Agamemnon; with verse translation

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AGAMEMNON

OF

AE aGHY ILZUS

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
London: FETTER LANE, E.C.
C. F. CLAY, MANAGER

Edinburgh: 100, PRINCES STREET
Berlin: A. ASHER AND CO.
Leipsig: F. AJ. BROCKHAUS
flew Bork: G. Ρ. PUTNAM’S SONS
Bombay and Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Lp.

r

All rights reserved

AGAMEMNON

OF
mA SCH Y LUS

WITH VERSE TRANSLATION, INTRODUCTION
AND NOTES

BY

Pore ER HEADLAM, LirrD.

LATE FELLOW AND LECTURER OF KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

EDITED. BY

A ©. PEARSON, Μι:Α.

Cambridge:
at the University Press
1910

--
IES
As
he eRe:

Cambridge:
PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS

“1 am honoured and gratified by your
proposal to dedicate to me your version of
the Agamemnon. | regard the Oresteza as
probably on the whole the greatest spiritual

work of man.”

Extract from a letter to
Walter Headlam from A. C. Swinburne.

October 2nd, 1900.

|

ἘΠ ΘΟ ΞΘ -PREPACE

T the time of his death in 1908 Dr Walter Headlam had been

for some years under engagement to prepare an edition of

the Agamemnon for the Syndics of the Cambridge University

Press. Unfortunately he was not able to complete it; but the

Syndics were nevertheless desirous that a book the preparation

of which had engrossed long periods of enthusiastic labour, should
if possible be published.

With this end in view the existing material was entrusted to
me to be sifted and arranged for the Press. The various parts
of the work proved on investigation to be in different stages of
progress ; for, whereas the Introduction and Verse Translation
were nearly complete, and had undergone considerable revision
at the hands of their author, the recension of the text had
not been carried through, there were no critical notes, and the
commentary only existed in fragments. The deficiencies were
however less serious than might appear from this statement.
Dr Headlam had devoted himself for twenty years to the study
of Aeschylus; he had ransacked the whole of the extant Greek
literature in order to equip himself for the task of emending,
explaining, and illustrating his favourite author; he had
published from time to time in the philological periodicals
critical studies on most of the difficulties which the text of the
Agamemnon presents; and, when repeatedly working through
the play, he had collected in note-books and in the margins of
his printed copies abundant stores of evidence, which though
not in their final shape were available in support of the con-
clusions he had reached.

I must now endeavour briefly to explain how I have dealt
with this material.

So far as it went, the Introduction was finished, with the
exception of the opening pages; but there can be no doubt that

vill EDITORS PREFACE

at least a section bearing on the textual criticism of the play
would have been added. In order to make the critical notes
intelligible, I have added a short account of the most important
MSS., taken principally from Wecklein. The Verse Translation
had undergone constant revision, as will be apparent from a
comparison of such extracts as have appeared in the occasional
contributions with the complete text as now printed. The
author was a severe critic of his own productions, and finality
was not easily reached. The manuscript bears many indications
that the text had not been definitely settled ; and I have some-
times been compelled to choose between alternatives, neither of
which was considered entirely satisfactory. The number of
cases where the addition of a word or words was necessary
is fortunately so small as to be negligible.

In constituting the text I have been guided mainly by the
evidence contained in an interleaved copy of Wecklein’s
Aeschylus (1885). This book was intended by Dr Headlam to
be the basis of his own recension, and here he was accustomed |
to enter such textual corrections as he considered final. Further
assistance has been derived from the notes to the prose trans-
lation written for Messrs Bell’s Classical Translations (London,
1904), in which he professed to record such of the readings
adopted as were likely to be unfamiliar. In the few cases where
these notes conflicted with the ‘final’ Wecklein, the testimony
of the latter was taken as conclusive. There remained a number
of passages where the editor had not made up his mind on the
reading to be printed; but in most of these either the translation,
verse or prose, or the notes show what he considered to be
probable, and the actually doubtful points are both few and
unimportant.

For the convenience of readers I have added below the page
a brief record of the MS. evidence, wherever the text departs
from it. For the most part this is taken from Wecklein’s
apparatus, whose authority I have generally followed in attri-
buting to their authors such conjectures as it was necessary or
desirable to mention.

The material available for the commentary was as follows:
(1) note-books and loose sheets containing notes in course of

EDITORS PREFACE 1x

preparation ; (2) notes and references written in the margin of
printed copies of the play, the most important of which were in
the interleaved copy of Wecklein already mentioned; (3) printed
contributions to the Classical Review and Journal of Philology,
and the notes to the prose translation. Dr Headlam had
planned his commentary on an elaborate scale, seeking by
illustrations drawn from every age of Greek literature to rest his
criticism and interpretation upon the secure foundation of estab-
lished usage. The complete design was never realised: the written
notes which remain are intermittent and generally incomplete,
and so far as they exist cover only a small portion of the text.
On the other hand, many of the notes previously published
required modification before they could be suitably incorporated
in a commentary; and many others being superseded by later
views had ceased to be of importance. In spite of these diffi-
culties, it was thought better not to miss the opportunity of
collecting the permanent results of Dr Headlam’s criticism on
the Agamemnon; and it is hoped that the new matter will be
welcomed by those who are already familiar with his published
work, It must be understood that, though in many instances I am
responsible for the outward form which the note has ultimately
assumed, the substance is in every case taken from one or more
of the sources indicated above. No attempt has been made to
work up rough material unless the design of the author in
collecting it was established beyond reasonable doubt. Those
who have endeavoured to sift numbers of references not always
easy to find with the object of discovering the clue which holds the
secret of their connexion will realise that the task I have under-
taken is not without difficulty. I can only say that I have acted
according to the best of my judgment, and if the result is to
preserve for students some valuable fruits of the labours of one
who has illuminated so many dark places in Greek poetry, I
shall be more than satisfied. In the few cases where 1 have
made additions to the notes I have distinguished them by square
brackets.

For the principles by which the translator was guided in
composing his version readers must be referred to the Preface
to the Book of Greek Verse (Cambridge University Press, 1907) ;

x EDITOR'S PREFACE

but I am permitted to quote the following extract from a
letter written to Miss J. E. Harrison on Feb. 3rd, 1903, which
has a peculiar interest as referring to the translation of the
Agamemnon :

“The blank verse seemed to me to require the large language
of the dramatists and Milton (without the slang of the
dramatists)... The trouble comes with the Lyrics. They had to
be in the same language to harmonise with the rest. That
limits you very much in metre; you must forgo in the first
place anapaestic rhythm. And whatever metre you use, there is
one condition that prevents them ever being done to satisfaction.
In the Greek they were the words written for music, to be sung ;
and in English there is nothing corresponds. English un-
happily is not a singing language, as Italian is, or German; and
the moment you try to write in English what is singable—which
is hard in itself—you get for our ears too much tune. English

‘lyrics’ such as Shelley wrote are capable of the loveliest and
subtlest effects, but they are effects for reading; and the lovelier
and subtler they are, the less they can be sung.”

I desire to thank the proprietors of the Classical Review and
of the Journal of Philology for permission to make use of the
various articles which have appeared in those periodicals;
Messrs George Bell and Sons for a similar liberty in respect
of the notes to the prose translation; Mr J. T. Sheppard, who
not only lent me a series of notes taken in 1904, when he was
reading the play with Dr Headlam, but also looked over some
of the proof-sheets; Mr H. H. Sills for sending me several
Lecture-Room papers containing passages from the Agamemnon,
and Mr L. W. Haward for information on sundry points of detail.

Ay Cra:
23rd July i910.

ΧΙ
“ον
CONTENTS
PAGES :
ORRGOICTION, =. st τ. 1 38
XT AND TRANSLATION ‘ ded ce : . ILE. ᾿

fo tes ᾿"
ERRATUM ~
p. 181, note on 1. 76 ff. for ὑπεργήρ

INTRODUCTION.

THE, STORY.

ATREUS son of Pelops son of Tantalus, reigning in Argos,
banished his brother Thyestes, who had corrupted his wife
Aerope and disputed his rule. When Thyestes returned in
the guise of a suppliant, his life was spared by Atreus but only
that he might suffer a more horrible injury. Pretending to
celebrate his home-coming by a special feast, Atreus slew and
served up to him his two young-children. The father, misled
for the moment, with a cry of agony kicked over the table and
uttered a curse ‘that so might perish all the race of Pleisthenes.’
He was afterwards banished a second time together with his
third son Aegisthus, then a mere infant?.

Of Atreus we hear no more, but he was succeeded on the
throne by Agamemnon and Menelaus, who ruled conjointly in
Argos. The two brothers married two sisters, Clytaemnestra
and Helen the daughters of Tyndareus and Leda. In the course
of their reign they were visited by Paris or Alexander, son of
King Priam, of the famous and opulent town of Troy, whom
they hospitably entertained. He repaid their kindness by
seducing Helen, the wife of Menelaus, and carrying her off with
a quantity of treasure on board his ship to Troy, leaving the
husband disconsolate and speechless’.

Agamemnon, against the wish of his oldest advisers, espoused
his brother’s quarrel, and assembled a vast fleet of a thousand
vessels to avenge the rape and recover Helen. The male
population of Argos, except those too old for military service
and those too young, embarked on the enterprise. The govern-
ment was left in the hands of Clytaemnestra assisted by a body
of elders who remained behind®. At the moment of setting out

1 vv. 1583—1606. 2 vv. 42—44, 409—28, 537—9, etc.
3 vv. 72—82, 270—2, 790—5, etc.

> INTRODUCTION

the attitude of Heaven was declared by a significant omen.
Two eagles differently marked were observed preying together
on a pregnant hare. From this omen the prophet Calchas
drew a twofold conclusion partly favourable, partly the reverse.
Recognising in the two birds the two kings different in nature
but now unanimous for war, he foretold from their action that
Troy should one day fall and her gathered riches be despoiled.
But as the fate of the hare and her unborn young must of
necessity be displeasing to Artemis, the protectress of such
creatures, he saw reason to dread the displeasure of the goddess
against the army when assembled at her own port of Aulis},
which had been assigned as the point of departure for the fleet.
Then, taking leave of the sign, in language vague but ominous,
he deprecated the occurrence of a storm which must lead to
a monstrous sacrifice, breeding enmity between a husband and
a wife, and entailing vengeance for a child?

As the prophet had feared, so it fell out. The fleet was
detained by foul weather at _Aulis; the ships began to go to
pieces; provisions were running short; and every resource
suggested by the diviners proved vain. Agamemnon himself
was impatient under these trials and would perhaps have seized
the excuse for abandoning his design, leaving it to Heaven to
punish the seducer of his brother’s wife. Before taking this
step, however, he was informed of a remedy which would prove
efficacious. This was nothing less than the sacrifice of his own
daughter Iphigeneia to Artemis. The cruel alternative now lay
before him, either of killing his child, or of refusing a personal
sacrifice on behalf of the allies whom he had summoned to take
part in a personal quarrel. After weighing the motives on
either side, his calculating head got the better of his heart.
In a moment of moral obliquity he consented to the sacrifice,
and the fleet sailed. Ten years of labour and privation awaited
him at Troy. The allies, for whose sake he had resigned so
much, proved half-hearted in the end. By the loss of life abroad,
he forfeited the sympathy of all but a scanty remnant of those
who had been left behind. He made of his wife a concealed
but implacable enemy; and he gave his bitterest foe the chance

1 See Pausan. 1x, 19, 6—8. 2 vv. 113—63.

THE STORY 3

to cut him off in the very hour of his triumph over his great
rival of the East’.

For there was one person who had not sailed with the sailing
of the fleet. Aegisthus?, son of Thyestes, had grown up in exile,
nursing projects of revenge, and not forgetful of his unhappy
father’s claim to the crown. In the absence of the kings and
their force, he found means of access to Clytaemnestra, herself
burning to revenge the death of her daughter Iphigeneia. He
obtained her love, and (more fortunate than his father) might
enjoy it in peace, together with the reality, if not the semblance,
of power in Argos. The adultery was not openly avowed; but
enough was known for those who remained faithful to the absent
king to shake their heads and hold their peace. Orestes, the
lawful heir to the throne, was sent away to be brought up by
Strophius of Phocis, a friend of the family*.

This state of things could only last so long as Agamemnon
was abroad; and accordingly the guilty pair took measures to
provide against the day of his return. It had been arranged
between the king and his consort that the fall of Troy should
be communicated by a series of beacons extending from mount
Ida in the Troad to mount Arachnaeus in the neighbourhood
of Argos; and a watchman had been stationed to look out for
the signal for a year before the city fell. This appointment, no
doubt innocently devised to communicate the important event
as soon as possible, resulted in giving the conspirators ample
warning of the king’s approach. Aegisthus had got together
a body of troops, either companions of his exile or drawn from
the disaffected generation which had by this time grown up at
Argos. He now arranged that, on the king’s arrival, the cunning
and capable queen should receive her husband with all appearance
of affection, should conduct him to the bath previous to the usual
sacrifice, should there drop the valance or canopy over him, and

1 vv. 194—233, 452—64, 560—71, 829—33, etc.

2 The importance of the part played by Aegisthus, in the version of the story
which Aeschylus followed, was first emphasised by Dr Verrall, to whom here, as
elsewhere, I am much indebted. While I cannot agree with Dr Verrall (as will be
seen later) about the precise nature of Aegisthus’ plot, I think it clear from v. 1609
that a plot of some considerable kind is presupposed.

3 vv. 553—5, 871—2, 1585, 1608, 1625—7, etc.

4 INTRODUCTION

despatch him thus entangled; while he himself, being precluded
from appearing in public, should lurk in the vicinity, and, upon
a signal of Clytaemnestra’s action in the palace’, should over-
power with his partisans the following of the king, and join hands
with his accomplice before the royal castle. From this stronghold
he meant to govern Argos with absolute power, bribing some
and coercing others. In the event the plan was much simplified
by the fact that Agamemnon’s fleet was utterly dispersed by
a storm on the way home, so that the conqueror of Troy landed
with the crew of a single ship, and fell an easy victim? The
return of the king, his murder by Clytaemnestra, and the
usurpation of Aegisthus, form the subject of the Agamemnon.

THE DRAMA.

This action, of which the preliminaries (so far as they are
stated or seen to be implied in the play itself) have been
narrated above, is disposed by the poet into four broad chapters.
The first is taken up with the announcement of the fall of Troy;
the second with the return of the king; the third with his murder;
the fourth with the immediate sequel of the murder. . Each of
the first three divisions is subdivided, on a rough principle of
symmetry, into two parts. The reception of the news from Troy
precedes by a considerable interval its public declaration at
Argos; the entrance of Agamemnon’s herald precedes the
entrance of the king himself; and the prediction of his murder
by the prophetess Cassandra (whom he brings in his train)
precedes, by a very short interval, its actual execution. The
last division likewise falls into two parts, the first of which
consists of Clytaemnestra’s open justification of her act, and the
second of Aegisthus’ exposition of his conspiracy; the whole
accompanied by recriminations between each of these persons
and the body of faithful elders who compose the Chorus of the
play. We will now trace the course of the action down to the
entrance of the herald, at which point a question of some
importance arises.

σ΄
1 This detail is doubtful, but see v. 1354.

9

2 vv. 327—8, 666—8, 1636—40, 1650, etc.

THE DRAMA 5

The scene, which is laid before the royal palace, opens at
night. A watchman is discerned on the roof. He explains
that his business is to look out for the beacon, complains of his
hardships, utters a few dark hints about the state of affairs within,
and expresses a forlorn wish for the conclusion of his watch.
While the word is yet in his mouth, the fire appears. He greets
it with a cry of joy, raises a shout to apprise Clytaemnestra,
executes a dance, adds a few more hints of a dubious nature,
and disappears (1--- 30).

By the queen’s orders offerings are despatched to all the
neighbouring shrines, and flames arise through the darkness.
A group of elders, ignorant of the news, assembles to inquire
the reason. In despondent tones they observe that the kings
and their army have been absent at Troy for close on ten years,
yet the war still continues. They comment on their own
feebleness, which caused them to be left behind. The queen
enters to kindle the altars near the palace, and they question
her in the hope of some comforting news. For the present
she does not answer, but goes off, apparently to complete the
ceremony by leading the sacrificial chant to which she alludes
later (40—103).

The Chorus, left alone, relate the.omen which attended the
departure of the kings, its exposition by Calchas, his prophecy
of good and evil, and yet of further evil. Then, after a preface
justifying the ways of Zeus to men, they proceed to the sacrifice
of Iphigeneia. The father’s tears, hesitation and eventual sub-
mission are depicted. The sacrifice itself is partly described ;
but they stop short of the fatal stroke, and pray that the good
foretold by Calchas may now come about, as then the evil,
dismissing his prediction of further evil as so much premature
sorrow. On this note of uncertainty the ode concludes (104—
269).

The night is far spent, when the queen reappears and
announces the fall of Troy. The elders, with tears in their
eyes, question her as to the proof and period of the capture.
Pointing to the dawn, which ushers in her glad news, she informs
them that it occurred in the night just past. They ask how she
could learn so quickly, and in reply she narrates the transmission

6 INTRODUCTION

of the fiery signal from hill to hill, over sea and plain, by means
of successive beacons. At the end of her rapid narrative the
elders invite her to repeat it for their fuller comprehension. She
contents herself with restating the chief fact, and goes on to
draw a picture of the captured city, with its medley of victors
and vanquished; deprecates any wanton sacrilege on the part
of the former, who have still to get home with the blood of the
dead upon their hands; and concludes by excusing her fears
as natural to a woman, and praying that all may be well in no
doubtful sense. The elders, having had leisure to reflect during
this speech, accept her evidence as certain, and turn to praise
Heaven for its mercy (270—366).

They begin by celebrating the power of Zeus, and his
unerring chastisement of guilt, as seen in the case of Paris.
This judgment refutes the saying that Heaven is indifferent
to human sin, a doctrine traceable to the temper engendered
by a sudden plethora of riches. Wealth without righteousness
insures a man’s ruin, his children’s ruin, his nation’s irreparable
harm. It brings him to a bloody end, unregarded of God or
man. The crime of Paris, the flight of Helen, the desolation
of the Argive home, are then described in verses famous for
their tender beauty. But instead of reverting to the theme of
divine justice, the Chorus passes, by an easy but remarkable
transition, to the general grief at Argos, caused by the death
of kinsmen at Troy. The private quarrel of the Atridae has
made them hateful at home. They may have conquered, but
they have slain many; the gods take note of that. They may
have won great glory; let not their hearts be lifted up, or Zeus
will blast them. A middle station between conquest and
captivity is the best. The tone of triumph with which the
ode began has relapsed into one of dark foreboding. At the
very close they call in question the truth of the fiery message
which prompted them to sing. With a short lyric colloquy
to this effect the music dies away. In the next scene
Agamemnon’s herald is observed approaching (367—507).

Here, then, we must pause to touch on a matter which has
caused some discussion in recent times. An ancient commentator
remarks: ‘Some find fault with the poet that he represents the

THE DRAMA 7

Greeks as returning from Troy on the same day’ A modern
commentator, Mr Sidgwick, remarks?: ‘Observe that the herald
arrives from Troy, announcing the return of Agamemnon,
immediately after the beacon fires, on the morning after the
capture. Such violations of possibility were held quite allowable
by the licence of dramatic poetry.’ Dr Verrall, justly objecting
that neither the theory nor the practice of the Athenian drama
bears out the last assertion, founds on this apparent discrepancy
of times a new interpretation of the play. On a certain night
a fiery signal announces the capture of Troy. In the course
of the next morning the victorious king arrives, after having
demolished Troy and traversed the whole length of the Aegaean
Sea. One or other of these statements must be false. But, as
it is certain that the king does arrive in the latter part of the
play, while it is equally certain that a fiery signal is received
in the first part, it would seem to follow that this signal cannot
announce the capture of Troy. From the entrance of Agamemnon
to the close of the play it is never mentioned. The story told
by Clytaemnestra, of the chain of beacons extending from Ida
to Arachnaeus, is improbable in itself; still more so if, as we
learn later, a violent storm was raging in the Aegaean at the
time of transmission. What, then, was the meaning of the signal ?
According to Dr Verrall, there was but one beacon altogether,
and it was kindled on Arachnaeus by the conspirator Aegisthus,
who there kept watch for the return of the king; and it was
intended to warn Clytaemnestra in the city, and his adherents
elsewhere, of Agamemnon’s approach, that all their plans might
be ready for the murder of the king and the seizure of the citadel
which commanded the country. A watchman had been set on
the palace roof to look out for its appearance. To avoid suspicion,
he was chosen from among the loyal servants of the house; to
account for his task, he was told that a beacon was expected,
announcing his master’s success at Troy; and ‘his vigilance and
silence were secured by threats and bribes. On the night of
Agamemnon’s return, when the signal was fired, the queen,

1 Schol. v. 509 τινὲς μέμφονται τῶι ποιητῆι ὅτι αὐθημερὸν ἐκ Tpolas ποιεῖ τοὺς
Ἑλληνας ἥκοντας.
2. Note to ν. 504 (509).

8 INTRODUCTION

desirous to secure the persons of her principal opponents, sent
for the elders to the palace, and informed them that Troy had
fallen that very night. In reply to their inevitable question
as to the receipt of the news, she swept them off their legs with
a graphic but fictitious narrative of the transmission of the light
from Troy to Argos. Left to themselves, the elders naturally
began to entertain doubts as to the truth of the story, when
Agamemnon’s herald appeared, confirming indeed the fall of
Troy, but, by the very fact of his arrival, showing the queen’s
relation to be false. By a train of accidents, however, the elders
allowed the herald to depart without advising him of their
suspicions. Meanwhile the plot grew ripe for execution, and
was subsequently carried out.

Such, in brief outline, is Dr Verrall’s account of the story;
presumed as familiar at Athens, which Aeschylus undertook
to illustrate. By reducing the circuit of the action it does at
least avoid the absurdity of supposing that events which must
necessarily take several days happen within the course of a few
hours. Although it is itself open to several objections of detail,
chief among which is the astounding falsehood in which the
queen involves herself, without apparent necessity, by choosing
to impart to the elders her secret information of the capture
of Troy, I do not propose to follow these out. A graver
objection is that, by making the business of the watchman a
blind and the plurality of the beacons imaginary, the first
part of the play is reduced from a substantial to a factitious
transaction, and the massive structure of the drama, with its
three broad chapters of the announcement, the return, and the
murder, seriously undermined. I will therefore state the reasons
which, in my opinion, make it needless to resort to this new
interpretation. ᾿

It is buttressed by various arguments, but it rests on the
assumption that the time of the action is continuous from start
to finish; or rather, that it is contained ‘within the early hours
of one morning.’ Now, if, in the first part of the play, a fiery
signal purports to announce the capture of Troy; and if, in the
second part, the destroyer of Ilion himself appears, the first and
most natural supposition is that the events of the play are

THE DRAMA 9

not closely consecutive in time, but are divided by an interval
sufficient to permit of this happening. Is there anything in the
play which absolutely forbids such a supposition? I venture to
assert that there is nothing at all; that there is not a single
circumstance which compels us to suppose that the events which
follow v. 493 occur on the same day, or within the same week,
as those which precede; that the criticism mentioned by the
old commentator is unfounded; that Mr Sidgwick’s observation
falls to the ground; and that Dr Verrall has taken hold of the
wrong limb of the difficulty. Instead of inferring that the beacon
cannot announce the capture of Troy, we ought to infer that the
king does not arrive in the course of the next morning. How
this interval was conveyed to the audience, we can only guess;
but Blomfield’s suggestion is probable, that the Chorus leaves
the theatre for a short space after v. 493.

On what arguments does the supposed circumscription of
the time depend? Dr Verrall says, ‘Language could not be
clearer than that in which we are told that the herald arrives
while the queen’s announcement of the beacon-message is passing
from lip to lip.” This is quite true; but it would be a nine days’
wonder, if not more. While the report of the great event was
still unconfirmed, nothing else would ‘be talked about at Argos.
Is it surprising, then, that the topic of discourse on either side
of v. 493 is the same? And is it anything but the mere sequence
of verses in the page, which prevents our imagining the requisite
interval of time between that verse and the next? The break is
not so directly patent as at Aum. 235 and again at Eum. 566,
because at both these places the scene is changed as well; but
if the language is closely scanned, the fact betrays itself sufficiently.
The elders have been discussing with one another the probability
of the fiery message being true. Suppose the time perfectly
continuous. One of them catches sight of a herald, and expresses

himself thus:

τάχ᾽ εἰσόμεθα λαμπάδων φαεσφόρων
φρυκτωριῶν τε καὶ πυρὸς παραλλαγάς,

»" > > > εκ #23' 35 , ,

εἴτ οὖν ἀληθεῖς εἴτ᾽ ὀνειράτων δίκην
τερπνὸν τόδ᾽ ἐλθὸν φῶς ἐφήλωσεν φρένας.

Would anyone, who had just the moment before been keenly

a

10 INTRODUCTION

discussing the fire, and who now saw his chance of settling the
truth at once, stop to talk about ‘successions of light-bearing
torches, of beacon-watches, and of fire’? He would simply say
‘the fire. It is fairly clear that an interval has elapsed, probably
marked by the departure of the Chorus from the scene, and that
this recapitulation is designed to fix the attention of the audience
on the resumption of the subject. The poetical excuse for it is
no doubt, as Dr Verrall remarks, that a certain tone of contempt
is here in place; but this contempt is even more appropriate
after the lapse of an interval than when the fiery message is
still recent.

But the herald upon entering salutes the risen sun, addresses
the gods whose statues face it, observes that the king has
returned ‘bringing a light in darkness, and narrates the fierce
gale which befell the Greek fleet one night upon the sea’. The
expressions are suitable to a morning hour. However, there are
more mornings in the year than one, and the language would be
equally pointed on any morning that the king’s vessel happened
to arrive. Indeed, for the expression ‘a light in darkness’ to
receive its full force, the herald should be conceived as arriving
shortly after dawn. But if the action all takes place on one day,
the dawn is long since past. The greater part of one episode,
and a complete choric ode of a hundred lines, have intervened,
which means much in a Greek play. If the action is continued
on a different day, we can imagine the herald’s entrance at what-
ever hour we like.

On receiving the news of the capture, the queen institutes a
sacrifice. On the return of the king a sacrifice is also got ready.
Dr Verrall identifies these two, or supposes the one to be the
completion of the other, both alike occurring on the same day.
I see no reason for this view. So far as can be determined, the
first appears to be an offering of oil and incense, or other com-
bustible substances, hastily made to celebrate the glad news’.
The other is a grand and elaborate affair, in which sheep are to
be slaughtered, prepared to express thanksgiving for the king’s
safe and unexpected arrival, and to provide the household with a

1 vv. 513, 524, 527, 658. ιν 201:
3 vy. 83--οὐ, 599—602.

THE DRAMA it

feast for the occasion’. When the herald arrives, and is inter-
viewed by the queen, she remarks that she made the first
celebration ‘long ago?’, on receipt of the fiery message; where-
upon she excuses the herald from reciting the complete story,
and goes off to make preparation for a second.

These, so far as I can discover, are the sole grounds for
asserting that the time of the drama is limited to a single day,
and for ascribing to the poet either a plain absurdity or a design
which does not appear on the face of the text. The Agamemnon,
like the Eamenides, does not conform to the ‘unity of time’; nor
is there any objection to this, which is founded on reason,
Aristotle tells us that Tragedy at first obeyed the circumscrip-
tion of time no more than Epic poetry. Manifestly not; for the
passages of action and declamation were brought into it to give
relief to a choir between its separate songs; and there was no
reason why the subjects of the choral songs should be more
restricted in their range than the incidents of Homer’s epic.
But with the progress of the art, when the dancing and singing
element united with the speaking and acting element to embody
one connected and consistent action, Tragedy ‘endeavoured, as
far as possible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun*.’
The reason of this was clearly stated by Lessing. It was de-
signed to preserve the identity of the Chorus. It was improbable,
if the action extended over a long time, or was removed to a
great distance, that the same group of persons would throughout
be present as interested spectators; and since the Chorus was
still regarded as the foundation of the drama, a different Chorus
meant a different play. But when this restriction could be eluded,
a Greek dramatist had few further scruples either about identity
of place or continuity of time. In the Azmenzdes the Chorus
consists of supernatural beings, who can be present in any place
at any time; therefore the time is severed and the scene is
changed. In the Agamemnon the Chorus is conceived as a
corporate body, or council of state, who would naturally assemble
all together, from time to time, in a definite place. Therefore
the time is broken, but the scene remains unchanged.

As regards the further difficulty, that the story of the beacons,

1 vv. 1040—2. Ἐν 592. 3 Poet. 1449 Ὁ 12.

12 INTRODUCTION

if presented as a substantial occurrence, violates probability, the
gravest (because the most gratuitous) part of it vanishes with the
separation of the events in time. Weare relieved from supposing
that the message was transmitted in the midst of a howling
storm. For what remains, that the distances are too great, the
poet himself has frankly acknowledged as much in the first word
of the description’. If the reader feels, or thinks an Athenian
audience would feel, that Aeschylus has taken an inexcusable
liberty, it must be set down as a fault in his economy. The
greater number, I am sure, will consider that he was justified in
calling in a god to defend the minor probabilities, and delighting
his hearers with a splendid poetic narrative.

Lastly, in reply to the objection, that the beacons are never
once mentioned after the entrance of the king, three things may
be urged. First, a dramatist cannot always advert to matters
which have gone before, especially when they have taken place
‘long ago,’ and when there are more pressing matters to be con-
sidered. Secondly, the beacons are mentioned as a matter of
course in the presence of the herald?, which is sufficient evidence
of good faith. Thirdly, it is equally remarkable that, if the
events are all supposed to happen on the same day, not a
syllable should escape one of the characters after v. 493, which
makes it absolutely certain that this is the case.

We may now resume the thread of the action from v. 493 to
the end of the play, after which some remarks will be offered on
the whole.

The herald enters, and after saluting the gods in a rapture of
joy, announces the return of the king and the utter destruction
of Troy. The Chorus, with veiled meaning, inform him that
their desire for the army’s return was as great as the army’s
desire to get home. The herald betrays some surprise at their
words, but instead of pressing his inquiries, embarks on a
description of the hardships of the campaign, the sufferings of
the army on land and sea, by night and ‘day, and ends
by asserting that all is compensated by the happy issue.
Clytaemnestra now appears. She remarks that the event has

Vv. 293- ἢ ν. 593-

THE DRAMA 13

justified her belief in the beacon message, but declines to hear
the complete account from any but her husband, to whom she
sends back the herald with a message to come quickly and an
assurance of her unshaken fidelity. Before the herald departs,
the Chorus affectionately inquire after Menelaus. The herald,
who prides himself on telling the truth, confesses that Menelaus
is lost ; at the same time, being a scrupulous observer of form, he
shows some reluctance to mix bad news with good, but at length
avows that the Greek fleet was partly destroyed, and partly dis-
persed, by a terrible storm on the way home, from which the
king’s vessel escaped by miraculous aid. After consoling his
auditors with the hope that Menelaus may yet return, he goes
on his way (494—685).

