούση συμφορά!

is self-evident. It remains to explain the dative, άναλγήτων is used
predicatively: the Atreidae are ανάλγητοι if the άναυδον έργον
(Eurysaces’ slavery) comes to pass; then it will appear that they
have no compassion on the woe of the moment. The question arises
whether τώδ’ άχει cannot belong to άναλγήτων as causal dative
(= έπί τώδ’ άχει; or otherwise not differing from πρός or έν τή
παρούση συμφορά). Cf. 958 γελά .... γέλωτα. My translation, there­
fore, is: "an unspeakable deed of the two Atreidae you uttered;
then they will prove to have no compassion upon this woe”.
άναυδος: the Chorus have used άναύδατον (supra 715) in the sense
of novus, inauditus. The connotation of άναυδος here is nejandus
dictu, like άρρητος.
950. ούκ .... τηδε: "Things would not have reached this state”.
Cf. Ant. 1156 ούκ έσθ’ όποιον στάντ’ άν ανθρώπου βίον ουτ’ αΐνέσαιμ’
άν ούτε μεμψαίμην ποτέ, Track. 1271 τα δέ νϋν έστώτ’ οικτρά μεν
ήμϊν, αισχρά δ’ έκείνοις.
μή θεών μέτα: εί μή θεών μέτα τήδ’ έ'στη, "but for the gods”.
951. δ’ .... γε τάχθος: this correction and reading by Blaydes
has great probability: (1) A has δ’, some mss. have γ’, F has τε
άχθος. It is quite possible that the interchange of Γ and T has
caused the uncertainty before άχθος;; (2) the reading gives excellent
sense. The Chorus say “(true,) but then the gods have laid on us a
burden too heavy” etc., and δέ .... γε in a lively answer containing
a protest and an emphatic statement is very common. The subject
to ήνυσαν is certainly οι θεοί (not as in schol.). ήνυσαν = ejjecerunt,
reddiderunt', ύπερβριθές is used predicatively. With Cadmus the
Chorus might say: έγνώκαμεν ταϋτ’ · άλλ’ έπεξέρχη λίαν (Eur. Ba.
1346).
952. μέντοι: "with assentient force, often after τοιοϋτος, τοιόσδε,
όδε, οδτος usually at the opening of an answer” (Denniston, G.P.,
400). Cf. injra 1358.
Ζηνός: for the genit, cf. supra 172.
953. The poet does not hesitate to let his noble character Tec­
messa utter this protest against the goddess. That Όδυσσέως χάριν
appears to be incorrect does not alter the mutinous character of her
attitude towards Athena.
954. φυτεύει: the figurative use with as object, e.g. κακόν or
κήρα, is found in Homer (ZZ. XV 134, Od. II 165). In Soph. cf. O.T.
347 (ξυμφυτεϋσαι τούργον) and in another way ib. 873 ΰβρις φυτεύει
190 COMMENTARY

τύραννον. For πήμα cf. Eustath. ad Od. XIV 338: τό έκ τής δύης καί
άτης κακόν; cf. supra 363, Aesch. Ag. 1198.
955. κελαινώπαν θυμόν έφυβρίζει: the acc. is to be regarded as an
acc. relationis, cf. II. VIII 559 γέγηθε φρένα (which is pretty much
the same as κατά θυμόν at II. XIII 416). The schol. is correct:
έξωθεν δέ ή κατά; wrong, or at least improbable, E. and others:
θυμόν άποδεικνύει έφυβρίζων. The relation between predicate and
acc. does not differ from that in άλγεΐν όδόντας. A dative (ήμΐν or
τφ θανόντι) may be supplied (cf. infra 1385) or else άχεσιν may be
taken with it άπό κοινού.
κελαινώπαν: κελαινώπης is a good as κελαινώψ (ample discussion
by Lobeck), as appears i.a. from στυγερώπης Hes. Op. 196, the
feminine κελαινώπις Pind. Pyth. I 7, γλαυκώπις, δολώπις Track. 1050.
The second member of the compound has little meaning, as little
as in δολώπις l.c. When mention is made of Odysseus’ κελαινώπας
θυμός, this means that Odysseus is κελαινόφρων (Aesch. Eum. 459,
of Clytaemestra), cunning and malicious; the Erinyes, the daughters
of the Night, are κελαιναί.
956. πολύτλας άνήρ: it would seem that Tecmessa uses τλήναι
in the sense of "venture”, rather than in that of “suffer".
957. γελά: the dative, without differing from επί + dative, is
quite common with the verba affectuum. Cf. supra ad 946-48 and
infra 1042 sq.
τοΐσδε μαινομένοις άχεσιν: just as in Dutch one can speak of
“razende smart” (raging grief); cf. Hom. άλαστος. Somewhat dif­
ferent, Ant. 135 μαινομένα ξύν όρμά. I do not believe that we may
assume a further reference to the source of the grief, viz. the rage
or frenzy of Ajax (thus schol.: τοϊς διά την μανίαν συμβεβηκόσιν,
and Jebb).
960. ξύν: adverbial. Cf. infra 1288, Ant. 85.
961. δ* ούν: permissive use of δ’ ουν. Verb in the imper., preceded
by σύ or ό: "the tone is defiant and contemptuous” (Denniston,
G.P., 466, 4). "Well, let them...."
962. βλέποντα: "while he lived”, see infra 1067, where the words
of Menelaus are undoubtedly intended (by the poet) as a reminiscence
of these.
963. έν χρεία δορός: "in the need of his spear”. Cf. φορβής χρεία
Phil. 162. For the concepts ποθέω and χρεία cf. ib. 646 λαβών δτου
σε χρεία καί πόθος μάλιστ’ έχει, Callinus I. ι8 sq. D. λαω γάρ σύμ-
παντι πόθος κρατερόφρονος άνδρός / θνήσκοντος, ζώων δ’ άξιος ημιθέων.
 kommos, vss. 955-966 191

Also Aesch. Prom. 169 ή μην έτ’ έμοΰ χρείαν έξει μακάρων πρύτανις.
(Jebb’s explanation "in the straits of warfare” finds little support
in 1275; Aesch. Sept. 506 έν χρεία τύχης would be more in favour
of this view.)
964. κακοί γνώμαισι: the dativ. instrum, not materially different
from the acc. limit., as in πρεσβυτάτην γενεη; Xen. Mem. II 1.31
τοϊς σώμασιν άδύνατοι, ταϊς ψυχαϊς άνόητοι (K.-G. I, 3Τ7· a- Ι9)·
965. έκβάλη: έκβάλλειν, "to throw away”, "to lose by one's
own fault”, τις refers in a general way to the subject of ίσασι.
A good illustration of έκβάλλειν is furnished by O.T. 611 sq. φίλον
γάρ έσθλον έκβαλεϊν ίσον λέγω / καί τον παρ’ αύτω βίοτον, δν πλεϊστον
φιλεϊ (Creon to Oedipus). Schol. Pal. (quoted by E.) πριν άν τις
αύτοΰ στερηθη.
964, 965. There may be some hesitation as to which is the better
construction: τάγαθέν οΰκ ίσασι, χεροϊν έχοντες, or οϋκ ϊσασιν έχοντες
χεροϊν τάγαθόν. Logic seems to favour the first.
966. έμοί πικρές τέθνηκεν ή κείνοις γλυκύς: schol. μάλλον έμοί
π. τέθ. ήπερ έκείνοις γλ. We have at Hdt. IX 26.7, an example
which comes nearest to this use of ή without μάλλον: οΰτω ών δίκαιον
ήμέας έχειν τέ έτερον κέρας ήπερ ’Αθηναίους (K.-G. II, 3°3 a· 2)·
It may otherwise be said that we have here πικρές ή γλυκύς, where
we might have expected πικρότερος ή γλυκύτερος or πικρές μάλλον ή
γλυκύς or πικρές μάλλον ή γλυκύτερος (cf. Eur. Med. 485)· Further­
more, since the essential function of the suffix *-τερο is to mark a
contrast (cf. άγρότερος, θηλύτερος etc.), it is easy to understand
that the positive of two diametrically opposed words, contrasted
by ή can take the place of the "comparativi” in -τερος. Compare
with this in Latin tacita bona est mulier quam loquens (Plaut.),
claris maioribus quam vetustis (Tac.) etc. Cf. also infra 1357· There
is the related use of the genitive of comparison with a superlative:
"Ανδρ’ άγαθέν πενίη πάντων δάμνησι μάλιστα / καί γηρως πολιοϋ,
Κύρνε, καί ήπιάλου (Theogn. 173 sq.). An instance resembling our
case more closely is Theogn. 577 'Ρήδιον (thus all MSS) έξ άγαθοΰ
θεϊναι κακέν ή ’κ κακού έσθλόν. Cf. perhaps also Call. Epigr. 4 Τίμων,
ού γάρ έτ’ έσσί, τί τοι, σκότος ή φάος, έχθρόν; et done, de
Tombre ou de la lumiere, qui t'est le plus ennemi?” (Cahen).
For γλυκύς opp. πικρός cf. Solon 1.5 D. είναι δέ γλυκύν ώδε φίλοισ’,
έχθροΐσι δέ πικρόν. What she means is: the bitterness which his
death brings upon me is greater than the pleasure which they will
enjoy by it (for it is evident that they will miss him to their cost).
Cf. supra ad 521.
192 COMMENTARY

967. αύτώ δέ τερπνός: this is not affected by the comparatio of

the preceding verse but is brought into relief by δέ (“but at all
events”).
ών γάρ ήράσθη τυχεϊν: cf. supra 686 τούμόν ών έρα κέαρ.
968. θάνατον όνπερ ήθελεν: apposition to the implied object of
έκτήσαθ’, ταϋτα.
969. τί δήτα: as Ajax desired his own death and the result
tends to the bitterness of Tecmessa more than to the joy of the
Atreidae, there is no reason why they should triumph over the
dead.
έπεγγελώεν: cf. 454, 989 (with the dative), τοϋδε .... κάτα lends
more emphasis, and may be supplemented by κακοϊς (cf. 961); cf.
El. 277 άλλ’ ώσπερ έγγελώσα τοΐς ποιουμένοις (Electra speaking
of Clytaemestra). The motif of εις εχθρούς γελάν is found already
in the prologue (79). For κατά cf. O.C. 1339 καθ’ ημών έγγελών.
970. θεοΐς τέθνηκεν ούτος, οό κείνοισιν, oQ: "He has fallen a
victim to the gods, not to them”. (“II a, par sa mort, satisfait
aux dieux — aux Atrides, non!” Mazon.) His death, therefore, is no
reason for joy or triumph on their part. This is preferable to taking
θεοΐς and κείνοισιν as a “dativ. auctoris” (in itself a doubtful con­
ception), for then the words of Tecmessa would discharge the
Atreidae, which is of course out of the question. One may perhaps
paraphrase as follows: “His death is a matter between him and the
gods, not between him and them". I don’t quite understand
Bowra’s translation: "’T is the gods/Must answer for his death,
not those men, no” (Soph. Trag. p. 47).
971. έν κενοΐς: for κενός cf. supra 287. A schol. renders it by
ματαίως. For έν κενοΐς ύβρίζειν one may compare Aesch. Cho. 222
άλλ’ έν κακοΐσι τοΐς έμοΐς γελάν θέλεις, and Track. Iix8 sq. ού γάρ
άν γνοίης έν οίς / χαίρειν πρόθυμη κάν δτοις άλγεΐς μάτην. “Then
let Odysseus indulge in an overbearing attitude for which there
is no ground”.
972. γάρ: explanatory to έν κενοΐς ΰβριζέτω. With άλλ’ έμοί
Tecmessa turns back to what to her constitutes the reality of what
has happened. For them Ajax is simply no more (which is no reason
for joy in them—their γελάν and ύβρίζειν are κενά), but for her
his loss means grief and mourning.
972, 973. άλλ’ έμοί .... διοίχεται: these words call to mind those
of Deianeira: πλήν έμοί πικράς / ώδΐνας αύτοϋ προσβαλών άποίχεται,
Track. 41 sq.
 kommos, vss. 967-973—fourth epeisodion, vss. 974-982 193

άνίας: cf. 266, 1005; also II. V 156 πατέρι δέ γόον καί κήδεα
λυγρά / λεϊπ', ....
διοίχεται: cf. supra ad 896.

Fourth Fpeisodion, vss. 974-1184

974. The coming of Teucer is prepared in 804 and further in
688, 827, 921. It should not be assumed that at vs. 921 somebody
goes to warn Teucer; this happened at 827. Teucer approaches the
group, sees in the distance Tecmessa standing by the body and
realizes what has happened; he has moreover been prepared for
it by the tidings in the camp (978, 999), as Ajax wished (826 ~ 998).
976. The scream of Tecmessa was called a βοή πάραυλος; in the
same way that of Teucer is called a μέλος επίσκοπον τήσδ’ άτης.
έπίσκοπον: Hesych. έπίσκοπα ' τυγχάνοντα τοϋ σκοπού. Schol.
ούχ ήμαρτηκός της συμφοράς άλλ’ έστοχασμένον. Cf. Aesch. Eum.
902 sq. τί ούν μ’ άνωγας τήδ’ έφυμνήσαι χθονί; / όποια νίκης μή κακής έπί­
σκοπα, and ib. 517 (codd.). Hdt. Ill 35 τίνα είδες ήδη πάντων ανθρώ­
πων οΰτω έπίσκοπα τοξεύοντα; the interpretation therefore is:
ήκον έπΐ τόν σκοπόν τήσδε της άτης, i.e. "befitting this woe". The
metaphor of words hitting the mark like arrows is very frequent.
977. ώ ξύναιμον 6μμ’ έμοί: όμμα for a person who is dear to us:
Aesch. Cho. 238 ώ τερπνόν όμμα (in parody Ar. Ach. 1184).
978. ήμπόληκας: since (έμ)πολαν is etymologically probably a
frequentative form of πέλω, the meaning πέπραγα for the perfect
is not at all strange. Cf. Aesch. Eum. 631 sq. ήμποληκότα / τα πλεϊστ'
άμεινον. Lobeck rightly quotes from Hippocrates (De morb. IV 49;
II P· 353 Kuehn) κάλλιον έμπολήσει ό άνθρωπος — βέλτιον απαλλάξει,
"he will fare better”.
ώσπερ ή φάτις κρατεί: internal object to ήμπόληκας. For ή φάτις
κρατεί cf. Aesch. Suppi. 294 φάτις πολλή κρατεί, Pers. 738; Plut.
Dem. I ώς ό πολύς κρατεί λόγος.
980. άρα: "marking realization of the truth” (Denniston, G.P.,
45 (2)). Cf. supra 738, infra 1238, 1368. Groeneboom ad Aesch.
Cho. 435.
For the genit, cf. ad 900.
981. ώς ώδ’ έχόντων .... πάρα στενάζειν: cf. supra 904·
982. ώ περισπερχές πάθος: the context shows that Teucer is
speaking here of his own πάθος, of the "blow” (Jebb) that has fallen
upon him in the death of Ajax, περισπερχής, therefore, does not
Kamerbeek 13
194 COMMENTARY

mean “rash”, but "vehement” (prop, "being in constant and

violent motion”; it is not formed from a subst., as περιπαθής, etc.,
but from the verbal stem σπερχ, and is to be compared with Hom.
άσπερχές). Hippocr. speaks of an όδύνη όξεϊα καί σπερχνή (De morb.
II 64, Nat. Mul. 35). Cf. Hes. Sc. 454 σπερχνόν κοτέων. Hesychius’
rendering περιώδυνος is not bad, but the formation is different.
983. φεΰ τάλας: "I, hapless man”. With γάρ Teucer passes on
to a new point. Cf. supra 101. (See on this γάρ, which raises a new
point without the answer to the question explaining anything of
what precedes, Denniston, G.P., 82.2 II.) Immediately Teucer
shows himself the man Ajax thought him to be (562), cf. 990 sq.
985. μόνος: κατά σύνεσιν referring to τέκνον.
ούχ όσον τάχος κτλ.: to Tecmessa.
986. δήτ’: makes the agitated imperative question all the more
urgent; the placing at the beginning of the verse is according to
Denniston (G.P., 271 (5)) unparalleled and "characteristic of
Sophoclean synaphea” (cf. Radermacher and Jebb a.l.). In this
respect, as indeed in so many things, there is some agreement
between the poetical workmanship and genius of Sophocles and
Vergil. (Cf. 1089 sq.)
986, 987. ώς κενής / σκύμνον λεαίνης: the first explanation of
the schol. (οί γάρ κυνηγοί τηροϋσι τόν καιρόν οπότε έρημοι των μητέρων
γίνονται οί σκύμνοι) presents great difficulties, for only by the
assumption of an impossible enallage does κενής allow of this
interpretation. The other explanation: κεκενωμένης, έστερημένης
τοϋ συζύγου, is quite simple; it takes κενός in the sense of viduus.
It only remains to decide whether κενής λεαίνης is separ, or posses.
The third possibility is to take κενής proleptically, as Ant. 424,
Eur. Med. 435 τας άνάνδρου / κοίτας όλέσασα λέκτρον, and similar
passages. In this case κενής belonging to the simile presents a
certain difficulty: "as the whelp from a lioness, which thus is rob­
bed of her young”. “As the whelp from a lioness bereft of her lion”
sounds more natural and seems more to the point ("comme on fait
des petits d’une lionne veuve” Mazon). This interpretation finds
support in the words τοΐς θανοϋσί τοι .... έπεγγελαν.
988. έγκόνει: cf. supra 811, also for the asyndeton,
σύγκαμνε: cf. El. 987.
τοι: cf. ad 520, 521.
988, 989. τοΐς θανοϋσί τοι .... έπεγγελαν: infra 1348· Aesch. Ag.
884 ώς τε σύγγονον / βροτοΐσι τόν πεσόντα λακτίσαι πλέον. With the
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 983-998 195

same κείμενος (to lie helpless), Ar. Nub. 550 κούκ έτόλμησ’ αύθις
έπεμπηδήσ’ αύτω κειμένω. Like κεϊσθαι is the Latin iacere: ad Ag.
884, Groeneboom gives two striking instances, Iuv. X 86 dum iacet
in ripa, calcemus Caesaris hostem; [Sen.] Oct. 455 calcat iacentem
vulgus.
έπεγγελάν: the motif found throughout the drama; cf. έφυβρίζει
955 and γελά 957; 79, 303, 367, 382, 454.
After this Tecmessa leaves to return at 1168 as κωφόν πρόσωπον.
990. καί μην: the Coryphaeus intimates his emphatic agreement
with Teucer’s order.
τοϋδέ σοι μέλειν: cf. 689; the following ώσπερ ούν μέλει makes
it less probable that we ought to take μέλειν as a personal verb,
ώσπερ ούν μέλει: “as you do, in fact, care” (Denniston, G.P.,
421 (Π)).
992. θεαμάτων: θέαμα in a similarly pathetic context O.T. 1295.
It seems as though all the stops of pathos are pulled out; sound-
effect and amplitude of the words combine to create this impression,
δή is often used emphatically (and with a pathetic force, too) with
adjectives expressing indefinite quantity or number (G.P., 205
(VI)). (Emphatic δή occurs here three times in four verses; in 994
with the whole clause,'in 995 with the relative.)
994. οδός: the schol. rightly observes that Teucer’s going to the
body of Ajax is meant. Cf. also Ant. 1212 sq.
995. σπλάγχνον: σπλάγχνον is quite often used in tragedy (but
not in Homer) for “heart”, the seat of the feelings, etc. Cf.
άσπλαγχνος supra 472. Groeneboom ad Herod. Ill 42.
995-997. Constr. ήν έβην, διώκων κάξιχνοσκοπούμενος, ώς
έπησθόμην τόν σόν μόρον.
διώκων κάξ.: μόρον can hardly be considered as, the object;
the words seem to mean "quickly following your footsteps”, i.e.
with σε as object derived from τόν σόν μόρον, while the idea of
seeking is especially implied in έξιχν,, that of quickness in διώκων.
διώκειν, moreover, can be used (intr.) for “to move quickly”: Xen.
An. VI 5.25 and perhaps Aesch. Sept. 90; cf. further the rather
frequent διώκειν πόδα. έξιχνοσκοπεΐν in a very literal sense, Trach.
271.
998. όξεϊα .... τίνος: the manner in which Teucer has heard of
Ajax’ death by Fama is as Ajax wished (cf. 826).
όξεϊα: the difference between όξεϊα and ταχεία is best seen from
Phil. 807 sq. ώς ήδε μοι / όξεϊα φοιτά καί ταχεϊ’ άπέρχεται. The idea
196 COMMENTARY

of quickness is strengthened by the connotations "vehement” and

"suddenly”.
998. 999. σου βάξις .... διήλθ’: σου has the value of περί σοϋ,
cf. supra 221, Ant. n μύθος φίλων, El. 317, Track. 1122 (K.-G.
I, 363 c).
βάξις: = “fama” also at O.T. 519, El. 1006.
ώς θεού τίνος: correct, Lobeck: sc. βάζοντος.
999. ώς οίχη θανών: οϊχεσθαι used as in 896, 973·
1000. έκποδών: this use deserves notice because the meaning is
"being at some distance”; there is no trace whatever of the idea
of “getting out of the way” or such-like (as e.g. in Aesch. Prom. 344
σαυτον εκποδών δχων, "keeping out of harm's way”). There may be
a note of self-reproach in the words of Teucer.
1001. ύπεστέναζον: cf. supra 322.
άπόλλυμαι: the nuance is much fainter than in Tecmessa’s δλωλα,
896.
1003. The contrast between the brother who wishes to see τό
παν κακόν (right, Masqueray: "tout mon malheur”) and the woman
who conceals it (915 sqq.) is a fine dramatic trait (cf. schol. ad 1024).
Psychologically there is a resemblance between Teucer’s desire and
Electra’s wish to keep the um (El. 1119 sqq.).
1004. δμμα: probably means here in the first place "face”, as
e.g. supra 462. He says this when he uncovers the face of Ajax.
But since δμμα is also said of the person (supra 977), it is by no
means strange that on a par with δυσθέατον the genit, qualit.
τόλμης πίκρας goes with it. (For genitives of the same kind cf.
K.-G. I, 264 c; cf. supra 6x6 μεγίστας άρετας.) Yet the meaning
"sight”, “appearance” for δμμα seems still more likely (cf. El.
903, where it may be translated by "image"), so that the genit,
may be paraphrased as "giving evidence of, proceeding from τόλμη
πικρά”. The view of Eustathius, who explains τόλμης πίκρας as a
genit, exclam, is not very convincing: καί τώνδε γονάτων, Eur.
Med. 497, is an uncertain parallel because there may have been
attraction.
πίκρας: i.e. of which the consequences are bitter, as supra 966
έμοί πικρός τεθνηκεν. A similar meaning in πικρόγαμος and in the
predicative πικρός, Od. XVII 448 and in πικρόκαρπον άνδροκτασίαν,
Aesch. Sept. 693.
1005. Whatever the sense of δμμα may be, Ajax is addressed by
the preceding vocative, so that it is only natural that he should
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 998-1012 197

be taken as the subject with the participle in the masculine,

φθίνεις: intr., as is normal for the present, cf. e.g. 405. For the
pres. = pert. cf. K.-G. I, 137 d.
άνίας: cf. supra ad 973.
μοι κατασπείρας: not "having strewn over me”, but "having sown
for me”, as the schol. says admiringly: δαιμονίως καί τδ σπείρας olov
άρχήν κακών παρασχών. (Not as Masqueray renders: "quelles
semences de douleur tu jettes en moi par ta mort”.) τόλμης πίκρας
and κατασπείρας express together what Aesch. Sept. 693 calls
πικρόκαρπος.
1006. ποϊ .... βροτούς: an echo of the words of Ajax in 403, 404.
1007. άρήξαντ’: άρήξαντα sc. σοι. An instance of a combined
praedic, dativ. and accus. at El. 960-962. Cf. also Ant. 836-838.
1008. ή που: has ironical force strengthened by ίσως, ioog (ίσως
is very frequent with the potential, cf. e.g. 962); cf. Lycurg. 71
(Denniston, G.P., 286 (I)).
σός πατήρ έμόσ θ’: cf. Hom. II. VI 87 μητέρι σή καί έμή.
άμα is not otiose: though Telamon is Teucer’s father as well as
Ajax’....
1009. ίλεως: of a person, = "kind” (with the nuance hilaris cf.
Heracles, Track. 763 ίλεφ φρενί, when he receives the robe).
1010. χωροϋντ’: "when I return”.
πώς γάρ οΰχ: irony approaching sarcasm. “Aye, surely”.
Teucer’s words are true to life when he says how much Telamon
resembles his son Ajax. Schol. ad 1008: άμα μεν πρός <τό> της ιστο­
ρίας δτι έκβέβληται άμα δέ καί πρός τό πιθανόν της ύπονοίας. After
his return Teucer went into exile (cf. schol. Pind. Nem. IV 46).
δτω πάρα: πάρεστι “sometimes denotes the possession of a habit
or characteristic” (Page on Med. 659). For a more frequent use
of πάρα cf. ad 904.
1011. ήδιον γελάν: more brightly, more kindly than usual.
The unusual character of the expression ίλεων γελάν is in favour
of this reading of L, A and the Roman class; it is further possible
that somebody, versed in rhetoric, has changed ίλεων so shortly after
ίλεως. Finally there may have been palaeographical reasons for the
confusion of ίλεων and ήδιον. I cannot agree with Jebb, who calls
the v.l. ίλεων for ήδιον “very inferior".
1012. τί κρύψει: κρύπτειν not, as often (e.g. Phil. 588 and in
Hom.), "conceal”, "keep secret” but "keep back”, “leave unspoken”.
κακόν: "abusive word” (as often). The omission of the comma
198 COMMENTARY