In the lovely ode which follows, the theme of divine justice
left incomplete in the last, while the report of the capture was
still unconfirmed, is once more resumed. As the former ode
dealt with the mischief wrought by Paris at Argos, the latter
treats of the ruin brought by Helen on Troy. Her name and
her action alike marked her out as the instrument of divine
vengeance against the city. She reached the foreign shore in
safety, but a host of enemies followed in her train. She was
received with hymns of joy; but even before the foemen came,
those hymns were turned to lamentation. Peace, luxury, and
love were suggested by her advent; in the end she proved a
curse. Was it the prosperity of Priam which provoked this
judgment from Heaven? No, but an old taint of wickedness
in the race, which in the fulness of time brought forth fresh
wickedness, and with it the punishment of the whole. The
upright house is prosperous for ever; but Justice loves the
smoky cottage better than the guilty palace. Hardly have the
solemn words been uttered, when Agamemnon enters in a chariot,
followed (it is said!) by another chariot containing Cassandra
and the spoils of Troy (686—773).

τ ὙΠῸ Chorus accost him with honest warmth, not omitting to
observe the prevalence and success of more interested friendship.
They had never approved of the war for Helen’s sake, but they

---

1 Τὴ the Greek argument.

14 INTRODUCTION

heartily rejoice at its conclusion, and look to the king to decide
between true loyalty and false (774—800).

The king begins by acknowledging his debt of gratitude to
Heaven for its aid in the punishment and destruction of Troy.
He proceeds to corroborate the sentiment of the Chorus from his
own experience of simulated zeal. He ends by announcing his
intention of taking salutary measures for the better government
of Argos. The queen enters, and in a long address, remarkable
alike for its poetic expression and its dramatic irony, describes
her afflictions caused by the king’s absence, by the frequent
rumours of his death, by the fears of a popular rising. She hails
his return in a series of beautiful but extravagant images, and
invites him to enter. At a given word, her women spread the
king’s path with purple tapestries. The king, taken aback by
this display, severely reproves her extravagant laudation and
her extravagant action, as more suited to an eastern despot than
to one who entertains a proper fear of God and man. After
a brief altercation, however, he is prevailed upon to tread the
purple carpets, but not before he has evinced his humility by
removing his shoes and commending the captive Cassandra to
merciful treatment. The queen defends her prodigal action by
reminding him of the wealth of the house, and the propriety of
expense on such an auspicious occasion as the return of its lord.
After expressing a prayer for the accomplishment of her vows,
she follows her husband into the palace (80I1—965).

During the foregoing scene, what with the king’s scruples and
the queen’s ambiguous language, an indefinable feeling of alarm
has been created, which receives explicit utterance in the following
choric ode. Despite the visible evidence of the army’s return,
the elders cannot enter into the full joy of the occasion, cannot
banish the obstinate forebodings which have taken possession of
their breasts, and yet cannot explain them at all. They reflect
on the near neighbourhood of great prosperity to imminent
decay. Loss of wealth may be repaired; a plentiful harvest
may obliterate a famine; but when blood has been shed, nothing
can remedy that. They suppose it to be the will of Heaven
that joy shall not run to excess, but always be limited by some
admixture of sorrow (Q66—1018).

THE DRAMA 15

Clytaemnestra returns, and hastily orders Cassandra within.
As she remains obstinately silent, the elders gently urge her to
comply. The queen impatiently repeats her command, observing
that the business of the sacrifice will not suffer her to wait.
Still receiving no response, she contemptuously remarks that
Cassandra is mad, and leaves her and the compassionate elders
alone (10I9Q—1I055).

Cassandra now breaks silence. Wildly calling on Apollo, who
had begun her ruin before and has completed it now, in a series
of rapt prophetic cries she touches on the previous crimes of
the house, the new crime—the murder of a husband by his wife—
which is about to follow, the horrible manner of its execution, and
her own miserable end, following on the destruction of her city.
The elders, here and there perceiving her drift, but for the most
part utterly bewildered, answer her cries with expressions of
reproof, amazement, perplexity, alarm, incredulity, and pity.
The vision then becomes distinct, and she commands the credit
of the Chorus by dwelling in a more coherent fashion on the
ancient misdeeds of the house of Atreus. The elders are sur-
prised at her knowledge, and she informs them that she received
the gift of prophecy from Apollo, but that she was doomed to
disbelief because she foiled his love. In a second burst of
inspiration she mentions the feast of Thyestes, and all but
reveals the plot of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra against the
newly returned king. The Chorus, convinced by the first fact,
are puzzled and terrified by her intimation of the second. She
then explicitly foretells the death of Agamemnon; but before
she can calmly make all clear, a third access of frenzy seizes her,
in which she forecasts her own death, reproaches Apollo for his
cruelty, but predicts the vengeance of Orestes, and resigns her-
self to die. The Chorus, falling in with her humour, seek to
console her. She waves aside their consolation, and approaches
the doors, but recoils (as she says) at the smell of blood. She
then invites the elders to witness the truth of her prediction in
the day of vengeance; prays to the sun for its fulfilment; utters
a general lament over the state of man, and enters the house
(1056—1 320).

Reflecting on her words, the Chorus observe that, if they

16 INTRODUCTION

come true, if Agamemnon must atone for former bloodshed,
prosperity is a fickle thing indeed. In the midst of their reflec-
tions the cry of the king is heard twice within. The elders
hastily take counsel as to the best way of proceeding, and each
in turn delivers his opinion. They are about to enter the palace,
when the bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra are exposed,
with Clytaemnestra standing over them (1330—1370).

The queen now makes a clean breast of her duplicity and of
her long cherished purpose of revenge. She dwells on the
details of the murder, and openly glories in her action as a just
retribution. To the elders, who reprove her effrontery, she
expresses her indifference. They predict her cutting-off as
a public pollution; but she retorts the former impurity of
Agamemnon, who sacrificed his own daughter. They ascribe
her defiant language to the maddening effect of bloodshed, and
threaten her with retaliation. She rejoins that she has no fears;
the love of Aegisthus and the infidelities of Agamemnon are her
defence. She remarks that Cassandra keeps the latter’s company
even in death, adding a relish to her own passion for the former
(1371—1448).

The Chorus, unequal to this audacity, pray for death to take
them after their beloved master. They exclaim against Helen,
who began the mortal work which her sister has completed.
The queen reproves their desire for death and their denunciation
of Helen. They allege the evil genius of the race, who, incarnate
in the two sisters, has wrought by each an equal havoc ; a change
of statement which the queen approves. After deploring the
fierceness of the demon and appealing to Zeus, by whose will all
must have happened, they turn to bewail the king slain by a
violent end. Clytaemnestra protests that the deed is none of
hers, but of the avenging spirit in her semblance, atoning for the
crime of Atreus. The Chorus will not exculpate her, but admit
that an avenger raised by Atreus may have cooperated to the
destruction of his son. Once more they bewail the end of the
king slain by craft. Clytaemnestra retorts the crafty death of
Iphigeneia. The elders, in utter perplexity, know not what to
think or do. They forecast the swamping of the house in blood;
for justice now demands fresh bloodshed. They would fain

yo

THE DRAMA 17

have died before seeing their king ignobly killed, with none
to bury, none to weep, none to praise. The queen bids them
dismiss these cares; she will bury him, and Iphigeneia will
welcome him below. To this scoff the elders have no reply.
They can only assert the eternal law, that the guilty must suffer,
When a house is accurst, there is no remedy until it perish. The
queen assents, but professes herself satisfied, for her part, if the
evil spirit will now remove to some other family ; she will be
content to resign much of the house’s wealth, if only bloodshed
may now cease (1449—1576).

Hereupon Aegisthus enters with his soldiers. Pointing to
the dead Agamemnon, he congratulates himself on the justice of
his punishment for the crime of his father Atreus. He then
narrates the story of the Thyestean feast, and the curse uttered
upon the race; remarks on the propriety of his being the in-
strument of its fulfilment, as being the author of the whole
conspiracy ; and professes himself ready to die. The elders
assure him that his death is certain. He turns savagely upon
them, and threatens them with imprisonment or worse. They
taunt him with his cowardice in laying this treacherous plot for
a brave and heroic king. He replies that only thus could he
compass his revenge, and intimates his resolve to make Argos
submit to his power. The Chorus reproach him with polluting
the land by joining the wife in the murder, and invoke Orestes
to slay them both. Aegisthus, furious at this, directs his soldiers
to take action. The elders on their side prepare for defence ;
but before the parties come to blows, the queen interposes,
dissuades any further bloodshed, and advises both antagonists to
depart to their several homes. Aegisthus continues to protest
against the language of the Chorus, and threatens them with
ultimate vengeance. The elders reply with spirit, threatening
him with the return of Orestes. A few contemptuous words
from the queen close the altercation ; and so the first part of the
trilogy of the Ovesteza concludes (1577—167 3).

18 INTRODUCTION

REMARKS ON THE STORY.

That this account of the return and death of Agamemnon
differs in several important respects from the story as it appears
in Homer, has often been observed. There are four chief
passages of the Odyssey which allude to the matter. From the
first two of these!, which are quite consistent with each other,
we learn that Aegisthus, for some reason, did not join the muster
of the Greek fleet, but remained behind ‘in the nook of horse-
feeding Argos’; that he was divinely warned against the
temptation of conspiracy against the absent king and of making
overtures to his wife; that he nevertheless prevailed upon the
latter, after much entreaty and contrary to his own expectation,
to leave the house of Agamemnon for his own; that he slew
Agamemnon on his return, reigned seven years in Mycenae, and
in the eighth was slain by Orestes. We further learn that his
enterprise was aided by the dispersion of Menelaus’ fleet by
a storm, as he was rounding Cape Malea on his way to Sparta,
so that he could not come to his brother’s assistance. Of the
sixty ships which Menelaus led to Troy, all but five were
wrecked off Crete. With these five he was carried away to
Egypt, and only returned seven years later, just in time for the
funeral feast which Orestes made after the slaying of Aegisthus
and his mother. From this account we should infer that
Agamemnon, returning to Mycenae with a remnant of his host,
found himself involved in a conflict with a rebellious subject,
who had taken means to strengthen himself in his absence; and
that, deprived of the succours which he might have expected
from his brother, he was overwhelmed and slain.

But this version of the matter was evidently not the only one
current; for in the third passage of the Odyssey? we find a more
minute account of the death of Agamemnon, which is inconsistent
with the foregoing. From this we learn that Agamemnon, thanks
to the aid of Hera, escaped the storm which befell Menelaus ;
but that, as he was doubling Cape Malea, he himself encountered
a gale which drove him on to a part of the coast which bounded

1 Od. τ. 35—43 and 3. 262—312. 2 Od. 4. 512—47.

REMARKS ON THE STORY 19

a certain territory, where Aegisthus had his residence in suc-
cession to his father Thyestes. Luckily the wind changed, and
Agamemnon reached his native land in safety. Upon dis-
embarking, however, he was espied by a watchman, whom
Aegisthus had set to look out for his return, fearing that he
might get past unobserved and subsequently engage in hostilities.
Upon receiving the intelligence, Aegisthus placed a hundred men
in ambush, and went with chariots and horses to fetch the
king and his followers to a banquet at his house. In the midst
of the feast he fell upon his guests, and slew them all, though all
his own men perished in the conflict. In this account nothing
is said of Clytaemnestra, but there is an allusion to the vengeance
of Orestes and the arrival of Menelaus in time for the funeral of
Aegisthus. The fourth passage of the Odyssey! agrees with the
third in representing Agamemnon as slain at a banquet in the
house of Aegisthus, but assigns a prominent share in the plot to
Clytaemnestra. It is alone in making mention of Cassandra,
who is declared to have been slain at the same time by
Clytaemnestra herself. Indeed there is a verse in this passage,
and another in a later book, to which we may perhaps trace the
germ of the story that Clytaemnestra despatched her husband
with her own hands?, |

Now, taking these two versions together as the sum of
Homer’s contribution to the legend, we may notice that nothing
is said in either of the enmity of Atreus and Thyestes, of the
banishment of Aegisthus, or of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, which
form the chief springs of the dramatic action. On the other
hand, we collect the hostility of Aegisthus and Agamemnon ;
the infidelity of Clytaemnestra and her share in the enterprise of
Agamemnon’s death ; the death of Cassandra by her hand; and
the dispersion of Menelaus’ ships by a.storm, from which
Agamemnon himself escapes by divine aid, only to fall a victim
to treachery on land. So much a later poet could consistently
put together from the separate accounts. But in one particular
the two versions are inconsistent. The statement in the second

1 Od. 11. 405—53.-
2 Od. 11. 453 πάρος δέ με πέφνε καὶ αὐτόν, and 24. 200 κουρίδιον κτείνασα πόσιν (the
subject in both places is Clyt ).

20 INTRODUCTION

that Agamemnon, on his return voyage, had got safely as far as
Cape Malea, assumes that his home is not at Mycenae, as in the
Jliad, but at Sparta; therein agreeing with the view of the lyric
poets, Stesichorus, Simonides, and Pindar. To suit this version
we must apparently conceive of Aegisthus as a prince whose
hereditary domain lies in the peninsula which terminates in
Cape Malea. Agamemnon is first carried to the east coast of
_this territory. He escapes thence, doubles the cape, and dis-
embarks on his own territory of Sparta. But in order to reach
his inland fortress, he is still obliged to pass along the western
border of Aegisthus’ land, where a watchman had been stationed
for a year to give notice of his progress up the valley of the
Eurotas. He is directed to the castle of Aegisthus, whither
Clytaemnestra had previously removed, and is treacherously
murdered at a banquet.

This conception of the matter differs considerably from that of
the first version, in which the centre of interest is Mycenae. The
difference is not without interest, for it marks the first stage in
the passage of the legend to the form in which we find it in
Aeschylus. It can hardly be doubted that the second version,
which places the seat of Agamemnon’s rule at Sparta, is the
older of the two. First, it is conformable to what we know of
the earliest kingships that Agamemnon should be represented as
reigning, not at Mycenae, like his father Atreus, nor at Pisa, like
his grandfather Pelops, but on the other hand, like his grand-
father, his father, and his brother, at the home of his wife, that
is, at Sparta’. Secondly, this version presupposes an archaic
state of society, in which two chieftains dwelling on adjacent
territories are at feud with each other, and one may get the
better of his rival by the simple device of inviting him to a
banquet at his castle. The whole relation smacks of something
primitive, as indeed do those portions of the Odyssey from which
it is extracted. But even before the Trojan war, as Thucydides
tells us, this state of society had become antiquated by the
growth of commerce and maritime intercourse, and the congre-

1 Frazer, Early History of the Kingshif, p. 240, where the reason of this is
explained.
Ὁ ΠΙΟΣ 366 Yi, 5:

REMARKS ON THE STORY 21

gation of men into walled cities. Now that expedition itself
was by all accounts due to the concentration of naval power in
the hands of Agamemnon. Hence it was a plausible conception,
doubtless resting on some basis of fact, to shift the seat of
Agamemnon’s power from the poor and backward country of
Laconia to the fortified town of Mycenae, with its dependencies
of Argos and Tiryns, right in the trading area of Corinth,
Cleonae, Sicyon, Troezen, and Epidaurus. Therefore Mycenae
appears as his capital throughout the /ad. To these altered
conditions the poet of the Odyssey had to adapt the story of
Aegisthus’ feat, which is nothing else than a variation on ‘the
immemorial theme of the Odyssey itself. Clytaemnestra is a
more pliable Penelope, who is left at home in the charge of
a minstrel}, while her husband is absent on a distant war.
Aegisthus is a successful Antinous, who persuades the queen to
remove to his own residence. Agamemnon is a less fortunate
Odysseus, who, upon returning home with the remnant of his
followers, is promptly murdered by his rival. Orestes is a
retributive Telemachus. But by the time that Mycenae has
become prominent, the conception of two rival chieftains living
each on his several estate has sunk into the background; and
how, in the new circumstances, Aegisthus might execute his
project, the poet of the Odyssey did not know. Therefore, when
he places the scene of the exploit at Mycenae, he is obliged to
leave the details of Agamemnon’s murder vague, covering up his
ignorance by saying that Menelaus was not at hand to help his
brother. But when, in a later book, he wishes to give the details

of the plot, he simply has recourse to the primitive version, and

is thus compelled to leave the scene in the open and uncentralised
country of Laconia.

Perhaps it was a perception of this inconsistency which led
Stesichorus and Simonides to adopt the older account, which
placed Agamemnon’s residence near Lacedaemon?; and the

same thing is implied in Pindar. According to the eleventh

Pythian, the murder of Agamemnon took place at Amyclae, that

is, about two and a half miles below Sparta in the vale of Eurotas.

It is natural to suppose that Pindar, who calls Orestes a Laconian,
1 Od. 3. 267. 2 Schol. Eur. Ov. 46.

22 INTRODUCTION

regards Lacedaemon as the seat of Agamemnon’s power; that
Amyclae, a town long independent of Sparta, represents to a
later age, familiar with cities, what the primitive version broadly
calls the territory of Thyestes;and Aegisthus; and that here the
stratagem took place by which Agamemnon was slain. In other
respects Pindar agrees with Homer in leaving the actual slayer
of Agamemnon vague, while affirming that Cassandra was slain
“at the same time by Clytaemnestra. Two alternative motives
are assigned for her act. The one on which the poet lays most
stress is her passion for Aegisthus, which could not be kept dark;
but he mentions another, traceable in part to the Cypria of
Stasinus, her anger at the sacrifice of Iphigeneia.

For Pindar, a lyric poet, whose chief purpose it was to adorn
a naked theme with a romantic incident, such a conception was
still admissible. He was not obliged to give the details of
Agamemnon’s death, and his auditors might suppose it to have
happened in much the same way as Homer describes. But for
Aeschylus, a dramatic poet, whose business it was to present
this same transaction to the eyes of a fifth-century audience, and
to interest them in it for its own sake, the details of the epic
narrative were unsuitable. The primitive Homeric version was
out of relation to life as actually lived at the moment; and
without an effort. of historical imagination, which is rather a
modern gift, those circumstances could not be reproduced at
once faithfully and probably. He was faced by the same
difficulty as the poet of the Odyssey, when, to suit the story to
changed historical conditions, he shifted the scene from the
neighbourhood of Lacedaemon to the great capital of Mycenae.
Ten years before the date of our play Mycenae had been
destroyed by Argos; and Argos is the name which Aeschylus,
apparently for the sake of some political allusions in the last act
of the trilogy, chooses to give to Agamemnon’s realm. But the
problem, though slightly intensified by this greater air of
historical reality, was in its essence the same for both poets.
That problem was to substitute for the ancient version, in which
one border chieftain with his retainers cuts off by stratagem
another border chieftain with his retainers, an account of the
enterprise of Aegisthus conformable to a more settled and

4

REMARKS ON THE STORY 23

political state of society. As we have seen, the poet of the
Odyssey, who evidently felt the difficulty!, did not take the pains
to construct, perhaps could not even imagine a train of incidents
by which the king of men, the lineal sovereign of a strong and
wealthy town, the suzerain of a number of petty states, might
himself be murdered, and his throne usurped, by a rebellious
subject of no great personal courage. He takes refuge in the
statement, that the revolution occurred when Menelaus was
away.

But Aeschylus, or some predecessor whom Aeschylus
followed, had a better idea of how such an attempt as that
of Aegisthus might come about. With the growth of wealth
and commerce in Greece, and the collection of its inhabitants
into fortified cities, it became evident to political experience that
freedom from external aggression was more than compensated
by the danger of dissension within. The enterprise of Aegisthus
is conceived as an incident of s¢aszs or party faction, a feature
of Greek politics whose beginning was traced by Attic thought
to the influx of wealth which occurred a little before the Trojan
War*®. That this mature political conception of the matter has
governed the shaping of the story between Homer and Aeschylus,
is tolerably plain. In the drama, of course, it does not assume
any great prominence; but enough details are given to show
that it underlies the presentation, and is used to make it
intelligible to a fifth-century audience. The scene is removed
from an outlying tract of country to the heart of a city state.
The origin of the dissension is ascribed to a personal quarrel
between two members of the reigning family. Thyestes disputes
the power of his brother Atreus, and is banished from the city.
Even such uncouth incidents as the seduction of Aerope and the
feast of Thyestes find some historical warrant in what was related
of Gyges in Sardis and of Harpagus in Persia*, The feud
continues into the next generation, and the hopes of the inferior
faction centre on Aegisthus. He is to be conceived as hanging
about in exile, intriguing with his adherents in the city, and
waiting for a favourable moment for taking vengeance on his

1 See Od. 3. 248—52. 2 Mhue..-I..2, 2:
SSTLEr τὸ ΤῊΝ ons

24 INTRODUCTION

enemies!, His opportunity came with the Trojan War.
Thucydides informs us that the protracted nature of that
expedition gave a great chance to the malcontents in the
Greek cities to overthrow the government, in the midst of which
commotions most of the old hereditary monarchies went down,
and were replaced by tyrannies*» The temporary eclipse of one
such monarchy is depicted in the Agamemnon®. The disaffection
against the royal house of Argos is ascribed by the poet to the
prolonged, costly, and selfish enterprise against Troy+, which
may be regarded as swelling the number of Aegisthus’ partisans,
and thus making the success of his attempt conceivable. A
principal element in his plan, as in that of most Greek seditions,
was to occupy the citadel which commanded the township.
This might easily have been done in the absence of the kings,
but it would have been a more difficult matter to retain it on
their return. Besides, so long as the regent Clytaemnestra was
his friend, there was nothing to be gained by premature action.
His policy was to lie low until the day of Agamemnon’s return,
exciting as little suspicion as possible, and to overpower his
enemies by a surprise; a thing manifestly impossible if he had
already seized the fortress. But it was necessary for himself to
be prepared against the surprise of their return, and to be ready
for instant action. To such necessity we may perhaps attribute
the introduction into the story of the beacon signal, which, while
plausibly designed to announce the fall of Troy, has the secondary
effect of giving the conspirators timely notice of their enemy’s
approach. On the day of the king’s arrival, the conspirator who
could draw nearest to his person, with the least suspicion, would
be his wife; and to this circumstance we may naturally ascribe
the bold invention which represents Agamemnon as overtaken
in his privacy and murdered by his queen. In the interval
between the murder and the appearance of Aegisthus on the
stage, we may suppose the latter to have executed his part
of the plan, originally a difficult part, but vastly simplified by
the storm, that of overpowering the followers of the king.

1 vy, 1668. 2 Thue. 1: 12, 13;
3 The character of this sovereignty is defined by Cho. 54—60 and Cho. 863—5.
4 vv. 452—64.

REMARKS ON THE STORY 25

This is the basis on which the drama rests. But as that
part of it which is assigned to Clytaemnestra—the public inter-
course with the elders, the reception of the king at his own
home, and above all his actual murder—is obviously the part
best fitted for dramatic treatment on the Greek stage, almost
the whole interest of the presentation centres upon her; while
Aegisthus, who cannot even openly appear, is relegated to the
background. It is only from the last scene that we gather that
he is at the bottom of the whole conspiracy. There remains
one minor circumstance, for which the reason is not at once
evident. Why does Aeschylus represent Agamemnon and
Menelaus as reigning jointly at Argos?

It may be said that the concentration of interest which
results—the desolation of the house at Argos by the wicked
act of Paris, set off against the destruction of the house of Priam
by the act of Helen—greatly increases the force and symmetry
of the picture; and that the interest imparted to Menelaus
provides several effective passages in the drama, such as the
description of the storm. All this is true; but it may be doubted
whether Aeschylus would have taken this liberty with history,
simply for these reasons, if he had not found some warrant for
it in the works of his predecessors. In the earliest version, as we
have seen, both Agamemnon and Menelaus live in Laconia.
There Agamemnon is murdered by Aegisthus, who in his turn
is slain by Orestes, the latter exploit being regarded as just
as simple an affair as the former. But when the murder was
transferred to Mycenae, the execution of Orestes’ feat became
an equally difficult matter with that of Aegisthus. How could
he escape the consequence of his attack on the master of a
fortified town? Again the poet of the Odyssey passes over the
details, but he is careful to retain, and to emphasise, the fact
that Menelaus arrived from Egypt on the very day of the funeral
feast of Aegisthus2.» The purpose of this retention is plain; the
arrival of Menelaus accounts for the immunity of Orestes. But
it involves the startling novelty that the home of Menelaus,

1 Od. 4. 546—7.
2 Od.3. 311. It will be remembered what use Euripides makes of this synchronism
in the Orestes.

26 INTRODUCTION

no less than that of Agamemnon, is at Mycenae. Why else
should Menelaus, sailing from Egypt, go there at all? Of course
the poet does not intend this inference; everywhere else he
assumes that Menelaus lives at Sparta. But, having transferred
the scene of Agamemnon’s death to Mycenae, he is obliged by
the sequel of this particular story to bring Menelaus thither also.
Now later writers, such perhaps as Agias of Troezen (author
of the JVosti), having to explain in detail the achievement of
Orestes, could by no means give up the opportune advent of
Merelaus from Egypt; and having to account for his landing
at Mycenae, they would incline to assert that Mycenae was his
home. Hence the two brothers would be represented, in post-
Homeric versions, as reigning together at Mycenae, just as in
the earliest version they had reigned together at Lacedaemon.
The seat of their joint government is merely transferred by
Aeschylus, in conformity with his whole design, from the locality
of Mycenae to the neighbouring locality of Argos.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS.

The riper political experience, which had befallen the Greek
world since the time of Homer, is one of the chief causes which
impart to the poet’s treatment of the legend a seriousness and
weight that are not felt to belong to it in the epic. Throughout
the drama we are conscious that his eye is not really fixed on
a remote antiquity, but that his sentiments and reflexions are
drawn from that impressive age of Greek politics, which lies
between the date of Peisistratus and the date of Pausanias;
a period of wealth, commerce, and maritime adventure, in which
parties fought in the several states, in which a combination of
the states miraculously repulsed the national foe, in which
individuals rose to power, yielded to their passions, and fell.
Troy is the typical city of Asia Minor, a seat of wealth and
luxury, where the decay of moral principle leads directly to
political ruin. Argos is the scene of civic disunion terminating
in tyranny. Another source of profound difference is the
application to the story of certain theological ideas, some of

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 27

which seem in their origin to lie behind Homer, others to be
the fruit of more refined speculation working on the simple
and careless religion of Olympus. The first class of ideas,
those which are concerned with the ritual of the tomb, the
powers of the underworld, the peculiar effects of bloodshed,
and the like, are less prominent in the Agamemnon than in
the Choephori, where the religion of the grave is presented
in all its sombre and mystic power, or in ‘the Ewmenzdes, where
part of the poet’s object is to fuse the system of Olympus with
the conflicting system of the’ Earth and of the dead. After
Aeschylus these ideas appear to have become antiquated, so
far as literature was concerned, and to have died a natural death.
Interesting as they are in themselves, they do not directly
concern us here.

The second class of ideas, which, though modified by the
transition of the Greek mind from theology to philosophy,
continued to’ provide the staple of later thought, figures more
largely in our play. The questions which exercise the poet
are the old pair. What is the nature of the Power which governs
the order of events? Does this Power interfere to punish the
successful sinner? First of all, that there is such a Power, the
poet does not doubt. He calls it by the traditional name of Zeus;
but what sort of a Being corresponds to this name, he does not
profess to know. To Zeus he ascribes the universal succession
of causes and effects?; his contact with the temporal order is
one of spiritual direction; the principle of his operation is justice®;
the smoothness and ease of it is a sign of his power. In these
matters the poet is the pupil of Xenophanes. When Xenophanes
says‘, ‘Among gods and men there is one greatest God, neither
in body nor mind resembling mortal man....He is all eye, all
ear, all thought....He sways all things without exertion by the
notion of his mind....He remains always in the selfsame place,
not moved at all, nor does it become him to travel hither and
-thither....There never was, nor ever will be, any man _ that
knew the certain truth about the Gods, and what I affirm about
all things; for although he might chance to state the fact as

Lv. 170. 2 y. 1487. 3 y. 773.

4 See frags. 23—6 and 34 (Diels).
es

28 INTRODUCTION

nearly as possible, yet he knows it not himself; but opinion
is formed upon all things’—the substance of his language is
reproduced by Aeschylus: ‘Zeus, whosoever he is, if so it
please himself to be called, by this name I address him. When
I ponder all things, I can make no guess to fill the gap, except
Zeus, if I must cast off, to the very name, the vain obsession
of the mind1....Zeus employs no violence; (every act of Deity
is without exertion); throned aloft, his thought somehow effects
its end, even from where it is, on its holy seat?....What merit
has a Deity who should use violence on his awful throne®....
The Father disposes all things, turning them upside down, panting
not at all in his might4’ In his dealings with men, the justice
of Zeus is embodied in two_laws, which distinguish his reign
from that of those who might claim to have preceded him. The
first law is, that moral wisdom is reward of painful experience’.
The second is, that the guilty must suffer®.

As regards the first, the point of interest is to observe
how the religious soul of Aeschylus converts to its own use
a circumstance which had discouraged less elevated minds.
Other writers, such as Solon, had contrasted the complacent
hopes of man, his ardent pursuit of various ends, with his utter
ignorance of the future and his liability to complete and un-
expected disaster: ‘Hazard is annexed to every work, nor does
any man know, when a business is beginning, where it will end”
The purpose of Aeschylus is not to lament this inferiority of
human constitution, but to justify and even applaud it. This
he does by considering it in the light of a nobler object, not
that of a man’s practical success, but that of his moral perfection.
He regards the suffering in which the ‘blind hopes’ of men so
often terminate as a necessary discipline of human character.
Even if a man had complete foreknowledge, nothing would
ensure his acting right. Laius was thrice divinely warned of the
consequences of committing a certain action, but he committed
it none the less** Agamemnon was divinely warned of the
consequences of sacrificing his daughter, but he did not repent

1 vv. 170—7. 2 Suppl. 97—102. 3 vv. 192—3.
4 Eum. 650—1. 5 vy. 1838, 261—2. 8 vv. 1562—3.
7 See Solon, frag. 4. 33—70 (Bergk). 8 Theb. 745.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 29

till it was too late’. But if men will sin with their eyes open,
instead of deploring the fact that a man’s aims miscarry through
his ignorance of the future, we ought rather to be thankful that,
when suffering comes, it operates to man’s amendment. Hence
it is not as a matter of complaint, but as part of a solemn hymn
of praise, that he enunciates the maxim πάθει μάθος. In some
remarkable lines he touches on the stealthy and unconscious
transformation of character by pain? It is an instance of the
gentle but thorough process by which the Deity effects all
change.