after κακόν brings the construction (λέγειν τινά τι) into relief; but
since the abusive words are at the same time included in the object,
the use or omission of a comma makes little difference. (Not quite
satisfactory, Masqueray; “Quelles injures ne m’adressera-t-il pas,
au b&tard etc.”.)
1013. έκ Χορός .... πολεμίου: said with great scorn instead of
έκ δυρυκτήτου. πολέμιος is bellicus, not hostilis (thus rightly Ellendt
and Jebb).
1014. κακανδρία: the word is used by Aesch. Pap. Ox. 2163.4 —
216 Mette (1959); it belongs to the words which the Rhesus has in
common with Soph. (cf. Rhesus ed.2 W. H. Porter p. XLV).
1015. σέ, φίλτατ’ Αίας: in the pathetic vocative preceded by σε
placed in relief Teucer gives vent to his indignation at what will
be said to him. Moreover, a remarkable effect is attained by the
placing of σέ .... σά .... σούς.
1016. κράτη .... νέμοιμι: cf. Ο.Τ. 237 Ύήί / τήσδ’, ής έγώ κράτη
τε καί θρόνους νέμω, κράτη and δόμους are both very frequent as
objects to νέμειν.
τά σά κράτη θανόντος: "Your royal dignity when you have died”
(according to the same syntactical principle as τά ήμέτερα αυτών,
meus ipsius etc.).
1017. δύσοργος: descriptive of Telamon’s character.
έν γήρα βαρύς: this may mean the same as σύν γήρα βαρείς, Ο.Τ.
'ί'] (έν γήρα όντες καί ύπ’ αύτοϋ βαρυνόμενοι). But βαρύς also often
means "unpleasant” (cf. e.g. /r. 99 N.2 = 103 P. τοϊς ξυνοΰσιν ών
βαρύς) and έν γήρα is all but identical with γήρα “troublesome by
(in) his old age”. The context makes this more plausible.
1018. πρός ούδέν εις έριν θυμούμενος: "who flies into a passion
without cause (pour un rien) and thus sows discord”. So there are
three things said of Telamon, in co-ordination. (Wrong, schol. πρός
ούδέν] πρός ούδέν άληθές ή αίτιον έ μ ο ί.) For είς cf. Phil. Ill όταν τι
δρας ές κέρδος.
1019. άπωστός: άπωθεϊν = “to banish” is common. Cf. Ο.Τ.
641 ή γης άπώσαι πατρίδος, and 670 ή γης άτιμον τησδ* άπωσθήναι βία.
These passages make it probable that γης goes with άπωστός;
άπορριφθήσομαι, in that case, is used absolutely, "I shall be driven
away”, "become a castaway”, as Dem. XVIII 48 άπερριμμένοι
"those cast away” ("comme un instrument dont on n’a plus
que faire”, Weil). The fact that the caesura falls after άπωστός is not
a sure indication to the contrary. It is of course also possible to
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1013-1025 199

connect γης with άπορριφθήσομαι and to regard άπωστδς as an

amplification.
1020. λόγοισιν: ταϊς τοϋ πατρδς λοιδορίαις (schol.).
φανείς cf. infra 1241.
άντ’ έλευθέρου: instead of the free man <1 really am>. It is
typical of Teucer, whose position as νόθος has a dubious character,
that his great fear is to be considered as a δούλος. Indeed, it may
be said of Teucer that he is a man who wishes to make himself felt.
1022. παϋρα δ’ ώφελήσιμα: the MSS have ώφελήσιμοι, while
the Roman class and Suid. have παΰροι; Johnson concluded that the
reading was παϋρα δ’ ώφελήσιμα; an explanation of this yielded
ώφελήσιμοι. Cf. Schol. όλίγοι δέ ώφελήσιμοι Έλληνες, παϋρα 8’ ώφε-
λήσιμοι would have to mean "only in a few respects are there useful
ones”, i.e. those who can help me can do so only in small things.
This is not altogether absurd, seeing the nature of the situation,
for Teucer may depend on the enmity of all the Greeks, with the
exception of the Salaminian sailors. Masqueray renders παϋρα 8*
ώφελήσιμα elegantly with "rares mes soutiens”.
1023. ηύρόμην: cf. for εύρίσκεσθαι Ar. Ach. 640, Aesch. Ag. 1588.
There is a grim irony, as εύρημα stands for an unexpected gain.
Cf. εύρίσκεσθαι άγαθόν, Xen. An. II 1.8; ώφελίαν, Thue. I 31·2·
1024. άποσπάσω: correlative in meaning with πεπτώτα περί (828),
περιπτυχής (899), τόδ’ έγχος περιπετές (907)· Schol. Pal. (quoted
by Ellendt): άποσπαν · τδ βιαίως χωρίζειν τά κεκολλημένα.
1025. κνώδοντος: what a κνώδων really is, appears from Xen.
Cyn. 10.3: the hunting-spear (προβόλων) must have κνώδοντας, i.e.
cross-pieces half-way along the αύλός (the socket of the spear-head
into which the shaft fitted). Cf. Ant. 1233 ξίφους / έλκει διπλούς κνώ­
δοντας. Etymology indicates the meaning "point” (vide Boisacq;
in antiquity the word was associated with όδόντες, cf. schol. ad
1025). It is therefore possible that the word is used here “pars pro
toto” for “sword” (thus certainly Lycophron Al. 466 πρός κνώδοντος
αύτουργούς σφαγάς). On the other hand, Ajax, after falling upon
his sword, lies on the κνώδοντες, if they are cross-pieces of the hilt,
so that we might, in view of άποσπάσω, think of the cross-pieces;
but then, the word is not in the plural (or dual) as might be expected.
πικροΰ speaks for the meaning "point”, i.e. the whole sword,
whether one wishes to translate "sharp” or give a more figurative
translation (cf. Aesch. Sept. 729 κτεάνων χρηματοδαίτας πικρός).
αίόλου: perhaps Sophocles had in mind Hom. II. VII 303 (Έκτωρ)
200 COMMENTARY

δώκεν ξίφος άργυρόηλον. Finally it is to be observed that here, too,

the sword is personified (φονέως), so that the poet may have used
the word by associating it with κνώδαλον. For Soph, likes to use the
ad), αίόλος with δρακών (Track, n and 834). This supposition is
the more justified because a malicious power is thought to be
operative in the sword, issuing from Hector, and to a certain degree
comparable with the evil power lurking in the robe of Nessus (cf.
ad 1027).
1025. 1026. ύφ’ οδ / φονέως άρ’ έξέπνευσας: for φονεύς, cf.
σφαγεύς, 815.
άρ’: φονέως, brought into full relief by its position, receives
additional stress from άρα: the sword which, as we now see, became
your murderer.
1026. The motif of 660 and 817 is taken up again.
είδες: it is doubtful whether we may, with Jebb, compare this
aor. with έγνως, Track. 1221. Teucer addresses Ajax, it is true,
but of nothing is he more certain than of the latter’s death; moreover,
Soph, might have been expected to write όρας (cf. O.T. 687, Ant.
735)· What Teucer means to say is “did you see, (or, "you saw”:
the note of interrogation may be omitted, with Radermacher)
when you fell upon your sword, or even before that time?”
1027. έμελλε .... καί θανών άποφθίσειν: for the part of the oxy­
moron in Sophocles, in his dramaturgy as well as in the formulations
connected with it, cf. the imposing collection of loci by Schmid-
Stahlin I 2.491 n. 4. The dead man who “kills” the living is found
in Aesch. Cho. 886 τόν ζώντα καίνειν τούς τεθνηκότας λέγω (cf.
El. 1417 sqq. ζώσιν οί / γας ύπαϊ κείμενοι, παλίρρυτον γάρ αΐμ’ ύπεξαι-
ροϋσι των / κτανόντων οί πάλαι θανόντες).
As Hector causes the death of Ajax by his sword, thus Nessus
the death of Heracles by his robe. Heracles, according to legend,
could be killed only by one dead: ((ό θήρ Κένταυρος) ζώντά μ’ έκτεινεν
θανών (Track. 1163). Cf. also Track, mi.
άποφθίσειν: though the aor. with ΐ is common in the Attic poets,
and this future an exception, there is no sufficient reason to read
(with Hermann and Pearson) άποφθίσαι (the inf. aor. with μέλλω is
in itself of course excellent).
1028. The poet is like a musician who cannot disengage himself
from a motif, delighted as he is with the happy find.
Masqueray is right when he assumes that Teucer recites 11. 1028
sqq. after he has taken Ajax out of the sword, and that he keeps
the sword in his hand.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1025-1031 201

σκέψασθε: several commentators are of opinion that these words

are addressed to the audience, but this is by no means certain.
There is nothing to be said against Teucer’s addressing the Chorus.
No more is Eur. Suppl. 549 sqq. to the audience: Theseus here
addresses the Thebans through the medium of the Messenger.
Another question is whether Sophocles is here pronouncing his
own opinion through the mouth of Teucer. The passage gives this
impression but it cannot be proved.
1029. ω .... ζωστηρι: τούτω τώ ζωστηρι ω.
έδωρήθη: aor. pass, of a dep. med. as supra 217 άπελωβήθη,
Track. 1218 έργασθήσεται, etc.; δωρεΐσθαί τινά τινι as Aesch. Prom.
778.
1030. πρισθείς ιππικών έξ άντύγων: "firmly bound (by the girdle)
to the chariot rail”. The schol. explains πρισθείς by έξαφθείς, έκδεσ-
μηθείς (sic), πρίειν can have the sense of άπριξ έχειν, mordicus tenere.
Cf. a dog clutching a lion tightly with his teeth, τούς όδόντας έμ-
πεπρικώς, Diod. XVII 92.3 (quoted by Lobeck); Herod. V 25
Σύσσφιγγε τούς αγκώνας, έκπρισον δήσας. Also Hesych. πρισμοΐς-
ταϊς βιαίοις κατοχαϊς. Suidas: έμπρίσαντες, συσφίγξαντες, προσαρμο-
σαντες. Nevertheless, one gets the impression that Sophocles when
he used this bold turn of phrase had also in his mind the girdle
run through the feet (bound to the chariot by the girdle biting into
the flesh like teeth). There is of course a reminiscence of 11. XXII
398 εκ δίφροιο δ’ έδησε, but there the piercing of the feet, through
which the straps are pulled, precedes.
1031. έκνάπτετ’: κνάπτειν prop, “to card” (wool), hence “to
tear”, “mutilate”. Cf. Pl. Resp. X 616 a τύν δέ Άρδιαϊον .... εΐλκον
παρά τήν ύδύν έκτύς έπ’ άσπαλάθων κνάμπτοντες. κνάπτειν, not γνάπ-
τειν, is the correct old-attic form of the word, cf. Groeneboom
ad Aesch. Pers. 576.
άπέψυξεν: άποψύχειν in Hom. = "to swoon” (cease to breathe),
Od. XXIV 348; in Thue. (I 134.3, without βίον) = “to pass away”.
Cf. Herod. IV 29.
In contradistinction, therefore, to Homer Sophocles conceives of
Hector being dragged along alive by Achilles. It is not known
whether he derived this from an epic tradition or some other source
(cf. E. E. Sikes, The Greek View of Poetry, 1931, p. 165, who wrongly
seems to put Eur. Andr. 399 on a level with our passage and refers
to G. Murray, Rise of the Greek Epic?, p. 145). Nothing of this
appears Euripides’ Andr. 107 sq. or 399, where Hector is dragged
202 COMMENTARY

round the town (in the Iliad only from the town to the ships’ camp
and later on round the grave of Patroclus). It is probable that
Vergil, at Aen. II 273, had in mind the conception of Soph., as he
had that of Euripides at I 483. Henry observes very aptly that
there could be a question of pedes tumentis (II 273) only if Hector
were still alive.
1032. δωρεών: the evidence of the inscriptions seems to support
this orthography instead of δωρεάν (Meisterhans-Schwyzer3 p. 40,
44; Groeneboom ad Aesch. Prom. 338, cf. ti. 616).
τηνδε δωρειάν: "this as a present”; τηνδε is assimilated to the
predicate.
1033. πρύς τοϋδ’: this is very imposing when Teucer is holding
the sword in his hand. Personification of the sword also here,
πρός = ab is very frequent in Ionic.
θανασίμω πεσηματι: as πηδήματι 833· It needs hardly be pointed
out how often πίπτειν means "to throw oneself into”, θανάσιμος is
used as at Trach. 758 (θανάσιμον πέπλον), or O.T. 560 (θανασίμω
χειρώματι). Different, supra 517.
1034. Έρινύς .... έχάλκευσε: the Erinys forges the sword here;
cf. Aesch. Ag. 1535 and Cho. 64J προχαλκεύει δ’ ΑΙσα φασγανουργός
(Soph, has this passage in mind: φασγανουργός ~ δημιουργός).
El. 197 sq. is also comparable, to some extent. The robe of Nessus
is called Έρινύων ύφαντόν άμφίβληστρον, Trach. 1051. Cf. Aesch.
Ag. 1580 ΰφαντοϊς έν πέπλοις Έρινύων. Observe that Ajax at the
moment when he falls upon his sword invokes the Erinyes, whereas
Teucer sees the death of Ajax as the work of Erinys.
1035. κάκεϊνον: sc. ζωστήρα; έχάλκευσε is a zeugma (it would
otherwise be a matter of dispute how far a girdle mounted with
gold can be said to be "forged”).
δημιουργός άγριος: "grim artisan”. It is doubtful whether the
reference to δίκτυον "Αιδου (Ag. 1115) is correct. The conception
in Soph, is that Hades has made the ζωστήρ, whereas δίκτυον "Αιδου
is said in a more figurative way (to be paraphrased: "net, as used
by Hades").
1036. μέν ούν: ούν emphasizes μεν, which stands in correlation
with δέ (1038); it does not mark an inference (cf. O.T. 498, Ant.
925; see Denniston, G.P., 473 (2), who makes no mention of this
passage, perhaps because there is a v.l. άν instead of ούν). "As
to me, I....
ταΰτα: probably = τοιαϋτα, as τάδε = τοιάδε at Ant. 302 (cf.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1032-1041 203

τούτοις ib. 39), infra 1246, ταΰτα O.T. 368: ή καί γεγηθώς ταΰτ’ άεί
λέξειν δοκεϊς; this would make the inf. praes, μηχαναν suit both
objects.
1036. 1037. άεί: does not go with φάσκοιμ’ αν but with καί ταΰτα
καί τά πάντ’ .... μηχαναν, especially with τά πάντα.
1037. μηχαναν: the active, in classical Greek only at Od. XVIII
143 and Soph. Inach. Pap. Tebt. 692 fr. 1.33 πάντα μηχανα τύ Δΐον
ώς [τό Σισύφου γένος (pass. Track. 586 μεμηχάνηται τοθργον, and
elsewhere).
If we are justified in assuming that Teucer is voicing the opinion
of the poet, we may conclude that the latter believes in the omni­
potence of the gods, even though under protest. For though Ajax
is a committer of hybris, Hector is not, and in their exchange of
arms their fates are linked together by the will and design of the
gods. Note also the sinister associations of ambush and guile
inherent in the verb μηχαναν.
1038. έν γνώμη: "in his judgment” (perhaps to be compared with
the frequent έν νω έχειν or with έν έμοί = me iudice, O.C. 1213,
not with Hdt. VI 37.1).
1039. εκείνα: the formulation is a natural consequence of τάδε
("what I say here”): "that which he thinks". With which is compared
Euenos of Paros: σοί μέν ταΰτα δοκοΰντ’ έστω, έμοί δέ τάδε (1.4 D.).
στεργέτω: has the connotation of -probare. The schol. observes
that the verse has become proverbial; but perhaps Soph., like
Euenos, follows here an existing saying. The pronouncement is not
determined by Teucer's character but by the situation (cf. E. Wolf,
Sentenz und Reflexion bei Sophokles, p. 43).
1040. μή τείνε μακράν: sc. ρήσιν (Pl. Resp. X605 d μακράν ρήσιν
άποτείνοντα). Cf. Aesch. Ag. 916, 1296, Eur. Hel. 1017. The Cory­
phaeus says this when Menelaus appears accompanied by two
pursuivants. This marks the beginning of the conflict about the
funeral of Ajax, for which the spectator is prepared by several
passages earlier in the drama. After a short introduction Menelaus
and Teucer speak each a long ρήσις concluded by reflections on the
part of the coryphaeus, after which there is an outburst of sticho-
mythic altercation ending in the apologues, the two in key with
each other. Cf. Electra and Chrysothemis £/.871 -1057, Creon and
Antigone Ant. 441-525, Haemon and Creon ib. 635-780 etc. It is
a regular άγων having its counterparts in comedy.
1040, 1041. βπως .... χώ τι: two questions dependent on φράζου.
204 COMMENTARY

Note besides the imperative use of δπως with fut. in statu nascendi.
1041. μυθήση: after the Ajax and Antigone this epic word is no
longer used by Sophocles.
1041. 1042. τάχα in 1041 is temporal, in 1042 modal.
1042. 1043. κακοΐς / γελών: for the dative cf. supra 957. For the
motif of laughing ad 969.
1043. ά δή: very rare for άτε δή or οΐαδή (K.-G. II, 97.2); the
omission of ών is very common (id. ib. 102).
έξίκοιτ’: έξικνεΐσθαι = advenire', so El. 387. Combine κακούργος
άνήρ. Menelaus the Spartan is depicted as unfavourably as the
Menelaus of Euripides' Andromache.
1044. τίς .... δντιν’ άνδρα: = τίς δ’ άνήρ etc., echoing άνήρ in 1043·
1045. ώ δή: as in 1043 δή is here expressive of the Coryphaeus’
strained indignation against Menelaus (in 1029 it is used only for
emphasis). For the dative cf. v. Leeuwen ad Ar. Av. 745.
τόνδε πλοϋν έστείλαμεν: to the seaman the expedition against
Troy is in the first place: δδε πλους. Cf. Phil. 911 προδούς μ’ εοικε
κάκλιπών τδν πλοϋν στελεΐν.
1046. μαθεϊν......... δυσπετής: with ordinary personal construc­
tion. The adj. δυσπετής is very rare, εύπετής is common; the
adv., Aesch. Prom. 752 (εύπετής, Aesch. Suppl. 995, and else­
where).
1047. ούτος, σε φωνώ: for ούτος cf. supra 71, 89; for φωνώ, 73.
For the inf. pro imperat, in Soph. cf. O.T. 462, Phil. 57, 1080, 1411,
El. 9 (K.-G. II, 21).
φωνώ (with the omission of the comma) can of course also be
taken in the sense of iubere with acc. c. inf. But the abrupt ούτος, σέ
φωνώ, μή .... is much more characteristic of this Menelaus.
1048. συγκομίζειν: the meaning "together with others” for συν-
is not very likely here; as a matter of fact, this meaning is also
uncertain in συγκαθαρμόσαι, 922 (1378 sq. infra is of course diffe­
rent). It has no other function than cum- in componere (συγκομίζειν
is used in the sense of "to gather in the harvest”), i.e. "to inter”,
"bury” (Masqueray is right).
δπως έχει: αντί άθαπτον (schol.).
1049. άνήλωσας: άναλίσκειν = "to use up”, with the connotation
“in a bad way”, "for a bad purpose”. For άναλίσκειν λόγον cf.
Hyper. V 4 (Jensen) πολλούς λόγους άναλώσασα.
τίνος χάριν: τίνος is perhaps neuter (thus most editors) but in view
of 1050 the masc. also gives good sense. Phil. 1029 and (probably)
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1041-1055 205

El. 534 have τοϋ χάριν de re ("for what purpose”). Teucer may for
instance have thought of Odysseus, for whose sake Menelaus was
said to have acted in a deceitful way in the matter of voting for
the arms (cf. 1135).
τοσόνδε λόγον: not: “so many words”, but "such a haughty
word”, cf. supra 770, τοσόνδ’ έκόμπει μϋθον.
1050. δοκοϋντ’: if τίνος is taken as masc., then δοκοϋντ’ is
perhaps best regarded as referring to λόγον: "<not for the sake of
anyone, but> a word which etc.”. If τίνος is neuter, the view of
Jebb and others (δοκοϋντ’ neut. pi.) gives a somewhat more satis­
factory sense; the construction is looser, in that case: "<I said that>
as seemed fit to me and —”,
δοκοϋντ’ έμοί, δοκοΰντα δ’: the absence of μεν with anaphora
is common.
δς: sc. τούτφ δς. Cf. e.g. Phil. 957 παρέξω δαϊτ’ ύφ’ ών έφερβόμην.
By δς κραίνει στρατοΰ, of course, Agamemnon is meant.
1051. ήντιν’ αιτίαν προθείς: SC. τοσόνδε άνήλωσας λόγον δοκοΰντα
σοί καί τω Άγαμέμνονι.
προθείς: mostly explained with Ε. as "pretend” (αιτία = ground,
reason). But προτιθέναι never means this and one would expect the
middle (cf. προβάλλομαι, σκήπτομαι, προφασίζομαι, προκαλύπτομαι,
προίσχομαι). προτιθέναι λόγον = "to propose a thing to be examined
and debated”, e.g. Hdt. I 206, cf. προβάλλειν. αιτία undoubtedly
means here crimen (which makes excellent sense with όθούνεκα);
προτιθέναι is something like "to bring forward”, “to declare openly”,
while at the same time it should be borne in mind that with this the
dispute begins, so that the αιτία which Menelaus προτίθησι is the
theme of the conflict. (Cf. the use of προτιθέναι and πρόθεσις in
Aristotle, e.g. Top. I 100 a 18.)
1052. 1053. άγειν: the v.l. άξειν arose from the need to find
an inf. fut. with έλπίσαντες; but έλπίζειν can mean the same as
νομίζειν.
1054. έξηύρομεν ζητοΰντες: the participle serves to obtain a
full expression—a characteristic of Sophocles’ style. (The so-called
“polar” expressions are related to it.) Cf. e.g. O.C. 252 ού γάρ ϊδοις
αν άθρών βροτόν δστις άν κτλ. (L.). ζητεϊν is the natural correlate of
εύρίσκειν, cf. Ar. Ran. 96 sq., Plut. 104 sq. Triclinius’ explanation,
έξετάζοντες, seems unlikely.
1055. δστις: quippe qui.
στρατω ξύμπαντι: there is hardly any exaggeration in the words
206 COMMENTARY

of Menelaus; though the design had been only against the chiefs,
his curse was directed against the whole army (844).
1057. πείραν: cf. supra 290.
ϊσβεσεν: Homer says σβεννύναι χόλον, II. IX 678, σβεννύναι
μένος, II. XVI 621. Cf. O.C. 421 sq. άλλ’ ol θεοί σφιν μήτε την
πεπρωμένην / έριν κατασβέσειαν. Vide infra 1149·
The use of the word is very striking seeing that the πείρα arose
from Ajax’ δβρις, which is like a πυρκαίη ('Ύβριν χρή σβεννύναι μάλ­
λον ή πυρκαίην Heraclitus, jr. 43 D·)· Cf. infra 1088 αίθων ύβριστής.
1058 sqq. There is a sort of correspondence with the words of
Ajax 839-841. I am inclined to see in this passage, which is built
on the contrast death-life, a dramatic pendant of Heraclitus’ doc­
trine of μεταβολή. The schol. ad 1088 says: ήν τότε ύβριστής ούτος
άλλα νΰν έν μεταβολή γέγονεν etc. The core of the meaning is:
his life would have meant our death, his death is for us life. It may
be said with Heraclitus (/r. 88): τάδε γάρ μεταπεσόντα έκεϊνά έστι
κάκεϊνα πάλιν μεταπεσόντα ταϋτα. This to be transferred, of course,
to the dramatic situation of two parties engaged in a life-and-death
struggle. Cf. the words έρπει παραλλάξ ταϋτα (1087), reminding us
of Heraclitus: cf. D.L. IX 8 έναλλάξ and ένήλλαξεν, io6o; further
my paper Sophocle et Hiraclite, Studia Vollgraff, p. 90.
1058. 1059. τήνδ’ ήν 8δ’ εϊληχεν τύχην / θανόντες: τύχην is “cog­
nate" acc., as κακόν οϊτον όληαι II. Ill 417, άπόλωλε κακόν μόρον Od.
I 166; supra 760 sq. άνθρώπου φύσιν βλαστών. One gets the impression
that θανόντες takes as it were the place of a plainer and commoner
παθόντες.
1059. προυκείμεθ’: cf. supra 427. It is the verb for "to be laid
out for burial”. This is here out of the question of course; it simply
means profectus jaceo (Ellendt).
αίσχίστω μόρφ: they would have been murdered much in the
same way as the cattle had been butchered. Ajax would have
murdered each of them ώς τίς τε κατέκτανε βοϋν έπί φάτνη and they
would have died οίκτίστω θανάτφ. Μόρος most often denotes one’s
appointed doom or death: θάνατόν τε μόρον τε (Od. XI 4O9’412)·
1060. νΰν δ’ ένήλλαξεν θεός: in an epigram by Crinagoras, in
which a mother mourns for a son who had always enjoyed good
health, whereas another sickly one recovered, we read: Παίδων
άλλαχθέντι μόρφ έπι and νΰν δ* οί μέν ές ύμέας ήμείφθησαν / δαίμονες
(Α.Ρ. VII 638).
νΰν δ’: the common transition from irrealis to realis.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1057-1066 207

ένήλλαξεν: it is of course possible to regard την τοΰδ’ υβριν as the

object to ένήλλαξεν, so that πεσεϊν is epexegetic. The sentence
becomes more impressive—and the connection with 1087, έρπει
παραλλάξ ταϋτα, more precise—if την .... ΰβριν .... πεσεϊν is taken
as the object clause to ένήλλαξεν: "but now the deity has changed
the state of things so that etc.”. The motif of the change or turn,
inherent in Greek tragedy, denoted by ένήλλακται, also supra 208.
(Polybius, speaking of the Theban and Athenian states, says διά
τό .... μήτε τάς μεταβολάς ένηλλαχέναι μετρίως (VI 43 ·2)·)
1061. πρός μήλα και ποίμνας πεσεϊν: cf. supra 53, Ι841 Ichn.
II [ώδε] πρός τόλμαν πεσεϊν.
1062. ών οΰνεκ’ αύτόν: the placing of αυτόν far from its verb
(it is the object of τυμβεϋσαι and is defined more closely by σώμα;
cf. O.T. 819) is due to a desire to make the words correspond closely
to όθούνεκ’ αύτόν, 1052.
1063. σώμα τυμβεϋσαι τάφω: ritual formulation. Cf. Ar. Thesm.
885 αίαΐ, τέθνηκε; ποΰ δ’ έτυμβεύθη τάφω; (in tragical parody),
τυμβεύειν = "bury”, also Eur. Hel. 1245. (Different at Soph. El.
406 πατρί τυμβεϋσαι χοάς, intr. Ant. 888.)
1064. άμφί χλωράν ψάμαθον: άμφί = "somewhere on.. .”.,asEur.
Andr. 215, άμφί Θρήκην = "somewhere in Thrace”. (These cases
are wrongly separated by K.-G. I, 490 because άμφί is supposed to
be used here with a verb of motion; but the perf. expresses a
state or condition.) Eur. Hel. 961 άμφί μνήμα, “at the sepulchral
monument.”
χλωράν: "yellow”, "yellowish”, "ashen” (with μέλι II. XI 631,
Od. X 234). Jebb rightly quotes Verg. Aen. V 374, fulva moribun­
dum extendit arena (cf. Ον. Met. X 716). The schol. (διά τά έκεϊσε
φυτά) is mistaken and probably thinks of Ant. 1132. It is not epi­
theton omans; it is, like fulva in Vergil, emotional.
έκβεβλημένος: connoting the idea of outrage, of scorn. Cf. infra
1388, 1392, and repeatedly in the Phil.
1065. παραλίοις: this adj. (together with χλωράν) calls up the
mental image the hearer is intended to see. The picture of a dead
body cast away somewhere as a prey to birds haunts the imagination
of the Greek poets. After 1065 Teucer flies into a passion or makes
a threatening movement in the direction of Menelaus.
1066. μηδέν δεινόν έξάρης μένος: άείρειν μένος does not occur
in Homer. O.T. 914 comes in for comparison: ύψοΰ γάρ αίρει θυμόν
Οΐδίπους άγαν. Cf. also Eur. I.A. 919 ύψηλόφρων μοι θυμός αίρεται
208 COMMENTARY

πρόσω (where ύψηλόφρων is probably predicative), έξήρθης without

defining adjunct in Eur. Rhes. 109, not much different from έπήρθης
(“wast carried away”—by the news—W. H. Porter). No more does
έξήρετ’ (έλπίσιν κεναΐς) in Soph. El. 1461 differ from έπήρετ’. The
passion rises like waves in violent motion.
1067 sq. These words correspond to 962 sq. The rhyme of
βλέποντος, θανόντος becomes even more pronounced by their placing
in the verse. For βλέπειν cf. 962.
1068. πάντως θανόντος γ’ άρξομεν: it is the irony of the drama
that this is not to happen.
εί .... πάντως γ’: the relation between protasis and apodosis is
the same as in sentences which have άλλ’ οδν (γε) in the apodosis
(K.-G. II, 160 b). εί approaches a concessive εί: cf. Eur. Hel. 66
εί καθ’ Έλλάδ’ όνομα δυσκλεές φέρω. Though γ’ is limitative
(Denniston, G.P., 141) and goes with θανόντος, there is also a
certain correlation with the protasis.
1069. παρευθύνοντες: the explanation of the scholion (L), άντί
τοΰ τιμωρούμενοι, is unacceptable (this scholiast was thinking of
εύθύνειν = "punish”, cf. Pl. Prot. 326 ε). Jebb’s "guiding him
with our hands” (with reference to 542) leaves παρ- out of account.
In παρατρέπειν and παρασπαν {El. 732) παρα- means “aside", (to
turn) "from the right way”. The explanations of a “late” scholion,
έκτρέποντες · άπό των μή έώντων τινάς βαδίζειν την έαυτών όδόν, άλλά
παρεκκλινόντων αύτούς, and of Hesych., παραφέρειν, βιάζεσθαι, seem
plausible provided Teucer is not taken as the object to the parti­
ciple, as Tournier and Masqueray do. There is a bitter scorn in the
words: during his life Ajax, like a refractory horse, did not suffer
himself to be guided; now they will with their hands (i.e. by force)
make him go the way they wish—the man who never listened to a
word.
1069, 1070. λόγων: the place in the sentence and the verse brings
out the contrast to χερσίν more clearly. The resentment of Menelaus,
who was powerless against Ajax during the latter’s life (ζών con­
trasted to θανόντος), appears to be the motive of his behaviour now.
ού γάρ όσθ’ όπου: cf. Ο.Τ. 448 ού γάρ όσθ’ όπου μ’ όλεΐς.
1071. κακοΰ προς άνδρδς: cf. supra 319. 581.
καίτοι: the tone is adversative, but at the same time it intro­
duces the maior of a syllogism of which the preceding sentence is
the minor. The unspoken conclusion is: Ajax was a bad man
(Denniston, G.P., 563).
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1067-1076 209

The succession άνδρός άνδρα should not be objected to in a poet

of the 5th century.
άνδρα δημότην: said of Ajax with great and foolish contempt;
δημότης is diametrically opposed to βασιλεύς: Ant. 690 τό γάρ σόν
δμμα δεινόν άνδρ'ι δημότη (Haemon to Creon). (Cf. e.g. Hdt. II 172).
1072. των έφεστώτων = τών έν τελεί δντων, cf. supra 945-
1073 sqq. Cf. Creon Ant. 663 sqq., where lawful order in the
state and discipline in the army are likewise coupled together. The
double άν is quite common.
1074. νόμοι καλώς / φέροιντ’ άν: καλώς φέρεσθαι is something
like "thrive”. Cf. Thue. V 15.2 άλλ’ οί ’Αθηναίοι οΰπως ήθελον εύ
φερόμενοι επί τή ίση καταλύεσθαι, "as long as all went well with
them”, id. II 60.3 καλώς μέν γάρ φερόμενος άνηρ τό καθ’ εαυτόν
διαφθειρομένης της πατρίδος ούδέν ήσσον ξυναπόλλυται, Xen. Hell.
Ill 4 25 γνούς δέ καί ό Περσών βασιλεύς Τισσαφέρνην αίτιον είναι τοΰ
κακώς φέρεσθαι τά αύτοϋ, id. Oec. 5 ■ 17 φερομένης τής γεωργίας
έρρωνται καί αί άλλαι τέχναι άπασαι. Probably it is a faded nautical
metaphor, so that Jebb’s rendering "have a prosperous course” is
quite right. This is in harmony with the content of 1083.
ένθα μη καθεστήκη δέος: for the subj. without άν with ένθα cf.
also 1081 and O.T. 317; the subj. without άν with εί is of a similar
nature (rather frequent in Soph., K.-G. II, 474 a. 1). With οΰ, in
Thue. IV 17.2, where, however, άν may be supplied from the
following sub-clause.
καθεστήκη: the forms with κ are normal for the inscriptions of
the 4th century; in the subj. Xen. and Pl. prefer the forms with κ,
in tragedy they are comparatively rare.
For the Spartan Menelaus δέος is primary (altar to Φόβος in
Sparta, Plut. v. Cleom. 9; cf. also Thue. II 11.4). Cf. the words of
Epicharmus quoted by the schol. ad 1074: ένθα δέος ένταΰθα καί
αιδώς [fr. 221 Kaibel). Cf. Ζήνα δέ τόν θ’ έρξαντα καί δς τάδε πάντ’
έφύτευσεν / ούκ έθέλεις είπεϊν · ίνα γάρ δέος ένθα καί αιδώς, Stasinus,
Cypria XXIII, Allen from Pl. Euth. 12 a (and schol.), where Socrates
says that one ought to say: ίνα μέν αιδώς, ένθα καί δέος. It is also
δίκη and αιδώς that in the myth of Protagoras Hermes brings
to man. Sophrosyne daughter of Aidos, Kaibel Epigr. 34.
1075. σωφρόνως: so that discipline is preserved, modeste.
1076. φόβου πρόβλημα: the defence which fear affords. Cf.
πύργου ρϋμα, 159. Fear is conceived as an armour preventing
disorder.
Kamerbeek 14
210 COMMENTARY

μηδ’ αίδοϋς: cf. Homer (in a military context, II. N 531): αΐδο-
μένων δ’ άνδρών πλέονες σόοι ήέ πέφανται. φόβος and αιδώς, Ρ1.
Epist. VII 337».
1077, άνδρα: "a man" (considered with all his limitations).
The tragical theme of 131 sqq, has a coarse note here and comes
from an insincere and derisive mouth (κάν σώμα γεννήση μέγα).
γεννήση: here said for the usual φύση. I do not believe that these
words are also meant to be figurative: it is the coarseness of the
literal sense that makes them characteristic of Menelaus. Cf. further
758-761, 1250 sq.
1078, δοκεϊν: to think, fancy. Normal use in Ionic and quite
frequent in tragedy; similarly 1085.
καν: has become a mere formula, "even in case of” (καί άν, not
καί έάν supplied by a subj., as Jebb thought): cf. Ar. Pl. 126 sq.
οϊει γάρ είναι τήν Διός τυραννίδα / καί τούς κεραυνούς άξιους τριω-
βόλου, / έάν άποβλέψης σύ καν μικρόν χρόνον, ΕΙ. 1482 sq. άλλά μοι
πάρες καν σμικρόν εΐπεΐν (K.-G. I, 244. 245)·
1079, 1080. The possibility of Soph, being influenced here by
the philosophy of his time is far from being excluded. For the σω-
ζεσθαι of mankind, Hermes brought them αιδώς and δίκη (Pl.
Prot. 322 b, c), σωτηρία ("preservation”) is.the term put into the
mouth of Protagoras (ib. 321 b). The idea of the preservation of the
individual and the πόλις by the existence of δέος and αιδώς (or
αισχύνη) are connected here. From a logical point of view the
sequence of Menelaus’ arguments is not quite satisfying. "Who has
no δέος will be punished” and "a πόλις where ύβρις has a free run
will go to ruin” properly expresses a menace against people like
Ajax and an argument why such people ought to be opposed.
πρόσεστιν: inest cf. 521. Herod. I 19.
αισχύνη: h.l. — αιδώς, αίσχύνομαι = αίδέομαι in Hom. Od. VII
305, XXI 323.
1081. ύβρίζειν: this is how a person acts who has no αίδώς. The
subject of ύβρίζειν, δραν, βούλεται is: τις (τινά). For this ellipsis
of τις, which occurs already in Homer, cf. K.-G. I, 35 g.
παρη: for the subj. cf. ad 1074.
1083. έξ ούριων δραμοϋσαν: “after (first) sailing before the wind”.
The use of έξ as in έξ ετοίμου, έκ παντός τρόπου. Cf. Ar. Lys. 550
ούρια θεϊτε. Lobeck quotes Himerius Or. V 16 όταν έξ ούριων ή τύχη
φέρηται (Himerius abounds with quotations from or reminiscences
of classical authors).
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1077-1089 211

βυθόν: cf. O.T. 22-24 πόλις .... / ήδη σαλεύει κάνακουφίσαι κάρα /
βυθών έτ’ ούχ ο'ία τε φοινίου σάλου. The ship of state also Ant.
163 sqq., 994.
πεσεϊν: the use of the aor. is clear from the verbal aspect; to the
modem reader the understanding is made easier by ποτέ. There
must come a day when the town will be lost. The inf. need not
express futurity, though this may also be possible (cf. the inf. aor.
after μέλλειν at Eur. Andr. 571, Ion 1210; the inf. aor. is also rather
frequent after έλπίζειν and similar words).
1084. έστάτω: has the value of καθεστάτω as appears from 1074
(cf. also 200).
καίριον: καίριος = opportunus. Plato combines τό μέτριον
καί καίριον (Phil. 66 a). Masqueray’s rendering "salutaire" goes
too far.
καί: this is said from the point of view of a person to whom δέος
(and reverence for authority, discipline, etc.) essentially means
everything, but who wants to make his claim plausible to others
by attenuating it. Freedom of speech, equality before the law,
that is all very nice, but some δέος will be highly appreciated; this
adds a satirical touch to the picture of Menelaus. The claim is
made more acceptable by the transition to the 1st pers. ph, by
which the impression is given that Menelaus, with a large gesture,
also wishes to make this δέος apply to himself.
1085, 1086. The sententious character of the two verses is under­
lined by the όμοιοτέλευτον (Masqueray: “notre plaisir .... re-
pentir”). Cf. 807 (898 sq.).
1087. έρπει παραλλάξ ταΰτα: cf. supra ad 1058 and 1060.
παραλλάξ: comparatively rare. A “late” schol. explains with
κατά διαδοχήν. The Echinades he παραλλάξ καί ού κατά στοίχον, i.e.
in such a way the gaps in the back row are covered by those in the
front row.
έρπει: same as our "<dat> gaat zo”, “as things go”, “le monde
comme il va”. The idea is best understood if one renders νϋν δ” αΰ
(io88) by "now comes my turn....” (It should be remembered that
άλλάσσειν and άλλος are related: παραλλάξ = alternis.)
1088. αϊθων ύβριστής: cf. note ad 1057. For αϊθων cf. ad 221;
άνήρ .... αϊθων λήμα, Aesch. Sept. 448; cf. Eur. Rhes. 122.
1089. καί σοι προφωνώ: καί has the value of “consequently".
After his speech, which also holds a menace for Teucer, Menelaus
returns to his starting-point. The use of θάπτειν may contain an

=
212 COMMENTARY

indication that συγκομίζει (1048) simply means "to inter”. For

προφωνώ cf. e.g. Eur. El. 685.
1089. 1090. δπως/ μή: cf. ad 986.
1090. If Teucer does not care about the warnings of Menelaus,
he too will become subject to what was said in 1085 sq., and the
turn of fate will be that for burying Ajax he will be buried himself,
πέσης conveys a slight reminiscence of πεσεΐν, io6l.
ταφάς: not "rites of sepulture” (Jebb) but "sepulchre”, as in
1109. (Hdt. IV 71.1; the plural often for one grave Hdt. II 170,
III 10, V 63). The words have the character of a grim joke.
1091. γνώμας: "views” approaching “maxims”: the speech of
Menelaus is full of sententious sayings.
ύποστήσας: as ύφιστάναι is said of the erection of a pillar or sup­
porting-beam (used in a figurative sense, Pind. ΟΙ. VI 1), the
question arises under what these γνώμαι are supposed to be planted
as supports. The answer should be: under the command—or the
prohibition—(and the whole attitude) of Menelaus. One may
therefore paraphrase: you must not, leaning on a series of wise
precepts, which you formulated, etc. These γνώμοα were directed
against δβρις; but Menelaus himself betrays ΰβρις.
1092. έν θανοϋσιν ύβριστής: cf. 1151, 1315· Eur. Med. 206
τέν έν λέχει προδόταν.
1094. μηδέν ών: cf. supra (here too, for the same reason,
μηδέν and not ούδέν). Cf. further also 1231.
γοναϊσι: genere. Cf. O.T. 1469 ϊθ’ ώ γονή γενναίε.
1095. 6Θ*: may be paraphrased: "now that matters stand thus
that”, δτε approaches εί, but also έπειδή. Cf. 1231; Phil. 428
τί δήτα δει σκοπεϊν, δθ’ ο£δε μέν τεθνασ’, Όδυσσεύς δ’ έστιν κτλ.
οί δοκοϋντες: "those that are reckoned to be....”.
1096. τοιαϋθ’ ....έπη: "cognate accus.”, as 1107: "make such
blunders in their discourse (λόγοις)”.
1097. φής άγειν: referring to 1052 sq. In direct speech it would
run: ήγες.
ή .... λαβών: full emphasis falls on σύ and άγειν; the placing of
Άχαιοΐς makes it go with άγειν, and in the second place also with
σύμμαχον. A separation of σύμμαχον and λαβών seems unnatural;
even apart from this, λαβών gets some emphasis by its place in
the verse.
1098. τόνδ’ άνδρ’: pointing at the corpse. The choice between
τόνδ’ (only L) and τόν is very difficult.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1089-1104 213

1099. αυτός: of his own act, of his own accord. Cf. further 1234.
1100. ποϋ σύ στρατηγεϊς τοϋδε: for the present (and only for this)
one may compare O.T. 390 ποΰ σύ μάντις εΐ σαφής; the present
does not materially differ here from the perfect, ποϋ, however, is
not only "on what occasion”, but "in what respect”. Phil. 451
comes nearest to it in meaning: ποϋ χρή τίθεσθαι ταΰτα, ποΰ δ’
αίνεΐν. We may paraphrase: "where is the right on the strength
of which you call yourself the chief of this man”. (Right, Jebb:
"On what ground hast thou a right”....). Cf. the use of πόθεν:
"how could this be possible” (also for the negative purport of these
questions).
λεών: gen. pi. The plural of the “Attic” form occurs only here in
Sophocles. The accentuation is uncertain; the one given here is
according to the system of Herodianus, cf. K.-B. I, 407.4.
1101. ήγεΐτ’ οίκοθεν: the violation of Porson’s rule is only ap­
parent, because the preceding vowel has been elided (Koster, Traite
de M. Gr.2105, V 15). Cf. Phil. 22, O.C. 664. The meaning of ήγεΐτ’ fits
in much better than that of ήγαγ' (Pal.), ήγεν (Porson), and the like.
1102. Σπάρτης .... κρατών: reminiscent of Peleus’ words to
Menelaus, Eur. Andr. 582 ούχ άλις σοι των κατά Σπάρτην κρατεϊν;
cf the proverbial Σπάρτην έλαχες, κείνην κοσμεί, Eur. /r. 723 Ν.2
(Telephus}. Pohlenz (Erlauterungen2 p. 78) rightly rejects the view
of Wilamowitz (Berl. Klassikertexte V 2 p. 71), who argues that a
confrontation of these passages shows that the Ajax was not pro­
duced until after 438 (date of Euripides’ Telephus and Cressai).
There is more reason to suppose that the performance of the Ajax
cannot be too long after Athens’ coming to the support of Sparta
against the Messenians (cf. for the confrontation, Bowra, Sophoclean
Tragedy, p. 52).
We should not, of course, forget the echo which these words
found among the Athenian public, the more so because Ajax was
considered to be an Attic hero.
1103. οδδ’ έσθ’ δπου: cf. 1069. The nuance of δπου, however,
gives the impression of being rather similar to that of ποΰ, noo.
κοσμήσαι: κοσμέω, in Homer a military term; construed with
a personal object it stands here for “command”. Cf. τα κοσμούμενα,
“the ordinances”. Ant. 677.
1104. άρχής θεσμός: "a right to rule over”, θεσμός is a dignified
word for institution, law, right (θεσμοί in Ant. 802 are Creon’s
commands).

I
214 COMMENTARY

ή καί: for this rather frequent use of και in a comparative sentence

after a negation cf. Denniston, G.P., 299, 5; the meaning is: “you
had no more right to command him than he to command you”,
καί approaches here the meaning of αύ: “for him, on his part”
(Jebb). Cf. El. 1146, Ant. 928.
1105. ύπαρχος άλλων: schol. άντί καί αυτός έτέροις ύπετέταξο.
"As subchief under others”; the plural άλλων is used in a vague
way to denote Agamemnon.
ούχ όλων: in classical Greek δλοι never means "all (of them)”.
Jebb remarks that taking όλων as a neuter form {summae rerum)
is decisively condemned on account of the masc. άλλων (but the
relation of the genitives to ύπαρχος and στρατηγός is really different)
and the absence of the article (but Soph, also omits the article,
occasionally, with πας, where it might be expected: supra 480, 734
—πάντα λόγον instead of τόν πάντα λόγον— Phil. 1240 cf. K.-G.
1,633 a. 8; Lobeck does not object to the gen. neut. pi.). One might,
while avoiding these difficulties and the meaning "all of them”,
look upon δλων as a predicative adjunct to an omitted <of us, the
troops>: "in our entirely” (so that we may render: "of the whole
expedition"). If this view is not accepted, the neut. pi. is to be
preferred; the absence of the article is sufficiently accounted for
by the syntactical correspondence with άλλων ("tu n’avais pas
l’autorit0 supreme”, Masqueray).
1107. ώνπερ άρχεις άρχε: cf. Aesch. Eum. 574 ών έχεις αύτός κράτει.
τά σέμν’ έπη: σεμνός = "arrogant”, as Eur. Hipp. 93 (Photius:
έσθ’ δτε δέ καί έπΐ τού ύπερηφάνου τιθέασιν).
1107, 1108. τά σέμν’ έπη / κόλαζ’ έκείνους: pregnant construc­
tion with "cognate” accus. Triclinius' remark is good: έπεί ένταϋθα
ή κόλασις διά λόγων ήν, διά τούτο τά έπη κόλαζ’ έκείνους φησίν
(K.-G. 1,320. 3 b). Cf. Ο.Τ. 34° κλύων, ά νϋν σύ τήνδ’ άτιμάζεις πόλιν.
τά has demonstrative force {ista).
1108, 1109. είτε .... στρατηγός: είτε σύ μή φής, ε{6’ άτερος
στρατηγός μή φησιν: "no matter whether you or the other chief
forbid it” (μή to be supplied with θεϊναι). άτερος στρατηγός need not
imply that Menelaus is not subordinate to Agamemnon; the state­
ment is therefore not inconsistent with 1105.
1109. ές ταφάς: cf. ad 1090.
1110. δικαίως: "duly”.
τό σόν .. στόμα: "Your <impudent> words”. Cf. O.C. 981. For
στόμα = "words”, also O.T. 426, 671; Ant. 997.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1105-1116 215

1111-1117. Though it must be conceded (with Rademacher)

that Teucer’s argumentation is not unimpeachable—for if Ajax
came to the war with the others because he was bound by his
oath toTyndareos, he did it in away for the sake of Helen—this is
no reason to condemn these verses.
1111, 1112. της σης ουνεκ’ .... γυναικός: the infringement of the
rules of logic stated above is relieved by the great emphasis on τής
σης: not for your wife’s sake. The latter was certainly the case with
Menelaus’ own subjects, indicated by οί πόνου πολλοϋ πλέω. Jebb
rightly quotes Eur. Andr. 695, where οί πονοϋντες denotes the
"toil-worn soldiery”; of this οί π.π.π. is a paraphrase in which
the note of contempt is strengthened by alliteration. Ajax is on a
par with all others who swore the oath to Tyndareos βοηθήσειν,
έάν ό προκριθείς νυμφίος ύπό άλλου τινός άδικήται περί τόν γάμον
(Apollod. Bibi. 3.10.9; schol. ad Ai. 1113, ad Phil. 72; cf. Eur.
l.A. 61, Thue. I 9.1). Therefore these cannot be meant by οί πόνου
πολλοϋ πλέω.
1113. ένώμοτος: ένοχος τοΐς όρκοις. Cf. the common ένορκος,
Phil. 72 (in Eur. Med. 737 it is a wrong reading).
1114. σοϋ δ’ ούδέν: after the positive statement of 1113 the
negative of mi is repeated succinctly. This is a trait of Sophoclean
style which is related to the so-called "polar” mode of expression.
The words show once more that the emphasis in mi lies on τής
σής, not on γυναικός (which would lead to somewhat singular
consequences).
τούς μηδένας: cf. ad 767,1094. "The worthless, the mere ciphers”.
Cf. Eur. Andr. 700 (directed against Menelaus), φρονοϋσι δήμου
μεϊζον, βντες ούδένες. Ι.Α. 371·
ήξίου: άξιοϋν used absolutely ("to honour”); in the passive Eur.
Hec. 319 τύμβον δέ βουλοίμην Sv άξιούμενον τόν έμόν όρασθαι. Cf.
Aesch. Ag. 9°3 τοιοϊσδέ τοι νιν (MS τοίνυν) άξιώ προσφθέγμασιν,
"I honour him with” (Eur. Or. 1210 καλοϊσιν ύμεναίοισιν άξιουμένη).
Cf. Thue. V 16. i.
1115. πλείους κήρυκας: Menelaus had appeared probably at­
tended by two κήρυκες as in the case of the mission to Achilles
(II. IX 170; Jebb). (κωφά δορυφορήματα, Plut. An sent resp. 791 c.)
πρός ταϋτα: similarly at the conclusion of a speech in a dispute,
O.T. 426; cf. τοΰδέ γ* οΰνεκα, El. 605.
1116. ήκε: "come back”. The imper. form is somewhat rare
(Ar. Pax 275, Xen. Cyr. IV 5.25, Herod. V 63, VII 127; further
216 COMMENTARY

probably in Novum Fragmentum Tragicum 1. 24, Mnem. Ill S. VI

PP· 335 sq.).
τοϋ δε σοϋ ψόφου: the empty words of Menelaus are called ψόφος,
which is used for hollow sounds, etc. Cf. Soph. Inachiis col. II 7
= fr. 1.22 προς τά σά ψοφήματα.
1117. στραφείην: στρέφεσθαι has the meaning and the construction
of έντρέπεσθαι, έπιστρέφεσθαι, φροντίζειν, ύποστρέφεσθαι (Ο.Τ.
728).
έως Sv ής: the reading έως, just as in Phil. 1330 (-per coniecturam
ex ώς), is necessary, since ώς Sv ής does not yield satisfactory sense
and it cannot be proved that ώς can have the sense of έως *2). "So
long as you are the man that you are”, i.e. a morally inferior man.
Cf. Pl. Phaedr. 243 e Τοϋτο μέν πιστεύω, έωσπερ Sv ής δς εϊ.
1118-1119. The function of the Coryphaeus’ words in disputes
like this is especially to frame the speeches of the litigants. Standing
outside the passion of the disputants the Coryphaeus speaks words
of moderation from a level of sobriety. This does not mean, of
course, that the Chorus do not side with one of the two parties.
1118. ούδ’: referring to 1091 sq.
έν κακοϊς: in distress. In the circumstances the Chorus urge a
more judicious course. For έν κακοϊς cf. Aesch. Ag. 1612, O.T. 127,
El. 335·
1119. τοι: cf. note ad 520 sq.
σκληρά: σκληρός is said of anything hard and stiff; "stubborn”.
Ant. 473 άλλ’ ίσθι τοι τά σκλήρ’ άγαν φρονήματα πίπτειν μάλιστα.
Cf. infra 1361. It is the opposite of supple.
ύπέρδικ’: Aesch. Ag. 1396 ύπερδίκως μέν ούν.
δάκνει: for the frequent figurative use of δάκνειν in Soph. cf.
e.g. Trach. 254 χοϋτως έδήχθη τοϋτο τοΰνειδος λαβών....
1120. ό τοξότης: the prejudices which existed against “bowmen”
may be seen in Lycus’ oration, Eur. Her. 157 sqq. (against this,
Amphitryon’s defence of τό πάνσοφον εύρημα). Teucer in the Iliad
is the bowman of the Achaeans, as Pandarus and Paris of the
Trojans. From Diomedes’ contempt for Paris (II. XI 385) it appears
that the objections of the heavily-armed to these bowmen were
already old. It may be imagined, that they were normal also in the

*) Pap. Tebt. Ill, 692 (1933).