But it is the devout assertion of the second law which is
the test of a truly religious mind, inasmuch as it appears to
conflict with the evident facts of life. Long before Aeschylus
there had been misgivings about the continued impunity of the
wicked, and various attempts had been made to account for it.
The view of Homer, if it can be called a view, was that Zeus
suffered men to trade on their wickedness, that he might take
it out in fuller measure later on: ‘Although the Olympian
punishes not at once, yet he does so at the last, and they pay
with heavy interest, with their persons, and with their wives, and
with their children*’ The wise Solon, having an eye on these
words, gave a somewhat different explanation. Zeus surveys
the end of all things; therefore he does not flare up, like an
irascible man, at each particular sin. He waits till all has
mounted up, and then he makes a clean sweep, as a vernal wind
scatters the clouds, and restores the naked purity of sky But
how if the sinner dies in prosperity, before the clearance comes?
The answer of Solon is unsatisfactory but interesting: ‘None
that has a guilty mind escapes His notice for ever and ever,
but in all case is shown up at the last. Only, while one pays
forthwith, another pays later on; or if they themselves get off,.
before the visitation of Heaven catches them, it comes afterwards
in any case: their deeds are paid for by the innocent, either by
their children or by their posterity after them®’ We see here
that the ends of justice are equally supposed to be satisfied,
whether the punishment falls upon the sinner himself, or upon

1 vv. 228—3I. 2 vv. 189—9I. 3 Jl. 4. 160—2.
4 frag. 4. 17—26. 5 frag. 4. 27—32.

30 INTRODUCTION

his innocent children or descendants. Theories of divine justice
have usually been modelled on the scheme of human justice
prevailing at the time; and it is well known that in early times
the unit of which the law took cognisance was not the individual,
but the family. If one member of a family did wrong, he was
not himself directly punished, but indirectly, as a limb of the
system of blood-relationship, on which as a whole the forfeit
fell. But this community of interest embraced not only the
members of the family living at the time; it extended also to the
dead, between whom and the living the mere fact of dissolution
made no essential rupture. The ancestor who committed a crime
might at any time be penalised in the person of his descendant,
on whom he depended for vital nourishment and his degree of
honour among the dead. If the descendants were extinguished
altogether, the fate of the ancestors would be miserable indeed.
It was important to perpetuate the race and to keep it clear
of guilt; but once the fatal act had been committed, once the
curse had been entailed, it was not felt to be unfair that the
living should be involved in the punishment of the dead. The
divine retribution, like the human retribution, was assessed upon
the whole; and the life which was subjected to justice was that
which began with the earliest forefather and terminated with
the last descendant.

The advantage of this collective view of responsibility was
that, by giving the Deity an indefinite space of time in which
to operate, it might at least be maintained that guilt was certain
. sooner or later to meet with its reward. But when the importance
of the individual eclipsed that of the family, the dilatory character
of divine justice assumed a new and perplexing aspect. What
had hitherto been regarded as a deferred payment on the part
of the family, now took the offensive shape of a vicarious
punishment inflicted on the innocent. And yet to surrender
this latitude of action on the part of Heaven was to give up
the most plausible ground of experience on which it could
be asserted that sin was always punished. Impressed with the
conviction that compensation must somehow be made, but faced:
with the fact that the original sinner often ended his days in
peace, it is perhaps not surprising that the moral sense of men

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 3

31

acquiesced in the belief, rooted in an earlier notion of respon-
sibility, that if the fathers had eaten sour grapes, the children’s
teeth should be set on edge. Such is the opinion of Solon in
the passage quoted above. We perceive a slight trace of dis-
satisfaction with it in his use of the word ‘innocent’; though
this is perhaps designed to excite indignation against the sinner
rather than to impugn the fairness of the divine execution.

In the Oresteza there is a general inclination to reconcile
beliefs surviving from a rude past with the conscience of a more
humane and enlightened age. Thus, while in the Choephori the
old law of reviling for reviling, blood for blood, is asserted in all
its stern rigour, because it seems just that Clytaemnestra and
Aegisthus should suffer for their crime, in the Azmenides, where =
the conscience instinctively takes sides with Orestes, the severity
of the law is relaxed in obedience to a higher claim. The court
of Areopagus is instituted to inquire into cases of justifiable
homicide. In the Agamemnon there is a like attempt, on the
one hand to uphold the just principle that guilt must be paid
for, and on the other, to mitigate the conclusion by which alone
this principle could be shown to have a sure basis in fact. The
poet does not deny that the sins of the fathers are visited on
the children. He admits that the crime of Atreus may have
contributed to the destruction of his son’. Nay, he points out
how this might happen, through the physical link of blood
connecting the two, which, in the control of a supernatural
minister, fatally constrained Agamemnon to his doom*® The
same blood which had sinned higher up in Atreus was punished
lower down in Agamemnon. But the physical connexion which
enabled the retribution to be made, even after the original
sinner had escaped, might also be used to palliate its injustice.
The continuity in blood might import a transmission of moral
qualities also. Hence the poet asserts that, if an ancestor sins,
he bequeaths to his descendant a tendency to sin himself*.
The ancient crime of Laomedon came to birth again in the
wicked act of Paris; then followed the punishment. The guilt
of Atreus propagated itself afresh in the guilt of Agamemnon.
It is the poet’s cue, so to speak, to exhibit the personal culpability

* vv. 1508—9. * vv. 1510—3. 3 vv. 755—06.

INTRODUCTION

32
of the latter. This is why, in the forefront of his drama, he lays
so much emphasis on the sacrifice of Iphigeneia It is important
to observe that this act does not take in Aeschylus, as it does
in Sophocles, the form of restitution to Heaven, wiping out
a previous offence. It is merely imposed on Agamemnon as
the condition of completing a certain design. It is a temptation
indeed, but one which might have been resisted. Agamemnon
might have broken up his armament and left Troy to divine
vengeance; and the poet several times hints that this would have
been the proper course to adopt. But the fatal taint was in his
blood, and when the temptation to iniquity came, he fell. From
that moment his personal responsibility began. It was increased
by his conjugal infidelities in regard to Chryseis and Cassandra,
and by the bloodthirsty character of his vengeance upon Troy’.

Once a man has sinned, then, the mischief tends to propagate
itself in his descendants, until in the fulness of time some
outrageous act produces the ruin of his race. But to what
agency are we to ascribe the first sin of all? In Homeric times
it was sufficient to say that ‘Zeus took a man’s wits away, or
the like. Later ages, seeking for some motive on the-part of
the Gods, ascribed the fall of princes to a divine jealousy of their
prosperity. There was a certain limit of success which no human
king might pass with safety, any more than he might journey
to the Hyperboreans or sail beyond the pillars of Heracles.
This limitation of human capacity was what made a mana man;
without it he would have been a God; and the Gods were
naturally jealous of their prerogative. Traces of this way of
thinking appear in Aeschylus; but where he is speaking most
in earnest, where he professes himself at variance with the
majority, such a view is evidently repugnant to him®. Prosperity
by itself, he says, is not sufficient to ruin a race; it is wicked and
impious actions which are fatal’. But prosperity is dangerous
because it affords the temptation and occasion to sin’. Similarly
great renown is dangerous because it is likely to exalt the heart
to presumptuous thoughts and reckless language®. From this

1 vv. 467, 1004, etc.
2 So Pind. Οἱ 5. fin. μὴ ματεύσηι θεὸς γενέσθαι (advice to a fortunate man), etc.
3 vv. 749—54- 4 wv. 755—9- > vv. 385—97. 8 vv. 474—6.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS 33

danger nothing can save a man but a naturally sober mind, ‘the
greatest gift of God'’ A mind naturally liable to be spoiled by
success is presumably the gift of God also, but the poet does not
make this statement with the cheerful indifference of Homer.
He loves to trace the misfortunes of a family back to some wild
mental impulse in an ancestor, which brings an evil strain into
the race, which entails a curse on it, which raises a supernatural
avenger to see to its execution. The completion of the train of
misfortunes he ascribes to divine agency. But the first inclination
to sin appears to arise by itself in the man’s own heart; only,
like everything which a Greek could not go behind, it tends to
be represented as a supernatural possessing power (παρακοπὰ
πρωτοπήμων, πρώταρχος ἄτη, ὄλβος ἄγαν παχυνθείς). How this
power is related to the general originating power of Zeus, we are
not informed. All that is said is, that Zeus sooner or later visits
the wicked act with justice. Without sin there could be no
justice. But why this or that individual should be destined
to be the sinner, upon whom or upon whose race justice is
exercised, remains a mystery.

THE CHARACTERS.

In the light of these moral ideas the principal characters
of the play are drawn. The fate of Agamemnon, as we have
seen, is partly a compensation for his father’s crime, partly a
punishment for his own. There is an element of misfortune
in it, and an element of deserved retribution; and in the presence .
of these two our reprobation and our sympathy are almost
equally divided. He embarks on a selfish and misguided
enterprise; but he acts under a natural concern for the wounded
honour of his family. He commits an odious crime in pursuit
of his end; but he commits it under strong provocation, for the
sake of his allies. He is merciless in his vengeance; but the
offence was wanton, and the labour of execution prolonged and
severe. His language is proud; but his pride is a natural
weakness at the moment of his triumph. He is harsh, and

τ ν: 919; 2 vv. 233, 1101, 7 εὖ. 756.

34 INTRODUCTION

suspicious; but he has suffered from the insincerity of his friends
abroad, and has more than a glimpse of treachery at home.
He is suspicious of Heaven also, he is feebly superstitious; but
he knows that he is a man, the greatest in the world, the most
liable to change. He is an unfaithful husband; but the fault,
even when we find it most repugnant}, is relieved by our
knowledge of the infidelity of his wife. In his dignity and his
‘weakness he is every inch a king. While it is impossible to call
him an amiable character, we can share in some degree the
loyalty which he inspires in the simpler natures of the play,
the watchman, the herald, and the elders. When we observe
him moving unconsciously to his doom, above all when we see
him cut off in the midst of his glory by an ignominious end, our
sense of the justice of his fate leaves room for the pity which
the bewildered exclamations of his faithful counsellors claim.
To compass the chastisement of the guilty race, the Gods
raised up two figures of strange and fearful power, the sisters
Helen and Clytaemnestra. The former moves through the
background of the drama as a beautiful but fatal presence,
the embodiment of wanton sin, the instrument of Heaven for
the ruin of the house of Priam, the remoter cause of the
catastrophe of the house of Atreus. The latter, who is the
direct agent of Agamemnon’s fall, presents the same reckless
nature armed with the terrible motives of suppressed resentment
and vindictive hate. On the portrayal of this grand and appalling
figure the poet has concentrated his utmost skill. The two traits
which he marks most firmly are her masculine capacity and her
unerring duplicity. The first of these, besides being given by
the testimony of the other characters, is immediately evident
from the situation, in which she appears as adequate to great
affairs of state; from the deference with which she is treated
by the council of Elders, and from the almost contemptuous
manner in which she deals with them; from the tenacity with
which she pursues her end, and the promptness and energy with
which she executes it. To accomplish her purpose she is ready
to defy both Gods and men*. The second trait, which cannot
of course be directly revealed until the murder is done, is

τον Q4i. 2 vv. 965, 1401, etc.

THE CHARACTERS 35

nevertheless conveyed by the prophetic hints of Calchas and
Cassandra, and still more by the perpetual irony of her language,
which is instinct with the very spirit of deceit. Of the motives
which are expressly assigned to her, the most sincerely felt is
her anger at the death of Iphigeneia, which has rankled in her
bosom for ten long years. She is the lurking avengeress of
Agamemnon’s crime. Her union with Aegisthus is subordinate;
it is a necessary means to her end, a measure for her own
protection. Her sense of her husband’s infidelities is confined
to a passing scoff. But no mere accumulation of motives is
sufficient to account for the total effect of her action, its certitude,
its self-reliance, its unflagging zest. Only when she declares
that she is not Agamemnon’s wife, but the incarnation of the
‘ancient, bitter Avenger of the cruel feast of Atreus', do we begin
to grasp the lines on which her character is conceived. There
is something in her beyond the natural capacity of man or
woman, something preternatural and daemonic. But if she
is not solely sustained by common human motives, neither is
she the impassive instrument of justice. She has a cordial relish
of wickedness, as appears by the extraordinary gusto with which
she dwells on her crime, and by her utter absence of remorse.
At the end of the play, what puzzles the Chorus is not the
justice of Agamemnon’s doom, but the fact that so much
wickedness should be allowed to triumph. It is this margin
of positive evil which calls for the vengeance of Orestes, a
vengeance executed by divine command, and almost contrary
to the inclination of the principal actor himself.

In the character of Aegisthus, on the other hand, all is plain.
It is not in him that the curse of Thyestes reveals its mystic
force. He acts through the natural motives of revenge and
ambition. The circumstances of the case compel him to reach
his end by treachery; and for all that is said to the contrary,
it would appear that this method was itself the most congenial
to his nature. By good fortune or by divine decree, he found
in Clytaemnestra a nature suited to his purpose; without her
he would have been nothing. His ignoble type of cunning, his
absence from the scene at the supreme moment, furnish an
Ἐν ὙΒΟΣ te

3—2

36 INTRODUCTION

effective contrast to the daring hypocrisy and ubiquitous super-
vision of the queen; as does his overbearing petulance in the
hour of success to the few unimpassioned words in which she
acknowledges that the work of her life is done.

Cassandra, as Mr Sidgwick observes, is not truly a study of
character at all, the interest lies in her situation. She is the
victim of events which she clearly foresees, but which, by the
condition of her estate, she is powerless to influence. Such a
figure, having something improbable in it, requires more than
ordinary power for its successful handling; but if successful,
none can be more deeply impressive. Aeschylus has omitted
no circumstance which could contribute to sink criticism in a
flood of absorbing interest. The very silence of Cassandra
provokes a disposition to hear her speak. From the first
moment that she opens her mouth, curiosity is superseded by
sympathy and awe. She is a princess tenderly reared, who,
by a fatal mischance, has become an object of derisive contempt
to her friends. Her family and her nation are ruined, but she
is not permitted to share their fate, being reserved for slavery
and death among her foes. She is a prophetess who has a
horrible consciousness of the destination to which she has been
brought, and an equally horrible prescience of the doom which
there awaits her. Her one gleam of consolation is afforded
by the fact that she can foresee the vengeance of Orestes.
A peculiar poignancy is added to her story by the circumstance
that we learn it all from her own lips. At each instant our
sensibility to her misery is but the reflexion of her own.

The watchman and the herald are simple characters, such
as never fail of effect when mixed up with events, intrigues,
and passions greater than themselves. The simplicity of the
former is that of the peasant, which includes fidelity to his
masters without excluding a shrewd regard for his own safety
and interest. The simplicity of the latter is of a different type.
It is that of an honest man who has acquired some notion of
great affairs by bearing a humble part in them, but whose view
is limited to their formal and external side. The transparency
of his nature is shown by the uncontrollable vehemence with
which he expresses his joys and sorrows. But he does not forget

>» >
P
3. ies

THE CHARACTERS 37

that he is a public officer, and he is almost absurdly anxious to
discharge his own particular part in the most becoming manner.
His personal delight at the success of the Trojan enterprise is
increased by thinking of the high consideration which his master
will enjoy in the world. He consoles himself for the sufferings
and loss of life at Troy by reflecting what a fine position the
army will hold in the esteem of future ages. While he feels it
to be his duty to tell the strict truth, he is concerned about
the impropriety of joining good and bad news together. The
succession or conflict of these various feelings in his simple
breast makes his language alternately impetuous, abrupt and
circuitous. He is certainly one of the most original and lifelike
characters in Tragedy.

[The following Mss. containing the Agamemnon either in whole or
in part are referred to by their respective symbols in the critical notes :—

M denotes the codex Mediceus (or Laurentianus) XXXII. 9, a parchment
Ms. of the tenth or eleventh century containing besides the plays
of Sophocles and Aeschylus the Avgonautica of Apollonius. Owing
however to the loss of fourteen leaves in the part containing the
Agamemnon, its evidence is only available for vv. 1—322, 1051—
1158. Readings due to the second hand are recorded as m.

a denotes the codex Marcianus 468 (xcI. 4), sometimes known as
Ven. 2, and belonging to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Ite
was formerly owned by Cardinal Bessarion, and in Hermann’s
edition is distinguished by the compendium Bess. It contains
only the first 360 lines of the Agamemnon; Franz thought that
it was copied from M when that ms. was still entire.

f denotes the codex Florentinus (or Laurentianus) ΧΧΧΙ. 8, a paper MS.
written in the earlier part of the fourteenth century. Besides other
| ᾿ plays of Aeschylus it contains the Agamemnon entire.

g denotes the codex Venetus (or Marcianus) 616 (XCI. 5), a parchment
ms. formerly assigned to the thirteenth but now to the fifteenth
century. It contains the same plays of Aeschylus as f, but owing
to the loss of several leaves is without vv. 46—1079 of the
Agamemnon.

38 INTRODUCTION

h denotes the codex Farnesianus (or Neapolitanus) I. E. 5, written in
the latter part of the fourteenth century, as is generally believed,
by Demetrius Triclinius. It contains the same plays of Aeschylus
as f and g, and the Agamemnon is complete.

It will be seen that f and h alone contain the whole of the Agamemnon,
with the support of g in the latter part of the play. Only about a
quarter of the text is extant in M.

Corrections due to the editor are denoted by the symbol Η.]

Al=XYAOY
ATAMEMNQN

10

_

ATAMEMNONOS TIIO@ESIS.

» A ,
᾿Αγαμέμνων εἰς Ἴλιον ἀπιὼν τῆι Κλυταιμήστραι, εἰ πορθήσοι τὸ Ἴλιον,
-“ » “-“ « “ ἴων Ad
ὑπέσχετο τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας σημαίνειν διὰ τοῦ πυρσοῦ. ὅθεν σκοπὸν ἐκάθισεν
» Ν - ‘ σ [4 ‘\ , Nee Ν sQOn > 4
ἐπὶ μισθῶι Κλυταιμήστρα, iva τηροίη τὸν πυρσόν. καὶ ὃ μὲν ἰδὼν ἀπήγγειλεν,
᾿Ξ ον - A a -
αὐτὴ δὲ τῶν πρεσβυτῶν ὄχλον μεταπέμπεται περὶ τοῦ πυρσοῦ ἐροῦσα" ἐξ ὧν
καὶ ὃ χορὸς συνίσταται" οἵτινες ἀκούσαντες παιανίζουσιν. μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ δὲ
ΝΝ \ cal “-“
καὶ Ταλθύβιος παραγίνεται καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν διηγεῖται. ᾿Αγαμέμνων
δ an) , » σ > > a“ ε , > , ” "δὴν ‘ , Ν ε
δ᾽ ἐπὶ ἀπήνης ἔρχεται" εἵπετο δ᾽ αὐτῶι ἑτέρα ἀπήνη, ἔνθα ἣν τὰ λάφυρα καὶ ἡ
’, > \ ἂν > , > Ἂν Ss Ν a ,
Κασάνδρα. αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν προεισέρχεται εἰς τὸν οἶκον σὺν τῆι Κλυταιμήστραι,
΄, Ν ΄ Ν > Ἂν; ΄ > - \ ε ἊΝ Ν
Κασάνδρα δὲ προμαντεύεται, πρὶν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια εἰσελθεῖν, τὸν ἑαυτῆς καὶ
a? / , Ν Ν > >? , , ‘ > “-“ ε
τοῦ ᾿Αγαμέμνονος θάνατον καὶ τὴν ἐξ ᾿Ορέστου μητροκτονίαν, καὶ εἰσπηδᾶι ὡς
/ er ὧν / A Ν Ν , A 4 4,
θανουμένη, ῥίψασα τὰ στέμματα. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ μέρος τοῦ δράματος θαυμάζεται
> , Ν
ὡς ἔκπληξιν ἔχον καὶ οἶκτον ἱκανόν. ἰδίως δὲ Αἰσχύλος τὸν ᾿Αγαμέμνονα ἐπὶ
σκηνῆς ἀναιρεῖσθαι ποιεῖ, τὸν δὲ Κασάνδρας σιωπήσας θάνατον νεκρὰν αὐτὴν
ε Lee 7 , τ ” Ν / rte ὃ ΄,
ὑπέδειξεν, πεποίηκέν τε Αἴγισθον καὶ Κλυταιμήστραν ἑκάτερον διισχυριζόμενον
Ν a > , Cas , Ν Ν a > , 3 4 Ν Ν
περι τῆς ἀναιρέσεως ἑνὶ κεφαλαίωι, τὴν μὲν τῆι ἀναιρέσει ᾿Ιφιγενείας, τὸν δὲ
“-“ “ Ἂν τ) / 5 > / “~
ταῖς τοῦ πατρὸς Ορέστου ἐξ ᾿Ατρέως συμφοραῖς.
a ” , , —— RD
᾿Ἐδιδάχθη τὸ δρᾶμα ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Φιλοκλέους ὀλυμπιάδι kn ἔτει β.
~ / ’ “ “
πρῶτος Αἰσχύλος ᾿Αγαμέμνονι, Χοηφόροις, Εὐμενίσι, Πρωτεῖ σατυρικῶι.
“- >
ἐχορήγει Ξενοκλῆς ᾿Αφιδνεύς.

16 ᾿Ορέστου Μ: Θυέστου Victorius. 17 «yn M: ὀγδοηκοστῆι Meursius.

TA TOT APAMATOS ITPOSOTIA

ΦΥΛΑΞ.

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

[ATTEAOS.]
ΚΛΥΤΑΙΜΗΣΤΡΑ.
[ΤΑΛΘΥΒΙΟΣ] ΚΗΡΥΞ.
ATAMEMNON.
KASANAPA.
ΑἸΤΊΣΘΟΣ.

ATTEAO® et ΤΑΛΘΥΒΙΟΣ del. Stanley.

AIZXYAOY

®TAAE.

Θεοὺς μὲν αἰτῶ τῶνδ᾽ ἀπαλλαγὴν πόνων
φρουρᾶς ἐτείας μῆκος, ἣν κοιμώμενος
, 3 nw » Ν ’
στέγαις ᾿Ατρειδῶν ἄγκαθεν, κυνὸς δίκην,
ἄστρων κάτοιδα νυκτέρων ὁμήγυριν,
x ἈΝ ’ ‘a Ν / ~
καὶ τοὺς φέροντας χεῖμα καὶ θέρος βροτοῖς 5
λαμπροὺς δυνάστας, ἐμπρέποντας αἰθέρι
> / 4 4 > 4 ~
ἀστέρας, ὅταν φθίνωσιν, ἀντολάς τε τῶν.
καὶ νῦν φυλάσσω λαμπάδος τὸ σύμβολον,
> Ν Ν 4 > / ’ἅ
αὐγὴν πυρὸς φέρουσαν ἐκ Τροίας φάτιν
ἁλώσιμόν τε βάξιν: ὧδε γὰρ κρατεῖ 10
γυναικὸς ἀνδρόβουλον ἐλπίζειν κέαρ.
eS) x \ ΄, » ΄ >. »
εὖτ᾽ ἂν δὲ νυκτίπλαγκτον ἔνδροσόν T ἔχω
εὐνὴν ὀνείροις οὐκ ἐπισκοπουμένην
5 ’ὔ / Ν > > ν A
ἐμήν: φόβος yap ἀνθ᾽ ὕπνου παραστατεῖ,
τὸ μὴ βεβαίως βλέφαρα συμβαλεῖν ὕπνωι--- ΤΕ
ὅταν δ᾽ ἀείδειν ἢ μινύρεσθαι δοκῶ,
4 47> > 4 > , ¥y
ὕπνου τόδ᾽ ἀντίμολπον ἐντέμνων ἄκος,
’, ϑτν » ἴω Ν ,

κλαίω τότ᾽ οἴκου τοῦδε συμφορὰν στένων,

5 ε ‘\ , > » 4
οὐχ ὡς τὰ πρόσθ᾽ ἄριστα διαπονουμένου.

΄“ » 3 Ν 4, > 3 ‘ /,
νῦν δ᾽ εὐτυχὴς γένοιτ᾽ ἀπαλλαγὴ πόνων 20

> , / > ’ fe
εὐαγγέλου φανέντος ὀρφναίου πυρος.

2 Wwigh: δ᾽ ἣν Μ. 11 ἐλπίζειν anon.: ἐλπίζων Μ.

ATAMEMNQN 43

SCENE: The palace of Agamemnon at Argos.

TIME: Night in the first scene; in the second (ν. 266 sqq.) dawn. After
an interval at v. 493 the action ts continued on a different day.

The watchman is discovered on the flat roof of the palace. During the
tenth year of the war, in which it had been prophesied that Troy should fall,
he had been set to watch for the beacon to be passed from Troy by Agamemnon
as the sign of victory. It is now about the setting of the Pleiads (v. 817),
which marked the winter or storm-season (χειμών, χεῖμα, V. 5).

WATCHMAN.

A whole year’s length have I been asking Heaven
Deliverance from this vigil, in the which
Upon the Atridae’s roof aloft here stretched
On elbows, watch-dog-fashion, I have learnt
With general congress of the nightly stars
The waning seasons and the rising-times
Of those bright eminent splendid potentates
That bring men storm and summer.

So am I now
Still watching for the signal of a torch,
A fiery gleam with message out of Troy—
News of her fall, her capture—such the faith
Held by the man’s mind in a woman’s heart.
But while I spend
This restless time of rest abroad by night,
Free to the dews, unvisited by dreams,—
No sleep for me,
I warrant! sentry by my pillow stands
Fear, and forbids |
The eyelid closing fast—nay, but as oft
As I would medicine sleep
With antidote of music,—hum a stave
Or whistle,—my voice breaks, my singing turns
To moaning for the fortunes of this House,
Not now so admirably administered
As once it was.—But now at length shine out
The fire with his fair tidings in the gloom
And bring me sweet release!

4 ” |
om τῳ
@ =. ν

aA AIZXYAOY

ὦ χαῖρε λαμπτήρ, νυκτὸς ἡμερήσιον

φάος πιφαύσκων καὶ χορῶν κατάστασιν
la ¥ A an

πολλῶν ἐν “Apye,, τῆσδε συμφορᾶς χάριν.

ἰοῦ ἰοῦ":

3 / Ν ’ὔ lal

Αγαμέμνονος γυναικὶ σημαίνω τορῶς,

> A 5 / ε ’ὔ /

εὐνῆς ἐπαντείλασαν ὡς τάχος δόμοις

ὀλολυγμὸν εὐφημοῦντα τῆιδε λαμπάδι

ἐπορθιάζειν, εἴπερ ᾽Ιλίου πόλις

ἑάλωκεν, ὡς ὁ φρυκτὸς ἀγγέλλων πρέπει.

αὐτός T ἔγωγε φροίμιον χορεύσομαι:

τὰ δεσποτῶν γὰρ εὖ πεσόντα θήσομαι

τρὶς €€ βαλούσης τῆσδέ μοι φρυκτωρίας.

΄ 5) > , > A ,

γένοιτο δ᾽ οὖν μολόντος εὐφιλῆ χέρα

» " A , ,

ἄνακτος οἴκων τῆιδε βαστάσαι χερί.

τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα σιγῶ, βοῦς ἐπὶ γλώσσηι μέγας

βέβηκεν: οἶκος δ᾽ αὐτός, εἰ φθογγὴν λάβοι,
΄ Sy αν ΄ ε CEN De ΟΝ

σαφέστατ᾽ ἂν λέξειεν: ws ἑκὼν ἐγὼ

μαθοῦσιν αὐδῶ κοὐ μαθοῦσι λήθομαι.

ΘΙ.
δέκατον μὲν ἔτος τόδ᾽ ἐπεὶ Πριάμου
μέγας ἀντίδικος,

Μενέλαος ἀναξ ἠδ᾽ ᾿Αγαμέμνων,

διθρόνου Διόθεν καὶ δισκήπτρου

25

30

35

40

29 ἐπορθιάζειν foh: ἐπορθριάζειν M. 80 ἀγγέλχων sh: ἀγγέλων M.

40 Πριάμου fgh: πριάμω Μ.

ATAMEMNQN 45
[The Beacon presently shines out upon the top of Mount Arachnaeus.

Hail, O thou blessed Lantern, uttering forth
A daylight in the darkness, to be sign
For many a dance in merry Argos now!

[calling to CLYTAEMNESTRA within.

Oho! Oho!
Let Agamemnon’s consort have clear call
To arise up from her couch and lift up voice
Of jubilant thanksgiving, for as it shows
Plain by the beacon’s telling, Troy is taken!

| Her jubilant cry ts heard presently within.
—I'll lead off with a measure first myself;

My master’s fortune will advantage me;
This lucky torch has thrown me sixes three.

[Dances.—During the interval of time supposed to pass now, sacrifices
are lit up throughout the city at the Queen’s command and the Elders
of the city summoned to her presence.

Ah well at least God send

The master come safe home, to let me grasp

His friendly hand in mine! Beyond that, I’ll

Keep silence; there’s an ox

Weighs heavy on my tongue :—only, the house
Itself here, had it but a voice, could tell

Plain tale enough :—I, for my part, keep tales
For those instructed; else——my memory fails.

[ ait._Enter CHORUS of ELDERS opening with a chant preliminary to
thetr lyric song.

CHORUS.

Now is here the tenth year

Since Priam’s great accusing peer
Prince Menelaus,—and

Prince Agamemnon—brothers twain

And by divine right both to reign

46 AIZXYAOY

A 5 Ν Lal 5» ἴων
τιμῆς ὀχυρὸν ζεῦγος Ατρειδᾶν,
στόλον ᾿Αργείων χιλιοναύτην 45
~ > > Ν /
τῆσδ᾽ ἀπὸ χώρας
ἦραν, στρατιῶτιν ἀρωγήν,
μέγαν ἐκ θυμοῦ κλάζοντες “Apn,
τρόπον αἰγυπιῶν, OlT ἐκπατίοις
ἄλγεσι παίδων ὑπατηλεχέων 50
στροφοδινοῦνται,
πτερύγων ἐρετμοῖσιν ἐρεσσόμενοι,
δεμνιοτήρη
/ 5 4 5 »
πόνον ὀρταλίχων ὀλέσαντες"
ὕπατος δ᾽ ἀΐων ἤ τις ᾿Απόλλων 55
ἢ Πὰν ἢ Ζεὺς οἰωνόθροον
γόον ὀξυβόαν
τῶνδε μετοίκων ὑστερόποινον
᾽ὔὕ an > 72
πέμπει παραβᾶσιν ᾿Πρινύν.
οὕτω δ᾽ ᾿Ατρέως παῖδας ὁ κρείσσων 60
er ᾿Αλεξάνδρωι πέμπει ξένιος
Ζεύς, πολυάνορος ἀμφὶ γυναικὸς
πολλὰ παλαίσματα καὶ γυιοβαρὴ
γόνατος κονίαισιν ἐρειδομένου
, > 5 ’ὕ

διακναιομένης T ἐν προτελείοις 65
/ , an
κάμακος θήσων Δαναοισιν
Τρωσί θ᾽ ὁμοίως. ἔστι δ᾽ ὅπηι νῦν
ΕἾ a > 5 Ν ὔὕ
ἔστι: τελεῖται δ᾽ ἐς τὸ πεπρωμένον"
οὔθ᾽ ὑποκαίων οὔτ᾽ ἐπιλείβων
ἀπύρων ἱερῶν 70

ὀργὰς ἀτενεῖς παραθέλξει.

69 ὑποκαίων Casaubon: ὑποκλαίων
M | οὔτ᾽ ἐπιλείβων Schuetz: οὔθ᾽ ὑπολείβων Μ. 70 οὔτε δακρύων ante ἀπύρων M,
del. Bamberger.

50 ὑπατηλεχέων H.: ὕπατοι λεχέων M.

i ἩΡΌΛΒΝΨΟ aide

ATAMEMNQN

Fast-coupled, one joint rank to share
Of throne and sceptre—since that pair
Launched from Argive land
A thousand ships in battle-train

By troops of Argos manned.

With loud War shouted harsh in cries
Of passionate anger in the wise
Of eagles out they sped,
That lone in solitary woe
For lofty-nested children go
Wheeling round, around, in air
As their beating pinions row,
Lost now all that loving care
About their infants’ bed.

Yet shall there One Above defend

Those in his region denizen’d :

Pan, Zeus, Apollo, from on high

That hears their shrill complaining cry

Shall send his Vengeance by-and-bye
Upon the felon’s head.

The Atridae so doth greater Lord,—

Zeus Guardian of the Stranger’s Board,—
On Alexander send;

For one too common, each man’s woman,

Sore fatiguing bouts in common—

Down in dust the knee bowed under

And the spear-shaft knapped asunder

First before the final day—

Meaning both on Troy to lay

And Greece alike :—the matter still

Is where it is, and where Fate’s will
Appoints it, there shall end :—

Unburnt sacrifice will spurn

All softening of a temper stern ;

Both oils to pour and coals to burn

In vain a man shall spend.

47

48 AlIZXYAOY

c A > > 4 Ἀ --»ς
ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἀτίται σαρκὶ παλαιᾶι
nw PALS 5 a“ ε 4
τῆς TOT ἀρωγῆς ὑπολειφθέντες
μίμνομεν ἰσχὺν
5 , / 5» Ν 7
ἰσόπαιδα νέμοντες ἐπὶ σκήπτροις. 75
[2 A Ἂν Ν /
ὅ τε yap νεαρὸς pvedOs στέρνων
ἐντὸς ἀνάσσων
» / 4 > > Sew ,,
ἰσόπρεσβυς, Apns δ᾽ οὐκ ἐνὶ χώραι"
»
τί @ ὑπέργηρως, φυλλάδος ἤδη
κατακαρφομένης; τρίποδας μὲν ὁδοὺς 8ο
,ὔὕ Ν 5 5» \ 5 /
στείχει, παιδὸς δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀρείων
» ΄- ,ὔ 5» [A
ὄναρ ἡμερόφαντον ἀλαΐίνει.
σὺ δέ, Τυνδάρεω
θύγατερ, βασίλεια Κλυταιμήστρα,
΄ ΄ ΄ , oI) ΄ 5
τι χρέος; TL νέον; τί ὃ ἐπαισθομένη, 85
, >’ ,
τίνος ἀγγελίας
πειθοῖ περίπεμπτα θυοσκεῖς;
, ἈΝ ἴω ~ > ,ὔ
πάντων δὲ θεῶν τῶν ἀστυνόμων,
ε ’ὕ »»
ὑπάτων, χθονίων,
τῶν τε θυραίων τῶν 7 ἀγοραίων, go
βωμοὶ δώροισι φλέγονται-"
ἄλλη δ᾽ ἄλλοθεν οὐρανομήκης
λαμπὰς ἀνίσχει,
φαρμασσομένη χρίματος ἁγνοῦ
μαλακαῖς ἀδόλοισι παρηγορίαις, 95
πελάνωι μυχόθεν βασιλείωι.
/ 4 > 7 \ Ν
τούτων λέξασ᾽ ὅ τι καὶ δυνατὸν

\ 4 > A
και θέμ lS αινειν,

79 τίθιπεργήρως Μ, τὐθιπεργήρως af, τό θ᾽ ὑπέργηρων h. 82 ἡμερόφαντον h:
ἡμεροφάτον M. 87 θυοσκεῖς Turnebus: θυοσκινεῖς (c in rasura scr.) M. 90 τε
θυραίων Enger: 7’ οὐρανίων M.

ATAMEMNQN 49

But we, that aged sinews made
Defaulters in the task of aid—
Here on staves at home support
Strength of such a feeble sort

As infant’s may be styled :—
The regent marrow, while his throne
Is youthful in the breast ungrown,
Is but in ancient senior’s case,—
Ares lacking from his place:
With Age then, when the green leaf seres,
How is it? Forth abroad his way
Takes he on three feet, yet appears
Wandering like a dream astray,

As weak as any child.

But thou, our soveran Lady Queen,
What is it thou hast heard or seen,
What stir, event, or new advice
To cause thee raise up sacrifice

With couriers all our streets around ?
Each God that in the township sways,—
God supernal, God infernal,
House-door, market-place or ways,—
Each beholds his altar blaze

With fresh oblations crowned :
And here and there, anointed well
With all-pure smooth bewitching spell
Of unguent from the royal cell

The high torch heaven-aspiring towers :—
Resolve me now, so much unfold

As may be or as can be told,

στρ.

50 AIZXYAOY

παιών TE γενοῦ τῆσδε μερίμνης,
ἢ νῦν τοτὲ μὲν κακόφρων τελέθει, 109
τοτὲ δ᾽ ἐκ θυσιῶν τὴν θυμοβόρον
φ» »
φροντίδ᾽ ἄπληστον

, > 5 43 > Ν > ,
datvova ayav ἐλπις αμύνει.

’ὔ ,ὔ » “A ν ,ὔ
κύριός εἰμι θροεῖν ὅδιον τέρας
αἴσιον ἀνδρῶν 105
3 / » Ν
ἐκτελέων: ETL γὰρ
θεόθεν καταπνεύει
πειθώ, μολπᾶν
5 ’ ’ φίω
ἀλκάν, σύμφυτος αἰών:
“ > An
omws ἈΑχαιων 110
δίθρονον κράτος, Ελλάδος 7 Bas
’ὕ ’
ξύμφρονα ταγάν,
΄,΄ ‘\ ἈΝ Ν ΝΥ [4
πέμπει σὺν δορὶ καὶ χερὶ πράκτορι
, » ΄ς» Sas >
θούριος ὄρνις Τευκρίδ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αἶαν,
οἰωνῶν βασιλεὺς 115
βασιλεῦσι νεῶν,
ὁ κελαινός, ὁ δ᾽ ἐξόπιν ἀργᾶις,
φανέντες ἴκταρ
μελάθρων χερὸς ἐκ δορυπάλτου
παμπρέπτοις ἐν ἔἕδραισιν, 120
βοσκόμενοι λαγίναν,

ἐρικυμάτα φέρματα, γένναν,

101 sqq. τοτὲ δ᾽ ἐκ θυσιῶν ἀγανὰ φαίνεις | ἐλπὶς ἀμύνει φροντίδ᾽ ἄπλειστον | τὴν
θυμοφθόρον λύπης φρένα M: corr. Η. 104 τέρας Francken: κράτος Μ. 107 κατα-

πνέκει (fort. e καταπνέυει) M: καταπνεύει ἃ [ἢ. 111 ἥβας Ar. Ran. 1285: ἥβαν
(corr. ex ἡβᾶν) Μ. 112—114 omiserat M,add.m. 112 rayavafh: τὰν γᾶν τη.
118 καὶ χερὶ Ar. Ran. 1288: δίκασ m. 117 ἀργᾶις Thiersch: ἀργίας M.

119 δοριπάλτου Turnebus. 122 φέρματα Hartung: φέρματι M.

ATAMEMNQN 51

And medicine for my thoughts declare,

That still malignant aspect wear,

Save that with radiant face benign
From altars Hope doth somewhile shine
And bids avaunt this eating care

That my soul devours:

Π τ

The assuring sign will I tell forth—to me by right belong _ Strophe.
The warbling measures; vigorous yet the moving spirit strong
Divine force live within me stirs, with valiancy for song—
The sign that on their path befell those twain united Kings,
Joint leaders of the youth of Greece, the sign of warrior wings
That sped them for the Trojan land with fierce avenging spear,—
Shown in a quarter near

Pavilion royal,—sable this, that argent in the rear,—

To Lord of ships the Lord of birds, remarked in place of pride,
Upon the spear-arm side,

On quivering hare’s-flesh feeding both, young leverets quick

in womb,

52 AIZXYAOY

βλαβέντα λοισθίων δρόμων.

¥ ΕΥ̓ ey? Ν > > ,
αἴλινον αἵλινον εἰπέ, TO δ᾽ εὖ νικάτω.

ἀντ. κεδνὸς δὲ στρατόμαντις ἰδὼν δύο 125
λήμασι δισσοὺς
> i 4 sf
Ατρεΐδας μαχίμους
ἐδάη λαγοδαίτας
πομπούς T ἀρχάς"
΄σ » <>) 4
οὕτω δ᾽ εἶπε τεράιζων." 130
ες , \ > a
χρόνωι μὲν ἀγρεῖ
Πριάμου πόλιν ἄδε κέλευθος,
’ὔ Ν ΄ὔ
πάντα δὲ πύργων
κτήνη πρόσθε τὰ δημιοπληθῆ
La) 4 Ν ‘\ ,
μοῖρα λαπάξει πρὸς τὸ βίαιον" 135
οἷον μή τις aya
θεόθεν κνεφάσηι
προτυπὲν στόμιον μέγα Τροίας
/ ᾿, Ν > ’ὔ
στρατωθέν: οἴκτωι γὰρ ἐπί-
φθονος Λρτεμις ἁγνὰ 14
πτανοῖσιν κυσὶ πατρὸς φῇ

5 , Ν ,
αὐτότοκον πρὸ λόχου

μογερὰν πτάκα θυομένοισιν'
στυγεῖ δὲ δεῖπνον αἰετῶν."

ΕἾ ¥ > ΄ Ny > > ,
αἴλινον αἴλινον εἰπέ, TO δ᾽ εὖ νικάτω. 145

, 3᾿, ,
oe τόσον περ εὔφρων, Kada,

δρόσοισι λεπτοῖς μαλερῶν λεόντων

136 aya Hermann: ἄτα M. 139 οἴκτωι Scaliger: olka: M. 146 τόσον
fh: τόσσων M. 147 δρύσοισι λεπτοῖς Wellauer: δρόσοισιν ἀέλπτοις M | λεόντων
Stanley ex Ztym. 77. p. 377, 39: ὄντων Μ.

ATAMEMNQN 53
Prevented ere the safe last course that might outrun the doom.
Let Sorrow, Sorrow, a burden sound,—

In Joy prevailing drowned !

ΕΣ

Their sage diviner marking well how twain the tempers were Anti-
strophe.
Of those two brother soldiers, knew the feasters on the hare

For those same captains of the war; and thus did he declare:

“A prey before this force in time the town of Priam falls ;

When all the general common herd before the castle-walls

Shall be with violent fate consumed :—so be no jealous frown

Above come louring down

And strike the great curb forged to hold the mouth of Ilium town

In tented field,—for pity-struck displeasure sore, 1 wis,

Hath pure Maid Artemis ;

Wroth with her Fathers winged hounds; foul sacrificers they,

Poor timorous weak enchilded thing, with unborn young to slay!
Let Sorrow, Sorrow, a burden sound,—

In Joy prevailing drowned!

“Vet O thou Beauteous One, for all Epode.
| _ So tender is thy loving care
To young dew dropping weak and small

In ravenous lion’s teeming latr,

στρ. α΄.

54

AIZXYAOY

/ 5 5 , ,
πάντων T ἀγρονόμων φιλομάστοις
θηρῶν ὀβρικάλοις, εἴπερ τινά,
τούτων αἴνει ξύμβολα κρᾶναι,

.’ο ᾽ὔ 4
δεξιὰ μέν, κατάμομφα
δὲ [φάσματα] στρουθῶν.
ἰήιον δὲ καλέω Παιᾶνα,
μή τινας ἀντιπνόους
Δαναοῖς χρονίας ἐχενῆιδας ἀπλοίας
τεύξηι σπευδομένα θυσίαν
ce » , > »
ἑτέραν ἀνομόν τιν᾽, ἄδαιτον,
νεικέων τέκτονα σύμ-
φυτον, οὐ δεισήνορα. μίμνει
γὰρ φοβερὰ παλίνορτος

> / ,
οἰκονόμος δολία,
μνάμων μῆνις τεκνόποινος.᾽
τοιάδε Κάλχας ξὺν
μεγάλοις ἀγαθοῖς ἀπέκλαγξεν

» » 5 5 5 ,
μόρσιμ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ὀρνίθων
ὁδίων οἴκοις βασιλείοις

τοῖς δ᾽ ὁμόφωνον

150

μι
σι
σι

160

165

¥ ¥ 7 x 3 > ,
athwov αἵλινον εἰπέ, τὸ δ᾽ εὖ νικάτω.

rae Ψ 5. 5 , 3 aN) 9
Ζεύς, ὁστις TOT ἐστίν,---εἰ τόδ᾽ αὐ-
». Ἃ »,

τῶι φίλον κεκλημένωι,

τοῦτό νιν προσεννέπω---

> » ,
OUK έχω προσεικᾶασαι

170

149 ὀβρικάλοις, εἴπερ τινά H.: ὀβρικάλοισι τερπνά M.
αἰτεῖ Μ. 152 φάσματα del. Η. 165 ἀπέκλαγξεν Αἰ ἢ:

150 αἴνει Gilbert:
ἀπέκλαιξεν Μ.

ATAMEMNQN 55

And for the suckling whelps of all
Wild creatures of the wood or field,—
Yet now at our most urgent call
Vouchsafe to yield ;

Yield, and fulfil this feathered sign,
The most part good, yet part malign !
Yea and also 7 pray,

O Healer Apollo, prevent her and stay!
So that she send no contrary wind
With untimely delay

The Greek navy to fetter and bind,
Out of zeal for a sacrifice other and strange,
Without custom or law,

To the feaster unknown,

Litter enmity working

Betwixt flesh and bone,

Wethout man-fearing awe,—

For a danger 1s lurking

In house that abides,

That in subtilty hides |
To recoil again, Wrath ever-mindful, a Child will avenge!”

Such fortune for the royal House by sign of omen stored,
Much bane to mix with more of boon, the pealing prophet
poured ;
Wherewith in just accord
Let Sorrow, Sorrow, a burden sound,—
In Joy prevailing drowned !

{1 τ

Zeus, whosoe’er indeed he be,—

In that name so it please him hear,—
Zeus, for my help is none but he ;—
Conjecture through creation free

ist
strophe.

> '
avT.a.

arp. 3’.

avr. β΄.

56

AIZXYAOY

’ὔ > 5 ’
πάντ᾽ ἐπισταθμώμενος
πλὴν Διός, εἰ τὸ μάταν
>
ἀπὸ φροντίδος ἄχθος

χρὴ βαλεῖν ἐτητύμως.

5, ΄, > ,
οὐλός τις πάροιθεν ἣν μέγας,
*4 / /
παμμάχωι θράσει βρύων,

οὐδὲ λέξεται, πρὶν wv:
a sy > »

ὃς δ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ ἔφυ, Tpia-
κτῆρος οἴχεται τυχών'

Ζῆνα δέ τις προφρόνως
ἐπινίκια κλάζων

τεύξεται φρενῶν τὸ πᾶν.

τὸν φρονεῖν βροτοὺς ὁδώ-
ἈΝ A 4
σαντα, Tov πάθει μάθος
θέντα κυρίως ἔχειν.
στάζει δ᾽ ἔν θ᾽ ὕπνωι πρὸ καρδίας
μνησιπήμων πόνος"
\ sary 5 A
Kal Tap ἄκοντας ἦλθε σωφρονεῖν.
’ ΄, 4, id
δαιμόνων δέ που χάρις βίαιος

4 A ε “2
σέλμα σεμνὸν ἡμένων.

Ν /fp ε ‘\ ε 4
καὶ τόθ᾽ ἡγεμὼν ὁ πρέ-
ion 3 “
σβυς νεών ᾿Αχαιικῶν,
U4 ᾿Ξ" ΄
μάντιν ovtiva ψέγων,
ἐμπαίοις τύχαισι συμπνέων ,---

CN oS) ΄
εὖτ ἁπλοίαι κεναγ-

180

190

175 τὸ Pauw: τόδε M.

H. L. Ahrens: οὐδὲν λέξαι M. 187 τὸν Schuetz: τῶ M.
βιαίως M.

178 οὖλός τις H.: οὐδ᾽ ὅστις M.

180 οὐδὲ λέξεται
192 βίαιος Turnebus:

ATAMEMNQN 57

I cast, and cannot find his peer ;
With this strange load upon my mind
So burdening, only Zeus I find

To lift and fling it sheer.

LP 2.

One was that ruled the ring of yore,— ee
With boisterous challenge big and blown ;

Him tell we not, his date is o’er ;—

Nay, the next comer is no more,—
Found his outwrestler, and was thrown :—

But Zeus, with heart and voice acclaim

Victorious his triumphal name,

And wisdom is thine own!

Eile.

Sing praise; 77s he hath guided, say, ἘΣ
Men’s feet in wisdom’s way, }
Stablishing Jast Instruction’s rule
That Suffering be her school :—
The heart in time of sleep renews
Aching remembrance of her bruise,
| And chastening wisdom enters wills that most refuse ;
Stern is the grace and forced mercy kind

‘By Spirits upon their awful bench assigned.

EY. 2:

Thus with the elder captain then :— and ae
- strophe.
When all his league of men ag
Lay weltering in the narrow Sound

Between shores, weatherbound,

;
|

58 AISXYAOY

yet βαρύνοντ᾽ ᾿Αχαιικὸς λεώς,
Χαλκίδος πέραν ἔχων παλιρρό- 200

χθοις ἐν Αὐλίδος τόποις:

’ Ν δ᾽ > \ τ' ,ὕ lal
στρ. γ΄. πνοαὶ απὸ Στρυμόνος μολοῦσαι

/ 4 /
κακόσχολοι, νήστιδες, δύσορμοι,

΄“ »
βροτῶν ἄλαι,
νεῶν <TE> καὶ πεισμάτων ἀφειδεῖς, 205
παλιμμήκη χρόνον τιθεῖσαι
τρίβωι κατέξαινον ἄν-

5 ΄ 3 Ν Ν Ν
θος Αργειων" ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ

“ ’ὔ » nA

πικροὺυ χείματος ἀλλο μῆχαρ
βριθύτερον πρόμοισιν 210
μάντις ἔκλαγξεν προφέρων
Ἄρτεμιν, wate χθόνα βάκτροις

» ,ὔὕ 5 ’ὔ
ἐπικρουσαντας Ατρείδας

δάκρυ μὴ κατασχεῖν"

ἀντ. γ΄. ἄναξ δ᾽ ὁ πρέσβυς τόδ᾽ εἶπε φωνῶν" 215
“βαρεῖα μὲν κὴρ τὸ μὴ πιθέσθαι,
an 5 >
βαρεῖα δ᾽, εἰ
τέκνον δαΐξω, δόμων ἄγαλμα,
πατρώιους παρθενοσφάγοισιν
, , ε lal
χέρας μιαίνων ῥοαῖς 220
πέλας βωμοῦ. τί τῶνδ᾽ ἄνευ

κακῶν; πῶς λιπόναυς γένωμαι

200 sq. παλιρρύχθοις H. L. Ahrens: παλιρρόθοις Μ. 205 νεῶν Pauw:
ναῶν M | τε add. Porson. 216 πιθέσθαι Turnebus: πειθέσθαι M. 219 sqq.
μιαίνων παρθενοσφάγοισιν | ῥεέθροις πατρώιους χέρας | βωμοῦ πέλας M: corr. H. (ῥοαῖς
Schoemann, πέλας βωμοῦ Blomfield). 222 πῶς λιπόναυς h: τί πῶσ λιπόναυστε Μ.

ATAMEMNQN 59

With body and spirit well-nigh spent,

Empty, in hard imprisonment

Amid those famed resorbing. tides of Aulis pent,—
Without one doubt on prophet cast,

He bowed and drifted with the violent blast.

DN en:

For gales continually from Strymon bore Neg
Lean fast and leisure curst, mooring unstable,
Wildness of wits and waste of ship and cable,

Till the endless weary while with fretting sore

The flower of Argos wore :—

Whereat their prophet, pealing
The dread name Artemis,

Cried means of help and healing,—

Such cruel healing this

As heavier still the princes found

Than tempest; hard upon the ground

They beat the sceptre, mute with pain,

Nor tears could they restrain.

Δ Σ

At last the elder uttered voice and cried: 3rd anti-
“Hard cruel fate refusal! Hard and cruel ae
The butchery of my child, my own home's jewel!

Father's own hands at the altar crimson dyed

In young pure stricken tide!

Whichever path be taken,

"Tis evil still to choose;
What can 7, left forsaken?

στρ. ὃ΄.

avr. δ΄.

60 AIZXYAOQY

ξυμμαχίας ἁμαρτών;
παυσανέμου γὰρ θυσίας

͵ὕὔ > 4 5 Qn
παρθενίου θ᾽ αἵματος ὀργᾶι
περιοργῶς ἐπιθυμεῖν

΄ > Ν y 23)
θέμις. εν γὰρ ely).

ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀνάγκας ἔδυ λέπαδνον

Ν ’ὔ “Ὁ »
φρενὸς πνέων δυσσεβῆ τροπαίαν
¥ > 7 ,
ἄναγνον, ἀνίερον, τόθεν
Ν / ~ 4
TO παντότολμον φρονεῖν μετέγνω.
βροτοὺς θρασύνει γὰρ αἰσχρόμητις
τάλαινα παρακοπὰ πρωτοπήμων.
ἔτλα δ᾽ οὖν

Ν , 4 4
θυτὴρ γενέσθαι θυγατρός, γυναικοποίνων
πολέμων ἀρωγὰν

Ἁ , »"»
καὶ προτέλεια ναών.

λιτὰς δὲ καὶ κληδόνας πατρώιους

παρ᾽ οὐδὲν αἰῶνα παρθένειον

ἔθεντο φιλόμαχοι βραβῆς.

φράσεν δ᾽ ἀόζοις πατὴρ μετ᾽ εὐχὰν

δίκαν χιμαίρας ὕπερθε βωμοῦ

πέπλοισι περιπετῆ παντὶ θυμῶι

προνωπῆ

λαβεῖν ἀέρδην, στόματός τε καλλιπρώιρου
φυλακᾶι κατασχεῖν

φθόγγον ἀραῖον οἴκο ις,

232 βροτοὺς Spanheim: βροτοῖς M. 239 αἰῶ τε O. Mueller.
Blomfield: φυλακὰν M.

225

230

245

246 φυλακᾶι

.
|
.
᾿

AFAMEMNQN

My league how can I lose?
They press me, furious with desire
For what ’tis lawful to require,
A virgin’s blood for calming-spell ;,—
God send it may be well!”

Vik

But under that sore stroke

Once donned the grievous yoke
Of Need compelling, all his thought within
To another quarter veered, set full for sin
And desperate action, to the utmost stretch
Resolved. It is that foul-suggesting wretch
Distraction! With her men’s hearts at first
Grow reckless, hence their fatal harms begin,
Ruinous.—Alas, he steeled him to that worst,
Slaying of his child, in sacrifice to speed

War for a woman, sanction to let ships proceed.

Wenz:

Her supplications all,

Her oft appealing call
On Father, her fresh years of maidenhood,
With umpires clamouring war for nothing stood.
To his ministers her father, after prayer,
Gave the sign—bade them seize her and upbear
Above the altar,—huddling where she lay
Wrapped in her robes, aloft with courage good
Kidwise to hold her, drooping,—and to stay
Those lovely lips with forced impediment,

Bridles with dumb curb muffling utterance, to prevent

61

4th
strophe.

4th anti-
strophe.

στρ. ἘΞ

> '
avT.e€.

62 AIZXYAOY

, “a > 5» , ,
βίαι χαλινῶν τ᾽ ἀναύδωι μένει"
κρόκου βαφὰς δ᾽ ἐς πέδον χέουσα
ἔβαλλ᾽ ἕκαστον θυτήρων 250
ἀπ᾽ ὄμματος βέλει
/
φιλοίκτωι,
rd , » ε » “ ,
πρέπουσά θ᾽ ws ἐν γραφαῖς, προσεννέπειν
θέλουσ᾽, «ἐπεὶ πολλάκις
Ἂς » » “ 5 ,
πατρὸς Kat ἀνδρῶνας εὐτραπέζους 255
» nw a
ἔμελψεν: ayvar δ᾽ ἀταύρωτος αὐδᾶι
\ ΄ , "
πατρὸς φίλου τριτόσπονδον εὔποτμον

παιᾶνα φίλως ἐτίμα.

N > » ¥ > ἃ ¥ > 9 ,
τὰ δ᾽ ἔνθεν οὔτ᾽ εἶδον οὔτ᾽ ἐννέπω:
τέχναι δὲ Κάλχαντος οὐκ ἄκραντοι. 260
Δίκα δὲ τοῖς μὲν παθοῦσιν
A >’ »
μαθεῖν ἐπιρρέπει"
τὸ μέλλον «δ»
5 . 4 > >» 4 4,
ἐπεὶ γένοιτ᾽, ἂν κλύοις: TpOXaLpEeTo:
y+ \ nw ,
ἴσον δὲ τῶι προστένειν" 265
N \ 9 , 9 A
Topov yap ἥξει σύνορθρον αὐγαῖς.
΄ » > SN , ¥
πέλοιτο δ᾽ οὖν τἀπὶ τούτοισιν εὔπρα-
ἕξις, ὡς θέλει τόδ᾽ ἄγχιστον ᾿Απίας

γαίας μονόφρουρον ἕρκος.

ἥκω σεβίζων σόν, Κλυταιμήστρα, κράτος: 270
δίκη γάρ ἐστι φωτὸς ἀρχηγοῦ τίειν

γυναῖκ᾽ ἐρημωθέντος ἄρσενος θρόνου.

258 παιᾶνα Enger (παιῶνα Hartung): αἰῶνα Μ. 263 δ᾽ add. Elmsley.
264 ἐπεὶ γένοιτ᾽ afh: ἐπιγένοιτ᾽ M. 266 σύνορθρον Wellauer: συνορθὸν M | αὐγαῖς

Hermann: αὐταῖς M.

ATAMEMNQN 63

ME Cr.

sth

Curse on his house.—Then, letting raiment fall ok
5 0 η 6,

In saffron to the ground, her slayers all

With eye she smote, the dumb eye’s piteous dart
Aimed at each several heart,

Showing as a pictured form, that fain would speak—
How many a time in her dear father’s hall

When boards were laden

She had sung before his guests! Unsullied maiden,
Joined in his joyous antheming

At grace with pure note blithe his loving child would sing.

V2:

What further was I neither saw nor tell; sate
Only, not vain is Calchas’ oracle.—

Justice hath willed that knowledge fall inclined

On the tried sufferer’s mind,

Learned in the proof: what shall be you may hear

Soon as it zs; before that, fare it well!

*Twere but fore sorrow ;

Plain shall it come with the early rays of morrow

Yet good speed now the sequel be,

As here the realm’s immediate sole Defence would see.

[Meaning CLYTAEMNESTRA who now approaches.

ELDER. I am here, O Queen,
In deference to thy rule; when the male Prince
Hath left a vacant throne, due homage then

Belongs unto his consort.—Keep thy counsel now

64 AIZXYAOY

Ν > »ν Ν » Ν ’
σὺ δ᾽ εἴτε κεδνὸν εἴτε μὴ πεπυσμένη
εὐαγγέλοισιν ἐλπίσιν θυηπολεῖς,

κλύοιμ᾽ ἂν εὔφρων: οὐδὲ σιγώσηι φθόνος. 275

ΚΛΥΤΑΙΜΗΣΤΡΑ.
εὐάγγελος μέν, ὥσπερ ἡ παροιμία,
ἕως γένοιτο μητρὸς εὐφρόνης πάρα.
πεύσηι δὲ χάρμα μεῖζον ἐλπίδος κλύειν"
Πριάμου yap ἡιρήκασιν ᾽Λργεῖοι πόλιν.
ΧΟ. πῶς φής; πέφευγε τοὔπος ἐξ ἀπιστίας. 280
KA. Τροίαν ᾿Αχαιῶν οὖσαν: ἢ τορῶς λέγω;
ΧΟ. χαρά μ᾽ ὑφέρπει δάκρυον ἐκκαλουμένη.
ΚΛ. εὖ γὰρ φρονοῦντος ὄμμα σοῦ κατηγορεῖ.
ΧΟ. τί γὰρ τὸ πιστόν; ἔστι τῶνδέ σοι τέκμαρ;
ΚΛ. ἔστιν: τί δ᾽ οὐχί; μὴ δολώσαντος θεοῦ. 285
ΧΟ. πότερα δ᾽ ὀνείρων φάσματ᾽ εὐπιθῆ σέβεις;
ΚΛ. οὐ δόξαν ἂν λάκοιμι βριζούσης φρενός.
ΧΟ. ἀλλ᾽ ἢ σ᾽ ἐπίανέν τις ἄπτερος φάτις;
KA. παιδὸς νέας ws κάρτ᾽ ἐμωμήσω φρένας.
ΧΟ. ποίου χρόνου δὲ καὶ πεπόρθηται πόλις; 290
ΚΛ. τῆς νῦν τεκούσης φῶς τόδ᾽ εὐφρόνης λέγω.
ΧΟ. καὶ τίς τόδ᾽ ἐξίκοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀγγέλων τάχος ;
KA. Ἥφαιστος, Ἴδης λαμπρὸν ἐκπέμπων σέλας.
φρυκτὸς δὲ φρυκτὸν δεῦρ᾽ am ἀγγάρου πυρὸς
ἔπεμπεν. ἼΙδη μὲν πρὸς “Ἑρμαῖον λέπας 295
Λήμνου: μέγαν δὲ πανὸν ἐκ νήσου τρίτον

᾿Αθῶιον αἶπος Ζηνὸς ἐξεδέξατο,

286 εὐπιθῆ Blomfield: εὐπειθῆ (ex εὐπειθεῖ) Μ. 287 λάκοιμι Karsten:
λάβοιμι M. 294 ἀγγάρου Canter ex Etym. M.p. 7: ἀγγέλου M. 296 πανὸν
Casaubon ex Athen. XV. p. 7oo E: φανὸν M.