2) Cf., however, O.C. 1361 and Schwyzer-Debrunner p. 650 with n. 5.
(I am indebted for the reference to Dr. H. Bolkestein).
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1117-1126 217

eyes of fifth-century men, for various reasons: the bow was the
weapon of the Persians, the city police of Athens were provided
with it (and these Scyths were called τοξόται), and also the Cretans,
for whom the bow had remained the national weapon, were held
in little respect. Cf. v. Leeuwen ad Ar. Ach. 54, who compares the
Dutch “rakker” (catchpole, Bow-Street runner, "de rakkers van
de Schout”). Cf. ib. 707, 711. Bowra, Soph. Trag. p. 54 believes
that here, too, the poet “appeals to Athenian sentiment against
Spartan self-satisfaction and contempt for others’’. I doubt this.
ού σμικρόν φρονεΐν: it is doubtful whether this reading, which
has come down to us from the first hand of L, G (μικρόν) and A is
really the best, σμικρά A Lc R is a lectio difficilior', σμικρά φρονεΐν
is very rare (but is supported by μεγάλα δή φρονεί, Ar. Ach. 987)
and the position made by φρ- is remarkable (cf. however Aesch.
Pers. .782 νέα φρονεί). The reading σμικρά remains hard to explain,
if σμικρόν was the original.
1121. βάναυσον: as of a craftsman, i.e. unworthy of a freeborn
man. Cf. Pl. Leg. I 644 a βάναυσον καί άνελεύθερον και ούκ άξίαν τό
παράπαν παιδείαν καλεϊσθαι. The word occurs for the first time in
this passage; Hdt. uses βαναυσίη.
1122. Combine μέγα τι.
άσπίδ’ κτλ.: i.e. if you were a hoplite.
1123. άρκέσαιμι: άρκεϊν has here the connotation “to be a match
for”.
ψιλός as contrasted with ώπλισμένω has here its technical military
sense. The schol. is right in a way when it says: τά τοιαϋτα σοφίσματα
ούκ οικεία τραγωδίας · μετά γάρ τήν άναίρεσιν έπεκτεΐναι τό δράμα θελή-
σας (here the aesthetic criticism becomes very dubious) έψυχρεύ-
σατο καί έλυσε τό τραγικόν πάθος.
1124. “What doughtly courage resided in your tongue”. Soph,
has a special liking for τρέφειν in the sense of a somewhat dynamic
έχειν. Cf. O.T. 356, Ant. 897 (κάρτ’ έν έλπίσιν τρέφω).
1125. ξύν τω δικαίω: "with right on my side; as ξύν θεω. Cf. Phil.
1251 (Neoptolemus) ξύν τω δικαίω τον σόν ού ταρβώ φόβον. With
this verse the stichomythia is raised to a higher level again and
the true significance of the conflict set in its proper light.
1126. δίκαια: for the neut. pi. cf. ad 887.
εύτυχεϊν: Masqueray: "qu’il triomphe’’—better than Jebb's
"should have honour”. Obviously the funeral of Ajax will be the
confirmation of his heroism.
218 COMMENTARY

κτείναντά με: schol. ίσον ήκεν έφ’ έαυτώ.

1127. κτείναντα: this taunt had to be the consequence of Mene­
laus’ exaggerated κτείναντα. γ’ and καί (“indeed”) stress the tone.
The observation of the schol., τό δέ τοιοΰτο κωμωδίας μάλλον, ού
τραγφδίας, fails to appreciate the interplay of the conceptions of
death and life with which the line of thought in 1057 sqq. is conti­
nued. The man who has died is a hero, the man who lives is a knight
of the rueful countenance.
1128. θεός γάρ: cf. 1057, 1060. Menelaus has his mouth full of
the divine intercession which has saved his precious life. Like
κτείναντα, θεός pricks Teucer into making a cutting retort.
τώδε: as τό έπΐ with dative or accus., often with ind. perf. or
perfect, praes. (K.-G. I, 203.3). Cf. Phil. 1030 καί τέθνηχ’ ύμΐν
πάλαι. The dative supra 970 has a different nuance. Cf. Eur. Ale.
666 τέθνηκα γάρ δή τούπΐ σέ ·.
οϊχομαι: cf. note ad 896.
1129. άτιμα: άτιμαν is epic. Though not used by the tragedians,
it should nevertheless be retained here. The word also occurs in
Pind. Pyth. IX 80 (άτιμάσαντα).
θεούς: with synizesis, cf. Eur. Troad. 1280 δούλας· ίώ θεοί, καί
τί τούς θεούς καλώ; Herod. V 85 έορτήν έξ έορτης.
. θεοϊς σεσωμένος: these words, too, have their remote associations:
cf. 692 and especially σύν θεώ σωτήριοι, 779. This passage shows
clearly that the so-called dativ. auctoris is only a special case of the
dative of the person concerned, θεοϊς σεσωμένος being closely
connected with τώδε δ’ οϊχομαι.
1130. ψέξαιμι: the connotation of ψέγειν is here "to belittle the
importance of”. For a right understanding of the verse it should
be noted that έγώ has the emphasis; γάρ expresses Menelaus’
virtuous indignation.
1131. The schol. justly remarks: ταϋτα καί έν ’Αντιγόνη, al­
luding to Ant. 450 sqq., 5x9, 1070. The νόμοι δαιμόνων (δαίμων being
used here, as often, as a synonym of θεός) are Antigone’s άγραφοι
νόμοι, though, to us at least, the situation is on a lower plane. Cf.
infra 1343.
ούκ: closely connected with έάς.
παρών: far from being ex abundanti additum, this means: "and
you being here” (to issue this prohibition). In like manner, but
adversative, Phil. 410 εί παρών Αίας ό μείζων ταϋθ’ όρων άνείχετο.
1132. τούς γ’ αύτός αύτοϋ πολεμίους: to be supplied from what
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1127-1135 219

precedes with ούκ έώ θάπτειν. The plur. in accordance with τούς

θανόντας. The reflexive of the 3rd p. strengthened by αύτός instead
of the 1st or 2nd p. is very frequent (K.-G. I, 571 sqq.). It remains
a matter of dispute whether in this and in similar cases the form
αύτοϋ is to be preferred to αύτοϋ or the reverse (ib. I, 564 a. 4).
The use of the 3rd p. may here have been favoured by the generalizing
tendency of the sentence. Jebb’s "my country’s foes” gives the
wrong accent: cf. Phil. 1302 τί μ’ άνδρα πολέμιον / έχθρόν τ’
(Odysseus) άφείλου μή κτανεϊν τδξοις έμοϊς. Menelaus means:
"surely, the man with whom I was (or, am) on a war footing”.
It is true, of course, that one immediately discerns the idea "hostis”
in it; this is why it gives rise to Teucer’s rejoinder.
If one reads a full stop after καλόν, as Jebb, Pearson and others
do, the words έαν θάπτειν have to be supplied; this seems rather
forced and conveys little meaning. I prefer to read with Dobree
(Adv. II 45), Blaydes, Tournier and Radermacher (the latter gives
adifferent explanation) ούγάρ καλόν; “is this perchance not proper?”
(sc. ούκ έαν θάπτειν τούς αύτοϋ πολεμίους). Menelaus takes the same
stand as Creon, at least in so far as πολέμιος conveys the notion
of high-treason.
For ού γάρ cf. infra 1348 ού γάρ θανόντι και προσεμβήναί
χρή;
1133. προύστη: προίστασθαι is used here, where άνθίστασθαι might
be expected; El. 1378 προύστην = ΐκέτευσα (properly: "I came and
stood before", προστάτης = “supplicant”, O.C. 1x71, 1278). El.
980 τοϊσιν έχθροϊς .... προυστήτην φόνου: “they dealt with their
enemies as champions of the murder" (cf. sufra 803).
1135. κλέπτης αύτοϋ ψηφοποιύς: a person who made votes where­
by he deceived him (Ajax). It may be supposed that by some intri­
gue or other Menelaus influenced the jury to the disadvantage
of Ajax. The word ψηφοποιός, however, suggests something more
concrete. Van Leeuwen may be right in arguing that Menelaus
gave the members of the jury, who were favourably disposed
toward Ajax, pieces of clay which did not come out of the voting
urn (cf. 1285 sq.). There may be some connection between this
and the words of the Hypothesis: ότι χρησμός έδόθη ΤρωσΙ πηλόν
κατ’ αύτοϋ βαλεϊν · σιδήρω γάρ ούκ ήν τρωτός ■ καί οΰτω τελευτά.
We need not regard αύτοϋ as dependent on κλέπτης ψηφοποιός
(as Jebb does). It may very well be gen. obj. to κλέπτης; κλέπτης is
the adj., ψηφοποιός the subst.
220 COMMENTARY

Cf. for the tampering with the votes Pind. Nem. VIII26 Κρυφίαισι
γάρ έν ψάφοις ’Οδυσση Δαναοί θεράπευσαν.
1136. έν .... έσφάλη: the interpretation "this mistake was made
by the judges, not by me” (Ellendt, Masqueray and others), sug­
gests that Menelaus admits that some mistake or dishonesty has
been committed; moreover, the words taken in this way form
dubious Greek. The subject of έσφάλη is Ajax, as Dobree saw. “It was
the jury’s doing, not mine, that he met with this rebuff”. Cf. 1243
and 1251 (άσφαλέστατοι).
1137. κλέψειας: for κλέπτειν cf. supra 189; El. yj. Schol. “rec."
(E.): ήγουν μετά κλοπής έργάσαιο λάθρα.
καλώς: while preserving an outward appearance of genuineness.
A schol. read this (άντί τοΰ έμπείρως, a dubious interpretation) and
the reading, which occurs only in L, seems more suggestive than
κακώς. Jebb rightly points to Ant. 1046 sq.: δταν λόγους / αισχρούς
καλώς λέγωσι τοΰ κέρδους χάριν.
1138. τινί: this accentuation occurs in all the texts and shows
that the word is stressed. The threatening use of τις is excellently
described by van Leeuwen ad Ar. Ran. 552 (κακόν ήκει τινί): "mi­
nantis vel irridentis est ita loqui de praesenti: certus quidam homo,
quem nominare iam nolo”. Cf. Ant. 751 ή δ’ οδν θανεΐται καί θανοϋσ’
όλεΐ τινά (not quite the same case of course).
είς .... έρχεται: “will result in”.
1139. ού μάλλον .... λυπησομεν: SC. τούτο τούπος ού μάλλον είς
άνίαν έμο'ι έρχεται ή σέ λυπησομεν, λυπεϊν and άνιάν are fully
synonymous.
1140. As in the peroration of his rhesis, Menelaus reverts to
his starting-point, the prohibition.
1141. σύ δ* άντακούση: the use of the future tense, answering
to φράσω, expresses necessity rather than a simple future. (From the
point of view of the speaker it may be rendered by a future tense,
as by Masqueray: "Et je te repondrai”).
τούτον: proleptic, cf. Phil. 549 ώς ήκουσα τούς ναύτας ότι....
τεθάψεται: used differently from 577· Nor does it express: “dass
er begraben sein und bleiben wird” (K.-G. I, 179. 1); we have here
an emphatic future (Soph, may have had in mind II. VIII 286 σοί
δ’ έγώ έξερέω, ώς καί τετελεσμένον έσται).
1142. The dispute winds up with an αίνος l) spoken by one to

>) Ed. Frankel, Zur Form der αίνοι, Rhein. Mus. 73, 366-370.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1136-1147 221

the other in a threatening way. This must have been an old populai
form, e.g. in iambography'); a related form is asking each other
riddles (cf. Cleobulina I and 2 D., both beginning with "Ανδρ’ εΐδον).
It deserves notice that, whereas Menelaus gives a sort of allegory,
Teucer keeps so close to the situation that he only speaks in the
3rd pers. instead of the first and second. (The same principle under­
lies this practice as in the case of τινί, 1138). Compare Ar. Ach.
1128-1131 (Lamachus) έν τώ χαλκίω / ένορώ γέροντα δειλίας φευξού-
μενον. (Dicaeopolis) καί ένθάδ’ εΰδηλος γέρων / κλάειν κελεύων Λά-
μαχον τον Γοργάσου. Further, the μύθοι of the Coryphaeus and the
Dux Mulierum at Lysistr. 781 sqq. and 805 sqq.
1143. έφορμήσαντα: with the sense and constr. of a verb of ex­
hortation.
τό πλεϊν: for the presence of the article cf. K.-G. II, 43, 44.
1144. The doubled άν (very characteristic for Soph., cf. supra
155 sq.) should not tempt one into making conjectures, as φθέγμ’
ov or ένηΰρες.
ώ .... ηύρες: “in whom you would have found no voice” (in
meaning not different from ω φθέγμ’ δν ούκ άν ηύρες).
1145. κρυφείς: this aor. II only here, fut. pass, in Eur. Suppl.
543 κρυβήσονται. The passage quoted by L. and J. from Pl. Theaet.
191 a: έάν δε πάντη άπορήσωμεν, ταπεινωθέντες οϊμαι τώ λόγω παρέξ-
ομεν ώς ναυτιώντες πατεϊν τε κα'ι χρήσθαι 8τι άν βούληται, seems to
go back to the same popular story (or saying) as our verses, rather
than being derived from the latter.
ύφ’ εϊματος κρυφείς: On seasick passengers hiding their distress
under their cloaks cf. Dio Chr. 3.63 (122 R.) όταν δέ καταλάβη
χειμών, έγκαλυψάμενοι περιμένουσι τό συμβησόμενον. For another
reason, Odysseus at Od. X 53, καλυψάμενος δ’ έν'ι νηί / κείμην.
1146. πατεϊν παρείχε: έαυτύν (or τό σώμα). Cf. van Leeuwen
ad Ar Nub. 422 (cf. ib. 441 sq.).
τφ θέλοντι ναυτίλων: cf. Eur. I.A. 340 τώ θέλοντι δημοτών.
1147. λάβρον: cf. λαβραγόρης II. XXIII 479. λαβρεύομαι ib. ib.
474, λαβροστόμει Aesch. Prom. 327, λάβρος στρατός (“bragging
populace”) Pind. Pyth. II 87, άτηρός γάρ τοι λάβρος άνήρ τελέθει
Theogn. 634· It is: "vehement”, "insolent”, "bragging”. (On
λάβρος cf. Gundert, Pindars Dichterberuf, 113, a. 57).
σέ καί τό σόν λάβρον στόμα: cf. Eur. I.A. 393 σύ κα'ι τό σόν σθένος,

') Archilochus’ Lycambes epode offers a good parallel.

222 COMMENTARY

Ant. 95 ία με καί την εξ έμοΰ δυσβουλίαν, and see van Leeuwen ad

Ar. Av. 893 (άπελθ’ άφ’ ήμών καί σύ καί τά στέμματα).
1147- 1149. σέ καί τδ σδν στόμα .... κατασβέσειε την πολλήν βοήν:
rather than say that τήν πολλήν βοήν is an acc. resuming σέ and
στόμα (as Jebb and others do), or speak of a mixing of constructions
(Untersteiner), I should feel inclined to assume that, as in the case
of άφαιρεΐσθαι etc., the verb is construed with two accusatives, as
is seen, for instance, with διατρίβειν in Od. II 204: δφρα κεν ή γε
διατρίβησιν ’Αχαιούς / δν γάμον, or with καρποΰσθαι in Eur. Andr.
935 (text of the MSS; see my note). Cf. also Phil. 1241 έστιν, δς σε
κωλύσει τδ δραν. την πολλήν βοήν does not differ much from τδ μέγα
βοαν. Cf. K.-G. I, 327 a. 9.
1148- 1149. σμικροΰ .... χειμών: the image of the αίνος is con­
tinued in its application to Teucer. With νέφος and χειμών the poet
may have thought of Od. XII 405 sqq. Jebb reminds us of Arist.
de Mundo 394 b 18 οί δέ κατά ρήξιν γινόμενοι.... έκνεφίαι καλούνται.
1148. τάχ’; modal, reinforcing the potential.
1149. κατασβέσειε: cf. έσβεσεν, 1057. A good parallel is furnished
by Xen. Hell. V 3.8 (quoted by L.) δπως τό (τε) φρόνημα των
νενικηκότων κατασβεσθείη....
1150. δέ γ’: for this use "in retorts and lively rejoinders” see
Denniston, G.P., 153 (1). Cf. e.g. O.T. 372.
δπωπα: the perfect as opposed to εϊδον, 1142. Teucer hardly
maintains the fiction of an example.
μωρίας: ή δέ μωρία μάλιστ’ αδελφή της πονηριάς έφυ, Soph. fr.
925 Ρ. = 839 Ν·2·
1151. έν κακοϊς ύβριζε: cf. ad 1092 and ad 1118.
των πέλας: on δ πέλας and οί πέλας cf. ν. Wilamowitz Herakles2
II ρ. 52, Groeneboom ad Aesch. Prom. 335. And yet, here as in many
other places, the connotation is "the fellow-creatures”, rather than
"the others” ("autrui”). See H. Bolkestein, Wohltdtigkeit und
Armenpflege, p. 88.
1152. 1153. The distribution of the words over the verses gives
an aggressive push to the sentence, thus anticipating the hard
warning in 1154 sq. with the alliteration of ποήσεις, πημανούμενος.
έμφερής .... όμοιος: cf. Aesch Cho. 206 (στίβοι) ποδών δμοιοι τοΐς
τ’ έμοϊσιν έμφερεΐς. έμφερής in Soph, only here.
1153. όργήν: schol. τδν τρόπον. (French has a word that expresses
the idea exquisitely: "humeur”.)
1154. 1155. These lines probably recall a current saying. The
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1147-1162 223

moral and religious duty to bury the dead (άταφον σώμα μή περιοράν,
in the άραί Βουζύγιοι) and the aversion to mutilating corpses go
back to early antiquity (cf. II. XXIV 50-54). The form of words
reminds us of sayings such as: Γαμεϊν έκ των όμοιων · έάν γάρ έκ των
κρειττόνων, δέσποτας, ού συγγενείς κτήση (ap. Stob. Δημητρίου
Φαλ. τ. επτά σ. άποφθ. α' ig) or: Μή κακολόγει τούς πλησίον· εί δέ
μή, άκούση έφ’ οίς λυπηθήση (»6. γ' 4)· Among the ύποθήκαι των έπτά
σοφών of Sosiades we find: ’Επί νεκρω μή γέλα. Φθιμένους μή άδίκει.
Remember how Herodotus exposes Cambyses, who mutilated the
body of Amasis. Cf. Ant. 1030 τίς άλκή τόν θανόντ* έπικτανεΐν.
1155. πημανούμενος: passive meaning.
1156. άνολβον: wretched by his μωρία. Cf. Ant. 1025 κείνος ούκέτ’
έστ’ άνήρ / άβουλος ούδ’ άνολβος. Cf. perhaps Theogn. 288 (for
άνολβος) and άθλιος in O.T. 372. Happiness rests on τό φρονεϊν:
πολλώ τδ φρονεϊν εύδαιμονίας πρώτον ύπάρχει, Ant. 1347· Creon calls
out (Ant. 1265) ώμοι έμών άνολβα βουλευμάτων. To this use of
άνολβος may be traced back άνολβος = απαίδευτος (παρά Στωϊκοΐς
schol. II. XXIV 536).
παρών: as we should say, "face to face”.
1158. μών ήνιξάμην: the point is that the two men are opponents
in a contest of riddles. But properly Teucer does not speak
allegorically at all. "I have not spoken too obscurely, have I ?”,
he adds in a taunting voice. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 269 ή τορώς λέγω;
Ant. 405.
1159. άπειμι: similarly the Menelaus of Euripides' Andr. makes
his exit irritus (Andr. 732 sqq.).
1160. πάρα: Jebb, Pearson, Raderm. and others are right in
preferring πάρα (πάρεστι) to παρή here (different supra 1081): the
subj. generalis gives a forced meaning. The construction may run
as follows (1) καί γάρ αισχρόν έστιν, εί πύθοιτό τις <έμέ> λόγοις κολά-
ζειν ω βιάζεσθαι πάρεστιν (J., Ρ,); or (2) with a comma after τις,
κ.γ. αισχρόν έστιν, εί πύθοιτό τις, <τινά> (or <έμέ>, at any rate as sub­
ject) λόγοις κολάζειν, ώ βιάζεσθαι πάρεστιν (R.); or (3) (cf. Ιΐ6ΐ)
κ.γ. αισχρόν <έμοί>, ώ βιάζεσθαι πάρεστιν, λόγοις κολάζειν. The last
construction seems to me most likely.
1161. αϊσχιστον: the symmetrical structure of this scene is con­
tinued to the end, both as regards the form and the meaning. When
Menelaus says αισχρόν, Teucer, who ούδαμή ύπείκει (schol.), says
αϊσχιστον.
1162. φλαϋρ’ έπη: cf. Ar. Hub. 834 καί μηδέν εϊπης φλαϋρον άνδρας
224 COMMENTARY

δεξιούς / καί νοϋν έχοντας, φλαϋρος = "malus, vilis, spernendus”,

cf. Groeneboom ad Aesch. Pers. 217.
1163-1167. The anapaestic system at the end of a scene—the
only other play of Soph, where this occurs is Ant. 929, where it is
applied before a choral song—is an archaic trait of the Ajax.
The passage marks the transition from the exit of Menelaus to the
entrance of Tecmessa.
1163. μεγάλης έριδός τις άγων: "grand assaut de querelles”. For
the genit, cf. Track. 20 άγώνα μάχης and Eur. Andr. 725 μάχης άγων.
1164. ώς δύνασαι .... ταχύνας: quam celerrime potes.
1164. 1165. ταχύνας / σπεΰσον: cf. Ar. Eq. 495 καί σπεύδε τάχεως.
ταχύνας: the verb is used absolutely, as in O.T. 861 πέμψω ταχύ-
νασ’. With an object, infra 1404.
1165. κάπετόν: for "grave”, already in II. XXIV 797.
ίδεϊν: "see to”. Cf. Theocr. XV 2 δρη δίφρον "see to a chair for
her” (Cholmeley). Cf. also Groeneboom ad Herod. VI 33. (The grave
is dug later by some Salaminians: 1403.)
1166. 1167. βροτοϊς τόν άείμνηστον / τάφον: τόν έσόμενον τοϊς
άνθρώποις τάφον άείμνηστον. These lines show clearly the signi­
ficance of the grave as μνήμα. The importance of Ajax’ funeral does
not only rest on the primitive thought-complex that a man should
not remain unburied, but no less on the need for an eternal
monument here on earth.
For the place of the article cf. i.a. Eur. Andr. 215 άμφί Θρήκην
χιόνι την κατάρρυτον (this word-order does not essentially differ
from the case mentioned under d of K.-G. I, 623.8). Cf. π.ύ. VI
τάς άνακεκραμενας κακίας τοΐς ύψηλοΐς.
1167. εύρώεντα: epithet of the realm of Hades in Homer. Ra-
dermacher rightly observes that epithets of the underworld may
be transferred to the grave.
Tecmessa returns with Eurysaces, whom Teucer sent her to fetch
at 985 sqq.
1168. καί μήν: the usual combination marking the entrance of
a new character upon the stage. Not usual in Aesch. (except Sept.
372), very common in Soph., Eur., Ar. (Denniston, G.P., 356 (6)).
ές αύτόν καιρόν: cf. Aesch. Sept. 372sq. και μην .... εις άρτίκολλον
(Groeneboom a.o.). είς καιρόν, Ar. Av. 1688, Eur. Her. 701.
οίδε πλησίοι: there is no difference in meaning between πλησίοι
and πλησίον.
Tecmessa’s role is to the end of the play a silent one.
 FOURTH EPEISODION, vss. 1163-1175 225