AFAMEMNQN

With all good will ;

But I would learn most gladly whether it be
Good news that sets afoot these offerings, or
But happy-tiding hopes.

CLiyT. With happy tidings, as the proverb runs,
Come Dawn from Night his Mother! but here is joy
Goes quite beyond all hope,—the Argive arms
Have taken Priam’s town.

ELDER. What was this?
It passed believing and escaped me.
Pry: Troy

In the hands of the Achaeans: am 1 plain?
ELDER. Such joy steals over me as calls forth tears.
CiyT. The truthful eye bewrays thy sympathy.

ELDER. What warrant is there? Hast thou any proof?
CLyT. Aye surely; unless Heaven hath played us false.
ELDER. Is it the flattering vision of a dream

Hath won thy credence? |
CLV: { should not come crying

The imagination of a drowsing brain.

ELDER. Can it then be some light-winged rumour

Hath fed conceit so high?

REY T: You rate my wits
As light as a green girl’s.

BEDERs... . What season then
Hath seen the capture made?

CLYT. The self-same night

That now hath given the dawn before us birth.
ELDER. What courier could arrive thus rapidly?
CiyT. Hephaestus; his bright flame from Ida sprang,

And fast in fiery post the beacons flew,

As one dispatched another: Ida first

To Hermes’ hill in Lemnos; third the mount

Of Zeus in Athos caught the mighty brand

H. A. 5

oa Pa

66

AIZXYAOY

UTEPTEANS TE, πόντον ὥστε νωτίσαι,
» Ἁ “ ,’ Ν ε \
ἰσχὺς πορευτοῦ λαμπάδος πρὸς ἡδονὴν

/ Ν ,ὕὔ ν -
πεύκη τὸ χρυσοφεγγές, ὡς τις ἥλιος,

’, 4 , ’
σέλας παραγγείλασα Μακίστου σκοπάς:
ὃ δ᾽ οὔτι μέλλων οὐδ᾽ ἀφρασμόνως ὕπνωι
νικώμενος παρῆκεν ἀγγέλου μέρος:
ἑκὰς δὲ φρυκτοῦ φῶς ἐπ᾽ Εὐρίπου ῥοὰς
Μεσσαπίου φύλαξι σημαίνει podov:

a 3 3 ΄ Ν ΄ ΄
ot δ᾽ ἀντέλαμψαν καὶ παρήγγειλαν πρόσω

, 5 ’ Ν ν ζὰ
γραίας ἐρείκης θωμὸν ἅψαντες πυρί.

/ Ν > » 4 4
σθένουσα λαμπὰς δ᾽ οὐδέπω μαυρουμένη,
ε ~ ’ > ‘al ’
ὑπερθοροῦσα πεδίον ᾿Ασωποῦ, δίκην
φαιδρᾶς σελήνης, πρὸς Κιθαιρῶνος λέπας
» ¥» 5 ὃ Ν “ ,ὔ
ἤγειρεν ἄλλην ἐκδοχὴν πομποῦ πυρός.

’ \ , » > ,
φάος δὲ τηλέπομπον οὐκ ἠναίνετο
φρουρά, πλέον καίουσα τῶν εἰρημένων"
λίμνην δ᾽ ὑπὲρ Γοργῶπιν ἔσκηψεν φάος,
᾿Ξ, > OE > / > 4
ὄρος T em Αἰγίπλαγκτον ἐξικνούμενον
¥ Ν Ἁ ’ /
ὠτρυνε θεσμὸν μὴ xpoviler Oat πυρός.

, > > ’, 5» / 4
πέμπουσι δ᾽ ἀνδαίοντες ἀφθόνωι μένει
φλογὸς μέγαν πώγωνα, καὶ Σαρωνικοῦ

“ / (ni ΙΝ ε , ,
πορθμοῦ κατόπτην πρῶν᾽ ὑπερβάλλειν πρόσω
φλέγουσαν: εἶτ᾽ ἔσκηψεν, εὖτ᾽ ἀφίκετο
᾿Αραχναῖον αἶπος, ἀστυγείτονας σκοπάς"

᾿, 3.519 A > “ὃ ΄ ΄,
κάπειτ᾽ ᾿Ατρειδῶν ἐς τόδε σκήπτει στέγος

4, , > 5 ᾿Ξ, 3. , ,
φάος τόδ᾽ οὐκ ἄπαππον ᾿Ιδαίου πυρός.

298 sqq. vitiosa esse liquet.
316 χρονίζεσθαι Casaubon: χαρίζεσθαι M.

320 εὖτ᾽ Hermann: εἶτ᾽ M. 322 τόδε fh: roye M.

300

305

310

318

320

309 πεδίον ᾿Ασωποῦ fh: παιδίον ὠποῦ Μ.

319 κατόπτην H.: κάτοπτρον M.

ee ee

AFAMEMNQN 67

From the island thrown in turn. Then towering high
To clear the broad sea’s back, the travelling torch
Shot up to the very sky the courier flame,
In golden glory, like another Sun,
Fame to the far Makistos messaging :
Whose fiery office no defaulting sleep
Or tarrying sloth let fail; his ensign flying
Over the Sound Euripos made aware
Messapion’s watchmen of his advent; they
With answering countersign, a kindled stack
Of old gray heather, passed the word along:
Which vigorous lamp with unabated force
Did shining as the bright Moon overleap
Asopus even to Cithaeron’s ridge,
There to wake new dispatch; nor being aroused
That watch denied the far-sent missioner :
They burned above their bidding', and their light
Went sailing far beyond Gorgopis lake
. To the heights of Aegiplanctus, urging still
No dallying in the breathless ordinance.
Whereat with liberal heart aloft they sent
Flame in a great beard streaming, that his flight
Should clean beyond the foreland pass, that looks

O’er the Saronic gulf; nor ever stooped

——

His pinion ere he gained our neighbouring height,
Arachnae’s vigilant peak: alighting thence

. eo
Upon the Atridae’s roof a gleam there came,

That Ida’s fire his ancestor may claim.

1 Or ‘beyond the aforesaid.’

AIZXYAOY

τοιοίδε τοί μοι λαμπαδηφόρων νόμοι,
ἄλλος παρ᾽ ἄλλου διαδοχαῖς πληρούμενοι"
“ ΕῚ c “ ἊΝ an ,
νικᾶι δ᾽ ὁ πρῶτος Kal τελευταῖος δραμών.
/ “ 4 / / ,
τέκμαρ τοιοῦτον σύμβολόν TE σοι λέγω
> N ΄ > r , 9 ,
ἀνδρὸς παραγγείλαντος ἐκ Τροίας ἐμοί.
A Ν <> > , 4
θεοῖς μὲν αὖθις, ὦ γύναι, προσεύξομαι:
λόγους δ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι τούσδε κἀποθαυμάσαι
διηνεκῶς θέλοιμ᾽ ἄν, ὡς λέγεις, πάλιν.
’ » \ A ’ » > > ε 4
Τροίαν ᾿Αχαιοὶ τῆιδ᾽ ἔχουσ᾽ ἐν ἡμέραι.
> \ » > / 4
οἶμαι βοὴν ἄμεικτον ἐν πόλει πρέπειν.
Μ 5» A / > > Ld 5» “A 4
ὄξος τ᾽ ἀλειφά τ᾽ ἐγχέας ταὐτῶι κύτει
A ’ x 5 , 4
διχοστατοῦντ᾽ ἂν ov φίλως προσεννέποις"
ὮΝ “ c / Ν ,ὔ ,’
καὶ τῶν ἁλόντων καὶ κρατησάντων δίχα
Ν 3 4 » A Lal
φθογγὰς ἀκούειν ἔστι συμφορᾶς διπλῆς"
a \ Ν 5» Ν , ,
ou μὲν yap ἀμφὶ σώμασιν πεπτωκότες
5 “A / XN 4
ἀνδρῶν κασιγνήτων τε καὶ φυτάλμιοι
παίδων γέροντες οὐκέτ᾽ ἐξ ἐλευθέρου

δέρης ἀποιμώζουσι φιλτάτων μόρον,

325

33°

335

340

Ν ᾽ δι id > , ,
τοὺς δ᾽ αὖτε νυκτίπλαγκτος ἐκ μάχης πόνος

, Ἂς 5 , © »Ἤ /
νήστεις πρὸς ἀρίστοισιν ὧν ἔχει πόλις

’ὔ Ν » \ » ,ὔὕ ’
τάσσει, πρὸς οὐδὲν ἐν μέρει τεκμήριον"
3 > «ε σ yy 4 ,
ἀλλ᾽ ws ἕκαστος ἔσπασεν τύχης πάλον,
5 » , “ > ve
ἐν αἰχμαλώτοις Τρωικοῖς οἰκήμασι

, » la ε / “
VALOVO LV ἤδη, Των ὑπαιθρίων TAY OV

345

δρόσων 7 ἀπαλλαχθέντες- ὡς δ᾽ εὐδαίμονες

ἀφύλακτον εὑδήσουσι πᾶσαν εὐφρόνην.

324 τοιοίδε τοί μοι Schuetz: τοιοίδ᾽ ἕτοιμοι ah, τοιοίδ᾽ ἕτυμοι f.

334 ἐγχέας Canter: ἐκχέας afh.
Weil.

348 ws δ᾽ εὐδαίμονες Stanley: ws δυσδαίμονες afh.

331 λέγοις fh.

339 sqq. φυταλμίων παῖδες γερόντων codd.: corr,

ATAMEMNQN

This was the ordering of my torchmen’s race,
One from another in succession still
Supplied and plenished ; and he that won
Was he van first, though last in all this run.
Here is the proof and warrant of my joy,

Pass’d onward for me by my lord from Troy.

ELDER. Lady, the gods
I will adore hereafter; now I am fain
To satisfy my wonder, might it please you

Discourse again at large.

CLYT. This day the Greeks
Hold [lium in their hand. O, well I guess
Most ill-according noise is rife within her!

Pour in the same cruse oil and vinegar,

And you shall call them quarrellers, unkind;
Thus differing as their fortunes may be heard
Cries of the vanquish’d and the vanquishers.
Vanquish’d,—upon the several corpses flung

Of children, husbands, brothers,—aged sire,

Wife, sister, from a throat no longer free

Wail for their dear ones dead. The vanquishers
Their after-battle forage

And ranging in the night sets hungry down
Before such breakfasts as the town affords,

By no nice turn of ordered billeting,

But Luck’s own lottery has them lodged ere this
In captur’d homes of Troy: there now at length
Delivered from the frosts and from the dews

Of the bleak sky they shelter, and how blest

Shall sleep at ease the whole unguarded night.

70 AIZXYAOY

εἰ δ᾽ εὐσεβοῦσι τοὺς πολισσούχους θεοὺς 850
Ν ial ε / A ἴω Sime: fe

τοὺς τῆς ἁλούσης γῆς θεῶν θ᾽ ἱδρύματα,

ov τἂν ἑλόντες αὖθις ἀνθαλοῖεν ἂν.

ἔρως δὲ μή τις πρότερον ἐμπίπτηι στρατῶι

πορθεῖν τὰ μὴ χρὴ κέρδεσιν νικωμένους.

δεῖ γὰρ πρὸς οἴκους νοστίμου σωτηρίας, 35

σι

κάμψαι διαύλου θάτερον κῶλον πάλιν.
“A > 3 , > ΄ ,
θεοῖς δ᾽ ἀναμπλάκητος εἰ μόλοι στρατός,
tide Ν A ἴω 5» 4
εὐήγορον τὸ πῆμα τῶν ὀλωλότων
9 »
γένοιτ᾽ av,—el πρόσπαια μὴ τύχοι κακά.
ee, Ν 3 3 A ’
τοιαῦτά τοι γυναικὸς ἐξ ἐμοῦ κλύεις. 360
Ν ’ > ’ὔ Ν , =) la)
τὸ δ᾽ εὖ κρατοίη, μὴ διχορρόπως ἰδεῖν"
πολλῶν γὰρ ἐσθλῶν τὴν ὄνησιν εἱλόμην.
Ξ ¥
XO. γύναι, Kat ἄνδρα σώφρον᾽ εὐφρόνως λέγεις.
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀκούσας πιστά σου τεκμήρια
θεοὺς προσειπεῖν αὖ παρασκευάζομαι" 36

χάρις γὰρ οὐκ ἄτιμος εἴργασται πόνων.

Ὦ Ζεῦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ Νὺξ φιλία,

μεγάλων κόσμων κτεάτειρα"

nT ἐπὶ Τροίας πύργοις ἔβαλες

στεγανὸν δίκτυον, ὡς μήτε μέγαν 370
μήτ᾽ οὖν νεαρῶν τιν᾽ ὑπερτελέσαι

μέγα δουλείας

γάγγαμον, ἄτης παναλώτου.

352 οὔ τὰν ἑλόντες Hermann: οὐκ ἀνελόντες a, οὐκ ἄν γ᾽ ἑλόντει fh | ἀνθαλοῖεν
Auratus: ἂν θάνοιεν ἃ, αὖ θάνοιεν fh. 9858 εὐήγορον H.: ἐγρήγορον codd. S865 αὖ
Paley: εὖ codd.

<n tenner 82

- - ————

ATAMEMNQN σι

If now they are showing reverence to the Gods
O’ the fallen country and their holy shrines,
They shall not spoil then only to be spoiled:
But let no lust be falling on them first
From covetousness to plunder that they should not:—
The backward of the double course is yet
To measure; they must win safe passage home.
But let them only come without offence
Toward Heaven, the grievance of the perished well
May learn fair language,—if no sudden stroke
Of casualty befall—These are my thoughts,
A woman’s; but I pray
Good speed prevail without all counterpoise !
Great are my blessings; I would taste their joys.
ELDER. Thy woman’s words, my Lady,
Have all a wise man’s judgment: now having heard
Good warrant from thee, ΕἾ] address me next

To the praise of Heaven, since to us is given
Ample reward for all that labour done.

O Zeus the king of Heaven! O Night,
With so great splendour and so bright
Possessed, O friendly Night!
On Troy’s renowned high towers was cast
Thy snare, a net so close and fast
As neither great nor small
Should leap the immense enslaving woof:
Doom’s divine drag~-net, huge and proof,

At one sweep took them all!

72 ΑἸΣΧΎΛΟΥ

Δία τοι ἕένιον μέγαν αἰδοῦμαι

τὸν τάδε πράξαντ᾽, ἐπ᾽ ᾿Αλεξάνδρωι 375
, / / ν “Δ ᾿

τείνοντα πάλαι τόξον, ὅπως ἂν |
,ὔ \ A 2» c \ »

μήτε πρὸ καιροῦ μήθ᾽ ὑπὲρ ἄστρων

βέλος ἠλίθιον σκήψειεν.

ἢ ες \ \ ¥ ”? Se |
OTp. a. Avs mhayav €yovow εἰπεῖν |
nw > se al
πάρεστιν, τοῦτο T ἐξιχνεῦσαι" 380

¥ ε » Ψ' »
ἔπραξεν ὡς ἔκρανεν. οὐκ ἔφα τις
θεοὺς βροτῶν ἀξιοῦσθαι μέλειν

ν 5 / ,
οσοις ἀθίκτων χάρις

φλεόντων δωμάτων ὑπέρφευ

πατοῖθ᾽. ὃ δ᾽ οὐκ εὐσεβής: |
1) !

πέφανται δ᾽ ἐκτίνουσ᾽ 385 !
> , 4. ΟΝ ἢ
ατολμήτων apy ἶ
΄ A x , |
πνεόντων μεῖζον ἢἣ δικαίως, ι
'

᾿

ε Ν \ 4 ¥ » > 4
ὑπὲρ τὸ βέλτιστον. ἔστω δ᾽ ἀπή.
μαντον WOT ἀπαρκεῖν 390
> , id
εὖ πραπίδων λαχόντα.

5» , > »

οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἔπαλξις

’ Ν , > Ν
πλούτου πρὸς κόρον ἀνδρὶ
λακτίσαντι μέγαν Δίκας

βωμὸν εἰς ἀφάνειαν. 395

dvr. a’. βιᾶται δ᾽ a τάλαινα Πειθώ,
προβούλου παῖς ἄφερτος “Aras:

379 ἔχουσ᾽ corr. ex ἔχουσανί. 9880 πάρεστιν Hartung: πάρεστι codd, | τοῦτο τ᾽

Boissonade: τοῦτ᾽ f, τοῦτο γ᾽ h. 381 ἔπραξεν Hermann: ὡς ἔπραξεν codd.
κ

985 ἐκτίνουσ᾽ Hartung: ἐγγόνους f, ἐγγόνους h. 386 ἀρὴ H.: ἄρη codd.

394 μέγαν Canter: μεγάλα codd. 897 7 προβούλου παῖς Hartung: προβουλόπαις codd.

AFAMEMNQN
Be Lord Zeus of the Stranger’s board

For author of this act adored:
His bolt on Alexander bent
Was aimed so long as neither sent

Over the stars nor early spent

To light with idle fall.

| a

“Struck by the hand of Zeus!” ay, truth indeed,
And traceable: ’tis the act of will decreed

And purpose. Under foot when mortals tread
Fair lovely Sanctities, the Gods, one said,

The easy Gods are careless :—'twas profane!

Here are sin’s wages manifest and plain,

The sword’s work on that swelled presumptuousness,

With affluent mansions teeming in excess,

Beyond Best Measure :—best, and sorrow-free,

The wise well-dowered mind’s unharmed Sufficiency !

The Rich man hath no tower,
Whose Pride, in Surfeit’s hour,
Kicks against high-enthroned Right

And spurns her from his sight.

12

Child of designing Ate’s deadly womb,

The wretch Temptation drives him to his doom.

73

Strophe.

Anti-
strophe.

24 AIZXYAOY

¥ \ , > » / θ
ἄκος δὲ παμμάταιον: οὐκ ἐκρύφθη,
’ A “~ 5 , /
πρέπει δέ, φῶς αἰνολαμπές, σίνος"
κακοῦ δὲ χαλκοῦ τρόπον 400
τρίβωι τε Kal προσβολαῖς
Ν ,
μελαμπαγὴς πέλει
’ 5 Ν
δικαιωθείς (ἐπεὶ
διώκει παῖς ποτανὸν ὀρνινῚ,
πόλει πρόστριμμα θεὶς ἀφερτον' 405
λιτᾶν δ᾽ ἀκούει μὲν οὔτις θεῶν,
τὸν δ᾽ ἐπίστροφον τῶν
a > ¥ al
pot ἄδικον καθαιρεῖ.
οἷος καὶ Πάρις ἐλθὼν
ἐς δόμον τὸν ᾿Ατρειδᾶν 410
¥ , ,
ἤισχυνε ξενίαν τράπε-

ζαν κλοπαῖσι γυναικός.

στρ. β΄. λιποῦσα δ᾽ ἀστοῖσιν ἀσπίστορας
’
κλόνους λογχίμους τε καὶ ναυβάτας ὁπλισμοῦς,
ἄγουσά τ᾽ ἀντίφερνον ᾿Ιλίωι φθοράν, 415
βέβακεν ῥίμφα διὰ πυλᾶν,
ἄτλητα τλᾶσα: πολλὰ δ᾽ ἔστενον
ANG 5» ’, ’, “~
τάδ᾽ ἐννέποντες δόμων προφῆται"
σαν EES Se A \ ,
ia ἰὼ δῶμα δῶμα καὶ πρόμοι,
ἰὼ λέχος καὶ στίβοι φιλάνορες. 420
, Ν 5» ’, > ’ὔ
πάρεστι σιγὰς ἀτίμους ἀλοιδόρους

tenes ἀφημένων ἰδεῖν.

401 προσβολαῖς J. Pearson: προβολαῖς codd. 404 ποτανὸν Schuetz: πτανὸν f.
405 ἄφερτον θείς f (ἐνθείς h): corr. Wilamowitz. 407 τῶν Klausen: τῶνδε codd.
410 τῶν f. 412 κλοπαῖς f. 414 κλόνους τε καὶ λογχίμους ναυβάτας θ᾽
H. L. Ahrens. 417 πολὺ δ᾽ ἀνέστενον f. 418 τάδ᾽ Auratus: τόδ᾽ codd.
421 σιγᾶς ἄτιμος adoldopos codd.: corr. Hermann. 422 adioros ἀφεμένων codd.:

(ἀφημένων Dindorf).

ATAMEMNQN

Then cure is all in vain. The vice he wears
He cannot hide; sinister gleam declares

His mischief; as base metal at the touch
And trial of the stone, he showeth smutch
(This fond man like a child a-chase of wings),
And the awful taint on all his people brings:

To prayers is not an ear in Heaven; one frown

All conversant with such calls guilty and pulls down.

Such Paris was, that ate
Within the Atridae’s gate,
And then disgraced the Stranger’s bread

By theft of woman wed.

june
To Argos hurrying tumult, thronging power
Of men-at-arms and men-at-oars bequeathing,—
To Ilium bringing death for her sole dower,—
Ah, tripping it through her gate she’s flown,
A crime done!—Then did voices moan,

The secrets of the house in sorrow breathing :

“The Home, woe, woe, the Home! The Princes, woe!
The impress where the wedded limbs yet show!
There yonder abject sits, where all may see,

Shamed, unreviling, silent, bowed indignity :

75

2nd
strophe.

ἄντ. B’.

στρ. γ'

AIZXYAOY

/ ’ c 4
πόθωι δ᾽ ὑπερποντίας
φάσμα δόξει δόμων ἀνάσσειν.
εὐμόρφων δὲ κολοσσῶν 425
» ’ 5 ’
ἔχθεται χάρις ἀνδρί,
» , > 5 5 ’ὕ
ὀμμάτων δ᾽ ἐν ἀχηνίαις

ἔρρει πᾶσ᾽ ᾿Αφροδίτα.

ὀνειρόφαντοι δὲ πειθήμονες

, / δ ,ὔ ,
παρεισι δόξαι φέρουσαι χάριν ματαιαν" 430
, , 7 9 ἃ » ’ὔ lol ε onl
μάταν γάρ, εὖτ᾽ ἂν ἐσθλά τις δοκῶν ὁρᾶν---
παραλλάξασα διὰ χερῶν
βέβακεν ὄψις οὐ μεθύστερον
r > A 9 , ”
πτεροῖς ὀπαδοῖς ὕπνου κελεύθων.
Ν Ν > ¥; >7? ε , Ν
τὰ μὲν κατ᾽ οἴκους ἐφ᾽ ἑστίας ayy 435
Ὁ» » Ν SN ἴων > ε ,
τάδ᾽ ἐστὶ Kal τῶνδ᾽ ὑπερβατώτερα-
τὸ πᾶν δ᾽ ἀφ᾽ Ἵλλανος alas συνορμένοις
πένθει᾽ ἀτλησικάρδιος
δόμων ἑκάστου πρέπει:
Ν » ’ὔὕ Ἂς a
πολλὰ γοῦν Ovyyaver πρὸς ἧπαρ" 440
ἃ Ν ,ὔ »
οὺς μὲν γάρ <Tis> ἔπεμψεν
οἶδεν, ἀντὶ δὲ φωτῶν
4 Ν Ν » ε ’
τεύχη καὶ σποδὸς εἰς ἑκά-

4 5 lat
στου δόμους ἀφικνεῖται.

ὁ χρυσαμοιβὸς 8 “Apyns σωμάτων 445

καὶ ταλαντοῦχος ἐν μάχηι δορὸς

429 πειθήμονες Housman: πενθήμονες codd. 484 κελεύθων Karsten: κελεύθοις.
437 E))avos Bamberger: ‘“EA\ados codd. 438 πένθεια τλησικάρδιος codd.:
corr. H. 441 τις add. Porson. ’

or rear ee

ee ee ee

ATFAMEMNQN 77

Pined so with his beyond-sea dream
Afar, so lovesick he shall seem

The pale faint ghost of proud authority.

Fair shapely marbles white
Vex the distasting sight,—
Lost in the lack of eyes that shone,

The warm love dead and gone.

LEA

“Dream-shown, tn flattering shape, come phantasies, and a
With joy—nay, fond illusion all thetr bringing! ὧν
Blissful in vision there when heaven ts his—

Ah, vanishing through his arms away

"Tis gone, with never pause or stay,
Fast on the fickle paths where Sleep is winging.”

These are the one forlorn home’s miseries,
And more exceeding bitter yet than these.
And what at large for all that host of war
Far hence, the general legion sped from Hellas’ shore ?
Theirs in their several houses due
Is mourning and heart-broken rue—
Cause enough, sure, keen-touching to the core!
From each home once there went
A man forth: him it sent
Each knows; but what are these return?
A little dust, an urn.

LEY τ:

Ares, the Changer—of the Body’s coin, 3rd

: by strophe.
With scales poised—where the spears in battle join,

ἄντ. γ᾽

AIZXYAOY

πυρωθὲν ἐξ ᾿Ιλίου
φίλοισι πέμπει βαρὺ
ψῆγμα δυσδάκρυτον av-
THVOPOS σποδοῦ γεμί-
ζων λέβητας εὐθέτους.

΄ » > , "
στένουσι δ᾽ εὖ λέγοντες av-
ὃρα τὸν μὲν ὡς μάχης ἴδρις,
τὸν δ᾽ ἐν φοναῖς καλῶς πεσόντ᾽---
“ ἀλλοτρίας διαὶ γυναικός,"

΄ A ole
τάδε σῖγά τις βαύζει,
φθονερὸν δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἄλγος ἕρπει
προδίκοις ᾿Ατρείδαις.

aA > 5 wn QA lol

ot δ᾽ αὐτοῦ περὶ τεῖχος
θήκας Ἰλιάδος γᾶς

ΕΣ ’ »
εὔμορφοι κατέχουσιν: ἐχ-

θρὰ δ᾽ ἔχοντας ἔκρυψεν.

A > 5 a , ‘ /
βαρεῖα δ᾽ ἀστῶν φάτις σὺν κότωι:'
δημοκράντου δ᾽ ἀρᾶς τίνει χρέος.

’ ’ 5 “ , ,ὔ
μένει δ᾽ ἀκοῦσαί τί μου
μέριμνα νυκτηρεφές.
τῶν πολυκτόνων γὰρ οὐκ
Υ ΄
ἄσκοποι θεοί, κελαι-
ναὶ δ᾽ ᾿Ερινύες χρόνωι

Ν γος Δ Si
TUX POV OVT GAVEV OLKAS

451 εὐθέτους Auratus: εὐθέτου codd.

455

4600

465

470

455 διαὶ Hermann ex Cramer anecd.

Oxon. 1p. 119: διὰ f. 458 προδίκοισιν f. 464 δημοκράντου Porson: δημοκράτου

codd.

468 ἀπόσκοποι f.

ATAMEMNQN 79

Fined in the furnace home from Ilium sends
Dust, heavy dust and sore to weeping friends,—
A live man’s worth of ash, full-measured load

In small jars’ compass decently bestowed !

Then wail the sorrowing kinsmen, and belaud each man,
This for a perfect soldier, how that fell
Glorious amid the carnage, fighting well—

“For another's wife!” the growl comes low,

And sores against their Princes grow,

This process that began.

Others possess their tomb

There, in their beauty’s bloom—
Troy’s holders, in the land they hold
Graved, beneath hated mould!

PIT: 2s

A people’s talk is dangerous when it storms ; 3rd anti-
The effect of public curse their wrath performs. ng
For something cloaked within the night my mind

Stands listening :—the divine eyes are not blind

To men of blood: the man of mere success,

Luck’s thriver in defect of Righteousness,

So AIZXYAOY

“παλιντυχεῖ τριβᾶι βίου
CVS 5 ΄ » 3 3.
τιθεῖσ᾽ ἀμαυρόν, ἐν δ᾽ ἀΐ-
στοις τελέθοντος οὔτις ἀλκά.
Ν 3 "Ὁ , , =
τὸ δ᾽ ὑπερκόπως κλύειν εὖ
βαρύ: βάλλεται γὰρ ὄσσοις 475
Διόθεν κάρανα.
κρίνω δ᾽ ἄφθονον ὄλβον"
,’» » /
μήτ᾽ εἴην πτολιπόρθης,
».5 > SEN ε \ hawt kee 2
pnt οὖν autos ἁλοὺς um αλ-

hot βίον κατίδοιμι. 480

Ν > ε 5» 3. ,
πυρὸς δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ εὐαγγέλου
πόλιν διήκει θοὰ
βάξις: εἰ δ᾽ ἐτήτυμος,

τίς οἷδεν ;—el τι θεῖόν ἐστι μὴ ψύθος.

, πε \ Δ a ΄ὕ

τίς ὧδε παιδνὸς ἢ φρενῶν κεκομμένος, 485
φλογὸς παραγγέλμασιν

νέοις πυρωθέντα καρδίαν ἔπειτ᾽

ἀλλαγᾶι λόγου καμεῖν ;

γυναικὸς αἰχμᾶι πρέπει ᾿

πρὸ τοῦ φανέντος χάριν ξυναινέσαι. 490

\ ΕἾ ε aA ν 3 ΄φ
πιθανὸς ayav ὁ θῆλυς ἔρος ἐπινέμεται
ταχύπορος: ἀλλὰ ταχύμορον

γυναικογήρυτον ὄλλυται κλέος.

471 παλιντυχεῖ Scaliger: παλιντυχῆ (vel -ι) codd. 474 ὑπερκόπως Grotius:
ὑπερκότως codd. 476 xapava Tucker: κεραυνός codd. 480 ἄλλωι H.: ἄλλων

ει
codd. 483 ἐτήτυμος Auratus: ἐτητύμως codd. 484 if, ἤ ἢ | τι Hermann: τοι
codd. 489 γυναικὸς Scaliger: ἐν γυναικὸς codd. 491 épos Blomfield:
ὅρος codd.

ATAMEMNQN 81

Doomed by the dark Avengers, wanes again at last,
Dwindling, until he fades out where the dim
Lost shadows are; and there, no help for him.—
And Fame, too loudly when she cries,
Is dangerous also; flashing eyes

Of Zeus the proud height blast.

Mine be the happy state
That moves no jealous hate;
No conquest, neither let me see

My own captivity.

AN ELDER. Swift rumour through the city goes
At glorious message blazed in fiery sign:
But whether it tell truth, who knows?

Nay, whether it be not but some guile divine?

ANOTHER. What man so childish or so crazed of wit
To let the tinder of his brain be lit
By news in fire,—and then expire

Extinct at the reverse of it?

ANOTHER. Right woman’s giddiness, to a tempting lure

The yielding ‘yes’ ere present proof assure.

ANOTHER. Feminine assenting, where her wishing lies,
Makes fiery way; with fire’s decay
In chaff, so perisheth fame a woman cries!
[Ad this point there ts an interval lasting some days (see Introduction,

p. 9). At the opening of the new scene the Chorus are alone in
the orchestra.

82 AIZXYAOY

τάχ᾽ εἰσόμεσθα λαμπάδων φαεσφόρων

φρυκτωριῶν τε καὶ πυρὸς παραλλαγᾶς, 495
» 59 εὐ > “A yy) » ’ ,

εἴτ᾽ οὖν ἀληθεῖς εἴτ᾽ ὀνειράτων δίκην

τερπνὸν τόδ᾽ ἐλθὸν φῶς ἐφήλωσεν φρένας:

’ὔ > ’ > > “~ / δ᾽ c “~ vd
K1) PUK aT QAKTYS TOV Op@ κατασκιον

κλάδοις ἐλάιας: μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι κάσις
πηλοῦ ξύνουρος διψία κόνις τάδε, 500
ὡς OUT ἄναυδος οὔτε σοι δαίων φλόγα
ὕλης ὀρείας σημανεῖ καπνῶι πυρός,
ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὸ χαίρειν μᾶλλον ἐκβάξει λέγων---
\ » », Ν La) > 5 4, ΄
τὸν ἀντίον δὲ τοῖσδ᾽ ἀποστέργω λόγον"

εὖ γὰρ πρὸς εὖ φανεῖσι προσθήκη πέλοι. 505

ὅστις τάδ᾽ ἄλλως τῆιδ᾽ ἐπεύχεται πόλει,

Ν A “
αὐτὸς φρενῶν καρποῖτο τὴν ἁμαρτίαν.

KHPT#.

aN a > > , ΄ὔ
ἰὼ πατρῶιον οὖδας ᾿Αργείας χθονός,
δεκάτου σε φέγγει τῶιδ᾽ ἀφικόμην ἔτους,
A ε “Ὁ 5 ΄, “A 4
πολλῶν ῥαγεισῶν ἐλπίδων μιᾶς τυχών 510
> , > » “Ὁ » » > 7 Ν
οὐ γάρ ποτ᾽ ηὔχουν τῆιδ᾽ ἐν ᾿Αργείαι χθονὶ
θανὼν μεθέξειν φιλτάτου τάφου μέρος.
an “A \ , lal > ε Ψ 4
νῦν χαῖρε μὲν χθών, χαῖρε δ᾽ ἡλίου φάος,
ὕπατός τε χώρας Ζεύς, ὁ Πύθιός 7 ἀναξ, ᾿
τόξοις ἰάπτων μηκέτ᾽ εἰς ἡμᾶς βέλη: 515
ὋΝ Ν Ss , ὃ S θ᾽ 5 a τ
ἅλις παρὰ Σκάμανδρον ἦσθ᾽ ἀνάρσιος

|
͵
A > > Ν » \ ΄ Ι
νυν ὃ αυτε σωτΉρ ἴσθι και παιῶώνιος, ἶ

ες
509 δεκάτου Iacob: δεκάτωι codd. 516 700 margo Askewi: 70 f, ἦλθες h.
517 καὶ παιώνιος Dobree: καὶ παγώνιος f, κἀπαγώνιος h.

ATAMEMNON 83

[ELDER (who has been looking out over the plain towards the Séa).

Now presently we shall know
The sober truth of all this cresseting,
Blazing of beacons, handing-on of fire,
Whether it be fact indeed or only some
Delightful dream that flatters and befools :—
A herald yonder from the shore in sight!
Umbraged with olive-branches,—ay, and further,
Mire’s consorting sister, thirsty Dust,
Gives me good surety this advertisement
Shall not be voiceless, not a bonfire burned
With smoke of timber on a mountain-top ;
His plain word shall establish either joy—
Nay, with aught else I cannot rest content;
Be glad proof present crowned with glad event!

ANOTHER. The man that in that prayer will take no part

he

Reap the reward of his misguided heart!
[Enter HERALD, worn and broken by ten years exposure before Tro A

HERALD,

O Fatherland of mine, sweet home of Argos,
Ten years after on this blessed day
Arrived again at last! One hope hath held,—
One anchor after all those many broken,—
Never could I dream these bones would have
Their own dear Argive soil to rest in happy!
Now hail to thee, O Land, and hail to thee,
Thou bright Sun, and the land’s high paramount,
Zeus; and the Lord of Pytho, blest be he,
And shoot his arrows upon us no more!
Scamander showed thee in thy wrath enough ;
Preserver be thou, be thou Healer now,

84 AIZXYAOY

ἄναξ “Amo\ov. τούς T ἀγωνίους θεοὺς
πάντας προσαυδῶ, τόν T ἐμὸν τιμάορον
Ἕρμῆν, φίλον κήρυκα, κηρύκων σέβας, 520
ν ἈΝ 4 > La) ,
ἥρως TE TOUS πέμψαντας, εὐμενεῖς πάλιν
στρατὸν δέχεσθαι τὸν λελειμμένον δορός.
ἰὼ μέλαθρα βασιλέων, φίλαι στέγαι,
/ “A / 7 > 5 ’ὔ

σεμνοί τε θᾶκοι, δαίμονές T ἀντήλιοι,
εἴ που πάλαι, φαιδροῖσι τοισίδ᾽ ὄμμασιν ᾿ς 525
δέξασθε κόσμωι βασιλέα πολλῶι χρόνωι.
Ψ Ν con A 9 > ΄ Bia
ἥκει yap ὑμῖν φῶς ἐν εὐφρόνηι φέρων

Ν a > 4 Ν > , »
καὶ τοῖσδ᾽ ἅπασι κοινὸν ᾿Αγαμέμνων ava€.

5 > > > / Ν Ν > ΄,
ἀλλ᾽ εὖ νιν ἀσπάσασθε, καὶ γὰρ οὖν πρέπει,

Τροίαν κατασκάψαντα τοῦ δικηφόρου 530 β
Διὸς μακέλληι, τῆι κατείργασται πέδον, 531 |
καὶ σπέρμα πάσης ἐξαπόλλυται χθονός. 533 |

τοιόνδε Τροίαι περιβαλὼν ζευκτήριον
ἄναξ ᾽Ατρείδης πρέσβυς εὐδαίμων ἀνὴρ 535
ἥκει, τίεσθαι δ᾽ ἀξιώτατος βροτῶν
lanl ~ ’, ἈΝ » Ν ,ὔ
τῶν νῦν᾽ ἸΙάρις γὰρ οὔτε συντελὴς πόλις
ἐξεύχεται τὸ δρᾶμα τοῦ πάθους πλέον"
ὀφλὼν γὰρ ἁρπαγῆς τε καὶ κλοπῆς δίκην
τοῦ ῥυσίου θ᾽ ἥμαρτε καὶ πανώλεθρον 540
» ͵ las » ,
αὐτόχθονον πατρῶιον ἔθρισεν δόμον,
διπλᾶ δ᾽ ἔτεισαν Πριαμίδαι θἁμάρτια.
ΧΟ. κῆρυξ ᾿Αχαιῶν χαῖρε τῶν ἀπὸ στρατοῦ.

ΚΗ. χαίρω: τεθναίην δ᾽. οὐκέτ᾽ ἀντερῶ θεοῖς.

525 εἴ που Auratus: ἥπου codd. 532 βωμοὶ δ᾽ ἄϊστοι καὶ θεῶν ἱδρύματα del.
Salzmann. 534 τοιούδε f. 544 τεθναίην H.: τεθνᾶναι codd. | οὐκέτ᾽ ἢ et
schol. 555: οὐκ f.

APTAMEMNON ὃς

O Lord Apollo! Greeting unto you,

Ye Gods of Gathering all, with mine own patron,
Hermes, the sweet Herald, that homage hath
From heralds; and O ye Heroes in the earth,
Kind as of old you sped us, now receive
These relics of the spear...

Awake, beloved halls of royalty !

Hail to ycu! Hail, ye stately judgment-seats !
And hail, ye orient-facing Deities!

If eer aforetime, O with bright eyes now
Beam after all these days upon the King!

For bringing light in darkness unto you

And all this people, Prince Agamemnon comes.
O give him welcome! ’Tis indeed his due;
He hath digged up Troy with mattock ;

Yea, with the mattock of Zeus Justicer

Hath left the whole soil overturned and broke
And her seed rooted out of all the land.

So sore the yoke laid on her caitiff neck

By the elder lord Atrides, who now comes

Blest among men, the worthiest in the world

To be received with honour; for Trojan Paris
Nor all his liable city now can boast

Their trespass to outweigh their punishment:
Convicted both of rape and thievery,

He hath lost his pillage and of House been shorn
With all the land pertaining; he and his
Amerced for crime in twofold penalties !

Exper. O Herald of the Achaeans from the field,

_ Best greeting and all joy!

HERALD. I thank you; let me die now! At God’s pleasure,
[ll not oppose it longer.

86 AIZXYAOY
r ¥ ,ὕ A A >
XO. ἔρως πατρώιας τῆσδε γῆς σ᾽ ἐγύμνασεν. 545
σ΄ ν lal cy
KH. ὥστ᾽ ἐνδακρύειν γ᾽ ὄμμασιν χαρᾶς ὕπο.
΄ “ Weed > A >
XO. τερπνῆς ap ἦτε τῆσδ᾽ ἐπήβολοι νόσου.
ΚΗ. πῶς δή; διδαχθεὶς τοῦδε δεσπόσω λόγου.
[2 “A ’ , ε ’ ’
ΧΟ. τῶν ἀντερώντων ἱμέρωι πεπληγμένοι.
ΚΗ. ποθεῖν ποθοῦντα τήνδε γῆν στρατὸν λέγεις; 55°
r > “
XO. ὡς πόλλ᾽ ἀμαυρᾶς ἐκ φρενός <y > ἀναστένειν.
ΚΗ. πόθεν τὸ δύσφρον τοῦτ᾽ ἐπῆν στυγοστράτωι;
r ’ὔ’ lal
XO. πάλαι τὸ σιγᾶν φάρμακον βλάβης ἔχω.
Ἀ la
KH. καὶ πῶς; ἀπόντων κοιράνων ἔτρεις τινάς;
ΧΟ. ὡς νῦν, τὸ σὸν δή, καὶ θανεῖν πολλὴ χάρις. 555
ΚΗ. εὖ γὰρ πέπρακται. ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐν πολλῶι χρόνωι
\ / ΕΝ ΄ὕ > a ¥
τὰ μέν τις ἂν λέξειεν εὐπετῶς ἔχειν,
\ > A
τὰ δ᾽ αὖτε κἀπίμομφα---τίς δὲ πλὴν θεῶν
ν 5 > ΄, Ν > 2A /
ἅπαντ᾽ ἀπήμων τὸν Ot αἰῶνος χρόνον;---
/ 72
μόχθους γὰρ εἰ λέγοιμι καὶ δυσαυλίας, 560
Ν 4 Ν ’ὕ ’ > >
σπαρνὰς παρείξεις καὶ κακοστρώτους,---τί δ᾽ οὐ
, 5 / » ’ὔ
στένοντες οὐ λαχόντες ματος μέρος ; Τ
Ν > > “
τὰ δ᾽ αὖτε χέρσωι καὶ προσῆν πλέον στύγος"
> ‘\ Ἀ > 4 Ἀ ,ὔ
εὐναὶ γὰρ ἦσαν δηίων πρὸς τείχεσιν"
ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δέ---κἀπὸ γῆς λειμώνιαι 565
ὃ ΄ ΄ὕ 3, ,
ρόσοι---κατεψέκαζον, ἔμπεδον σίνος,
5» θ , 4 ¥ 4
ἐσθημάτων τιθέντες ἔνθηρον τρίχα.
“ > > , 5 ’
χειμῶνα δ᾽ εἰ λέγοι τις οἰωνοκτόνον,
- ἌΤΑΣ » 3 ΄ ΄
οἷον παρεῖχ ἄφερτον ᾿Ιδαία χιών,
δ47 ἴστε ἴ. 549 πεπληγμένοι Tyrwhitt: πεπληγμένος codd. 551 γ᾽ add.
Heath. 552 στυγοστράτωι M. Schmidt (στυγόστρατον Pauw): στύγος στρατῶι
codd. 554 τυράννων f. 556 ws Scaliger: ὧν codd. 557 ἂν Auratus: εὖ
codd, 661 παρείξεις Η. L. Ahrens: παρήξεις codd. 666 dé]. Pearson: yap codd.

AFAMEMNQN

ELDER. You have been tried
By sickness for your fatherland ?
HERALD. Ay truly ;

Mine eyes fill with tears for happiness.

ELDER. Then there was pleasure in the sickness,

HERALD. Pleasure ?
Pray you, instruct me.

ELDER. ’Twas a love returned
With love again.

HERALD. For us then your heart yearned
As ours did yearn for home?

ELDER. So much I grieved
That many a sigh my clouded heart hath heaved.

HERALD. What cloudy gloom was this that overhung
Mislikers of our war?

ELDER. A silent tongue
Hath long been my best amulet.
HERALD. Amulet?

In absence of our princes were there any
You stood in fear of, then?

ELDER. Indeed ’twere now,—
Your own phrase,—joy to die.
HERALD. Ay, for it is

A brave success! Though, take the time in all,
With much to cause contentment, there were matters
Also for discontent—but Gods alone
May live unscathed of harm perpetually :-—
Troth, were I to recount our miseries,
The toil, the wretched lodging—seldom respite
Snatched on a sorry couch—and all our groans
In the hour of daytime! Then again on shore ;
Why there ’twas yet worse hardship; for we lay
Before the enemy’s walls, and from the sky,
And from the damp fen, dews with damage dripped
Abiding, that our woolly garments made

, All verminous :—or tell again of cold ;

How bitter was the snow on Ida made,

ee

[9.6]
oe)

AIZXYAOY

aA , > , 5 A
ἢ θάλπος, εὖτε πόντος ἐν μεσημβριναῖς 57°
κοίταις ἀκύμων νηνέμοις εὔδοι πεσών---
’ὔ A a) “A ’ ’
τί ταῦτα πενθεῖν δεῖ; παροίχεται πόνος"
Ψ; , La) \ /
παροίχεται δέ, τοῖσι μὲν τεθνηκόσιν
Ν ’ » > > > aA
τὸ μήποτ᾽ αὖθις μηδ᾽ ἀναστῆναι μέλειν.

τί τοὺς ἀναλωθέντας ἐν ψήφωι λέγειν,

σι
~T
on

Ν “ 3 5 “ \ - ,
τὸν ζῶντα ὃ ἀλγεῖν χρὴ τύχης παλιγκότου;
Ν ‘\ , ον nw
καὶ πολλὰ χαίρειν συμφορὰς καταξιῶ.
ε A εἶ A A > , an
ἡμῖν δὲ Tots λοιποῖσιν ᾿Αργείων στρατοῦ
“ Ν 4 “A ’ 5 » (2
νικᾶι TO κέρδος, πῆμα δ᾽ οὐκ ἀντιρρέπει.
ε we, “A > > ον ε , ,
ὡς κομπάσαι τῶιδ᾽ εἰκὸς ἡλίου φάει 580
ε Ν 72 Ν ἊΝ ’ὔ
ὑπὲρ θαλάσσης καὶ χθονὸς ποτωμένοις"
“Τροίαν ἑλόντες δήποτ᾽ ᾿Αργείων στόλος
θεοῖς λάφυρα ταῦτα τοῖς καθ᾽ “Ἑλλάδα
δό > , > ΄, ΄, 7)
ὄμων ἐπασσάλευσαν ἀρχαίων γάνος.
la) δ ΄ 5 ἊΝ 4
τοιαῦτα χρὴ κλύοντας εὐλογεῖν πόλιν 585
καὶ τοὺς στρατηγούς: καὶ χάρις τιμήσεται
Διὸς τόδ᾽ ἐκπράξασα. πάντ᾽ ἔχεις λόγον.
ΧΟ. νικώμενος λόγοισιν οὐκ ἀναίνομαι,
ΓΝ Ν ε lal an , > ἴων
ἀεὶ yap ἡβᾶι τοῖς γέρουσιν εὐμαθεῖν"
δόμοις δὲ ταῦτα καὶ Κλυταιμήστραι μέλειν 590
5 Ν ’ Ἀ \ 4 3 Ψ
εἰκὸς μάλιστα, σὺν δὲ πλουτίζειν ἐμέ.
ΚΛ. ἀνωλόλυξα μὲν πάλαι χαρᾶς ὕπο,
7 3 > Ὁ] ε lal , » ,
ὅτ᾽ HAF ὁ πρῶτος νύχιος ἄγγελος πυρός,
’ὔ ν 3 ,ὔ » 5 4
φράζων ἅλωσιν ᾽Ιλίου τ᾽ ἀνάστασιν.

ce

7) 4 3 > 4 > nw ,
καὶ TLS JL ἐνίπτων εἰπε, φρυκτωρῶών δία 595

πὶ φ᾿ τα δρταςδαδοουπωνσρακον: .1 -. ε.-

πεισθεῖσα Τροίαν νῦν πεπορθῆσθαι δοκεῖς ;

ff

677 συμφορὰς Blomfield: συμφοραῖς codd. 584 δόμων.. ἀρχαίων Hartung:
δόμοις.. ἀρχαῖον codd.

ATAMEMNQN 89

Killing the birds; or sweltering summer's heat,
When slumbering in his noonday drowsiness
Lay without stir the sunk unruffled sea......
What boots it to repine? The pain is past;
Unto the dead so past that no more now
They have any thought or care to rise again :—
Why make, with telling all the lost expense,
The live heart sore at Fate’s malevolence ?
‘Adieu, cross Fortune, fare you well!’ say I.
For us, the remnant of the host, our gain
Outweighs the utmost counterpoise of pain:
On Fame’s wings flying over land and sea
This glorious day proud boasters we may be:
By the troops of Argos, having taken Troy,
Memorials to the Gods in thankful joy
Throughout all Greece their mansions to adorn
Were pinned these trophies from the Trojans torn.
All those that hear this blazon should applaud
The country and her captains; honour due
Being also done to Zeus, whose hand it is!
You have my tale in full.

ELDER. I am overborne
No more contending; age is never old
For young Instruction.—

[ Zurning to CLYTAEMNESTRA who enters.

There should be rich news here,
For me too, but methinks most nearly touching
The House and Clytaemnestra.

CLYT. Some while since
I lifted up my jubilee, already,
When the first messenger, at night, by fire,
Told me the capture and the wrack of. Troy.
They chid me then with scorn: Persuaded so
Ly beacons to believe that Troy ts taken ?

90 AIZXYAOY

ἢ κάρτα πρὸς γυναικὸς αἴρεσθαι κέαρ."
΄ ΄ \ RWest BS) ,
λόγοις τοιούτοις πλαγκτὸς οὖσ᾽ ἐφαινόμην.
ν Ε] » Ν ’ ’ὔ
ὅμως δ᾽ ἔθυον: καὶ γυναικείωι νόμωι
ὀλολυγμὸν ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν κατὰ πτόλιν 600
ἔλασκον εὐφημοῦντες ἐν θεῶν ἕδραις
θυηφάγον κοιμῶντες εὐώδη φλόγα.
καὶ νῦν τὰ μάσσω μὲν τί δεῖ σέ μοι λέγειν;
ἄνακτος αὐτοῦ πάντα πεύσομαι λόγον.
9 ὃ; ¥ Ν 5 Ν io “ / 60
ὅπως δ᾽ ἄριστα TOV ἐμὸν αἰδοῖον πόσιν 5
, Ν
σπεύσω πάλιν μολόντα δέξασθαι: τί γὰρ
i 7 a
γυναικὶ τούτου φέγγος ἥδιον Spake,
ΕῚ \ , ν ὃ ’ὕ θ la)
ἀπὸ στρατείας avdpa σώσαντος θεοῦ
4 5 “ὦ nw 3 > , 4
πύλας ἀνοῖξαι; ταῦτ᾽ ἀπάγγειλον πόσει"
ν ν ’ >] 5 ,ὔ ’ὔ 6
NKELVY ὁπως TAXLOT ἐράσμιον πόλει" τ
an Ν
γυναῖκα πιστὴν δ᾽ ἐν δόμοις εὕροι μολὼν
y > » ΄, ΄
οἰανπερ οὖν ελειπε, δωμάτων κύνα
ἐσθλὴν ἐκείνωι, πολεμίαν τοῖς δύσφροσιν,
ἈΝ »” 5 ε ’ὔ 2: ’
καὶ ταλλ ὁμοίαν πάντα, σημαντήριον
οὐδὲν διαφθείρασαν ἐν μήκει χρόνου. 615
οὐδ᾽ οἶδα τέρψιν, οὐδ᾽ ἐπίψογον φάτιν,
» lal nw
ἄλλου πρὸς ἀνδρὸς μᾶλλον ἢ χαλκοῦ Badds.
ΚΗ. τοιόσδ᾽ ὁ κόμπος,---τῆς ἀληθείας γέμων,
οὐκ αἰσχρὸς ὡς γυναικὶ γενναίαι λακεῖν;
ΧΟ. αὕτη μὲν οὕτως εἶπε, μανθάνοντί σοι, 620
τοροῖσιν ἑρμηνεῦσιν εὐπρεπῶς λόγον.
σὺ δ᾽ εἰπέ, κῆρυξ, Μενέλεων δὲ πεύθομαι,
» ’ ’ ‘ 4 4
εἰ VOOTLYLOS TE καὶ σεσωμένος πάλιν

ἥξει σὺν ὑμῖν, τῆσδε γῆς φίλον κράτος.

-- = = - - --. ,------..--.

623 τε Hermann: γε codd. | σεσωσμένος codd.

AFAMEMNQN gI

O the right woman's credulous heart on wings !
With such derision was I argued fool:

Yet still kept offering; and throughout the town
Aloud they shouted—after woman’s use—

Their jubilant anthem, lulling in the shrines
The hunger of the spice-fed odorous flame.

So now, what need we further circumstance
From thee? The King’s own mouth shall render us
The tale in full:—but I must give my own
Dear honoured lord the best and soonest welcome—
Soonest and best, for to a woman’s eyes
What hour is dearer than the hour when Heaven
Hath saved her husband from the wars, and she
Unbars her gates for him?—Go bid him, then,
Come hither with all speed, the country’s darling,
Come with all speed, a faithful wife to find,
Even as he left her, a true hound within,

Still to his foes a foe, to him still kind;

Alike at all parts, every whit the same,

That all this while hath never broke one seal ;
Of joys from other—nay, the whispered blame—

I have no more knowledge than of plunging steel !
[Exit

HERALD. Valiant protest; with truth in every syllable,

True honest lady need not blush to cry it?

»
».

᾿

ELDER. We have heard her story,—as you apprehend,

In the ear of judgment, excellent, most plausible.

But tell me, Herald, our beloved prince

Menelaus, shall we see him safe back with you?

XO.

KH.

AIZXYAOY

. οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅπως λέξαιμι τὰ ψευδῆ Kaha

ἐς τὸν πολὺν φίλοισι καρποῦσθαι χρόνον.
nr A 3 “ἃ 5 Ν ον 5 ἴω 4
πῶς δῆτ᾽ ἂν εἰπὼν κεδνὰ τἀληθῆ τύχοις;

σνισθέ δ᾽ οὐ DK ( (ὃ
x ντα οὐκ εὔκρυπτα γίγνεται τάδε.

CaN » ee) “ fal A
. avnp αφαντος ἐξ ᾿Αχαιϊκοῦ στρατοῦ,

αὐτός τε καὶ τὸ πλοῖον. οὐ ψευδῆ λέγω.
πότερον ἀναχθεὶς ἐμφανῶς ἐξ ᾽Ιλίου,

A ν “
ἢ χειμα, κοινὸν ἄχθος, ρπαᾶασε στρατου;

. ἔκυρσας ὥστε τοξότης ἄκρος σκοποῦ"

μακρὸν δὲ πῆμα συντόμως ἐφημίσω.
πότερα γὰρ αὐτοῦ ζῶντος ἢ τεθνηκότος

φάτις πρὸς ἄλλων ναυτίλων ἐκλήιζετο;

3 8. 3 Ν 9 > 5 A rn
- OUK οἷδεν οὐδεὶς WOT ἀπαγγεῖλαι TOPS,

πλὴν τοῦ τρέφοντος Ἡλίου χθονὸς φύσιν.
πῶς γὰρ λέγεις χειμῶνα ναυτικῶι στρατῶι
ΕἸ an A ,ὕἹ ’ὔ ’ὔ
ἐλθεῖν, τελευτῆσαί TE, δαιμόνων κότωι;
3» a > ΄, 4
εὔφημον ἦμαρ οὐ πρέπει κακαγγέλωι
’ὔ ΄ὔ Ν c Ν “A
γλώσσηι μιαίνειν: χωρὶς ἡ τιμὴ θεῶν.
ν > ς ἐν ‘ , 3 + /
ὅταν δ᾽ ἀπευκτὰ πήματ᾽ ἄγγελος πόλει
στυγνῶι προσώπωι πτωσίμου στρατοῦ φέρηι,
’ὔ \ ν ἃ Ν 4 La)
πόλει μὲν ἕλκος Ev TO δήμιον τυχεῖν,
πολλοὺς δὲ πολλῶν ἐξαγισθέντας δόμων
ἄνδρας διπλῆι μάστιγι τὴν Ἄρης φιλεῖ,
δίλογχον ἄτην, φοινίαν ξυνωρίδα, ---
τοιῶνδε μέντοι πημάτων σεσαγμένον
, , a , OS ,
πρέπει λέγειν παιᾶνα τόνδ᾽ ᾿Ερινύων

σωτηρίων δὲ πραγμάτων εὐάγγελον

625

630

640

645

650

627 sq. et sequentia disticha Clytaemnestrae dant codd.: corr. Stanley | τύχοις

Porson: τύχης codd. 649 σεσαγμένον Schuetz: σεσαγμένων codd.

3 ἀκ ΨΡ

ATAMEMNQN
HERALD. I have no art to colour falsehood fair
And lend the painting gloss for lasting wear.

ELDER. O might then colour fair be joined with true!

Tis vain to cloke disjunction of the two.

HERALD. To speak no falsehood then, the prince is vanished

From his companions, together with his ship.
ELDER. Loosiag from Ilium in full sight? Or was ’t
A general storm that tore him from the rest?
HERALD. You have hit the target with a perfect aim;

And briefly phrased a long sad chronicle.

ELDER. Hew was his name in current rumour bruited
By the other crews? As yet alive or dead?
HERALD. None can aver by knowledge, save that one
That breeds the increase of the Earth, the Sun.
ELDER. What is your story of the storm? How rose,
And how did close, this angry visitation ?
HERALD. It fits not to profane with dolorous tongue
A day of praise: that service and the Gods’
Are twain and separate. When the messenger
Brings gloomy visage and disastrous hap,
An armed host’s overthrow—one general wound

Lashed on the country, and her several men

From private home on home driven out with ‘scourge

By curse of Ares with his double thong

Twinned thus for ruin and for slaughter leashed—
When such the load upon the bearer’s back,
Why, then ’tis fitting that his anthem sound

The Avengers’ tone; but when he comes with news

95

94 AIZXYAOY

ἥκοντα πρὸς χαίρουσαν εὐεστοῖ πόλιν,
~ ἈΝ Lal ~ ’ ’,
πῶς κεδνὰ τοῖς κακοῖσι συμμείξω, λέγων
eV Ὁ “a > > ΄, “
χειμῶν᾽ ᾿Αχαιοῖς οὐκ ἀμήνιτον θεῶν;
ad / ’ » », Ν ’ὔ
ξυνώμοσαν γάρ, ὄντες ἔχθιστοι τὸ πρίν, 655
“ \ ’ Ν Ν , > 5 ,ὔ
πῦρ καὶ θάλασσα, καὶ τὰ πίστ᾽ ἐδειξάτην
/ Ν ’ὕ 3 4 ,
φθείροντε τὸν δύστηνον ᾿Αργείων στρατόν.
> Ν 4 ,’ > 4 ,
ἐν νυκτὶ δυσκύμαντα δ᾽ ὠρώρει κακά.
ναῦς γὰρ πρὸς ἀλλήλαισι Θρήικιαι πνοαὶ
»” ἃ Ν , ,
ἤρεικον" at δὲ κεροτυπούμεναι βίαι 660
~ ~ >
χειμῶνι Τυφώ σὺν Carne τ᾽ ὀμβροκτύπωι
¥ ΨΚ , A ,
ὠιχοντ᾽ ἄφαντοι, ποιμένος κακοῦ στρόβωι.
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀνῆλθε λαμπρὸν ἡλίου φάος,
c “~ > A ’ Ψ a“ Lal
ὁρῶμεν ἀνθοῦν πέλαγος Αἰγαῖον νεκροῖς
ἀνδρῶν ᾿Αχαιῶν ναυτικοῖς T ἐρειπίοις. 665
ε lol \ Ἂν la » > , ,
ἡμᾶς ye μὲν δὴ ναῦν τ᾽ ἀκήρατον σκάφος
x
ἤτοι τις ἐξέκλεψεν ἢ ᾿ξηιτήσατο
’ὔ » y¥ ” 7
θεός τις, οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, οἴακος θιγών.
lal >
τύχη δὲ σωτὴρ ναῦν θέλουσ᾽ ἐφέζετο,
c 4 9 > ν ’ὔ ’ὔ »”
ὡς μήτ᾽ ἐν Oppo. κύματος ζάλην ἔχειν 670
iD >) 5 ~ Ἂς ’ /
μήτ᾽ ἐξοκεῖλαι πρὸς κραταίλεων χθόνα.
ἔπειτα δ᾽ Αιδην πόντιον πεφευγότες,
Ἂν » ον » ,ὔ 4
λευκὸν κατ᾽ ἦμαρ ov πεποιθότες τύχηι,
ἐβουκολοῦμεν φροντίσιν νέον πάθος,
στρατοῦ καμόντος καὶ κακῶς σποδουμένου. 675
καὶ νῦν ἐκείνων εἴ τις ἐστὶν ἐμπνέων,
λέγουσιν ἡμᾶς ὡς ὀλωλότας, τί μήν;

c “ > > ΄’ὔ ς Jee} ᾿» ὃ ’ὔ
ἡμεῖς T ἐκείνους TavT ἔχειν δοξάζομεν.

654 ᾿Αχαιοῖς...θεῶν Dobree: ᾿Αχαιῶν... θεοῖς codd. 659 ἀλλήληισι fF.
660 κερωτυπούμεναι codd.: corr. Wasse. 665 ναυτικῶν τ᾽ ἐριπίων codd.: corr.
Auratus. 677 τί μήν; Linwood: τί μή; codd.

ATAMEMNQN 95

Of preservation to a country blest
With ease and welfare, how then should I mix
The good with evil, and relate a storm
That ne’er came surely but from angry Gods!

Fire and sea, worst enemies before,
Now sware a covenant, and displayed their pledge
By wrecking all the luckless Argive host.
Trouble of the ocean in the night-time wrought ;
The Northern wind grew boisterous, and our ships
Dashed one against the other; which, being rammed
With blast of the hurricane and battering sleet,
By that wild shepherding were lost and vanished.