The three actors available play the parts of Teucer, Agamemnon,

and Odysseus. If my view is right that Andromache and Molossus
are on the stage during the end of the Andromache (cf. Eur. Andr.
1246), the situation here is to a certain extent comparable.
1170. περιστελοϋντε: cf. supra ad 821. The phrase refers to the
whole of the funeral rites.
1171, 1172. There is a pathetic but delicately strung parallelism
with the scene 545 sqq.
σταθείς: reflexive, as often.
By laying his hand, as a suppliant, on the corpse of Ajax, Eury-
saces is to protect the body against enemies, for anyone doing
violence to it would at the same time interfere with the right of the
suppliant. Moreover, the lad will hold locks of Teucer’s, Tecmessa’s
and his own hair instead of a suppliant’s branch; these locks are at
the same time meant as an offering to the dead. Therefore, anyone
tearing him away from the body commits the same sin as Creon’s
against Antigone, who is dragged away from the body of Polynices
at the very moment when she is bringing her death-offerings.
(For the hair cf. II. XXIII 135 and Orestes’ lock of hair on the
tomb of Agamemnon.) Cf. S. Eitrem, Opjerritus und Voropjer der
Griechen und Romer, Kristiania, 1915, pp. 344 sqq. (Das Haar),
P. Schredelseker, De Superstitionibus Graecorum quae ad crines
pertinent, diss. Heidelb., 1913, pp. 67, 68.
1173. θάκει: Oedipus to the supplicating citizens, θοάζετε
(O.T. 2).
προστρόπαιος: "as a suppliant”. Cf. προστροπαΐς ίκνουμένη, Aesch.
Pers. 216; προστρόπαιος εστίας, Ag. 1587· Supra ad 831.
1174. τρίτου: the commentators rightly refer to O.C. η, 8 αί
πάθαι .... χώ χρόνος .... καί τό γενναΐον τρίτον. Cf. τρίτου / Σωτηρος,
Aesch. Rum. 760. σπονδή τρίτου κρατηρος, jr. 392 ·2 Ν.2 = 425·2 Ρ.
(Hesych. 4, Ρ· Σ7$ τρίτος κρατηρ). (See Pearson’s note ad fr.
425 -2) ·
1175. ίκτήριον θησαυρόν: "store <from which> the suppliant
<draws his strength»”. The gifts of hair will lend more strength to
the suppliant’s appeal. Jebb is right in observing that El. 450 is
not a case in point. But it is to be noted that both Electra in Aesch.
Cho. 193 and Chrysothemis in Soph. El. 908 call the lock of Orestes
άγλάισμα.
ίκτήριον: after ικέτης, 1172. At the time the Ajax was written
Sophocles was still sparing with the use of the anapaest in the first
Kamerbeek X5
226 COMMENTARY

foot of the trimeter. (But note that in Aesch. Suppl. 192 M has
ίκετηρίας.)
1175-1179. The curse which Teucer pronounces when cutting
off his lock of hair has a magical symbolical character. The oldest
example of it in Greek literature is II. Ill 300: ώδέ σφ’ εγκέφαλος
χαμάδις ρέοι, ώς δδε οίνος. (Genuine sympathetic magic in the myth
of Althaea, cf. Bacch. V 140 sqq.) See further Theocr. II 21 sqq.,
in tabulae defixionum and magic papyri. More remarkable still the
passages in Livy cited by Leaf ad II. Ill 300 (Liv. I 24.8 and XXI
45.8: precatus deos ita se mactarent quem ad modum ipse agnum
mactasset). The conditional curse forms to a certain extent a
pendant to the unconditional one of Ajax, 839 sqq. There is also a
certain resemblance in the wording (κακός κακώς~κακούς κάκιστα,
839)·
1177. άθαπτος έκπέσοι χθονός: persons put to death in Athens for
high treason or sacrilege were not to be buried in Attic soil (Xen.
Hell. I 7.22). έκπέσοι, therefore, should be supplemented by “after
his death”; this is also implied in έξημημένος.
1178. γένους ....έξημημένος: lit. "cut off as to the root of the
whole race”. In forms of imprecation the curse against posterity
(also when a person invokes a curse against himself) is usual. The
wording chosen here is determined by the following τέμνω πλόκον.
Probably the same metaphor, but difficult to interpret accurately
on account of the confusion of images, is found in Ant. 599 sqq.:
νϋν γάρ έσχάτας ύπέρ / ρίζας δ τέτατο φάος έν Οΐδίπου δόμοις, / κατ’
αδ νιν φοινία θεών των / νερτέρων άμα κόνις.
1180. αύτόν: τόν πλόκον. Some commentators (Campbell, Un-
tersteiner) give the preference to τόν νεκρόν.
1181. προσπεσών όχου: τοϋ πατρός Cf. the Chorus, Aesch. Sept.
94-98: πότερα δήτ’ έγώ .... ποτιπέσω βρέτη δαιμόνων; / ίώ, μάκαρες
ευεδροι, άκμάζει βρετέων εχεσΰαι.
μηδέ .... κινησάτω: the imper. aor. 3rd Ρ· with μή is rather
frequent; cf. e.g. injra 1334, O.T. 1449.
1182. ύμεϊς: to the Chorus.
1183. έ'στ’: with subj. generalis (futuralis) and without άν;
cf. ad 1074.
μόλω: “(till) I have returned”.
1184. μεληθείς: in prose, έπιμεληθείς. The meaning does not
differ from ίδεΐν, 1165.
κάν μηδείς έδ: a defiant and triumphant final word after Menelaus’
FOURTH EFEISODION, 1175-1184 — THIRD STASIMON, 1185-1190 227

prohibition, which had been the bone of contention throughout

the scene.

Third Stasimon, vss. 1185-1222

Strophe 1185-1191 = Antistrophe 1192-1198
Strophe 1199-1210 = Antistrophe 1211-1222
The Chorus sing a song which does not rise above the ordinary
human level. It does not touch upon the subject of the strife, but
merely reflects the desire of the common man for peace, return
home, and the deliverance from the miseries of war.

1185. τις άρα νέατος: SC. έτέων άριθμός έσται, i.e. "what will
be the last year in the series of years’’. (There is a slight shift in the
meaning of αριθμός, as it occurs in the two members of the sentence:
in the first member the word denotes the "number’’ in the series;
in the second the series itself. The meaning “number” for αριθμός
appears from its figurative use in Eur. Heracl. 997, where it is
spoken of one person: είδώς μέν ούκ άριθμον άλλ’ έτητύμως / άνδρ’
όντα τόν σόν παϊδα.)
ές πότε: this combination is not very common, though the com­
bination of preposition and adverb of time is frequent enough
(K.-G. I, 539 b).
λήγειν εις: also Hdt. IV 39 (local).
1186. πολυπλάγκτων: it makes little difference whether this epic
epithet is taken as a transference from the men to the years, or as
a verbal adj. with an active sense.
1187. δορυσσοήτων: this reading of L used to be explained by
those who defended it as derived from δορυσσοής, an alleged by­
form of δορυσσόος (the latter e.g. Theogn. 987, and O.C. 1313 in the
form δορυσσοϋς; cf. also note by Bruhn ad O.T. 885). Since an
imperfectum σόει has been found in Bacch. (XVI-XVII 90),
it seems more plausible to derive the form from δορυσσόητος,
“spear-hurling” (σοέω to be taken as a by-form of σοόω, from
which comes the usual σοϋμαι). (Metrically and grammatically
the reading δορυσσόντων seems impossible; δορύσσοντα, MSS in
Eur. Heracl. 774 is also metrically impossible.)
1189. άταν: here, as often, = calamitas, infortunium.
άταν έπάγων: cf. Hes. Op. 242 μέγ’ έπήγαγε πημα.
1190. The many corrections proposed to make this verse respond
228 COMMENTARY

exactly to 1197 do not seem to be metrically necessary (cf. v. Wila-

mowitz, Gr. Vsk. 511).
εύρώδη: this word, which is evidenced by all the MSS is explained
wrongly by the schol. (σκοτεινήν καί άερώδη τοΐς Έλλησιν). As
already assumed by Lobeck, the word is probably a poetical
equivalent of ευρύς (different, J. C. F. Nuchelmans, Die Nomina
des sophokleischen Wortschatzes, diss. Nijmegen 1949, pp. 51, 52:
“εύρώδης gehort nicht zum Adj. εύρύς, sondem zu εύρώς, vgl.
εύρώεις”1); I cannot believe this). Cf. e.g. Λυκίης εύρείης II. VI173.
Also, τραχώδης v.l. Arist. H.A. V 549b 14; Lobeck Parerga ad
Phrynichum p. 541. (F. Muller, Grieks Woordenboek, supposes:
<*εύρο-όδης or -ώδης suffix: possibly we have to think of -ειδής
as a fossilized suffix—and an irrational ω in the joint of the com­
positum.) Musgrave's conjecture εύρυεδή is tempting, especially
if W. Schulze is right, who proposed to read εύρυέδεια instead of
εύρυόδεια in Homer. Cf. Simon. 4.16 D. (Pl. Prot. 345 c).
1191. δύστανον όνειδος: in apposition to the preceding sentence.
Excellent rendering by Jebb: “for the sorrow and the shame of
Greece”.
1193-1198. After the complaint of all the misery follows the
curse of the Πρώτος εύρετης 2) of war, so often repeated in later
times (cf. e.g. Tib. I 10.1) and in a way to be compared with the
maledictions called down upon him who first invented navigation
or who first brought gold among mankind. Schol.: ώφελε πρότερον
άφανής γενέσθαι εκείνος ό άνήρ ό πρώτος είσενεγκών εις “Ελληνας πο­
λεμιστήρια όπλα ώς άμα τη εΰρέσει ήκόντων τών άνθρώπων έπ'ι τό
άδικεϊν. Quite right, except for the moralizing tone at the end.
In this respect Sophocles again follows Homeric tradition, in so far
as Homer does not glorify the war either, as is done by the inexperti.
(Witness the list of epithets for πόλεμος or ’Άρης.) This is not to say
that either Homer or Sophocles was a “pacifist”. We have here the
same attitude (and very Greek it is) as that of the man who sees in
the sea above all its dangerous aspect (Pind. jr. no S.).
1193. όφελε: the unaugmented form, though not in the best
MSS, is warranted by the metre and supported by the frequent
occurrence of it in Homer.
πρότερον: sc. ή Άρη δεϊξαι. The confrontation of "ether” and

') Similarly H. Grigoire, Les Audes classiques, 1936, pp. 7, 8.

’) Cf. A. Kleingiinther, Philologus, suppi. XXVI i p. 98 n. 10.
f

third stasimon, vss. 1191-1199 229

Hades is by no means rare; the αιθήρ suggests that the wind or the
demons of the wind snatch away a man (Cf. E. Rohde, Psyche 9.I0,
1925, p. 71.1). Many characters in tragedy wish in their despair
thus to be carried off from life, or to die: “Entriickung” only:
Track. 952 sqq. Cf. Eur. Hipp. 1290 sq., Hec. 1100 sqq., Ion 796,
Suppl. 828 sq.
1194. πολύκοινον: not "common to many”, but "very common
<to all>” (cf. πολύ- in Homer). Cf. El. 137 τόν γ’ εξ Άίδα πάγκοινου
λίμνας, and Groeneboom ad Aesch. Sept. 860. θάνατος, like πόλεμος
and γήρας, is όμοίιος.
1195. άνήρ: it is not quite certain whether this reading is here
necessary (instead of άνήρ); the problem depends on whether Soph,
can have written long a in the nom. sing, of άνήρ (as Pindar some­
times does). There are no (other) instances of it.
έδειξεν: "taught”. Cf. Hes. Op. 648 δείξω δή τοι μέτρα πολυφλοίσ-
βοιο θαλάσσης, Aesch. Prom. 482 έδειξα κράσεις ήπιων άκεσμάτων
(J. Gonda, Δείκνυμι, diss. Utrecht 1929. Ρ· 27· 13)·
στυγερών: epithet of πόλεμος, e.g. II. IV 240.
1196. κοινόν “Αρη: cf. πολέμοιο όμοιίου, II. IX 44°· Also, ξυνός
ένυάλιος, ιό. XVIII 3°9· "The war to which everybody is party”.
Untersteiner is right in rejecting Jebb’s explanation: "in which
all the Greeks make common cause”. The genit, στυγερών οπλών
depends, loosely, on "Αρη ("with the hateful arms”).
1197. ώ πόνοι πρόγονοι πόνων: the needs of the first war engender
the needs of later wars. The conception is genealogical; in like
manner a calamity followed by another is seen in its procreative
aspect: Aesch. Ag. 758 τό δυσσεβές γάρ έργον / μετά μεν πλείονα τίκ-
τει, / σφετέρα δ’ εΐκότα γέννα, 764 φιλεϊ δέ τίκτειν "Τβρις μεν παλαιά
νεάζουσαν έν κακοϊς βροτών "Τβριν, and many similar metaphors.
1193. έπερσε: πέρθειν with personal object also O.T. 1456.
1199-1210. On the one side the Chorus in their aversion to
long military service and the privations it entails are to be compared
with the herald in Aesch. Agamemnon (cf. especially 1207-1210
with Ag. 560 sqq.; but the words in Aesch. are much more imbued
with a harsh reality); on the other hand it must be admitted that
what the Chorus desire is not only “anachronistic"—the pleasures
they yearn for are those of fifth century Athens—but also ill suit
the "standing” of the Chorus, since they are the pleasures of the
bonne societe of Cimon, Sophocles, or Alcibiades. (At complete
variance with historical reality Masqueray says, p. 56 n. 1: “Ces
230 COMMENTARY

matelots regrettent les deux joies principales des gens de leur con­
dition, celles des συμπόσια et surtout celle des έρωτες”.) These
words, therefore, bear a personal and lyrical stamp, so that the
schol. is not far astray when it says: ήδιστος δέ ών ό Σοφοκλής πάλιν
έπΐ τδ ίδιον ήθος έκλινεν έν τοϊς μέλεσιν δθεν και μέλιττα έκλήθη.
No wonder that a man like Tibudus thought of these verses, as
appears from I 10.5, where the word miser strongly reminds us
of δύσμορος.
1199-1201. στεφάνων .... κυλικών: garlands and wine-cups, the
paraphernalia of the symposium.
βαθειαν: this word is probably not an epitheton ornans to κυλικών
(the κύλιξ being rather broad and shadow) but suggests the idea
of being richly filled.
νεΐμεν έμοί τέρψιν όμιλεϊν: "gave me for my portion the joy (of
garlands and wine-cups) to consort with”. The verb όμιλεϊν rouses
associations of convivial company. Cf. O.C. 1236 άπροσόμιλον γήρας
άφιλον. The subject is έμέ, whde τέρψει στεφάνων etc., or στεφάνοις
κα'ι κύλιξιν, can be supplied.
τέρψιν: the key-word of this strophe: cf. 1204, 1216.
1202. γλυκόν αύλών ότοβον: ότοβος, used by Aesch. Sept. 152
for the rattling of chariots, by Soph. O.C. 1479 for the rumbling
of thunder, is fully identical with strepitus (used by Horace for the
music of the cithara or the clarinet). Cf. Aesch. Prom. 575 ότοβεΐ
δόναξ.
1203. δύσμορος: the connotation is similar to that of τάλας,
Od. XVIII 327, XIX 68: “the wretch”, "miser” (see note ad 1199-
1210 in pine).
έννυχίαν / τέρψιν Ιαύειν: 1201 might lead to the supposition
that here, too, Ιαύειν is used as a complementary infinitive to έν­
νυχίαν τέρψιν. It would of course also be possible, syntactically, to
take ίαύειν as the direct object to νεΐμεν and έννυχίαν τέρψιν as
"cognate acc.” to ίαύειν.
Of course, the Chorus do not complain that they cannot sleep
wed. They are deprived of the τέρψις έρώτων. I prefer, therefore,
with L and A to join the first έρώτων (δ’ after the second έρώτων)
with τέρψιν and to punctuate after it. This wid make έρώτων δ’
an emphatic resumption of the last word: "yea, for he deprived
us of the pleasures of love”.
1207. άμέριμνος: prob, passive, = neglectus, cf. άνήριθμος, 604.
The explanations of the schol. ήτοι πολυμέριμνος ή των τέρψεων
 THIRD STASIMON, vss. 1199-1215 231

αμέριμνος can hardly be correct. The first seems forced and arti­
ficial, the second is not applicable to this Chorus. Jebb points to
the passive use of άκηδής, άμελής.
1208- 1210. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 560-562 έξ ούρανοϋ δέ κάπδ γης
Χειμωνιάς / δρόσοι κατεψάκαζον, έμπεδον σίνος / έσβημάτων, τιθέντες
ένθηρον τρίχα. Cf. supra 601 and also Ag. 334-337.
πυκιναϊς: "thick-falling” (L.-Sc.), ipais. Cf. Eur. Andr. 1129
πυκνή νιφάδι (fig.).
1209- 1210. λυγρας / μνήματα Τροίας: μνήματα is in apposition
to the whole sentence, as όνειδος, ngi: “lest I should forget that
I am in the cheerless land of Troy” (Jebb). Though this construction
gives excellent sense, there is no absolute certainty of its being
right. Since Brunck the common reading is λυγρας instead of the
λυγρας of the MSS. λυγρας fits in very well with κόμας and reminds
us of ένθηρον, Aesch. Ag. 562, while the meaning “ragged” (shabby)
is supported by Od. XVI 457 είματα λυγρά. All the same, the words
μνήματα Τροίας would be somewhat isolated.
1211. και πριν μέν οδν έννυχίου: this reading, preserved by Tricl.
(if not his conjecture), seems to be acceptable; especially on account
of the contrast with έννυχίαν τέρψιν it seems advisable not to
eliminate έννυχίου. For οδν "emphasizing a prospective μέν” see
Denniston, G.P., 473 (2). Cf. e.g. Ant. 925.
1211, 1212. έννυχίου δείματος: this may be suggestive of a
φόβος Πανικός, as is described in Xen. An. II 2.i9sqq. The whole
sentence expresses the same idea as is implied in 158 sq. supra.
Cf. O.T. 1200 θανάτων δ’ έμα χώρα πύργος άνέστας (also Theogn.
233 Άκρόπολις καί πύργος έών .... έσθλός άνήρ). The gen. obj. to
πύργος is used in the same way as here with προβολά. Cf. θανάτου
προβολάν Eur. Or. 1487.
1213. θούριος: cf. supra ad 212.
1214, 1215. νϋν δ’ .... δαίμονι: νϋν δ” introduces here the sad
reality of the present after the happy past.
άνεϊται1): prob, “devoted to”. Jebb quotes Eur. Phoen. 947
(οδτος δέ πώλος τηδ’ άνειμένος πόλει / θανών πατρωαν γαϊαν έκσώσειεν
άν), where, however, the dative πόλει stands in a different relation
to the verb: “for the sake of this town”. For άνίημι (cf. άφίημι in
inscriptions) = "devote”, cf. Hdt. II 65.2, Pl. Legg. VI 761c

*) The w. 11. άγκειται and έγκειται are both possible, but άνεϊται as lectio
difficilior is to be preferred.
232 COMMENTARY

(conjectural), outside the religious sphere Hdt. II 165, 167. This

explanation is in agreement with the view of Ajax’ death as an
offering (cf. the dramatic irony 712) and with 1. 970, θεοΐς τέθνηκεν
οδτος, ού κείνοισιν, οδ.
δαίμονι: "fate”, rather than “god”; but cf. also 534. The dative,
however, should not be explained as an instrumental.
1215, 1216. τίς μοι .... έπέσται: cf. Ant. 1296 τις Spa, τις με
πότμος έτι περιμένει. The repetition of τίς has a pathetic effect.
For the position of οδν cf. Denniston, G.P., 427.
έπέσται: έπειμι for the punishment which follows upon the deed
is found in Aesch. Eum. 542, ποινά γάρ έπέσται. Cf. II. V 178 χαλεπή
δέ θεοϋ έπι μήνις. “What joy will be in store for me”. Cf. Hes. Op.
113 sq. ουδέ τι δειλόν γήρας έπήν. Campbell wants to supply
τω βίω. Another possibility is perhaps to explain it as continget (E.).
1217-1222. The desire of the Chorus to be somewhere far away
from the present scene of misery is part of a long series of wishes
usually expressed on such occasions. The most striking instance
is found in Eur. Ba. 403 sqq. (cf. Dodds on Ba. 402-416: "escape-
prayer”). In our passage, however, this desire coincides with their
longing for home, while the Athenian poet seizes upon the oppor­
tunity to call up a striking picture for his audience. On “Entriickung’
see note ad 1193.
1218, 1219. πόντου πρόβλημα: πόντου cannot depend on έπεστι;
πόντω going with έπεστι is to be supplied from πόντου, πόντου πρό­
βλημα is mostly explained as “cape projecting into the sea”. The
schol. ad 1217, at any rate, is wrong: ένθα ύλώδης έξοχή τής θαλάτ-
της έστί. It is rather “bulwark against the sea”. That προβολή and
πρόβλημα are the same appears from Pl. Tim. 74 b τήν δέ σάρκα
προβολήν μέν καυμάτων, πρόβλημα χειμώνων.
1219. άλίκλυστος: here for the first time; cf. άλίπλακτος, 597,
and the like.
1219, 1220. άκραν ύπό πλάκα Σουνίου: cf. Od. Ill 278 άλλ’ ότε
Σούνιον ίρόν άφίκομεθ’, άκρον Άθηνέων. άκραν may be thought of
as vertical or horizontal (cf. Od. XII ix), most likely the latter
here, i.e. "beneath, or along, or approaching (ύπό dependent on
γενοίμαν) the outermost part of Cape Sunium”, πλάκα Σουνίου
describes the whole promontory. Correct is Masqueray’s “a l’ex-
tremite du promontoire de Sunium”.
1221, 1222. προσείποιμεν: “to greet”, “hail”. The opt. through
attractio modi after γενοίμαν. The city of Athens cannot be seen from
 third STASIMON, vss. 1215-1222 — exodos, vss. 1223-1226 233

Cape Sunium, but the idea of sailors coming from the east and
hailing Athens when sailing round the first cape of Attica is natural
enough. Many other towns besides Athens are called ίεραί. Cf. e.g..
Od. I 2, ZZ. IV 103, Theogn. 604 etc. Often gods have built the
walls and the town is under their protection.

Exodos, vss. 1223-1420

Teucer appears, shortly afterwards followed from the same side

by Agamemnon.

1223. καί μήν: cf. note ad 1168. The use is somewhat strange
here, seeing that Teucer, while entering himself, announces the
appearance of Agamemnon. The scene with Agamemnon consists
only of speech and counterspeech. Whereas in the scene with
Menelaus the speeches are followed by stichomythia (and the two
αίνοι), these two speeches give us a detailed account of the whole
conflict; the scene with Odysseus takes the place of the word-duel
between the two parties. The stichomythia is between Agamemnon
and Odysseus, after which the dispute is wound up and prepa­
rations for the burial of Ajax are made.
1224. ήμϊν: dativ. incommodi,
δεϋρο τόνδε: somewhat pleonastic.
1225. δήλος: personal construction (cf. 326, with ώς added),
σκαιόν έκλύσων στόμα: cf. Eur. Hipp. 1060 τί δήτα τούμόν ού
λύω στόμα. Jebb draws attention to Eur. Ba. 386 άχαλίνων στομάτων.
σκαιόν: σκαιός, like so many words concerning things intellectual,
may acquire an ethical meaning. Eur. jr. 73(1 N.2 gives a good im­
pression of the meaning here: ώς σκαιός άνήρ και ξένοισιν άξενος/καί
μνημονεύων ούδέν ών έχρήν φίλου. / σπάνιον άρ’ ήν θανοΰσιν άσφα-
λεϊς φίλοι, / καν όμόθεν ώσι· τό γάρ έχειν πλέον κρατεί / τής
εύσεβείας· ή δ’ έν όφθαλμοϊς χάρις / άπόλωλ’, όταν τις έκ δόμων άνήρ
θάνη. See Denniston ad Eur. El. 943, cf. ib. 972. (Masqueray is
wrong: "surement il va eclater en paroles sinistres".) For στόμα
cf. supra 1147. One cannot say which meaning prevails, "mouth”
or "words”, σκαιόν is used predicatively. “Mischievous and un­
restrained will be the words of his mouth”. The note of the schol.
a.h.l., καί δήλός έστιν ώς τι σημανών νέον, is based on Ant. 242.
1226. σέ δή: σέ is simply subj. acc. to τλήναι, dependent on
άγγέλλουσι. The position suggests a sentence with another issue:
234 COMMENTARY

cf. supra 1047, or Ant. 441 σέ δή, σέ την νεύουσαν ές πέδον κάρα,
where a verb is lacking.
τά δεινά ρήματ’: cf. supra 312. The nuance is here somewhat
different: τά = ista rather than ilia.
1227. άνοιμωκτεί: in comedy οίμωζε, ούκ οιμώζεται; and the like
are quite common as formulae of imprecation. Cf. e.g. v. Leeuwen
ad Ar. Ran. 178. Thus it may mean "with impunity”.
χανεϊν: evidently parodied in Ar. Vesp. 342 τοΰτ’ έτόλμησ’ ό
μιαρός χανεϊν .... Lobeck quotes Attius, Arm. Iud. fr. 11 Hem,
vereor plus quam fas est captivum (Teucer, the son of Hesione)
hiscere.
1228. σέ τοι: "Yea, I mean you".
τόν έκ της αίχμαλωτίδος: Hesione, taken as war-booty by Telamon.
Soph, has reserved this taunt for Agamemnon. (The reading of
Dresd. b σέ τοι, σέ τόν της, adopted by Hermann, yields very good
Greek.)
1229. ή που: "in a fortiori argument” (Denniston, G.P., 281 sq.
The a fortiori clause here comes first. The argument is otherwise
similar to that of 1122.
τραφείς .... άπο: "bred of” (J.).
1230. ύψήλ’: for the fig. sense of ύψηλός cf. Eur. Hipp. 730 ίν’
είδη μη ’πΐ τοϊς έμοΐς κακοϊς / ύψηλός είναι. The reading έκόμπεις of
the schol. ad Ar. Ach. 638 seems to have arisen through quoting
from memory: έκόμπεις is so natural here that the reading έφώνεις
must be the correct one.
κάπ’ άκρων ώδοιπόρεις: schol. έπ’ άκρων δακτύλων έβαινες γαυριών.
The schol. ad Ar. Ach. 638 (εύθύς διά τούς "στεφάνους” έπ’ άκρων
των πυγιδίων έκάθησθε) informs us: είώθασι γάρ οΐ άλαζόνες έπ’
άκρων όνύχων βαδίζειν.
1231. ούδέν ών: homo nihili. 1094. μηδέν because the participle
is hypothetical; here Agamemnon states that Teucer, who (con­
sidered objectively) is an ούδέν etc. He means διά την δυσγένειαν
(schol.).
τοϋ μηδέν: nominat., ό μηδέν "the dead” (τοϋ Αϊαντος τελευτη-
σαντος schol.). Cf. El. 1166 δέξαι με την μηδέν εις τό μηδέν, "... .me
the one who has been annihilated”. (Hence no appreciation is given
here of the character of Ajax. The notion of τό μηδέν is different
infra 1275, Ar. Αν. Vll, Eur. Rhes. 818 sq.) ό μηδέν is here apparently
a fossilized formula in which there is no rational explanation for
the use of μη- (767 is not on a par with this case and the meaning
 exodos, vss. 1227-1237 23S

is different; moreover, μηδέν is used predicatively there). (Cf.

K.-G. II, 179.)
It should be noted that the argumentation is the reflected image
of that of Teucer, supra 1093 sqq.
1231. δτ’: cf. 1095.
1232 sqq. These words refer to Teucer’s speech, 1097 sqq. It is
evident that Agamemnon exaggerates: Teucer had never denied
his supreme authority.
1233. οΰτε: άπο κοινοϋ: <οΰτ’> ’Αχαιών οΰτε σοϋ.
διωμόσω: prop, "to swear on oath”, h.l. "to asseverate”. Cf.
Track. 378 ώσπερ ούπάγων διώμνυτο, Eur. fr. yt)$ NA
1234. αύτος άρχων: cf. 1099. The writing of Raderm. αύτοσάρχων
cannot be recommended: one would then expect αΰταρχος, which
is actually a later formation.
έπλει: Teucer thought of the moment of sailing out (έξέπλευσεν,
1099), Agamemnon speaks as if, according to Teucer, Ajax was
continually αύτος άρχων.
1235. μεγάλα: emphatic (underlined by the rhythm). (On the
emphatic use of μέγας and τοσοϋτος see C. W. Vollgraff, Le sixieme
Discours d’Antiphon, Mnem. IV S. 1.4, 1948, p. 269.) English
"frightful”.
1236. ποιου .... άνδρύς: “What is the man about whom you... ?’
Essentially this genit, is the same as in 222, 998; ύπέρφρονα, how­
ever, gives it an adnominal character which is even feebler than
with άγγελίαν (222) and βάξις (998). An extreme instance is κλύων
σου, O.C. 307; cf. further infra 1417, Phil. 441, El. 317, and Den-
niston ad Eur. El. 228 (K.-G. I, 363 (c)). ("About whom”, i.e. “in
defence of whom”.)
1237. ποϊ βάντος ή ποϋ στάντος: the reading ποϊ (instead of ποϋ,
which has the best MS authority) remains uncertain. The text
of Phil. 833 sq., δρα ποϋ στάση, ποϊ δέ βάση, is certainly correct,
it is true, but in contradistinction to this we have infra 1281 *),
Track. 40 8που βεβηκε, Phil. 256 μηδαμού διήλθέ που (Pearson and
others read μηδαμοϊ); and conversely the MS reading of Eur. Ale.
863 is ποϊ βώ; ποϊ στώ; Hec. 1056 πα βώ, πα στώ, πά κελσω; (cf. for
the pregnant use of adv. of place K.-G. I, 545 a. 4.) The reading
ποϋ raises the question whether the tautology is not getting too

*) The schol. ad 1281 reads: ποϋ βάντος ή ποϋ στάντος. Cf. also Eur.
Ba. 184.
236 COMMENTARY

strong (this would not matter with Eur.); the reading ποϊ, why this
is not used with στάντος also.
Translation: "Whither went he, or where stood he, where I
was not” (Jebb). The genit, goes with ποιου άνδρος.
1238. ούκ άρ’ ....: not "there are, after all, also other men,
but “are there no other men, then ?” For ούκ άρ’ (to be distinguished
from άρ’ ούκ) cf. Phil. 114, "am I not, then... ?”.
1239. πικρούς: “to our grief”. Cf. Od. XVII 448 μή τάχα πικρήν
Αίγυπτον καί Κύπρον ϊδηαι. Similarly ΕΙ. 47°· See further van
Leeuwen ad Ar. Av. 1045.
εοιγμεν: rare archaic form in which the non-thematic character
of the perf. in the pi. is preseived (cf. P. Chantraine, Morphologie
histarique du grec, § 219). This form also Eur. Cycl. 99, Heracl.
427, 681.
1241. πανταχοϋ: probably simply "everywhere” (in the eyes of
all men). Another possibility, “on every occasion” (cf. Ar. Av.
880 Χίοισιν ήσθην πανταχοϋ προσκειμένοις); Jebb and others, “in
every case”.
φανούμεθ’: with the same nuance as El. 367, "we shall be
accounted”.
έκ Τεύκρου: "through this Teucer" (a man like Teucer) ("grS.ce
ύ Teucros”, Mazon).
1242. κούκ άρκέσει: ού, not μή, for the following reasons: (l)
the clause with εί is not really hypothetical; (2) this clause is part
of a sentence of which two members are affirmative; (3) the sta­
tement as a whole, apart from εί, may be regarded as negative
(K.-G. II, 188-191). The nuance is "if you never will resign yourself
to it, acquiesce in it”. There seems to be a verbal play with ήρεσκεν.
ύμίν: Agamemnon seems to refer also to Ajax; the more so as
εϊκειν, ύπείκειν appears to be an intrinsic part of the “Trugrede”
of Ajax (667, 668, 670) and his tragedy culminates in his stubborn
refusal to submit. This appears moreover from 1245.
1243. είκειν &: "to yield in regard to what ....". Agamemnon,
too, refers to the verdict of the judges, just as Menelaus in 1136.
1244. κακοις βαλεΐτε: κακά = "abuse”, “revilings”, cf. Eur.
Andr. 31 with my note; for βάλλειν van Leeuwen ad Ar. Thesm.
895 and Eur. Andr. ib. Cf. further supra 724.
που: modal, “no doubt you will”. (Jebb’s denial of the modal
sense is in conflict with his view of πανταχοϋ.)
1245. ή σύν δόλω κεντήσεθ’: the following facts speak against
 exodos, vss. 1238-1251 237

the view of various interpreters (i.a. Jebb, Masqueray) who take

κεντήσεθ’ figuratively: Ajax can not be accused of artful slander;
κεντεΐν can mean "to vex”, but not “to have a sly dig at a person",
etc. Ant. 1030 μηδ’ όλωλότα / κέντει is anything but a parallel
case (rather Eur. Suppl. 240-242, quoted by Lobeck: ές τούς
έχοντας κέντρ’ άφιασιν κακά). We have here therefore an allusion
to Ajax’ nightly onslaught, and the verb is to be taken in a literal
sense (as the schol. has it: τούτο δέ προς την έπιχείρησιν τού Αϊαντος).
οί λελειμμένοι: οΐ ήττηθέντες έν τη κρίσει. Cf. Pol. V ΙΟΙ.6
(Bruhn, Gnomon, 1926, ρ. 452)· The word contains a metaphor
derived from the race-course (λείπεσθαι in this sense in II. XXIII
407, 523 and elsewhere). Agamemnon’s words are a replication to
those of Menelaus, 1081 sqq.
1246. έκ τώνδε .... των τρόπων: τώνδε has the force of τοιώνδε,
as often, τρόπων = "manners”. Cf. note ad 1036.
1247. κατάστασις .... νόμου: Hdt. uses πόλιος κατάστασις in the
sense of the “constitution” (settled order) of a state (V 92 β).
Soph, himself has Ant. 1113 τούς καθεστώτας νόμους in the sense
of “the laws established for eternity” (the νόμοι of Ant. 1113 are
of course quite different from those of our text). The meaning may
be paraphrased as follows: ούδείς νόμος καθεστώς άν γένοιτο, “no
law could ever attain stability”, "pas une loi ne demeurerait stable"
(Mazon). Compare further the use of καθεστήκη and έστάτω supra
1074 and 1084.
1248. Agamemnon passes here into the 1st pers. ph, as Menelaus
did in 1085.
τούς νικώντας: ό νικών or ό νικήσας, “the conqueror”,
έξωθήσομεν: sc. from the place which is rightfully theirs. Attic
poets use this form instead of ώσω; the κοινή has besides the aor.
ώθησα (Chantraine, Morphologie historique du grec, § 366).
1249. The metaphor from the race-course is continued, τούς
όπισθεν is not different from τούς λελειμμένους. The poet seems to
have had the scene II. XXIII 532 sqq. in mind.
1250. τάδε: the funeral honours to Ajax, είργειν means "to
prevent”.
οΐ πλατείς: πλατύς for "broad", "stout”, "burly” of body. Cf.
the proper name Πλάτων, πλατύστερνος, πλατύσωμος in later authors.
Cf. 1077 sq„ 758-61.
1251. εύρύνωτοι: after Hom. II. Ill 227 (Ajax) έξοχος Άργείων
κεφαλήν τε καϊ εύρέας ώμους.
238 COMMENTARY

ασφαλέστατοι: Untersteiner: “corrono meno pericolo di cadere”.

Cf. έσφάλη, 1136. (Wrong, Ellendt and others, “fiducia dignissimi”.)
Cf. O.T. 616 sq. καλώς έλεξεν εύλαβουμένφ πεσεΐν, / άναξ · φρονεΐν
γάρ οΐ ταχείς ούκ ασφαλείς. The contrast with κρατοϋσι is another
proof that this is the correct interpretation. The passage refers to
the rightful defeat of Ajax in the contest for the arms; the words
οί φρονοϋντες εδ remind us of Odysseus. W.-B. rightly quote Ovid.
Met. XIII 363: Tu vires sine mente geris, mihi cura futuri.
1252. εδ: the place of εδ gives it due prominence; cf. Ant. 723
(Jebb), O.T. 1066 (the diaeresis divides the verse into two equal
halves).
κρατοϋσι: "triumph”, “prevail”,
πανταχοϋ: cf. 1241.
As is the case with every unrighteous man, Agamemnon con­
tradicts himself, cf. 1241; for if this is true and he is φρονών εδ,
he need not dread Teucer’s alleged calumny.
1253. μέγας δέ πλευρά: the expression is modelled on 1250 sq.
though there the allusion is to Ajax and here rather to Teucer
(cf. however παρευθύνοντες, 1069, and ορθός εις ό.π,, 1254). Cf.
further Ant. ύ,ηη.
πλευρά: somewhat more poetical and less usual than πλευράς this
reading is to be preferred to the latter; both mean “ribs”, “flanks”,
"sides”.
1254. πορεύεται: purely passive, cogitur ut eat (E.). Cf. O.C. 845
προς βίαν πορεύομαι.
1255. 1256. όρώ: cf. 1157·
προσέρπον: as στείχοντα, Ant. ίο. Cf. supra 227, ΐδν El. 374.
τδ φάρμακου: τό της μάστιγος. Cf. the very felicitous quotation
by Jebb from Pind. ΟΙ. XIII 85 φάρμακου πραύ (the bit of Pegasus),
also O.C. 713 του άκεστηρα (= σωφρονιστήν) χαλινόν.
1256. κατακτηση: used in the same way as (often) φύειν. Cf.
O.C. 804 ούδέ τώ χρόνω φύσας φανή φρένας ποτ’. νοΰς in the sense
of "behaving prudently” so that no risks are taken, cf. El. 1027.
That νοΰς may be called a κτήμα appears very clearly from Pl.
Ion 534 b.
1257. άνδρός ούκέτ’ δντος, άλλ’ ήδη σκιάς: many commentators
assume a gen. abs. here, but this is by no means certain, and would
be more in agreement with Wecklein’s reading τάνδρός. The note
of the schol. is quite good: λείπει ή ύπέρ. Campbell rightly remarks
that the constr. is softened on account of its referring to vs. 1236.
 exodos, vss. 1252-1263 239

It may also be argued with W.-B. that ύβρίζεις takes the construc­
tion of the verba affectuum (άχνύμενος έτάροιο II. VIII 125,
ή με παιδος ούκ άλγεϊν δοκεϊς; Eur. Hec. 1256). In any case, the genit,
clearly marks the starting-point; those who would reject this
possibility have too limited an idea of the potentialities of the
genitive.
Θαρσών ύβρίζεις κάξελευθεροστομεΐς: this is about the same as
κέκραγας ώδ’ ύπέρφρονα. έλευθεροστομέω already in Aesch. Prom.
180 (ελευθερόστομος, Aesch. Suppl. 948) rendered by the schol.
with παρρησιάζομαι (cf. Eur. Andr. 153 with schol. and Groeneboom
ad Prom. 180). The free-born man has a right to do this but Aga­
memnon looks down upon Teucer as little more than a δούλος
(1235)·
1259. σωφρονήσεις: a variation on νοϋν κατακτήση τινά, implying
that Teucer should know his place.
φύσιν: h.l. "descent", “birth”, cf. 1228.
δς εί: cf. van Leeuwen ad Ar. Ach. 118. δς has the value of οίος;
he means "remember that you are only a δοϋλος’’ (Cf. perhaps
δστις Eur. Ale. 1071)
1260. άλλον τιν* .... άνδρα .... ελεύθερον: “some one else, a
free-born man” (who has a right to έλευθεροστομεΐν)—the well-
known idiomatic use of άλλος.
This advice is quite in accordance with the legal principles and
practices of Athens; a slave could not plead his own cause in a
law-court. Compare the words of Teiresias, O.T. 408 sqq., rightly
quoted by Jebb. Agamemnon therefore demands the coming of a
προστάτης. There is a certain dramatic irony in these words because
some time later Odysseus actually appears as a kind of προστάτης
to defend the interests of Ajax and Teucer.
1262. σοϋ .... λέγοντος .... μάθοιμ’ έγώ: "for I am no longer
inclined to give ear to your interests, if you continue to defend
them”. It would serve no useful purpose to argue the question
whether σοϋ λέγοντος is a gen. abs. or not; what precedes makes it
plausible to supply τά σά. Strictly speaking ούκέτ’ does not apply
to Agamemnon (Ellendt takes it as "not at all”), but Teucer has
pleaded his cause with Menelaus and so Agamemnon has heard
of it, indirectly from Teucer.
1263. την βάρβαρον γλώσσαν: Agamemnon means to suggest that
the son of Hesione does not, or cannot speak Greek. This is of course
only a sneering remark levelled at Teucer, and the poet is not
240 COMMENTARY

thinking of any linguistic difference between the speech of Teucer

and the others l). For the verb έπαίω (/>erci/>»o and intellego), which
occurs also in Hdt., see van Leeuwen ad Ar. Vesp. 516.
1264. The Coryphaeus formulates his mediatory words by using
both νους (1256) and σωφρονεϊν (1259). "Would that you both
possessed the wisdom to contain yourselves”.
1265. φράσαι: with the connotation "advise”, “counsel”.
1266. ώς ταχεΐά τις: a rather striking example of the predic.
use of an adj. where modern languages prefer an adverb, τις has a
strengthening effect rather than the opposite ("in quick fashion
indeed!” cf. K.-G. I, 663). The relation between τις and ταχεία is
the same as between πως and ταχέως in ταχέως πως. For ταχύς used
predicatively cf. Phil. 808; combined with τις, O.T. 618. Yet the two
examples do not run exactly paiallel because they refer to a special
case, not to a general statement.
1267. χάρις διαρρεΐ: cf. άπορρεϊ, supra 523. τοϋ θανόντος, which
precedes in 1266, depends on χάρις and the relation is ambivalent
because χάρις is ambivalent (the merit and the gratitude he earned);
it should be rendered as a gen. obj. (Cf. Masqueray: "helas, pour
qui est mort....”)
προδοϋσ’ άλίσκεται: the idea of those who commit this treason is
formulated in a suggestive way by the personification of χάρις.
For the combination of άλίσκεσθαι and προδιδόναι cf. Ant. 46,
Eur. Andr. 191.
1268. ούδ’ έπΐ σμικρών λόγων: prop, "not even founded on brief
words”, i.e. "not even appearing from brief words”. Cf. the use of
έπΐ 4- genit, with verba sentiendi, iudicandi, declarandi, e.g. Dem.
II I έπΐ πολλών μεν άν τις ίδεΐν δοκεϊ μοι την παρά των θεών εύνοιαν
φανεράν γιγνομένην τη πόλει (K.-G. I, 497 scl·)· Hence it may be said
that ϊσχει μνήστιν has the pregnant sense of ϊσχων μνήστιν έπιδείκνυται
(or even, φαίνεται); the more so because μιμνήσκεσβαι conveys at
the same time the idea of making mention of.
1269. 1270. ού .... Sopi: the best construction is, I think:
ού σύ πολλάκις προύκαμες Sopi, την σήν ψυχήν <αύτοϋ> προτείνων.
προ- in both verbs as in προμάχεσθαι, προκινδυνεύειν, but in προύκαμες
approaching the meaning of ϋπερ- (cf. Theogn. 925 ούτε γάρ αν
προκαμών άλλω κάματον μεταδοίης), in προτείνων the local sense.
It is almost certain that δορί goes with προύκαμες: cf. II. II 389

*) For the rest, cf. Allen-Sikes-Halliday ad Hymn. Ven. 113.

 exodos, vss. 1264-1279 241

περί δ’ έγχεϊ χεϊρα καμεϊται. The participle προτείνων must of course

be closely linked up with προύκαμες. προτείνων ψυχήν is reminiscent
of αίέν έμήν ψυχήν παραβαλλόμενος πολεμίζειν [II. IX 322), 35 the
schol. observed. For ψυχή cf. also Solon 1.46 D. φειδωλήν ψυχής
οϋδεμίαν θέμενος.
1271. πάντα ταϋτ’: all those merits of Ajax.
έρριμμένα: "contemptuously cast away”, "set at naught”. Cf.
άπορρίπτειν "to reject”, El. 1018, and Dem. XXV 75 όταν ή μέν
πονηριά τιμαται, τά χρηστά δ’ άπορρίπτηται. Note supra ad 1019.
1272. With these words Teucer turns to Agamemnon.
1273. μνημονεύεις .... ήνίκα: cf. μεμνημαι ότε, memini cum.
1274. έρκέων .... έγκεκλημενους: for εντός έ. εγκ., "confined
within”, “bloques dans notre enceinte” (Mazon). Prop, the genit,
expresses "within the reach of”. Cf. Eur. Phoen. 451 τόνδ’ εΐσεδέξω
τειχεων (K.-G., I 384. 2 a).
1275. τό μηδέν όντας: "who were <no longer> fit for anything”,
"all but lost”. Cf. Eur. I.A. 945, Heracl. 167; supra ad 1231. It is
a fossilized formula, indeclinable and often used in apposition or
predicatively (K.-G., II 197. 8).
έν τροπή δορός: "in the rout caused by the spear”. Cf. Eur.
Rhes. 82 and Aesch. Ag. 1237, έν μάχης τροπή.
1276. 1277. This calls up the end of II. XV and II. XVI101-123,
but there is no verbal agreement. In the II. Hector does not bound
over the trenches; only one ship is on fire (that of Protesilaus) and
between the crossing of the trench and the seizure of the ship there
lies a long episode (XV 360-704). For μοϋνος cf. Antisthenis Aiaxg
(Blass).
Combine άμφι άκροισι ναυτικοϊς έδωλίοις νεών. εδώλια = "raised
quarter-decks at the stem”. Cf. Hdt. I 24, Eur. Cycl. 238, Hel. 1571.
άκροισι, therefore, is to be taken in the horizontal sense and refers
to the stem (cf. II. XVI124). άμφί used in a locative sense does not
allow of the genit, in Sophocles. The only objection to this inter­
pretation (Jebb’s) is the pleonastic use of ναυτικοϊς. But έδώλια
can also mean "abodes” (e.g. El. 1393), so that the adj. may,
technically, denote the raised deck at the stem of a ship. Finally
the terms νεών, ναυτικοϊς, ναυτικά used in three successive verses
symbolize Teucer’s vehement concentration on this scene of Ajax’
supreme heroism, when the ships were concerned.
1278, 1279. The epic scenes are strongly dramatized: trench
and wall are already forced in II. XII. To set fire to the ships is
Kamerbeek x6
242 COMMENTARY

Hector’s threat already in VIII182, to which Agamemnon refers at

XIV 47; in XV this threatens to happen; in XVI (122) the ship of
Protesilaus is fired. In XV (115) Ajax confronts Hector, who
wants to set fire to a ship. The picture represents Hector leaping
high over the trench towards the ships. It may be said, that
πηδώντος has a pregnant implication: he leaps over the trench to
make a dash at the ships; the present also expresses that he did
not board the ships.
1279. ΰπερ: with genit. = (coming) “across”. This use is found
in Homer.
1281. ούδαμοϋ: the schol. rightly says: προς τό που βάντος ή ποϋ
στάντος (1237)· Just as Agamemnon exaggerates in 1232 sqq.,
Teucer twists here the meaning of Agamemnon’s words (Triclinius:
φασιν ενταύθα ώς συκοφαντεί Τεΰκρος Άγαμέμνονα, ού γάρ έν τοϊς πρόσ-
θεν αύτοϋ λόγοις τοιοϋτόν τι εΰρηται άλλ’ έφη ποϋ βάντος ή ποϋ κτλ.).
ουδέ συμβήναι ποδί: compare Theonoe's words at Eur. Hel. 1006 sq.
ή Χάρις δ’ έμοί, ί'λεως μέν εϊη, ξυμβέβηκε δ’ ούδαμοϋ. (“nunquam
adstitit mihi”, Matthiae). "Who nowhere, as you say, even posted
himself together with you". The use of ποδί is similar to that of
χερί, 310 (W.-B.). (This would seem more natural than Campbell’s
interpretation: "Who, as thou sayest, on no occasion set his foot
by thine”.) That no emendation is needed is also shown by 1288.
1282. άρ’: one of the many examples of a question introduced
by Spa to which a positive answer is expected. "The appeal for
confirmation is the more confident because less obviously stressed”
(Denniston, G.P., 46. 3).
ταΰτ’: what was described in 1273-1279.
ύμΐν .... ένδικα: "as deeds which had your approval”, ΰμίν is
dativ. iudicantis.
1283. αύθις: "another time”. If the frequent meaning of αύθις,
"hereafter” (thus L.-Sc.), were accepted, it would imply that Soph,
had, consciously or unconsciously, placed an earlier episode in the
Iliad (VII 161 sqq.) after the battle at the ships.
μόνος μόνου: μόνος is used pleonastically after αύτός for the sake
of the frequent πολύπτωτον of μόνος: cf. su-pra (and 267).
1284. λαχών: for this assignment by lot cf. II. 1.1.
1285. ού δραπέτην .... καθείς: the idea is that the man who put
a lump of damp earth as his κλήρος into the helmet sought to avoid
the battle; the earth would stick to the helmet and not jump out
when the latter was shaken. This is an allusion to the casting of
 exodos, vss. 1279-1290 243

lots by the heirs of Aristodemus (Apollod. 2.8.4). (Considered to

be an "anachronism” by the schol. and Eustath.) Ajax threw a
solid κλήρος into the helmet showing that he wished to fight. The
allusion would strike more home if we might assume that the use
of a damp κλήρος was also asserted of Agamemnon or Odysseus
and that Teucer insinuates this.
δραπέτην τον κλήρον: the κλήρος is called a "runaway” because
it does not jump out of the helmet when it sticks to the bottom
(or falls to pieces). But strictly speaking it is the man who throws
it that is characterized as the δραπέτης. (On Teucer’s graphic
descriptions see T. B. L. Webster, Introduction, p. 152, and K.
Reinhardt, Sophokles1, p. 27.)
ές μέσον: among the other κλήροι (Masqueray is correct: "parmi
les autres”).
1286. άρούρας: the use of άρουρα = γή as "matter” is to be
noted: the use of βώλος (Od. XVIII 374) accounts for it.
εύλόφου: for the first time here. An epitheton omans in keeping
with this passage, which is full of epic colouring. Mark the difference
between the functions of this and of ύγράς (see F. R. Earp, The
Style of Sophocles, p. 107).
1287. άλμα κουφιεϊν: “to make a light leap”. Cf. ούράνιον πήδημα
κουφίζουσα, Eur. El. 861; δύστηνον αιώρημα κουφίζω, Eur. Suppi. 1047.
1288. δδ’ ήν ό πράσσων ταΰτα: these words should be understood
in the light of 1280. Jebb’s "his were these deeds” is misleading
and only acceptable with a strong stress on his; Masqueray is wrong:
"Voila ce qu'il faisait”, Mazon correct: "Oui, c’etait lui qui faisait
tout cela”. Pointing to the body of Ajax Teucer says: “This one
here was the man who performed these deeds”.
ούν δ’ έγώ παρών: just as Ajax was at every scene of battle (συνέ-
βαινε ποδί, cf. 1281) so Teucer was always present (though not,
of course, at the duel, which is included in ταΰτα) as a helper.
1289. ό δοϋλος, οϋκ .... γεγώς: these words, partly quoted from
Agamemnon’s taunt, have an aggressive movement, δοϋλος, cf. 1235;
ούκ .... γεγώς, cf. 1228 and 1263.
1290. ποϊ βλέπων: prop, "whither looking....", i.e. "how can
you be so blind as to...." (J.). (Different, Phil, no, O.T. 1371.)
In an emphatic rendering like this καί is included, which in this
question emphasizes the verb ("Why talk like that at all”, Den-
niston, G.P., 315 e). Cf. also van Leeuwen ad Ar. Nub. 840, Eur.
Hec. 515.
244 COMMENTARY

δύστηνε: implies moral indignation. Cf. El. 896, Phil. 1016.