And when the bright light of the Sun rose up,
Our eyes beheld
The vast Aegean like a field in bloom
With floating carcases of drowned men
And tattered wrecks of ships. We, with a hull
Still sound, were brought off safe, either by sleight
Or pleading of some Power, had other, sure,
Than human hand, our pilot. Fortune too
Sat Saviour on our deck, vouchsafing us
Neither at mooring in the roads to suffer
Strain of a swelling surge, nor driving split
Upon a rock-bound coast. Then, being at length
From ocean graves delivered, with fair dawn,
The fact scarce crediting, we let our thoughts
Dwell musing on our strange reverse, our fleet
So bruised and buffeted....

Well, they likewise now,

If any be that breathes yet, speak of ws,
Doubtless, as perished, we meanwhile supposing

Them in the same case :—let us hope the best

96

στρ. a. XO.

AIZXYAOY

΄ » ε » ᾿ F ΄ Ν >
γένοιτο δ᾽ ὡς αριστα Μενέλεων yap οὖν
πρῶτόν τε καὶ μάλιστα προσδόκα μογεῖν'
» > > 5» Ν ε ’ ε “~
εἰ δ᾽ οὖν τις ἀκτὶς ἡλίου νιν ἱστορεῖ
καὶ ζῶντα καὶ βλέποντα, μηχαναῖς Διός,
οὔπω θέλοντος ἐξαναλῶσαι γένος,

3 / > Ν Ἂν / ν 4
ἐλπίς τις αὐτὸν πρὸς δόμους ἥξειν πάλιν.

τοσαῦτ᾽ ἀκούσας tof τἀληθῆ κλύων.

’ > > ,ὔ ΟΣ»
τίς ποτ᾽ ὠνόμαζεν ὧδ
ἐς TO πᾶν ἐτητύμως---
μή τις ὅντιν᾽ οὐχ ὁρῶμεν Tpovot-
αισι τοῦ πεπρωμένου
γλώσσαν ἐν τύχαι νέμων ;---
τὰν δορίγαμβρον ἀμφινει-
Kn θ᾽ Ἑ) λέναν; ἐπεὶ πρεπόντως
ἑλέναυς, ἕλανδρος, ἑλέπτολις,
» “ 2 ,
ἐκ TOV ἁβροτίμων
, "
προκαλυμμάτων ἔπλευσεν
Ζεφύρου γίγαντος αὖραι,
πολύανδροί
, Ν
τε φεράσπιδες κυναγοὶ
4. » “ ᾿,

κατ᾽ ἴχνος πλατᾶν ἄφαντον

, <3 4 >
κελσάντων Σιμόεντος ἀκ-
τὰς ἐπ᾽ ἀεξιφύλλους

ou ἔριν αἱματόεσσαν.

680 μογεῖν Sonny: μολεῖν codd.

693 édévaus Blomfield: ἑλένας codd.

680
|

685

690

695

1
{
ἢ

---

700

688 sq. προνοίαισι Pauw: προνοίαις codd.

ATAMEMNQN 97

That may be! Menelaus,—in sore plight
Presume him needs you must; yet if the Sun
With any ray descries him hale and quick,
By help of Zeus, then, being loth to see
The race quite blotted out, some hope there is
He yet may come safe home—You have my story,
And rest assured ’tis absolute verity.
[Exit.

CHORUS.
eae

Who named her all so truly? st
ae strophe.
—Was't One beyond our vision,
By glimpse of Order fated
His happy lips who moved ?—
This Prize debate-environed,
This Bride with spear to kinsman,
This Helena? Most perfect Helena?
‘Twas Hell enow she proved,
When amorous from the silken-tissued
Veils before her bower emerging
Forth to Eastward sail she issued,
Spirit of Earth-born Zephyrus urging— ᾿
Forth to Eastward sail,
After her, men with ardour shipped,
Myriads of hunters, all equipped
In arms that harrier-like pursued
Fast on a printless trail of. oars
Abeach on Simois’ leafy shores,
Full cry, in bloody feud!

avT, α΄.

στρ. β΄.

οὗ AIZXYAOY
Ἰλίωι δὲ κῆδος dp-
θώνυμον τελεσσίφρων
μῆνις ἤνυσεν, τραπέζας ἀτί-
μωσιν ὑστέρωι χρόνωι 405
καὶ ξυνεστίου Διὸς
πρασσομένα τὸ νυμφότι-
/ 5 ’ὔ ,ὔὕ
μον μέλος ἐκφάτως τίοντας,
ὑμέναιον, ὃς τότ᾽ ἐπέρρεπεν
“ » /
γαμβροῖσιν ἀείδειν. 710
’ὔ 5 [2
μεταμανθάνουσα δ᾽ ὕμνον
Πριάμου πόλις γεραιὰ
πολύθρηνον
μέγα που στένει, κικλήσκου-
σα Πάριν τὸν αἰνόλεκτρον,
» > icy / >
τάμπροσθ᾽ ἢ πολύθρηνον at- 718
av ἀμφὶ πολιτᾶν

,ὔ a 9 ΕῚ an
μέλεον αἷμ᾽ ἀνατλᾶσα.

ἔθρεψεν δὲ λέοντος ἴ-
νιν δόμοις ἀγάλακτα βού-
5 Ν ,
Tas ἀνὴρ φιλόμαστον, 720
ἐν βιότου προτελείοις
ἅμερον, εὐφιλόπαιδα

καὶ γεραροῖς ἐπίχαρτον.

704 sq. ἤνυσεν H.: ἤλασε codd. ἀτίμωσιν Canter: ἀτίμως ἵν᾽ f, ἀτίμως ἢ.
715 τἄμπροσθ᾽ ἡ (πάμπροσθ᾽ ἡ Hermann) H.: παμπρόσθη codd. 718 sq. λέοντος
ἵνιν Conington: λέοντα σίνιν codd. 719 54. ἀγάλακτα βούτας Wecklein: ἀγάλακτον
οὗτος (vel οὕτως) codd,

ATAMEMNQN

ΠΡ

But unbent Wrath abiding
Works her will to render
That so dear alliance
All too dear for Troy ;
That scorn of high Zeus guarding
The shared Home’s friendly Table
Wrath in her season visits
On all that uttered joy,—
All that once in gay carousal
Bride with Hymen fain would honour,
Hymen, when the time of spousal
Bade them heap their praise upon her—
Ah, but at this time,
Though late the lesson, wiser grown
With age-long suffering of her own
Sons’ blood so lamentably shed,
That ancient City loud, I ween,
Laments with practice-perfect Zhrene,

“Ὁ Paris evil-wed !’

| bas fe
A young babe Lion, still at breast,

Was home once by a Herdsman borne,
Housed beneath roof among the rest

And reared there; in his early morn
And first of age, all gentle, mild,

Youth’s darling, the delight of Eld;

99

ist anti-
strophe.

2nd
strophe.

avr. β΄.

στρ. γ΄.

100 AEX VINO:
πολέα δ᾽ ἔσχ᾽ ἐν ἀγκάλαις
νεοτρόφου τέκνου δίκαν 728
φαιδρωπὸν ποτὶ χεῖρα σαί.

ΨΟΡνΡΤα γαστρὸς ἀνάγκαις.

χρονισθεὶς δ᾽ ἀπέδειξεν ἡ--
θος τὸ πρὸς τοκέων: χάριν
γὰρ τροφᾶς ἀμείβων 730
, »
μηλοφόνοισιν αταις
a? > / »
δαῖτ ἀκέλευστος erTeveev:
αἵματι δ᾽ οἶκος ἐφύρθη,
», »»»Μ > /
ἄμαχον αλγος οἰκέταις,
, ’ὔ /
μέγα σίνος πολυκτόνον'" 735
ἐκ θεοῦ δ᾽ ἱερεύς τις ἴΑ-

τας δόμοις προσεθρέφθη.

πάραυτα δ᾽ ἐλθεῖν ἐς Ἰλίου πόλιν

λέγοιμ᾽ ἂν φρόνημα μὲν νηνέμου γαλάνας,
ἀκασκαῖον « δ᾽ -- ἄγαλμα πλούτου, 740
μαλθακὸν ὀμμάτων βέλος,

δηξίθυμον ἔρωτος ἄνθος.

παρακλίνασ᾽ ἐπέκρανεν

δὲ γάμου πικρὰς τελευτᾶς,

δύσεδρος καὶ δυσόμιλος 745
συμένα ΤΙριαμίδαισιν,

πομπᾶι Διὸς ξενίου,

νυμφόκλαυτος “Epwvs.

726 sq. φαιδρωπὸν... σαίνοντα Auratus: φαιδρωπὸς...σαίνων τε codd. 728 sq.
ἦθος Conington: ἔθος codd. 734 ἄμαχον δ᾽ [. 737 προσεθρέφθη Heath:

προσετράφη codd. 740 δ᾽ add. Porson.

bt

=

ATAMEMNQN

And ofttimes, like a nursling child,
In arms with happy love was held,
While the weak flesh, demure and bland,

With fawning wooed the fostering hand.

1715:

But age grown ripe, his humour showed
The born touch that his parents had ;
Thank-offering when his nurture owed,
A banquet, ere the master bade,
With such wild slaughter he prepared,
It sluiced the dwelling foul with gore,
While helpless, all aghast, they stared
Upon that bloody mischief sore :—
Divine Will there had found him room,

Housed, to be Priest of slaughtering Doom.

ΠΡ

Likewise, arriving once in Ilium town
What languorous gentleness was seen!
Tranquillest Pearl to shine in Riches’ crown,
With Calm’s own soul serene ;
Eyes to send arrowy softness winging fire ;

Loveliness torturing with the heart’s desire.

Then from that Heaven away she fell,
Transformed into a Fiend of Hell:
Launched upon Priam’s house to bring
Curse with her sweet companioning ;
God’s Vengeance, in his conduct led
With ruth about her bridal bed

And tears for widowed wives to shed!

IO!

2nd anti-
strophe.

3rd
strophe.

‘

102 AIZXYAOY

dvr. γ΄. παλαίφατος δ᾽ ev βροτοῖς γέρων λόγος
τέτυκται, μέγαν τελεσθέντα φωτὸς ὄλβον 750°
τεκνοῦσθαι μηδ᾽ ἄπαιδα θνήισκειν,
3 ᾽ 5 A 4 /
ἐκ δ᾽ ἀγαθᾶς τύχας γένει
βλαστάνειν ἀκόρεστον οἰζύν.

δίχα δ᾽ ἄλλων μονόφρων εἰ-

σι

μί: τὸ δυσσεβὲς γὰρ ἔργον 75
Ν Ν / F;
μετὰ μὲν πλείονα τίκτει,
, 5 5 / /
σφετέραι δ᾽ εἰκότα γένναι"
3, Ν 5 ’
οἴκων γὰρ εὐθυδίκων
4 ’ὔ ch ts
καλλίπαις πότμος αἰεί.
στρ. δ΄. φιλεῖ δὲ τίκτειν Ὕβρις μὲν παλαιὰ νεά- 760
ζουσαν ἐν κακοῖς βροτῶν
Ὕβριν τότ᾽ ἢ Tol, ὅτε τὸ κύριον μόληι
βαθύσκοτον
/ / ” 5 ’,
δαίμονα τίταν ἄμαχον, ἀπόλεμον,
5 ἣν ’ ’
ἀνίερον θράσος μελαί-
νας μελάθροισιν ἄτας, 765

> A
εἰδομέναν τοκεῦσιν.

ἀντ. δ΄. Δίκα δὲ λάμπει μὲν ἐν δυσκάπνοις δώμασιν,
Ν 3 5 , ,
τὸν δ᾽ ἐναίσιμον τίει"
Ν ’ὔ > ¥ Ν , la)
τὰ χρυσόπαστα δ᾽ ἔδεθλα σὺν πίνωι χερῶν
παλιντρόποις
ὄμμασι λιποῦσ᾽ ὅσια προσέφατο 77°
΄ > / 4
δύναμιν ov σέβουσα πλού-
του παράσημον αἴνωι:

“A > 5 Ν / la
TT AV ὃ ετι τέρμα VO@ILAL.

755 δυσσεβὲς yap Pauw: γὰρ δυσσεβὲς codd. 762 ὅτε Klausen: ὅταν codd.
763 βαθύσκοτον (Maehly)...riray (Heimsoeth): νεαρὰ φάους κότον...τε τὸν codd.
765 μελάθροις f. 768 τίει βίον codd.: corr. H. L. Ahrens. 769 ἔδεθλα
Auratus: ἐσθλὰ codd. 770 προσέφατο Tucker: προσέβα τοῦ codd.

ATAMEMNQN 103
ΠῚ
There is an ancient proverb men will preach 3rd anti-
As framed by wisdom of old time, strophe.

That prosperous Fortune, let him only reach
To full estate and prime,

Hath issue, dies not childless; waxen so,

Weal for his heir begets unsated Woe.

But single in the world I hold

A doctrine different from the old:
Not Weal it is, but Sinful Deed
More sinners after him doth breed
Formed in his image; none the less
Doth lovely offspring always bless
The house that follows Righteousness.

Vie

Old Insolence in the evil sort of men 4th
Young Insolence will gender, then or then, SHORUS
When dawns the appointed hour, a Fiend of gloom

For penance, violent, unwithstood,

Flushed with such reckless Hardihood

That sin’s dark ruinous Doom

In black storm on the roof shall rage,—

The latter offspring like his parentage.

IW 2:

But Righteousness to the upright heart inclines ; 4th anti-
Bright beneath smoky rafters her light shines: scenes
Gilt-spangled halls, where hands guilt-spotted are,

Swift with averted eyes forsakes,

Thence to the pure her blessing takes,

To that false lauded star,

The Power of Riches, will not bend,

But guideth all things to their proper end.

104 AIZXYAOY

aye δή, βασιλεῦ, Τροίας πτολίπορθ᾽,
᾿Ατρέως γένεθλον,

-τ
~
cL

TOS TE προσείπω; πῶς σε σεβίζω
2» ε / 4p ε 4
μήθ᾽ ὑπεράρας μήθ᾽ ὑποκάμψας
καιρὸν χάριτος;
πολλοὶ δὲ βροτῶν τὸ δοκεῖν εἶναι
προτίουσι δίκην παραβάντες. 780
τῶι δυσπραγοῦντι δ᾽ ἐπιστενάχειν
la 4 “Ὁ: Ν 4
πᾶς τις ἕτοιμος: δῆγμα δὲ λύπης
> \ DESL a
οὐδὲν ἐφ᾽ ἧπαρ προσικνεῖται"
Ν lol
καὶ ξυγχαίρουσιν ὁμοιοπρεπεῖς,
ἀγέλαστα πρόσωπα βιαζόμενοι, 785
9 > 5 Ἂν 2
ὅστις δ᾽ ἀγαθὸς προβατογνώμων,
> », fa) ἊΝ 4
οὐκ ἔστι λαθεῖν ὄμματα φωτός,
Ν A“ 5 + 5 ’
τὰ δοκοῦντ᾽ εὔφρονος ἐκ διανοίας
ὑδαρεῖ σαίνει φιλότητι.
Ν , / Ν , N
σὺ δέ μοι τότε μὲν στέλλων στρατιὰν 790
ε , ν > > 5» ’ὔ
Ελένης ἐνεκ᾽, οὐκ ἐπικεύσω,
κάρτ᾽ ἀπομούσως ἦσθα γεγραμμένος
> > > / » ,
οὐδ᾽ εὖ πραπίδων οἴακα νέμων,
θάρσος ἑκούσιον
ἀνδράσι θνήισκουσι κομίζων. 795
νῦν δ᾽ οὐκ am ἄκρας φρενὸς οὐδ᾽ ἀφίλως
« ἔστιν ἐπειπεῖν >

ἐς τ ΄ 5 , ”
εὔφρων πόνος εὖ τελέσασιν.

774 πτολίπορθ᾽ Blomfield: πολίπορθ᾽ codd. 782 δῆγμα Stob. fl. 112, 12
et h: δεῦγμα f. 785 post hunc versum lacunam indicavit Hermann. 789 σαίνει
Casaubon: σαίνειν codd. 791 οὐκ ἐπικεύσω Hermann: οὐ yap ἐπικεύσω codd.
794 θράσος f. 797 ἔστιν ἐπειπεῖν supplevit H.

4

ATAMEMNQN 105

. [Enter AGAMEMNON 77 a four-wheeled travelling-waggon drawn by
mules; followed presently by another containing, among other
spoils, CASSANDRA; who throughout this scene and through the

: chorus following tt continues motionless and silent but tn view.

CHORUS.

Come O thou conqueror, my King,

What praise, what homage can I bring

Not to be scanty nor outwing
Thy pleasure with my style?

Too many in this world, we know,

Practise rather outward show,
Dishonest arts of guile:

All men for a man’s distress

Have apt sighs ready,—never smart

Of sorrow going near the heart ;

And as rejoiced in happiness

With formal fashion they constrain
The lips into a smile:— _

But him that can discern his flock

The eves that flatter shall not mock,

Fond affection when they feign
That lukewarm is the while.

Thou, when levying armament

In cause of Helen, didst present—
I will not cloke it—then

A picture to these aged eyes

Deformed in most unlovely guise,—

The handling of thy helm not wise,

Recovery at such dear expense

To purchase—willing Impudence
At cost of dying men :—

But now no glozer or false friend

Am I, pronouncing Happy end
Makes happy labourers.

106 AIZXYAOY

4 Ν , /
yvoone δὲ χβονωιΐι διαπευθόμενος
’ ’ Ν Ν > ,
ΠΟ The δικαίως και TOV ακαιρως

/ > na n
πόλιν οιἰκουρουντα πολιτῶν. foo

ATAMEMNON.

~ \ » Ν Ν 39 ,
πρῶτον μὲν Apyos καὶ θεοὺς ἐγχωρίους
δίκη προσειπεῖν, τοὺς ἐμοὶ μεταιτίους
νόστου δικαίων θ᾽ ὧν ἐπραξάμην πόλιν
Πριάμου: δίκας γὰρ οὐκ ἀπὸ γλώσσης θεοὶ
κλύοντες ἀνδροθνῆτας ᾿Ιλίου φθορὰς 805
ἐς αἱματηρὸν τεῦχος οὐ διχορρόπως

4 » nw 53 5 ’ ’ὔ
ψήφους ἔθεντο: τῶι δ᾽ ἐναντίωι κύτει
5 Ν 4 Ν 5 /
ἐλπὶς προσήιει χειρὸς OV πληρουμένωι.

A 5 ε “ “ὦ » 9 » ,
καπνῶι δ᾽ ἁλοῦσα νῦν ἔτ᾽ εὔσημος πόλις.
ἄτης θύελλαι ζῶσι: συνθνήισκουσα δὲ 810
Ν ΄ ’ 4 4

σποδὸς προπέμπει πίονας πλούτου πνοάς.
τούτων θεοῖσι χρὴ πολύμνηστον χάριν
τίνειν, ἐπείπερ χἁρπαγὰς ὑπερκόπους
» , Ν ἊΝ ν
ἐπραξάμεσθα καὶ γυναικὸς εἵνεκα
πόλιν διημάθυνεν ᾿Αργεῖον δάκος, 815
ν / > / ,
ἵππου νεοσσός, ἀσπιδηφόρος λεώς,
πήδημ᾽ ὀρούσας ἀμφὶ Πλειάδων δύσιν"
ε Ν Ν 4 5» Ν ,
ὑπερθορὼν δὲ πύργον ὠμηστὴς λέων

A » oY “A
ἄδην ἔλειξεν αἵματος τυραννικοῦ.

805 φθορᾶς Dobree. 810 θυηλαὶ Hermann. 813 xaprayas Tyrwhitt :
kal πάγας codd. | ὑπερκόπους Heath: ὑπερκότους codd. 814 οὕνεκα codd.
816 ἀσπιδηφόρος Blomfield: ἀσπιδηστρόφος f, ἀσπιδοστρόφος h.

ATAMEMNQN 107

Thy question in due time shall tell
Among this people which doth well

In stewardship, which errs.

AGAMEMNON.

To Argos first and to the country’s Gods

Belongs my duty, that have aided me

To my return and justice we have done

Upon the town of Priam: when they heard

The unvoiced cause in heaven, with one consent

They cast into the urn of blood their ea

For perishing waste of Troy: to the other urn

Hope of the filling hand came ever nigh,—

Unfilled. The city’s capture even now

Shows manifest by the smoke; death vigorous yet

In Doom’s fierce hurricane’, the expiring ash

Pants forth his opulent breath in puffs of Wealth.
Behoves us therefore render unto Heaven

Most memorable return, since we have wreaked

Our ample vengeance for an arrogant rape ;

A whole town for a woman’s sake hath been

Laid desolate in the dust by our fierce brood,

Hatched of a Horse in armed swarm, that sprang

About the sinking of the Pleiades,

And o’er the ramparts like a ravening Lion

Salient hath lapped his fill of soveran blood.

Or ‘life smouldering yet,

In Doom’s burnt sacrifice,... .ἢ

108

822 ταὐτὰ Auratus: ταῦτα codd.
38, 28.

AIZXYAOY

θεοῖς μὲν ἐξέτεινα φροίμιον τόδε:
ἵν 35 N \ , , ,
τὰ δ᾽ ἐς TO σὸν φρόνημα μέμνημαι κλύων,
Ν Ν > Ἂς Ν , / > ¥
καὶ φημὶ ταὐτὰ καὶ συνήγορόν μ᾽ ἔχεις"
παύροις γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ἐστι συγγενὲς τόδε,
4 lanl
φίλον τὸν εὐτυχοῦντ᾽ ἄνευ φθόνου σέβειν"
δύ Ν 2\ , ΄
ύὕσφρων γὰρ ἰὸς καρδίαν προσήμενος
» , lal / /
ἄχθος διπλοίζει Tat πεπαμένωι νόσον"
A 3 5 Ἂς ε la) , /
τοῖς T αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ πήμασιν βαρύνεται
Ν \ La) yy 5 lan 4
καὶ Tov θυραῖον ὄλβον εἰσορῶν στένει.
5 Ν / 5 Ν io \ 5» ip
εἰδὼς λέγοιμ᾽ av, εὖ yap ἐξεπίσταμαι
ε / ’ὔὕ x wn
ὁμιλίας κάτοπτρον, εἴδωλον σκιᾶς
δοκοῦντας εἶναι κάρτα πρευμενεῖς ἐμοί.
/ 3.9 7 ν > ε Ν 4
μόνος δ᾽ ᾿Οδυσσεύς, ὅσπερ οὐχ ἑκὼν ἔπλει,
ἊΝ Ψ > > \ ΄ὔ
ζευχθεὶς ἕτοιμος ἢν ἐμοὶ σειραφόρος"
"5 > ΄ ¥ N A ΄
eit οὖν θανόντος εἴτε καὶ ζῶντος πέρι
λέγω-- τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα πρὸς πόλιν τε καὶ θεούς,
κοινοὺς ἀγῶνας θέντες ἐν πανηγύρει
J Ν Ν \ a »
βουλευσόμεσθα: καὶ τὸ μὲν καλῶς EXOV
Ψ , > A ΄
ὅπως χρονίζον εὖ μενεῖ βουλευτέον"
Ψ Ν Ν a“ ΄ ’
ὅτωι δὲ καὶ δεῖ φαρμάκων παιωνίων,
» ΄ὔ “ἡ / > /
ἤτοι κέαντες ἢ τεμόντες εὐφρόνως
΄, GY ot) > / ΄
πειρασόμεσθα πῆμ᾽ ἀποστρέψαι νόσου.
νῦν δ᾽ ἐς μέλαθρα καὶ δόμους ἐφεστίους
ἐλθὼν θεοῖσι πρῶτα δεξιώσομαι,
7 / , » ’ὔ
οἵπερ πρόσω πέμψαντες ἤγαγον πάλιν.

΄ ν > ΄
νίκη δ᾽ ἐπείπερ ἕσπετ᾽, ἐμπέδως μένοι.

820

825

830

840

845

πήματος τρέψαι νόσον codd.

B24 φθόνου τι: φθόνων f: ψόγου Stob. 72.
826 πεπαμμενω (-w) codd. 841 πῆμ᾽ ἀποστρέψαι νόσου Porson:

ATAMEMNQN 109

To Heaven this lengthened preface.—For your thought
(Remembered in my ear), I say the same;
You have me of your counsel; few indeed
Are they with whom ’tis nature to admire
A friend’s good fortune with unjealous eyes:
Malignant venom settling at the heart
Distempers, and the sick man’s burden makes
Twice heavy; labouring with his own distress
He groans the more for others’ blessedness.
By knowledge, proven in companionship’s
True mirror, ghost of a shadow 1 can term
Some seeming-absolute devotion to me :—
Only Odysseus, that was loth to sail,
Being harnessed, pulled beside me loyally ;
Whether alive he be or whether dead
The while I speak.....

For the rest, as touching
Affairs of policy and of religion,
A congress we shall summon, and debate
In full assemblage. Our debate must be
How what is healthy may persist in health;
Where need appears of wholesome remedies,
We shall endeavour to remove the mischief
By sage employ of knife or cautery.

Now to our palace hearth and home we pass,

First to give salutation to the Gods
That sent us and returned. May Victory

Our firm adherent rest in constancy !

110 ALEX YAOY

KA. ἄνδρες πολῖται, πρέσβος ᾿Αργείων τόδε,

οὐκ αἰσχυνοῦμαι τοὺς φιλάνορας τρόπους

λέξαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς: ἐν χρόνωι δ᾽ ἀποφθίνει

Ἂν ’ 53 ’ » ΝΜ ’ὔ

τὸ τάρβος ἀνθρώποισιν. οὐκ ἄλλων πάρα

μαθοῦσ᾽ ἐμαυτῆς δύσφορον λέξω βίον 850
, > [2 @ > e 3, /

τοσόνδ᾽ ὅσονπερ οὗτος ἣν ὑπ᾽ ᾿ἸΙλίωι.

τὸ μὲν γυναῖκα πρῶτον ἄρσενος δίχα

- ,ὕ » » /

ἧσθαι δόμοις ἔρημον ἔκπαγλον κακόν,

πολλὰς κλύουσαν κληδόνας παλιγκότους"

καὶ τὸν μὲν ἥκειν, τὸν δ᾽ ἐπεισφέρειν κακοῦ 855

κάκιον ἄλλο πῆμα λάσκοντας δόμοις.

καὶ τραυμάτων μὲν εἰ τόσων ἐτύγχανεν

ε Χ 7Q> ε Ν > 5 4

ἁνὴρ ὅδ᾽, ὡς πρὸς οἶκον ὠχετεύετο

/ ’ 4 » /,

φάτις, τέτρηται δικτύου πλέω λέγειν.

εἰ δ᾽ ἦν τεθνηκώς, ὡς ἐπλήθυον λόγοι, 860
, , ἊΝ \ ε ,

τρισώματός τἂν Τηρυὼν ὁ δεύτερος
Ν ” Ν , Ἂν 5 id

πολλὴν ἀνωθεν---τὴν κάτω yap ov héyo—

χθονὸς τρίμοιρον χλαῖναν ἐξηύχει λαβών,

ν ε ’ Ν ’ὔ

ἅπαξ ἑκάστωι κατθανὼν μορφώματι.

τοιῶνδ᾽ ἕκατι κληδόνων παλιγκότων 865

πολλὰς ἄνωθεν ἀρτάνας ἐμῆς δέρης

ἔλυσαν ἄλλοι πρὸς βίαν λελιμμένης.

9 A / “ 5 759 » lal

ἐκ τῶνδέ ToL παῖς ἐνθάδ᾽ οὐ παραστατεῖ,

ἐμῶν τε καὶ σῶν κύριος πιστωμάτων,

ὡς χρῆν, ᾿ρέστης: μηδὲ θαυμάσηις τόδε. 870

/ Ν IN 5» Ν 4
τρέφει yap αὐτὸν εὐμενὴς δορύξενος

Στροφίος ὁ Φωκεύς, ἀμφίλεκτα πήματα

854 κληδόνας Auratus: ἡδονὰς codd. 859 τέτρηται H. L. Ahrens: τέτρωται
codd. 860 ἐπλήθυον Porson: ἐπλήθυνον codd. 867 λελιμμένης Blomfield:
λελημμένης codd. 869 πιστωμάτων Spanheim; πιστευμάτων οοα. 872 Στροφίος
habet M in Cho. 675: Στρόφιος codd,

ATAMEMNQN

CLYTAEMNESTRA.

My reverend Elders, worthy citizens,

I shall not blush now to confess before you

My amorous fondness; fear and diffidence

Fade from us all in time. O ’tis not from

Instruction I can tell

The story of my own unhappy life

All the long while my lord lay under Ilium.

First for a woman ’tis a passing trial

To sit forlorn at home with no man present,

Always malignant rumours in her ears,

One bawler tumbling on another's heels

With cruel blows cach heavier than the last :—

Wounds! if my lord had got as many wounds

As rumour channelling to us homeward gave him,

He had been more riddled than a net with holes.

Or had his deaths but tallied with all tales!

He might have been a second Geryon,

Three-bodied, with a triple coverture

Of earth above to boast him—never speak

Of that beneath—one for each several corpse.
By reason of

' These cross malignant rumours, other hands

Full many a time have set my desperate neck

Free from the hanging noose, recovering me

Against my dearest will—Hence too it is

We see not present by our side this day

The child, Orestes, in whose person dwell

The pledges of our love; nor wonder at it;

He rests in keeping of our trusty cousin,

Strophius the Phocian, my forewarner oft

Ι

Be AlL=XTNON

ἐμοὶ προφωνῶν.- τόν θ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ᾿Ιλίωι σέθεν

, » ’ὔ 93 ’

κίνδυνον, εἴ τε δημόθρους ἀναρχία

ν

βουλὴν καταρράψειεν, ὥστε σύγγονον 875
βροτοῖσι τὸν πεσόντα λακτίσαι πλέον.

τοιάδε μέντοι σκῆψις οὐ δόλον φέρει.

¥ 4 \ ΄ > 7

ἔμοιγε μὲν δὴ κλαυμάτων ἐπίσσυτοι

Ν , »Q> ¥ /

πηγαὶ κατεσβήκασιν, οὐδ᾽ ἔνι σταγών.