1291. A fine illustration of what Alcaeus means when he says αί
x’ εϊπης τά θέλης καί κεν άκούσαις τά κεν ού θέλοις (Ζ iy — 341 L.-P.).
Cf. Hes. Op. yZT εΐ δέ κακόν εϊποις, τάχα κ’ αύτος μεϊζον άκούσαις.
Construe: ούκ οΐσθα <τοϋτον> δς προύφυ πατήρ σοϋ πατρός, <τδν>
άρχαΐον Πέλοπα, δντα βάρβαρον Φρύγα.
προύφυ: a very rare verb instead of προγίγνομαι; the whole
simply means "who was (formerly) the father of your father".
1292. άρχαΐον: as French poets speak of‘Tantique....”. “Pelops
of old” (J.). It is perhaps more impressive to read with Jebb:
βάρβαρον, Φρύγα. Pelops is mostly called a Lydian, it is true, but
Hdt. also speaks of Πέλοψ ό Φρύξ (VII xi)1). Moreover, the answer
corresponds better to 1263, for Hesione too might be called a "Phry­
gian”. For the contempt implied in Φρύγα, cf. Eur. Ale. 675 πότερα
Λυδον ή Φρύγα. (Pl. Politic. 262 e, Herod. II 100.)
1293. 1294. The construction is not certain. For δυσσεβέστατον
may refer to Άτρέα and to δεΐπνον. In the first case it seems best
to connect δντα (1292) with ’Ατρέα δυσσεβέστατον, προθέντ’ be­
coming the partic. coniunctum to Άτρέα δντα δυσσεβέστον,
which depends on οΐσθα. Lobeck is right when he places a comma
after δυσσεβέστατον. The meaning is: "don’t you know that your
grand-fathei was a barbarian and that your father was a very wicked
man, since he........ This gives a more satisfactory sense than the
connection with δεΐπνον.
1294. οικείων: every Athenian knew from tragedy that Atreus
set before Thyestes the flesh of his own children.
1295. Κρήσσης: Aerope, daughter of Catreus, king of Crete
(Apollod. 3.2.2, 2.1.5). The latter found her with a slave, sent her
to Nauplius, king of Euboea, requesting him to drown her. Nauplius,
however, gave her to Atreus (or to Plisthenes, of whom Sophocles
is probably not thinking; cf. schol. ad 1297 ή ιστορία έν ταΐς
Κρήσσαις Εύριπίδου δτι διαφθαρεΐσαν αύτήν λάθρα ύπδ θεράποντος ό
πατήρ Ναυπλίω παρέδωκεν έντειλάμενος άποποντώσαι, ό δέ ούκ έποίησεν
άλλ’ ένεγύησε Πλεισθένει; Euripides’ Κρήσσαι was performed in 438) ·
And thus there is a climax in Teucer’s taunts: the grandsire a
barbarian, the sire a criminal, the mother lascivious—which may
imply an insinuation against Agamemnon's descent: cf. perhaps
Ajax contra Odysseus, Aesch. fr. 175 (’Όπλων κρίσις).
1295, 1296. έφ’ ή / λαβών: the usual expression, also in connec­
tion with adultery: cf. van Leeuwen ad Ar. Nub. 1076.
’) Cf. Strabo XIV 665, Nauck ad Aesch fr. 99.
 exodos, vss. 1291-1301 245

επακτόν άνδρ’; "an alien”, "foreigner” (a slave is meant). Cf. Eur.

Ion 592, (son of) a father who is an alien.
1296. ό φιτύσας πατήρ: her own father (Catreus). Cf. O.T. 793
τοϋ φυτεύσαντος πατρός, Track. 311 ό φιτύσας πατήρ.
1297. έφήκεν .... διαφθοράν: the object is Aerope. The represent­
ation of the facts is given with dramatic brevity, as in 1278 sq.
έφήκεν: "to abandon”; cf. supra 495. The objection that might be
raised against the aorist, will be removed if one considers that, as
far as Catreus is concerned, the abandonment was a fact. The
shortness of the account (the words may be paraphrased thus:
"he sent her away to Nauplius (for him) to abandon her”) is a
further excuse for the aorist.
έλλοϊς: έλλός, like the more common έλλοψ, is explained as “dumb”
or "scaly”. Soph, has taken the word from the Τιτανομαχία (fr. 4,
Ath. VII 277 c-e).
διαφθοράν: "as a prey”; cf. Eur. Her. 459, Aesch. Prom. 583.
[The other interpetations of 1295-97 are to be rejected:
(1) επακτόν άνδρ’ object to έφήκεν. The detail would be without
any importance.
(2) ό φιτύσας πατήρ would be Atreus, throwing her, after finding
her with a paramour, into the sea. (A schol. rec. ad Eur. Or. 812
quoted by J. and by Pearson (Fragments I p. 92) seems to derive
from our passage.) But, (a) the interpretation έπακτός = "adul­
terer” does not hold good; (b) there are objections to taking ό
φιτύσας πατήρ as ό φιτύσας σε πατήρ; (c) the insinuation about
Agamemnon’s origin would thus be lost. It is of no importance for
his status that his mother was adulterous after his birth.]
1298. σποράν: h.l. "origin” (perhaps also Aesch. Prom. 871,
though there the text is uncertain): elsewhere = suboles. The
rhyme διαφθοράν .... σποράν can hardly be accidental.
1299. πατρός μέν: one expects μητρός δέ but these words do not
follow because the construction changes.
1300. δστις: “the man who” ("qui a pu”, cf. A. Minard, Deux
relatifs homeriques, Revue de Philologie, 1938, p. 31).
στρατού τα πρώτ’ άριστεύσας: cf. 435· The wording is here
less complicated: "having won by prowess the first rank in the
army”.
1301. ίσχει: this present is to be compared with the frequent
use of the present in sentences which mention birth or death (cf.
my note ad Eur. Andr. 9; Brugmann-Thumb1 § 551 distinguishes
246 COMMENTARY

in the historic pres, between the dramatic and the registering

present), ίσχειν in the sense of "get” is not frequent.
1301, 1302. φύσει μεν .... έκκριτον δέ: the antithesis is not one
between the descent of Hesione and her beauty, but between her
descent and the special worth she won on account of Telamon’s
receiving her as a present of honour from the hands of Heracles.
1302. βασίλεια, Λαομέδοντος: "a princess, daughter of Lao­
medon”.
έκκριτον: for the more common έξαίρετον; cf. έξαίρετον δώρημα,
Aesch. Eum 402
1304. αρ’: here approaching num (cf. ad 1282)
άριστέοιν: expresses the high rank of the two parents, or, more
probably, of father and grandfather (cf. O.T. 1062 sq.).
1305. τούς προς αίματος: cf. El. 1125 άλλ’ ή φίλων τις ή προς αίμα­
τος φύσιν. The generic plur. enhances the pathos (cf. also the schol.
δεικτικώς προς τον Αίαντα, ϊν’ ή περιπαθής ή λέξις).
αισχύνοιμι: sc. by defending them myself against your attacks.
He means "I am not too low to appear as the defender of Ajax”
(thus answering 1260, 1261).
1306. τοιοϊσδ’ έν πόνοισι: this contains a general reference to
the tragedy of Ajax’ fate and suicide; cf. 926 and 1007. In a passage
like this the dramatic importance of the presence of Ajax’ body
is keenly felt.
1307. ούδ* επαισχύνη λέγων: "and you are not ashamed to speak
of it”. Cf. Phil. 929.
1307. 1308. ώθεΐς άθάπτους .... βαλεΐτε: cf. infra 1333.
1308. που: pregnant for ποι. Cf. Phil. 256 μηδαμού διήλθέ που.
It invites a comparison with Tac. Ann. I 22, responde, ubi cadaver
abieceris. (Cf. n. ad 1237, K.-G. I 545 a. 4.)
1309. χήμας τρεις: himself, Tecmessa and Eurysaces.
άμοϋ συγκειμένους: so that we shall together lie prostrate in
death with him. All invidia will thus fall on Agamemnon, the more
so as Eurysaces clings as a supplicant to the body of Ajax.
1310. καλόν: honourable, seemly.
ύπερπονουμένω: the middle is rare (probably facilitated by such
verbs as άμύνεσθαι).
1311. προδήλως: “before all men’s eyes” (J.), "aux yeux de
tous” (Masqueray). έκ προδήλου, El. 1429, means "full in view”.
Mazon translates “Il est plus beau pour moi de mourir en luttant
franchement pour Ajax qu’....”. Probably rather "in a manner
 exodos, vss. 1301-1317 247

clear to me beforehand”. It might be said that Achilles, when he

chooses to avenge Patroclus, prefers προδήλως θανεΐν. Cf. οί πρόδη­
λοι [φόβοι] Arist. Elh. Nic. 1x17 a 19; προδήλους είλοντο θανάτους
Polyb. VI 54.4').
1311, 1312. ή της σης.... λέγω: full of bitter scom Teucer pre­
tends not to know or to have forgotten for whose wife the battle
was fought.
ή τοϋ σου] θ’ όμαίμονος: all the MSS have θ’. The problem is whether
τε can be interpreted by "also”; cf. El. 1416 and see Denniston, G.P.
536. Most scholars deny this. Emendation is easy: we may read either
γ’ with Bothe or ξυναίμονος with L. Dindorf. ή τε might be an epicism.
Eustathius supposed that Soph, had II. IX 327 in mind when he
wrote this. It should be observed, however, that the interpretation
of this passage is very uncertain. (The view according to which
άνδράσι is dativ. comm, and refers to the Atreidae is rejected by
Leaf and Mazon.) I prefer to think of II. IX 338 sq. τι δέ λαόν
άνήγαγεν ένθάδ’ άγείρας / Άτρειδης; ή ούχ Ελένης ένεκ’ ήυκόμοιο; /
ή μοΰνοι φιλέουσ’ άλόχους μερόπων άνθρώπων / Άτρείδαι; Since Άτρεΐ-
δης is Agamemnon, and the Atreidae and their wives are mentioned in
a general way (though the conflict does not concern Clytaemestra),
these words may have induced Sophocles to let Teucer speak
in the way he does. Or must we assume a gross insinuation against
Agamemnon ? This does not seem to be impossible in the light of
1295. If so, this would be perhaps in favour of the reading θ’.
1313. τοϋμόν: "my interest”. Cf. El. 251 sq.
1314. βούληση ποτέ: "there will come a time when you will
wish...”.
1315. καί: “even”.
είναι: inf. pres, to express a continuing action in the past. One
may also say (with Campbell) that θρασύς must be supplemented
by γεγενήσθαι.
έν έμοί: cf. 1092 έν θανοϋσιν υβριστής.
1316. καιρόν: cf. supra 34·
1317. ξυνάψων .... συλλΰσων: the antithesis άπτειν - λύειν also
at Ant. 40 (λύουσ’ άν είθ’ άπτουσα: Porson’s reading). Starting
from the view that συλλύσων must mean "in order to help settle

q Untersteiner contradicts himself: he quotes the explanation of J ebb:

"col fare una -pubblica protesta contra I’ingiustizia infiitta ad Aiace". but
continues: Nulla mostro meglio di πρόδηλος il significato spirituale di δήλος,
ch£ πρόδηλος significa ‘Όίό che davanti a noi δ riconoscibile alio spirito".
248 COMMENTARY

the feud" (prop, "to aid in disentangling the knot”), one would
be inclined to render ξυναψων etymologically (and exactly in op­
position to συλλύσων) by "in order to help tighten the knot” i.e.
in making the conflict insoluble (si non ades adstricturus nodum
rixae G. Hermann). It should be noted that since Homer λύειν has
been used in the sense of settling a dispute, that άπτεινίβ the same
as δεϊν (Pl. Crat. 417 e), and that the συν- of συλλύσων may have
caused this uncommon use of ξυνάψων. Furthermore it should be
remembered that ξυνάπτειν is frequently used for “to join” (battle
etc.) and also for “to bring into conflict” (Eur. Ba. 1303). The
objection to the first sense here is that the antithesis with ξυλλύσων
would be lost; the objection to the second that ‘the conflict is al­
ready at its height, so that only the impossible nuance "to stir up”
would make good sense. All this does not mean, of course, that these
senses of ξυνάπτειν which are frequent enough, have not influenced
the peculiar poise of the sentence.
1319. The attitude of Odysseus is at once reflected by the words
τωδ’ έπ’ άλκίμω νεκρω. Schol. την δέ έαυτοϋ γνώμην έδήλωσεν διά τοϋ
άλκίμω νεκρω ότι γενναίαν αύτοϋ έδήλωσε τήν τελευτήν. As regards
the latter part, the schol. reads perhaps too much into these words;
they simply mean "the body of this hero” (different, Horatio in
Hamlet, “Now cracks a noble heart”), έπ'ι is local, tending towards
“over” (quarrelling over, having an angry dispute over; = "about”,
cf. Hom. II. XVII 543 έπΐ Πατρόκλω τέτατο ύσμίνη, etc.). There
is a note of disapproval of the Atreidae in the very formulation of
the words: βοήν Ατρειδών τωδ’ έπ’ άλκίμω νεκρω.
The relatively early date of the Ajax is shown by the fact that
there does not arise a triangular dispute, as in the scene of O.T.
where Iocaste comes forth (634 sqq.).
1320. ού γάρ: γάρ in this indignant rhetorical question refers to
βοήν: "Why, of course we shouted, for ....” (cf. Denniston, G.P.,
80 (7)). The tone (though not quite the thought-structure) is to be
compared with Ant. zi. Cf. also Ar. Ves-p. 682 and the passages
quoted there by van Leeuwen.
κλύοντές έσμεν: emphatic for κλύομεν in the sense of audivimus.
These periphrases are not at all rare in Soph.: cf. 1324, 1330.
Unless we ought to write κλυόντες έσμέν, which stands for the
perfect; the meaning remains the same. (According to Campbell
and Jebb L has κλύοντές έσμέν, which would point to the reading
κλυόντες έσμέν.)
 exodos, vss. 1319-1329 249

Strictly speaking Agamemnon’s ού γάρ strains the truth, for

Teucer was not ό ύπάρξας, either against Menelaus or against
Agamemnon.
1322. The use of γάρ is characteristic of Odysseus’ disposition.
It implies: " I will not accept your accusation straight away;
something must have happened before Teucer spoke his λόγοι”.
1323. φλαϋρα: cf. supra 1162.
συμβαλεΐν έπη κακά: as συμβάλλειν έριν φίλοις (Eur. Med. 44)»
"to bandy reproaches” (L.-Sc.). Cf. Eur. I.A. 830. The suggestion
is: if on his part he hurls abuse at another. The semasiology of
συμβάλλειν also favours this view (cf. συμβάλλεσθαι "to contribute
one’s opinion”).
1324. ήκουσεν αισχρά: Agamemnon hardly answers Odysseus’
question. Instead, he says with a certain satisfaction that Teucer
has had to put up with such revilings because he wanted to do these
disgraceful things (αισχρά) to him. δρών γάρ ήν τοιαϋτά με is sub­
stituted for οΰ γάρ κλύοντες etc., which places Teucer in a still more
unfavourable light; for there is a kind of antithesis between ήκουσεν
and δρών ήν. δράν is too energetic a verb for δρών ήν to be merely
another expression for τοιαΰτα έλεγεν; moreover, the periphrastic
imperfect would be ill-suited here. (Jebb’s note is not in agreement
with his translation.)
1325. έδρασεν: Odysseus ignores Agamemnon’s emphatic im­
perfect and puts his question point-blank in the aorist.
ώστε και βλάβην έχειν: "so that you have actually been injured”,
"καϊ constitutes a limitative qualification: ‘such as to constitute,
not merely an action, but an injurious action’ ” (Denniston, G.P.,
299 (4); he compares Eur. Hel. 841 Πώς οδν θανούμεθ’ ώστε και δόξαν
λαβεϊν: not merely die, but die gloriously).
1326. 1327. οΰ φησ’ .... άλλά:φησ’ ούκ έάσειν, .... άλλά. Though
ούκ έάν is a very frequent combination, the tendency of Greek
to place the negation before φάναι has prevailed here.
1327. άμοιρον: cf. Ant. 1071 άμοιρον, άκτέριστον, άνόσιον νέκυν.
1328. φίλω: dependent on έξεστιν, "to a friend", "to me as a
friend”. This is preferable to other explanations and is supported
by φίλον σε, 1331.
1329. ξυνηρετεΐν: this conjecture by Lobeck (ξυνηρεμεϊν, ξυνηρετ-
μεϊν MSS) is certainly right and generally accepted: ξυνηρετμεΐν does
not otherwise occur and its formation is strange (ξυνηρεμεϊν is
impossible). The schol. is correct (though reading ξυνηρετμεΐν):
250 COMMENTARY

ξυντρέχειν ώς πρότερον έκ μεταφοράς των κοινώς έρεττόντων. συμφωνεϊν.

Cf. Photius: Ξυνηρέτης, σύμφωνος, ώς ενάντιος άντηρέτης. 'Ομηρέταις·
όμοψήφοις, άπό τοϋ όμοΰ έρέσσειν. Cf. Aesch. Sept. 284· For the
formation cf. ΰπηρετεΐν. The meaning: to continue to work together
in harmony.
1330. ή .... φρονών: εί μή σοΐ έξείη τάληθή είπόντι μηδέν ήσσον ή
πάρος ξυνηρετεϊν. (The reading of L“ έπεί γ’ Sv — γ’ = "yes,
certainly” makes tolerable sense.)
1331. νέμω: as e.g. El. 150 Νιόβα, σέ δ’ έγωγε νέμω θεόν,
μέγιστον: cf. μείζονι potiori, Ο.Τ. TJ2.
1333. άθαπτον βαλεϊν: cf. Ι3θ7 and
άναλγήτως: άνάλγητος · ό άνεπίστρεπτος τοϋ καθήκοντος (Ammon,
ρ. ιό); humanitatis expers (Ε,), "ruthless”. Cf. supra 946.
1334. βία: Hom. says υβρις τε βίη τε (Od. ΧΝ 329)ί so*s here
the violence of a tyrant. Cp. the role of Βία in Aesch.’ Prometheus.
νικησάτω: for the imper. aor. vide supra 1181.
1335. Ajax had said: ο τ’ εχθρός ήμϊν ές τοσόνδ’ έχθαρτέος, / ώς
καί φιλήσων αδθις. Odysseus, voice of the πόλις, where Δίκη rules
violence, proclaims a higher, more generally valid standard.
πατεΐν: the same metaphorical use at Ant. 745, ού γάρ σέβεις,
τιμάς γε τάς θεών πατών. Aesch. Cho. 642.
1336. κάμοί γάρ ήν κτλ.: ικανός ό λόγος εις πειθώ ότι κάγώ ποτέ
εχθρός ών ένδέδωκα νϋν διά τό δίκαιον (schol.).
εχθιστος: the active sense is predominant as is apparent from
1338. (Different view: Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy, p. 27.)
1338. έμπας: for the sentiment expressed by this adverb cf.
supra 121, 122.
1339. άτιμάσαιμ’: out of a sense of justice and humanity Odysseus
refrains from robbing Ajax of his τιμή, which consists in his being
άρ ιστός.
ούκ οδν: the reading is uncertain. “It is doubtful whether juxta­
posed ούκ οδν should ever be written separately” (Denniston, G.P.,
424). Moreover, one expects a following γε (cf. id. ib.). The sense is:
"in any case, not” (οΰκουν .... γε is a negative γοϋν). Perhaps we
should write with A οΰκουν (cf. Phil. 872). Bothe’s άντατιμάσαιμ’
is unnecessary and even unfitting.
1340. έν’ ...,άριστον: for εις intensifying the superlative cf.
Phil. 1344 sq., 'Ελλήνων ένα / κριθέντ’ άριστον, and other examples
cited by K.-G., I 28 f.
1341. πλήν Άχιλλέως: in accordance with Hom. II. XVII 279
 exodos, vss. 1330-1348 251

Αίας, δς περί μέν εϊδος, περί δ’ έργα τέτυκτο των άλλων Δαναών
μετ’ άμύμονα Πηλείωνα, and with the whole poetic tradition (cf.
espec. Od. XI 551, Att. Scol. 15 D., Pind. Nem. VIII 27).
1342. ώστ’ ούκ .... γ’: almost the same as ουκουν .... γε (vide
supra ad 1339). Odysseus draws the conclusion for Agamemnon
from the standard of conduct he himself has set. Though logically
not impeccable, these words closely respond to κάμοί γάρ, 1336.
1343. ού γάρ τι τούτον: for, in a certain sense Ajax is σεσωμενος,
and out of reach.
τούς θεών νόμους: cf. supra II29-II31.
1344. φθείροις: cf. Pl. Leg. XII 958 c ώς όλην τήν πόλιν καί νόμους
φθειρών.
εί θάνοι: for the opt. in general statements cf. supra 521.
1345. βλάπτειν τον έσθλόν: δύναται καί έπί τοΰ μισοϋντος είναι, τον
έσθλόν ού δει μνησικακεϊν, δύναται καί έπί τοΰ μισούμενου καί τετελευτη-
κότος τον έσθλόν ού δει βλάπτεσθαι ούδ’ έάν μισούμενος ή (schol.). W.-B.
and Untersteiner prefer the first, Jebb, Masqueiay, Campbell,
Radermacher, Bowra (Soph. Trag., p. 57) the second interpretation.
The second is to be preferred, with the restriction that τον έσθλόν
should be considered as a further confirmation of Odysseus’ argu­
ment : άνδρα δ’ ού δίκαιον, εί θάνοι, βλάπτειν could stand for itself;
τόν έσθλόν reinforces the appeal. If the other interpretation were
right, Soph, would probably have written θανόντα, not εί θάνοι.
1346. ύπερμαχεϊς: the verb, in meaning equivalent to ύπερμάχο-
μαι, O.T. 264 sq. (likewise with cognate accus.), is to be regarded as
a denominativum of ύπέρμαχος, though the latter occurs only
later. Soph, also uses it in Ant. 194, πόλεως ύπερμαχών. The em­
phasis of Agamemnon’s words (note σύ .... έμοί and their placing)
expresses his pained amazement.
1347. έμίσουν δ’: to regard this δέ as simply connective, or
adversative, or equivalent to γάρ, is unsatisfactory. The idea is:
I did hate him (but) only when (as long as) .... Jebb renders by
"yet”.
καλόν: "honourable”, "seemly”. Cf. 1310, 1349, Phil. 1304. After
the madness and death of Ajax μισεϊν is no longer καλόν. Cf. supra
122.
1348. προσεμβήναι: the heroes in epic tread (λάξ) on the fallen
opponent and boastfully proclaim their superiority, cf. e.g. λάξ προσ-
βάς //. V 620, XIII 6ι8. Also, El. 456 and Soph. Euryp. Suppl. Soph.
Diehl p. 24, 1. 47 = 210.47 P. = Page, Gr. Lit. Pap. 4. 12:
252 COMMENTARY

ή κάμβεβάσι τον νεκρόν πρδς τώ κακώ / γέλωτ’ έχοντες αδρόν Άργεϊοι

βία; (Page’s text). At El. 456 Electra wishes that Orestes will
έχθροΐσιν αύτοϋ ζώντ’ έπεμβήναι ποδί. (In a less literal sense ib.
835, κατ’ έμοϋ τακομένας μάλλον έπεμβάση, and Eur. Hipp. 668.)
Cf. also Theogn. 847.
ού σε χρή: "ne devrais-tu pas” (Masqueray). χρή has the conno­
tation of "to behove”.
καί προσεμβήναι: "in addition to this even set your heel trium­
phantly over him?”, καί denotes: <not only hate but> even....
1349. κέρδεσιν τοΐς μή καλοΐς: a triumph as meant by
Agamemnon would be a κέρδος ού καλόν. In the same spirit Cratinus
jr. 95 K. (Λάκωνες), φοβερόν άνθρώποις τόδ’ αύ κταμένοις έπ’ αίζηοΐσι
καυχάσθαι μέγα. Jebb quotes Moschion /r. 7.1 N.2 τί κέρδος ούκέτ’
όντας ύβρίζειν νεκρούς; Cf. also Eur. El. 902, νεκρούς ύβρίζειν, μή
μέ τις φθόνω βάλη, and Phoen. 1663 κάκεΐνο κέκριται, μή έφυβρίζεσθαι
νεκρούς.
1350. Agamemnon admits that his attitude may be criticized.
He claims as a justification for his conduct his status, which some­
times necessitates κέρδη ού καλά; the unspoken idea is that as a
king he thinks it necessary to make an example of Ajax. (The same
motivation for the attitude of Creon is elaborated in the Antigone.)
εύσεβεΐν implies the desire to keep faith with gods and men (cf.
J. Kroll, Theognis-Interpretationen, Phil.-Suppl. XXIX, 1936, 215
n. 141). Cf. Eustath. p. 15T4, 27 εύσεβεΐν ό έστιν άεί δικαιοπραγεΐν,
ώς πασιν άρέσκειν καί, ώς εΐπεϊν, σεβαστόν είναι, and schol. ό λόγος ότι
ού πάντη τώ δικαίω άκολουθητέον αλλά τι προς τό συμφέρον ρέπειν χρή
τον τύραννον.
1351. Schol.: κατά κοινού τό ράδιον · εστιν ούν ό νους τοιοϋτος, άλλα
ράδιόν έστι τοΐς καλώς συμβουλεύουσι φίλοις τιμάς νέμειν άντί έμοί
καλώς σοι συμβουλεύοντι τιμήν άποδος τουτέστιν άκουσόν μου.
εύ λέγειν in the sense of “to give good counsel” is frequent in
Sophocles. Cf. e.g. Ant. 1031 sq. The plur. (τιμάς) is of little
account.
1352. Schol.: άκρως αί άντιθέσεις· ό μέν ’Οδυσσεύς έπί τιμή τών
φίλων ύφεΐναι τόν βασιλέα της έξουσίας παρακαλεΐ, ό δέ άντιστρέψας
φησίν ότι τόν άγαθόν άνδρα χρή πείθεσθαι τοΐς βασιλεϋσιν.
τών έν τέλει: τών άρχόντων. Cf. Phil. 385· 925 (τών έν τέλει
κλύειν), Ant. fyj (also Hdt. and Thue.), τέλος can mean "power of
office”, "office".
1353. κρατείς .... νικώμενος: "by the very act of yielding to
 exodos, vss. 1349-1359 2S3

your friends (i.e. those who mean well by you) you will keep your
power". Cf. Aesch. Ag. 941-43 τοΐς δ’ όλβίοις γε καί τό νικάσθαι
πρέπει .... πιθοϋ ■ κρατείς μέντοι πάρεις έκών έμοί (the emendation of
943 is derived from this passage). It goes without saying that
νικάσθαι ~ ήττάσθαι can be construed with the genitive.
1354. την χάριν: "that service”.
1355. That ποτέ ("in his lifetime”) should also refer to the first
member of the sentence (Jebb) does not seem to be quite correct.
The meaning is rather: "He is my enemy, indeed (he who lies here),
but in his lifetime he was a noble man”. This is more in keeping
with 1356, έχθρόν νέκυν.
1356. τί ποτέ ποήσεις: rhythm and alliteration are suggestive of
Agamemnon’s anxious surprise, ποήσεις is something like facturus es.
έχθρόν νέκυν: νέκυς used all but adjectively; an indication of
this use is found already in Homer, II. XXIV 35 τον νϋν ούκ έτλητε
νέκυν περ έόντα σαώσαι (cf. ib. 423 and the rather frequent adjectival
use of νεκρός).
1357. νίκα .... πολύ: for the relation of νικάν to με cf. supra
I334· But the idea is more complex because νικά πολύ (as appears
from the genit, compar, της έχθρας) expresses at the same time
έμοι πολύ κρείττων έστίν. We may therefore paraphrase as follows:
"Certainly, for his worth weighs far more with me than his enmity
and determines my actions”. It is not sufficient to refer to the
comparative notion in νικά (because of με), or to claim that πολύ
is used instead of πλέον. Cp. supra 966.
1358. έμπληκτοι: εμπλήγδην in the sense of “impulsively” or
“capriciously" is Homeric (at Od. XX 132 = εύμεταβόλως, varium
et mutabile).
έμπληκτοι: "capricious”, "inconstant in their loyalty”.
τοιοίδε: those who think the άρετή of an enemy more important
than the έχθρα.
Sophocles appears to have a deep insight into Agamemnon's
character. A commander-in-chief who thinks only of the loyalty
of his companions towards himself cannot but distrust those who
are guided by a high moral standard; he accuses them of inconstancy.
βροτών: a rather pleonastic partitivus, such as is not at all rare
in Greek. Cf. O.C. 281. The most satisfactory interpretation is:
"Such men, indeed, are the inconstant among mortals". For μέντοι
combined with τοιοίδε cf. supra 952, 1246 (Denniston, G.P., 400).
1359. Agamemnon’s word has an unpleasant ring, for έμπληκτος
254 COMMENTARY

denotes a bad quality. Only a short time before (1331) he had

called Odysseus φίλον μέγιστον. So Odysseus darts back Agamem­
non’s reproach. It contains moreover a veiled threat and also
(according to the intention of the poet) an echo of 679 sqq., so that
one also thinks of Ajax—as Agamemnon does.
αύθις: “afterwards”.
1360. Odysseus’ words make Agamemnon think of Ajax, who
was once φίλος and afterwards πικρός.
επαινείς: "do you think it fair?” "do you recommend?” (cf.
El. 1322, O.C. 665).
1361. Odysseus seems to ignore Agamemnon’s question, but
in order to maintain his role as mediator he argues that Agamemnon
would be guilty of σκληρότης—which has all the nuances from
harsh to cruel—if he persists in his refusal, σκληρός is Creon’s de­
scription of Antigone [Ant. 473), but by a tragic irony it also
applies to Creon himself, έπαινεϊν: following up Agamemnon’s
επαινείς. It does not seem impossible, after all, that Odysseus’
remark contains also an answer to Agamemnon’s question, for
Ajax’ stubbornness may also be called σκληρά ψυχή. Thus far
Odysseus can say that he does not approve of making such friends,
and in that sense the remark would at the same time be directed
against Agamemnon, just as in 1359.
1362. δειλούς: the reproach of σκληρότης elicits from Agamemnon
this word; afraid of losing his prestige if he yields he hears himself
already called δειλός.
δειλούς .... φανείς: i.e. in the eyes of the Greeks.
1363. μέν ούν: immo vero.
"Ελλησι πάσιν: "in the eyes of all the Greeks”.
1364. After the words of Odysseus, spoken with great emphasis,
follows this verse, from which we learn that Agamemnon will yield.
1365. καί .... ίξομαι: viz. to death and burial. Cf. Men. fr. 649
Koerte έπϊ τοϋτ’ έγένοντο πάντες, έ'νθαδ’ ήξομεν, Ο.Τ. 1158 εις τόδ’
ήξεις. It is the solidarity of men in the face of death that determines
Odysseus’ actions. His is the voice of humanity, as already shown
in 121 sqq., ούδέν τό τούτου μάλλον ή τούμόν σκοπών.
1366. ή πάνθ’ όμοια: probably proverbial (for which Suidas is
cited: "Απανθ’ όμοια και 'Ροδώπις ή καλή: I ρ. 202, 5 and IV ρ. 20, ι6
Adler). Cf. Ter. Phorm. 264, ecce autem similia omnia, omnes
congruont. The approximate meaning is: πάντες άνθρωποι όμοιοι.
Cf. also Antisthenis Αιαχύ, (Blass): Σχεδόν μέν ούν έστιν άπαντα όμοια.
 exodos, vss. 1360-1373 255

πας άνήρ αύτφ πονεΐ: it is part of Agamemnon’s nature to represent

Odysseus’ motives as an expression of vulgar egotism (cf. the
excellent remarks by Weinstock, Sophokles, p. 58). In fact Odysseus’
attitude rests psychologically on the same basis as in Hom. II. XIX
301, 302, as remarked supra ad 124.
1367. This seems a striking specimen of Greek "directness”
(for the term cf. R. W. Livingstone in The Legacy of Greece, p. 271).
But the schol. ad 1366 aptly remarks: καί ομολογεί Όδυσσεύς το
φίλαυτον ΐνα μή δόξη πασιν άντιλέγειν. All things considered the
attitude of Odysseus may be characterized in the words: τις γάρ
έσθλος ούχ αύτφ φίλος; (O.C. 3θ9> Oedipus on Theseus, the man
who, like Odysseus, is a typical exponent of Attic "humanism”.)
1368. From Agamemnon’s answer it is clear that Odysseus’
words were also meant to remove Agamemnon’s fear expressed in
vs. 1362.
1369. ώς άν ποήσης: i.e. whether you take the responsibility for
the burial of Ajax entirely upon yourself or leave it to me.
χρηστός: the meaning must be similar to that of ένδικους, 1363.
(Unless one were to urge a contrast with δειλούς in 1362, which
would yield the meaning "stout”, "brave”, cf. Phil. 437).
1370-1373. With these words Agamemnon, even after he has
yielded, is characterized by the poet as a fool in comparison with
Odysseus. Agamemnon emphasizes that he yields only to oblige
Odysseus and that Ajax shall have his hatred even after his (i.e.
Ajax’) death.
άλλ’ .... έπίστασ’: the combination άλλα .... μέντοι is here not
purely "assentient” as Denniston, G.P., 41 has it; for in the
clause with ώς it is the second member that carries most weight,
γε is not to be combined with the other particles but emphasizes εύ
(cf. Xen. An. I 4.8, Denniston 413).
The emphasis of the following words is brought out by the
salient position of: σοΐ .... χάριν, ούτος .... έχθιστος.
1372. κάκεΐ κάνθάδ’ ών: lit. "being yonder (cf. 855) as well as
here”, i.e. “now that he is yonder as well as when he was here”.
όμως: in Soph, only here.
1373. σοι δέ δράν έξεσθ’ ά χρή: " 'You may do what you must’;
an ill-humoured way of saying, 'Do as you please’ ” (Campbell).
Most editors read with Dindorf χρής (Lobeck reads χρή; so do
Campbell and Untersteiner, though hesitatingly); the forms χρή,
χρής = χρήζει, χρήζεις certainly exist and there is everything to
256 COMMENTARY

be said for the usual readings at A nt. 887, El. 606 (cf. also van
Leeuwen ad Ar. Ach. 778). But here, when the change is not
necessary and χρή makes good sense, it seems better to maintain the
MS reading. Cf. de Falco, Studi sul teatro greco, p. 151, cited by
L. Massa Positano, L’Unita dell’ Aiace di Sof., p. 105 n. 1.
Agamemnon and his attendants leave the scene and the Cory­
phaeus praises Odysseus for showing himself σοφός.
1375. τοιοΰτον όντα: talem te -praestantem.
1376. αγγέλλομαι: in the sense of επαγγέλλομαι, cf. έξαγγέλλομαι,
O.T. 148.
τάπό τοϋδ’: "henceforth”, to be taken with τοσόνδ’ είναι φίλος.
Τεύκρω: άπό κοινού with άγγέλλομαι and είναι.
1377. ήν: many editors read with Elmsley ή, but since the MSS
are unanimous in having ήν and this form of the 1st pers. impf.
occurs already with absolute certainty in Eur. Ale. (055 (cf. Hipp.
1012), it seems better not to make a change (K.-B., II 221. 2).
τότ’: used as supra 650.
1379. έλλείπειν: reliquum facere, όσων: τούτων (genit. partit.) όσα.
(The interpretation, if όσον of the MSS is maintained, is as follows:
“not to fall short in anything, in so far cis ..i.e. quippe cum
tantum. In this case, a comma may be read before όσον, as by W.-B.)
For συμπονεϊν cf. Eur. Hel. 1378, 1406.
1381, 1382. πάντ’ .... λόγοισι: if with Campbell, Jebb, and
others, λόγοισι is translated as "for your words”, this view may be
defended by a reference to Din. Ill 22, υμείς μέν παρά πάσιν άνθρώποις
επαινείστε ταίς γεγενημέναις ζητήσεσιν ύπέρ τούτων των χρημάτων, and
by the consideration that the dativ. causae is very frequent in
Soph. (cf. L. Campbell, On the Language of Sophocles in his edition
of 1879, I P· 2I> sub b). The article would be desirable in this case.
But the dative can also be taken in a purely instrumental sense.
Jebb’s objection "that the implied reservation (όργοις δέ σε τιμάν
ούκ έχω) would be premature and ungraceful here” also applies
mutatis mutandis to his own interpretation. The έπαινεΐν of Teucer
implies a certain reservation, for he does not intend to comply εργω
with Odysseus’ wish, έπαινεΐν is said especially in declining an offer
(cf. e.g. Aesch. Prom. 340 sqq.; αϊνείν, Hes. Op. 643 νή’ όλιγην αΐνεΐν,
μεγάλη δ’ ένί φορτία θέσθαι).
It would seem to me, although I cannot prove it, that “with
words” (without too much emphasis) is more likely than "for
your words”.
 exodos, vss. 1375-1390 257

1382. καί μ’ έψευσας έλπίδος πολύ: "for really you have much
belied my expectation”, i.e. turned out better than I feared (L.-Sc.).
The senses of έλπίς ("expectation”, "fear”) and ψεύδειν determine
each other. Jebb rightly compares O.T. 1432 έπείπερ έλπίδος μ’
άπέσπασας. ..(Schol. ψευσθήναι της έλπίδος <έποίησας> ήν κακώς εϊχον
περί σέ.)
1383. τούτω: άπό κοινού with ών έχθιστος and παρέστης.
1384. χερσίν: "actually”, "effectually”. Cf. Hom. II. I 77 έπεσιν
καί χερσίν άρήξειν, O.T. 883 εί δέ τις ύπέροπτα χερσίν ή λόγω πορεύεται.
παρών: this participle, which is difficult to render adequately,
is here even more significant than at 1156.
1385. θανόντι .... ζών: this emphasizes the cowardice of those
who did so.
1386. ούπιβρόντητος: "frantic.” Only here, instead of the usual
έμβρόντητος (Ar. Eccl. 793 etc.). Teucer’s pent-up feelings find an
outlet in this formidable epithet, μόλων enhances the liveliness of
the picture: cf. supra 304.
1387. αύτός τε χώ ξύναιμος: after the fashion of the epic style
the subject is expanded. Cf. O.C. 461 sq. έπάξιος μέν, Οίδίπους,
κατοικτίσαι, / αύτός τε παϊδές θ’ αΐδ’.
1384-1387. έτλης .... ώς .... ήθελησάτην: this is short for:
έτλης .... ώς .... έτλήτην ώ ήθελησάτην. But έτλην and ήθέλησα
differ so little in meaning here that the brachylogy is hardly
perceptible. Cf. τλής 1333, ήθελον 1391.
1388. λωβητόν: cf. supra 561, injra 1392.
έκβαλεϊν: which also suggests that he will become a prey to dogs
and birds.
1389. Όλύμπου τοϋδ’: cf. τόνδ’ Όλυμπον Ant. 758 and O.T.
1088 (in oaths); it is of course identical with ούρανός.
πρεσβεύων: in the sense of "to rule over”.
1390. μνημών τ’ Έρινύς: cf. Aesch. Prom. 516 Μοϊραι τρίμορφοι
μνήμονές τ’ Έρινύες. The Erinyes do not forget, they are ύστερό-
ποινοι, ΰστεροφθόροι (cf. Groeneboom ad locum}. According to
Heraclitus (94) the Erinyes are Δίκης έπίκουροι; the trio Zeus,
Erinys, Dike is quite normal. Dike and Erinys also Track. 808.
It is also quite usual to invoke a triad of gods in curses. Zeus,
Erinys in the sing., and Dike are invoked as maintainers of a moral
world-order rather than as avenging gods. For the rest there is
another echo of Ajax’ words 835 sqq. It is to be noted that the
curse sounds less personal here than at 835.
Kamerbeek 17
258 COMMENTARY

τελεσφόρος: of Zeus Hom. Hymn. XXIII 2, of Μοίρα Aesch.

Prom. 511 (cf. Eur. Heracl. 899 Μοίρα τελεσσιδώτειρα); cf. also the
frequent use with άρά (and the like), e.g. Aesch. Sept. 655 ώμοι,
πατρός δή νϋν άραί τελεσφόροι.
1391. κακούς κακώς: cf. supra 839. ΙΙ77·
1392. λώβαις έκβαλεΐν: cf. 1388; the dative is a dativ. modi
(cf. 1410), and expresses the same as the predicative λωβητόν (1388).
Teucer’s repetition shows that he is obsessed with the indignity Ajax
has suffered.
άναξίως: cf. Phil. 685 (even stronger: άτίμως).
1393. ώ γεραιοΰ σπέρμα Λαέρτου πατρός: the strongly honorific
mode of address seems to be in contrast with vs. 189, ή τας άσώτου
Σισυφιδαν γενεάς.
Λαέρτου: cf. Λαρτίου in vs. X, ό τοϋ Λαερτίου in ΧΟΙ.
The schol. ad 1394 says °f Teucer’s words: πιθανώς καί εύσχημόνως.
1394. τάφου .... τοϋδ’ έπιψαύειν: τάφου "the funeral rites”,
έπιψαύειν "to touch”. The passage becomes clearer if a certain
emphasis is laid on this word; moreover, one should also think
of touching the corpse (funus is often corpus; cf. Lucian. Mort. D.
VI 2 έμψυχόν τινα τάφον ύπό τών νέων καταγελώμενον). τοϋδ’ is most
probably to be taken attributively with τάφου (1184 might suggest
the other possibility).
1395. δυσχερές: cf. El. 929 ήδύς ουδέ μητρί δυσχερής. Even in
the nether world, according to Homer, Ajax did not allow Odysseus
to approach.
Electra to Chrysothemis: ού .... θέμις / ούδ’ όσιον έχθράς άπό
γυναικός ίστάναι / κτερίσματ’ .... (ΕΙ. 433 sq.).
1396. τά δ’ άλλα καί ξύμπρασσε: Jebb is probably right when he
says that καί is used emphatically ("indeed”) and does not stand
in correlation with the following καί (in κεϊ). From these words it
appears that τάφου τοΰδ’ έπιψαύειν refers to the performance of the
funeral rites themselves and the bearing of the corpse. The content
of ξύμπρασσε would be too vague if τάφου was not associated with
"corpse” (the more so as Odysseus in 1401 calls the participation
in it πράσσειν). He may be a spectator and moreover perhaps see
that the funeral is not interrupted, or gather wood for the pyre
(cf. ξυμπονεϊν, 1379, an<^ Eur. Hec- 572 sqq.).
1397. κομίζειν: “to bring along”.
1398. τάλλα πάντα: i.e. the funeral rites.
1399. καθ’ ήμάς: the explanation of Jebb and others, "in regard
 exodos, vss. 1391-1410 259

to us” is possible; the same use of κατά, Eur. Andr. 741. There is
no reason, however, to dismiss "in our eyes” as being inappropriate.
(“Pour toi, sache-le bien, je te regarde comme un noble heros”,
Masqueray.)
1400. ήθελον μέν: "c’etait ce que j’eusse voulu” (Mazon)
(but ....).
1401. έπαινέσας τό σόν: έπαινεϊν has the sense of “to assent”,
"respect”, “accept”. Cf. αΐνεΐν, Aesch. Pers. 642 {acquiescere}.
τό σόν: “your words”, "your wish”. Sophocles avoids, of course,
the false pathos which the sight of “Odysseus at the funeral
of Ajax” would inevitably have created. Odysseus leaves the
scene.
1402. άλις: the quickness with which the έξοδος of the Chorus
is carried on takes its key-note from this word. (I know of no other
instances of this absolute use of άλις in tragedy.)
έκτέταται / χρόνος: comparable to the expressions λόγον έκτείνειν,
βίον έκτείνειν, μακράν έκτείνειν.
1403. κάπετον: like 1165 in anapaests, from epic poetry {II.
xxiv 797)·
1404. τοϊ δ’: except in lyrical passages only here in Soph,
(a trait of epic style).
ταχύνετε: h.l. trans, like Lat. festinare.
There is a clear difference between the pres, ταχύνετε and the
aor. θέσθε.
1404-1406. Cf. II. XVIII 343 sqq.
ύψίβατον / τρίποδ’: the caldron on the high tripod.
άμφίπυρον: proleptic.
λουτρών όσιων / έπίκαιρον: "ready to serve for pure lustration"
(Campbell), έπίκαιρος is an hypostasis of έπϊ καιρω (Raderm.);
hence it readily admits of a genitive.
οσίων: "ritual”.
1407. ίλη: "troop”, "company” (often used as a military term.
Dor. ϊλά; at Sparta, a subdivision of the άγέλα.)
1408. τον ύπασπίδιον κόσμον: the armour under the shield (“the
body-armour and arms of Ajax", L.-Sc.). Homer knows only the
adverbial ύπασπίδια (προποδίζων, etc.).
1410. φιλότητι: dativ. modi; cf. 1392.
Schol. ad 1409 is excellent: τραγικά καί ταϋτα καί πάθους έχόμενα.
Note the pathetic γ’ after πατρός. δέ .... γ’ is not “weakly adver­
sative” here, or “purely continuative”, as Denniston, G.P., 155 (II)
260 COMMENTARY

states. With δέ Teucer turns to Eurysaces; γ’ lays a pathetic stress

on πατρός. At El. 548 the relation is probably different.
1411. έπικούφιζ’: as κουφιεϊς, Ant. 43.
1411-1413. θερμαι / σύριγγες: the interpretation of σύριγγες is
dubious; as a medical or biological term σύριγξ is often used for
“vein” (Ap. Rh. IV 1647 has σύριγξ αίματόεσσα for vein—containing
blood) and for all kinds of tubes or passages of the body. It seems
to me, however, that σύριγξ has to be compared with αύλός, Od.
XXI 18, where αύλός means “the jet of blood through the tube of
the nostril”. This was the view of Ennius {Aiax II R.): Animam
emisso sangui tepido tullii efflantes volant. By tullii are meant
"jets” or “fountains”. Now it can very well be said that the "warm
columns spout the black power upwards”, when the intended
meaning is that from the nose or mouth still issues forth the stream
of blood which carries off the vital strength inherent in it. Strictly
speaking μένος is not the blood but the vital strength, so that it may
very well be the object to a verb whose subject is the blood. Aesch.
Ag. 1067 πριν αιματηρόν έξαφρίζεσθαι μένος is not a good parallel
of what is meant here. The schol. ad 1412 remarks correctly I think:
σύριγγες· άναδόσεις αίματος (άνάδοσις = "bursting or issuing forth
of fire, wind, water”); μέλαν μένος· άντί τήν δύναμιν τοϋ Αϊαντος
(expressed very clearly, even to modern ears).
1414. σούσθω: whether from σόομαι or from σοέομαι, in any case
connected with σεύω, this verb is peculiar to the drama. Cf. Groene-
boom ad Aesch. Pers. 25, Sept. 31 (K.-B., II 535); van Leeuwen
ad Ar. Vesp. 209. Soph, further uses the form σοϋται in Track.
645. Cf. also Call. H.\ 4 (Doric).
σούσθω, βάτω: for the asyndeton cf. 811.
1415. πόνων: cf. Eur. Hec. 572 sqq. (mentioned supra ad 1396),
and 1379 sq.
τω πάντ’ άγαθω: οί τοιοϋτοι έπαινοι περί των ιδίων λεγόμενοι περι-
παθέστεροί είσιν. For πάντα cf. 911.
The question now arises who helps Teucer to carry away the body;
we may hardly assume that this is done by some members of the
Chorus. It is more likely that Teucer carries him alone (or with
his attendants) while the Chorus only accompany him. The schol.
ad 1418 only says: ταϋτα δε άμα λέγοντες προπέμπουσι τόν νεκρόν
καί γίνεται έξοδος πρέπουσα τφ λειψάνω.
1416. 1417. To assume that the system is concluded by two
paroemiaci is out of the question. Since the text of these verses is
 exodos, vss. 1411-1420 261

the same in all extant MSS it seems reasonable to read with

Seyffert (cf. Jebb, Appendix; the same reading is adopted by
Untersteiner): κούδενί πω λωίονι θνητών, λωίων is the Homeric
form, which, since the passage is full of epic turns, fits in very well.
For anapaestic dimeters without diaeresis after the first metre cf.
Koster, Traite2, p. 156. Long -vi before θνη- needs no explanation.
These considerations allow of 1417 being taken as an independent
clause: "of Ajax, in the days when he lived, of that time I speak”.
The genit, may be considered similar to that of 1236. It is also
possible that the comparative λωίονι has Αίαντος as emphatic
genit, compar, added to it afterwards. Hence: “toiling for this
man the worthy one every way; and never has any one toiled for
a nobler man <than he>, than Ajax, in the days when he lived, of
that time I speak”. (“To him who was good every way, no one of
mortals better”, Campbell).
1417. 8τ’ ήν: cf. Eur. fr. 311 N.2 [Bellerophon) ήσθ’ είς θεούς μεν
εύσεβής, 8τ’ ήσθ’ (quoted by Campbell).
Every reader will admit that 1417 by itself forms a more impressive
conclusion to Teucei’s speech than 1416. The unusual construction
(if 1417 is connected with 14x6) is a result of the pathos which moves
Teucer, or rather the poet, to sound the name of Ajax at the end.
1418-1420. ^ .... γνώναι: “many things are learned by man only
by experience”, έστιν = εξεστιν and strictly speaking πολλά is
object to γνώναι. The stress is distributed over ίδοΰσιν and γνώναι.
1419. πριν ίδεϊν: πριν with inf. dependent on a negative main
clause occurs regularly since Homer (K.-G., II 458).
οΰδεΐς μάντις: Jebb quotes Ant. 1160 καί μάντις ούδεΐς τών καθ­
εστώτων βροτοΐς.
δ τι πράξει: further explanation of τών μελλόντων with closer
reference to the subject of the sentence.
For this close of the play cf. fr. 590 P. = 531 N.2 [Tereus) θνητά
φρονεϊν χρή θνητήν φύσιν / τοΰτο κατειδότας ώς ούκ έστιν / πλήν Διάς
ούδεΐς τών μελλόντων / ταμίας δτι χρή τετελέσθαι (quoted by Bowra,
Soph. Trag., p. 61).
The thought expressed in the last two lines is not uncommon
(cf. among others Theogn. 1075-78) and also applies to other
dramas than the Ajax; all the same, it forms a fitting conclusion
to the tragedy. It only remains to note that these closing words are
less inspired than those of the Antigone (e.g.) and show a certain
likeness to those found in Euripides.