ἐν ὀψικοίτοις δ᾽ ὄμμασιν βλάβας ἔχω, 880
Ν =) Ν Ν 4 ,

Tas ἀμφὶ σοὶ κλάιουσα λαμπτηρουχίας

> , SEF > 2) 2. ΄

ἀτημελήτους αἰέν. ἐν δ᾽ ὀνείρασιν
λεπταῖς ὑπαὶ κώνωπος ἐξηγειρόμην

ε A 4 5 Ν Ν ’
ῥιπαῖσι θωύσσοντος, ἀμφὶ σοὶ πάθη

ὁρῶσα πλείω τοῦ ξυνεύδοντος χρόνου. 885
lal “ ᾿ VAN > 5 , Ν

νῦν ταῦτα πάντα τλᾶσ᾽, ἀπενθήτωι φρενὶ

λέγοιμ᾽ ἂν ἄνδρα τόνδ᾽ ἐγὼ σταθμῶν κύνα,

σωτῆρα ναὸς πρότονον, ὑψηλῆς στέγης

στῦλον ποδήρη, μονογενὲς τέκνον πατρὶ

καὶ γῆν φανεῖσαν ναυτίλοις παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα. 890
τοιοῖσδέ τοί νιν ἀξιῶ προσφθέγμασιν. 894
φθόνος δ᾽ ἀπέστω: πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ πρὶν κακὰ 805

ἠνειχόμεσθα- νῦν δέ μοι, φίλον κάρα,
¥ > 5 » “A Ν Ν \
exBaw ἀπήνης τῆσδε, μὴ χαμαὶ τιθεὶς
τὸν σὸν πόδ᾽, ὦναξ, ᾿Ιλίου πορθήτορα.

δμωιαί, τί μέλλεθ᾽, αἷς ἐπέσταλται τέλος

πέδον κελεύθου στρωννύναι πετάσμασιν; goo

875 καταρράψειεν Scaliger: καταρρίψειεν codd. 880 κλάβας f. 891 sqq.
κάλλιστον ἦμαρ εἰσιδεῖν ἐκ χείματος, | ὁδοιπόρωι διψῶντι πηγαῖον ῥέος" | τερπνὸν δὲ
τἀναγκαῖον ἐκφυγεῖν ἅπαν delevit H., vv. 886---803 eiecerat Dindorf. 894 τοί
vw Schuetz: τοίνυν codd. 898 ἄναξ f | πορθήτορος Valckenaer ad Eur,

Phoen. 1518.

ATAMEMNQN

Of danger on two scores,—thy jeopardy
At Troy, and fear of popular tumult hatching
‘Plots in the lack of master, as ’tis common
When the man’s down the more to trample on him:
Under which showing lies no trace of guile.

For me, the gushing fountains of my tears
Are e’en dried up, there’s not a drop now left;
And my late-rested eyes have suffered hurt
From weeping o’er the lanterns lit for thee
That still were unregarded. If I slept,
The puniest whining of a pulsing gnat
Would rouse me from beholding in my dreams
More accidents to thee than could befall
Within the time that was my bedfellow.

Now, after all this borne, with heart unpined
I hail my lord, safe watchdog of the fold,
Main forestay of the ship, firm-footed pillar
Bearing the roof up, sole-born child vouchsafed
To father, to the wave-tossed seaman, land!
From these my honouring words of courtesy
Envy keep far! The sorrows formerly
Are plenty we have suffered—Now, dear my lord,
Descend,—but set not on the humble ground
Thy princely foot, this trampler upon Troy.—
Come, women, your best haste, perform your office ;

Pave the triumphal path with tapestry !

114 AIZXYAOY

3 Ν , 7 /
εὐθὺς γενέσθω πορφυρόστρωτος πόρος,
> a > ¥ ε ΕΝ «ε A /
ἐς δῶμ᾽ ἄελπτον ws av ἡγῆται δίκη.
τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα φροντὶς οὐχ ὕπνωι νικωμένη
θήσει δικαίως, σὺν θεοῖς, θυμάρμενα.
AT. Λήδας γένεθλον, δωμάτων ἐμῶν φύλαξ, 905
ἀπουσίαι μὲν εἶπας εἰκότως ἐμῆι"
Ν Ν 5, > > > ,
μακρὰν yap ἐξέτεινας: ἀλλ᾽ ἐναισίμως
5 A 3. ᾿, \ 7» » /
αἰνεῖν, Tap ἄλλων χρὴ τόδ᾽ ἔρχεσθαι γέρας.
Ν Ἂ Ν ἊΝ > 4 > \
καὶ Taha μὴ γυναικὸς ἐν τρόποις ἐμέ
aBpuve, μηδὲ βαρβάρου φωτὸς δίκην gio
χαμαιπετὲς βόαμα προσχάνηις ἐμοί,
μηδ᾽ εἵμασι στρώσασ᾽ ἐπίφθονον πόρον
τίθει" θεούς τοι τοῖσδε τιμαλφεῖν χρεών,
ἐν ποικίλοις δὲ θνητὸν ὄντα κάλλεσιν
βαίνειν ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδαμῶς ἄνευ φόβου. 915
λέγω κατ᾽ ἄνδρα, μὴ θεόν, σέβειν ἐμέ.
Ν / Ν A ,
χωρὶς ποδοψήστρων τε Kal τῶν ποικίλων
\ > “a \ Ν Ν “ “
κληδὼν ἀυτεῖ: καὶ τὸ μὴ κακῶς φρονεῖν
θεοῦ μέγιστον δῶρον: ὀλβίσαι δὲ χρὴ
βίον τελευτήσαντ᾽ ἐν εὐεστοῖ φίληι. 920
εν 7935 c , 3 δ 3 Ν 5 ie
εἶπον τάδ᾽ ws πράσσοιμ᾽ ἂν εὐθαρσὴς ἐγώ.
KA. καὶ μὴν τόδ᾽ εἰπέ, μὴ παρὰ γνώμην, ἐμοί---
AT. γνώμην μὲν ἴσθι μὴ διαφθεροῦντ᾽ ἐμέ.
ΚΛ. ηὔξω θεοῖς δείσας ἂν ὧδ᾽ ἔρξειν τάδε;
AT. εἴπερ τις εἰδώς γ᾽ εὖ τόδ᾽ ἐξεῖπεν τέλος. 925

> ἃ A 3 > 3,
ΚΛ. τί δ᾽ ἂν δοκεῖ σοι Πρίαμος, εἰ τάδ᾽ ἤνυσεν;

904 θυμάρμενα H.: εἱμαρμένα codd. 921 εἶπον τάδ᾽ ws Weil: εἰ πάντα δ᾽ ὡς
codd. 924 épiew H.: ἔρδειν codd. 925 ἐξεῖπεν Auratus: ἐξεῖπον codd.
926 δοκεῖ Stanley: δοκῆ (δοκῆι) codd,

ATAMEMNON 11s

Straight let a purple road be laid, and so

Let Justice lead him to his undreamed home!
The rest in fashion just with Heaven’s consent
Vigilance awake shall order to content.

AGAMEMNON.

Offspring of Leda, guardian of my house,
Thy speeck befits our absence,—its proportion
Having been lengthened; but becoming praise,
That is a tribute should proceed from others.
Moreover, womanize me thus no more,
Nor fawn me, as I were an Eastern wight,
With grovelling Oes and clamour ;Vneither strew
Robes on the earth, to call down jealousy.
These.are the glorious honours that belong
To Gods \/but human feet on broideries—
‘Tis in my conscience fearful. Let your homage
Yield to me not the measure of a God,
But of a man; the sound on Rumour’s tongue
Rings different far of mats and broideries.
A modest mind’s the greatest gift of Heaven.
The name fe/zcity’s to keep till men
Have made an end in blessing.—I have said
How I will act herein to feel no dread.

CLtyT. Tell me now, of your honest mind,—

AGAM. My mind
Is fixed, and shall not shake.
CLYT. —in hour of peril

Would you have made performance of this act
A promised vow to Heaven?

AGAM. Aye, had advised
Authority prescribed that holy service.

CLYT. So; and what think you Priamus had done

If this achievement had been his?

8—2

116 AIZXYAOY

AT. ἐν ποικίλοις ἂν κάρτα μοι βῆναι δοκεῖ.
KA. μή νυν τὸν ἀνθρώπειον αἰδεσθῆις ψόγον.
AT. φήμη γε μέντοι δημόθρους μέγα σθένει.
ΚΛ. ὁ δ᾽ ἀφθόνητός γ᾽ οὐκ ἐπίζηλος πέλει. 930
AL. οὔτοι γυναικός ἐστιν ἱμείρειν μάχης.
ΚΛ. τοῖς δ᾽ ὀλβίοις γε καὶ τὸ νικᾶσθαι πρέπει.
AT. ἢ καὶ σὺ νίκην τήνδε δήριος τίεις;
ΚΛ. πιθοῦ: κρατεῖς μέντοι παρεὶς ἑκὼν ἐμοί.
AT. ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δοκεῖ σοι ταῦθ᾽, ὑπαί τις ἀρβύλας 935
λύοι τάχος, πρόδουλον ἔμβασιν ποδός,
καὶ τοῖσδέ μ᾽ ἐμβαίνονθ᾽ ἁλουργέσιν θεῶν
μή τις πρόσωθεν ὄμματος βάλοι φθόνος:
πολλὴ γὰρ αἰδὼς δωματοφθορεῖν ποσὶν
φθείροντα πλοῦτον ἀργυρωνήτους θ᾽ ὑφάς. 940
τοὐμὸν μὲν οὕτω: τὴν ἕένην δὲ πρευμενῶς
/ 5 5 ,ὔ QA » ~ j
τήνδ᾽ ἐσκόμιζε: τὸν κρατοῦντα μαλθακῶς
θεὸς πρόσωθεν εὐμενῶς προσδέρκεται"
[2 Ἂν Ν 3 Ν 74 “ Lal
ἑκὼν yap οὐδεὶς δουλίωι χρῆται ζυγῶι,
ν Ν ~ ’, 5 7
αὕτη δὲ πολλῶν χρημάτων ἐξαίρετον 945
¥ lal , 3 5 Ν ,
ἄνθος, στρατοῦ δώρημ᾽, ἐμοὶ ξυνέσπετο.
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀκούειν σοῦ κατέστραμμαι τάδε,
εἶμ᾽ ἐς δόμων μέλαθρα πορφύρας πατῶν.
ΚΛ. ἔστιν θάλασσα, τίς δέ νιν κατασβέσει;
/ A , 3 ’ὔ
τρέφουσα πολλῆς πορφύρας ἰσάργυρον 950

A , ε , 4 4
κηκῖδα παγκαίνιστον, εἱμάτων βαφάς

928 αἰδεσθεὶς f, αἰδεσθῆς h. 984 κρατεῖς... παρείς γ᾽ Weil, γ᾽ del. Wecklein:
κράτος... πάρες γ᾽ codd. 939 δωματοφθορεῖν Schuetz: σωματοφθορεῖν codd.
941 τοὐμὸν Emperius: τούτων codd, 950 ἰσάργυρον Salmasius: els ἄργυρον

codd.

ATAMEMNOQN [17

AGAM. Oh, he
Had marched upon embroidered tapestry,
I make no doubt.

Cia Tt. For Auman censure then
Have never a scruple.

AGAM. Yet the tongues of men
Are potent.

CLYT. He that moves no jealousy
Lies beneath envying.

AGAM. ‘Tis not womanly
To thirst for contest!

CEYT: But felicity
Is graced in being conquered.

AGAM. And thine eyes,

Do ¢hey account such ‘conquest’ as a prize?
CLyT. O waive the right and yield! Of your own will
Choose to be vanquished, you are victor still.
AGAM. Well, if you must, let presently be loosed
The shoes that do the service of my feet.
[A slave untlooses his shoes.
And as they tread these purple things, I pray,
No jealous eye may strike me from afar!
I have much conscience to be prodigal
In squandering Wealth of silver-purchased woofs.
Thus much for me:—now lead this damsel in

[Showing Cassandra.

With kindliness; the eye of Heaven regards

A gentle master with benignity :

None wears the slave’s yoke of his will, and she

Comes by the army’s tribute in my train

As rarest blossom out of all our spoil.

—So then, being bound and subject to thy pleasure,

Trampling upon purples I will go.

[He proceeds slowly on the purple path towards the palace.

CLy?. There is the sea—shall any stanch it up?—

Still breeding, for its worth of silver weight,

Abundant stain, freshly renewable,

118 AIZXYAOY

οἶκος δ᾽ ὑπάρχει τῶνδε σὺν θεοῖς, ἀναξ,

¥ / 3 3 5 , ,

ἔχειν" πένεσθαι δ᾽ οὐκ ἐπίσταται δόμος.

πολλῶν πατησμὸν δ᾽ εἱμάτων ἂν ηὐξάμην,

δόμοισι προυνεχθέντος ἐν χρηστηρίοις 955
ψυχῆς κόμιστρα τῆσδε μηχανωμένηι.

ῥίζης γὰρ οὔσης φυλλὰς ἵκετ᾽ ἐς δόμους,

σκιὰν ὑπερτείνασα σειρίου κυνός.

καὶ σοῦ μολόντος δωματῖτιν ἑστίαν,

θάλπος μὲν ἐν χειμῶνι σημαίνει μολόν᾽ 962
9 Ν ᾽ὔ ΓΞ , 5 > > + lal

ὅταν δὲ τεύχηι Ζεύς γ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ὄμφακος πικρᾶς

οἶνον, τότ᾽ ἤδη ψῦχος ἐν δόμοις πέλει

5 Ν , “A 3 5 fd

ἀνδρὸς τελείου δῶμ᾽ ἐπιστρωφωμένου.

Ζεῦ Ζεῦ τέλειε, τὰς ἐμὰς εὐχὰς τέλει:

μέλοι δέ τοι σοὶ τῶνπερ ἂν μέλληις τελεῖν. 965

στρ. «΄. ΧΟ. τίπτε μοι τόδ᾽ ἐμπεδως

δεῖμα προστατήριον

καρδίας τερασκόπου ποτᾶται,

μαντιπολεῖ δ᾽ ἀκέλευστος ἄμισθος ἀοιδά,

οὐδ᾽ ἀποπτύσας δίκαν 970
δυσκρίτων ὀνειράτων,

θάρσος εὐπειθὲς ἵζει

φρενὸς φίλον θρόνον; χρόνος δ᾽ ἐπεὶ

πρυμνησίων ξυνεμβολὰς

ψαμμὰς ἀκτὰ παρή- 915
φησεν, εὖθ᾽ ὑπ᾽’ Ἴλιον

ὦρτο ναυβάτας στρατός.

954 δ᾽ εἱμάτων Canter: δειμάτων codd. 956 μηχανωμένη: Abresch: μηχανω-
μένης codd. 960 σημαίνει Karsten: σημαίνεις codd. | μολόν H. Voss: μολών codd.
961 γ᾽ ἀπ’ Stanley: ram’ f, τ᾽ ἄπ᾽ h. 963 ἐπιστρωφωμένου Victorius: ἐπιστρεφω-
μένου f, ἐπιστροφωμένου h. 967 δεῖγμα f. 972 εὐπειθὲς Jacob: εὐπιθὲς codd. |
ἵζει Scaliger: ἵξει vel ἴξει codd. 974 ξυνεμβολὰς H.: EveuBdroscodd. 975 sq.
ψαμμὰς H. (ψαμμὶς H. L. Ahrens): ψαμμίας codd, | axra (vel dya) H. L. Ahrens:
ἀκάτα f, ἀκάτας ἢ | παρήφησεν H.: παρήβησεν codd.

ides

AFAMEMNQN

For purpling robes withal: nay, Heaven be praised,
The house, my lord, affords us plenty such ;

’Tis not acquainted yet with penury.

I had vowed the trampling of a thousand robes,
Had the oracles enjoined it when I sought

Means for recovery of a life so precious!

Still from the living root the mantling green
Against the Dog-star spreads a leafy screen,—

So thou returning to thine hearth and home,
Warmth as in winter cries Behold me come!

119

Aye and when mellowing Zeus makes ripe and sweet

Wine from the young grape’s bitter, cool in heat

Reigns within walls where moves the man complete :—

[As Agamemnon goes in.

O Zeus Completer, now complete my prayer,
Completion of thy plans be now thy care!

CHORUS.
eer

Still not shifting :—wherefore yet

Hovereth so persistent set

Before my boding heart this haunting fear?

While ever in mine ear

Music unbid sounds a prophetic drone:

What ails me that I cannot say,

As to a riddling dream, ‘Away!’

And seat Assurance firm upon my bosom’s throne?

The time is past, and fully past,
When seaward from the sandy shore
Came following home with furrowed score
The long ropes’ mooring-cast,
When from the land our gathered host
Loosed for the war and Ilium’s coast.

[ Exit.

Ist
strophe.

120 AIZXYAOY

> , ’ὔ > 5 3 5» ,
dvr. α΄. πεύθομαι δ᾽ am ὀμμάτων
νόστον, αὐτόμαρτυς ὦν"
τὸν δ᾽ ἄνευ λύρας ὅμως ὑμνωιδεῖ 980
θρῆνον “Epwvos αὐτοδίδακτος ἔσωθεν
θυμός, οὐ τὸ πᾶν ἔχων
ἐλπίδος φίλον θράσος.
, > » ,
σπλάγχνα δ᾽ οὔτοι ματαίιζει,
πρὸς ἐνδίκοις φρεσὶν τελεσφόροις 985
δίναις κυκώμενον κέαρ.
» > > 3 A
εὔχομαι δ᾽ ἐξ ἐμᾶς
ἐλπίδος ψύθη πεσεῖν

ἐς τὸ μὴ τελεσφόρον.

στρ. β΄. μάλα γάρ τοι τᾶς πολλᾶς ὑγιείας 990

ἀκόρεστον τέρμα. νόσος γὰρ

γείτων ὁμότοιχος ἐρείδει"

καὶ πότμος εὐθυπορῶν

> Ν » »»

ἀνδρὸς ἔπαισεν < ἄφνω

δυστυχίας πρὸς -- ἄφαντον ἕρμα.

καὶ πρὸ μέν τι χρημάτων 995
, A Ν

κτησίων ὄκνος βαλὼν
᾽ὔ 3 > 39 ,ὔὕ

σφενδόνας am εὐμέτρου---

> »Ἄ᾽ 4 ,
οὐκ ἔδυ πρόπας δόμος

πημονᾶς γέμων ἄγαν,

980 ὅμως Auratus: ὅπως codd. 981 ᾿Ερινύος Porson: ἐριννὺς codd.
986 κυκώμενον H.: κυκλούμενον codd. 988 ψύθη Stephanus: ψύδη codd.
991 γὰρ <del> Blomfield. 994 ἄφνω πολλάκι δὴ πρὸς postea ἄφνω δυστυχίας
lacunae explendae causa supplevit ΕἸ. L. Ahrens. 995 πρὸ μέν τι Enger: τὸ μὲν
πρὸ codd. 999 πημονᾶς Victorius: πημονὰς codd.

—

ATAMEMNQN 121

2
Now by mine own eyes I learn, 1st anti-
Mine own witness, their return ; ee
Yet none the less my soul within me still
With all-unprompted skill
Dolorous her descant endless doth intone,
Murmuring in the dismal gloom
Dirge of angry Spirits’ doom,
And cannot call sweet Hope’s fair confidence her own.
And Truth is in this troubled sea;
The heart within my bosom whirled
Is tossed with Omen, dashes hurled
Ashore on Verity !—
God send that all may false my thought
And be to unfulfilment brought! »
ΠῚ τ’
Health, to largeness growing, will not rest ond

τατος ΟῚ ᾿ strophe.
Safe within limit; yet the verge is pressed

By neighbour Sickness, one thin wall between:

Ships in full career and fates alike

In prosperous weather unawares will strike
Upon a reef unseen.

Yet if but Caution scrupulous fling

Wealth by the board with timely swing

Of Measure’s tempered sling,—

With harm-fraught overcharge unfilled,

No foundering of the fabric’s build ;

[23 AIZXYAOY

> > 5» / ’
οὐδ᾽ ἐπόντισε σκάφος" 1000
πολλά Tor δόσις ἐκ Διὸς ἀμφιλα-

΄, Ν I 9 ΄, 3 a
φής τε Kat ἐξ ἀλόκων ἐπετειᾶν

a »ν 4
νῆστιν ἤλασεν νόσον.

ἀντ. β΄. τὸ δ᾽ ἐπὶ γᾶν πεσὸν ἅπαξ θανάσιμον
, > \ / ey ΄ Ἂ
πρόπαρ ἀνδρὸς μέλαν αἷμα τίς ἂν 1005

πάλιν ἀγκαλέσαιτ᾽ ἐπαείδων;
οὐδὲ τὸν ὀρθοδαὴ

font ἋΣ 5 72
τῶν φθιμένων ἀνάγειν
Ζεὺς ἀπέπαυσεν ἐπ᾽ ἀβλαβείαι;

> Ν Ν »»
εἰ δὲ μὴ τεταγμένα ΙΟΙΟ
μοῖρα μοῖραν ἐκ θεῶν

ον Ν , ΄ὕ
εἰργε μὴ πλέον φέρειν,
προφθάσασα καρδία
γλῶσσαν ἂν τάδ᾽ ἐξέχει:
νῦν δ᾽ ὑπὸ σκότωι βρέμει, ΙΟΙΒ
θυμαλγής τε καὶ οὐδὲν ἐπελπομέ-
να ποτὲ καίριον ἐκτολυπεύσειν

ζωπυρουμένας φρενός.

ΚΛ. εἴσω κομίζου καὶ σύ, Κασάνδραν λέγω:
5 vy * ΕἾ δ i] , /
ἐπεί σ᾽ ἔθηκε Ζεὺς ἀμηνίτως δόμοις 1020
\ = ΄ an \
κοινωνὸν εἶναι χερνίβων, πολλών μετὰ
δούλων σταθεῖσαν κτησίου βωμοῦ πέλας,
exBaw ἀπήνης τῆσδε, μηδ᾽ ὑπερφρόνει.
καὶ παῖδα γάρ τοι φασὶν ᾿Αλκμήνης ποτὲ

πραθέντα τλῆναι δουλίας μάζης βίαι. 1025

1003 ἤλασεν Schuetz: ὠλεσεν codd. 1004 πεσὸν Auratus: πεσόνθ᾽ codd.
1009 ἀπέπαυσεν Hartung: αὔτ᾽ ἔπαυσ᾽ codd. | ἐπ᾽ αὐλαβειαι f, ἐπ’ ἀβλαβείαι ye ἢ.
1025 δουλείας... βία f (καὶ ζυγῶν θίγειν βίαι h).

ATAMEMNQN I

N

Ww

The walls ride out the perilous day ;
Largess of Heaven with ample yield
From one year’s furrowing of the field
Shall forthwith drive the fasting plague away.

I] 2;

Aye, but on the earth let mortal fall 2nd anti-
A man’s red lifeblood, who shall then recall εἰ:
With art of warbling verse the life once dropt?
One there was that had that proper skill
To raise up from the dead, but hindered will
Of Zeus the wizard stopped.
Appointed portions God-ordained
Curb each other, each refrained
From undue vantage gained ;
Else to the light, outstripping tongue,
Heart of her own self all had flung,
That now frets passioning in the dark,
Frenzied, without all hope to find
In mazes of the fevered mind
One thread of help, one clew to reach her mark.

Enter CLYTAEMNESTRA.

CLYT. Get thee within, thou also, thou, Cassandra:
Since God hath mercifully appointed thee
To take thy place among our troop of slaves
By the altar of Possession, there to stand
Partaker in our holy laving-water,
Come step down from the wain and be not proud ;
Alcmena’s own son condescended once, -

They say, to bondage, spite of the slave’s fare.

ΟΝ

124

XO.

AIZXYAOY

> > > sey A > > , ,
εἰ δ᾽ οὖν ἀνάγκη τῆσδ᾽ ἐπιρρέποι τύχης,
> , ~ Ν ’ὔ
ἀρχαιοπλούτων δεσποτῶν πολλὴ χάρις"
ἃ > ¥ > > ,ὕ »Ἄ σ΄
ot δ᾽ οὔποτ᾽ ἐλπίσαντες ἥμησαν καλῶς,
5 ’, , 4 Ν Ν /
@pol τε δούλοις πάντα καὶ Tapa στάθμην.
ἔχεις παρ᾽ ἡμῶν οἷάπερ νομίζεται. 1030
/ / / la /
got τοι λέγουσα παύεται sadn λόγον.
> \ > x» > , 5 4
ἐντὸς δ᾽ ἂν οὖσα μορσίμων ἀγρευμάτων
πείθοι’ av, εἰ πείθοι" ἀπειθοίης δ᾽ ἴσως.
ἀλλ᾽ εἴπερ ἐστὶ μὴ χελιδόνος δίκην
ἀγνῶτα φωνὴν βάρβαρον κεκτημένη, 1035
ἔσω φρενῶν λέγουσα πείθω νιν λόγωι.
ν Ἁ ax A , /
ἕπου: Ta λώιστα τῶν παρεστώτων λέγει.
πιθοῦ λιποῦσα τόνδ᾽ ἁμαξήρη θρόνον.
Ξ, 4 , 3 5 Ν Ν ΄’΄
οὔτοι θυραίαν τήνδ᾽ ἐμοὶ σχολὴν πάρα
͵ὕ Ν \ \ ε , 2 ΄ὕ
τρίβειν: τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἑστίας μεσομφάλου 1040
΄ », “ \ \ /,
ἕστηκεν ἤδη μῆλα πρὸς σφαγὰς πάρος,
ε A > 5 , /, 3 ν ae
ὡς οὔποτ᾽ ἐλπίσασι τήνδ᾽ ἕξειν χάριν.
σὺ δ᾽ εἴ τι δράσεις τῶνδε, μὴ σχολὴν τίθει"
> > 9 , > N ΄ ΄
εἰ δ᾽ ἀξυνήμων οὖσα μὴ δέχηι λόγον,
σὺ δ᾽ ἀντὶ φωνῆς φράζε καρβάνωι χερί. 1045
ἑρμηνέως ἔοικεν ἡ ξένη τοροῦ
lal / \ Ν ε ,
δεῖσθαι: τρόπος δὲ θηρὸς ws νεαιρέτου.
ay , / ἊΝ “ ͵ὔ “
ἢ μαίνεταί γε καὶ κακῶν κλύει φρενῶν,
9 A \ / 4
ἥτις λιποῦσα μὲν πόλιν νεαίρετον
ἥκει, χαλινὸν δ᾽ οὐκ ἐπίσταται φέρειν, 1050
πρὶν αἱματηρὸν ἐξαφρίζεσθαι μένος.

οὐ μὴν πλέω ῥίψασ᾽ ἀτιμασθήσομαι.

1029 παραστάθμων f. 1080 ἕξεις Auratus. 1032 δ᾽ ἁλοῦσα (. G. Haupt.
1038 πιθοῦ Blomfield: πείθου codd. 1039 σχολὴν Dobree: σχολὴ codd.
1041 πάρος Musgrave: πυρός codd.

ATAMEMNQN 12

uw

And should that portion be assigned by force,
At least there is much comfort in a master
Whose wealth is ancient heritage; your sudden harvesters
Are still excessive to their slaves and harsh.
Expect from us our usage customary.
ELDER 20 CASSANDRA.
She pauses for thee:—damsel, it was plain,
To thee.—Being taken in the toils of Fate,
Be swayed an if thou wilt; perhaps thou wilt not.

CiyT. Well, if she be not, like a cheeping swallow,
Possessed of some unknown outlandish tongue,

My words must penetrate and speak persuasion.

ELDER. Go with her; ’tis well as may be, what she saith;

Be ruled, and leave thy session in this carriage.

CLyT. I have no leisure to be tarrying here
Abroad ; already by the central hearth
The beasts are waiting for the sacrifice,
Thank-offering for our so unhoped-for joy:
Thou then, if aught herein
Thou wilt, make no delays; or if thou hast
No speech or understanding, then let e’en
Thine uncouth hand make signal.

ELDER. An interpreter,
= Methinks, the lady needs; her ways are as
| A wild creature’s made captive.

eLy-T. Sooth, she is mad,
And swayed by some curst mood, when she hath left
A land made captive thus, yet cannot brook

To endure the bridle till she first foam off

Her passionate rage in blood.—But I'll not waste

More words to be disdained.
[She flings in.

,
στρ. a.

> /
αντ.α.

oTp. Β-

ἄντ. Be

126
XO.

KA.

KA.

KA.

AIZXYAOY
ΉΝΝ > > , “ 3 ,
ἐγὼ δ᾽, ἐποικτίρω γάρ, ov θυμώσομαι:
»“ ἌΣ" S , / > ΕῚ ,ὕ > ἮΝ
ἴθ᾽, ὦ τάλαινα, τόνδ᾽ ἐρημώσασ᾽ ὄχον,
εἴκουσ᾽ ἀνάγκηι τῆιδε καίνισον ζυγόν. 1055

KASANAPA.

ὀτοτοτοτοῖ ποποῖ Oa.

ὦπολλον ὦπολλον.

’ ἌΝ Ὁ] 3 5» Ν ’ὔ
. τί ταῦτ᾽ ἀνωτότυξας ἀμφὶ Λοξίου;

A ν lal A
οὐ yap τοιοῦτος ὥστε θρηνητοῦ τυχεῖν.

. ὀτοτοτοτοῖ ποποῖ δᾶ. τούο

ὦπολλον ὦπολλον.
ἣ δ᾽ αὖτε δυσφημοῦσα τὸν θεὸν καλεῖ

οὐδὲν προσήκοντ᾽ ἐν γόοις παραστατεῖν.

ΓΑπολλον Απολλον

ἀγυιᾶτ᾽ ἀπόλλων ἐμός" 1065
5 , Ν » / Ν ,

ἀπώλεσας yap οὐ μόλις τὸ δεύτερον.

χρήσειν ἔοικεν ἀμφὶ τῶν αὑτῆς κακῶν.

μένει τὸ θεῖον δουλίαι περ ἐν φρενί.

ΓΛλπολλον Απολλον

ΕῚ nw 3 > / > /
ἀγυιᾶτ᾽ ἀπόλλων ἐμός. 1070

ἃ ποῖ ToT ἤγαγές με; πρὸς ποίαν στέγην;

Ν Ν > A > Ν ᾽ν γ΄» > A
. πρὸς τὴν ᾿Ατρειδῶν. εἰ σὺ μὴ τόδ᾽ ἐννοεῖς,

ἐγὼ λέγω σοι: καὶ τάδ᾽ οὐκ ἐρεῖς ψύθη.

[a a]

1055 εἴκουσ᾽ Robortellus: ἑκοῦσ᾽ M. 1068 περ ἐν Schuetz: map’ ἕν M.

1074

aa omittunt fh.

ATAMEMNQN 127

ELDER. And I feel rather
Pity and will not be anger’d: come, sad lady,
Leave thy carriage void; yield to necessity
And take this yoke upon thee.

Pa
Cass. O woe, woe, woe, O Earth! Ist
Apollo, O Apollo! ee
ELDER. How now?
What means this in Apollo’s case? His nature
Is not to have dirges for him.

D2:
Cass. O woe, woe, woe, O Earth! 1st anti-
Apollo, O Apollo! ee
ELDER. There again,
Crying upon Apollo thus, when grief

Is profanation to his presence.

PL:
Cass. Apollo, O Apollo!
Thou God of Ways, Apollo mine, Destroying name, and

2 Ρ . ἢ strophe.
Proved on me in verity this second time!

ELDER. She will be prophesying of her own distresses ;
The spirit abides yet though the mind be slaved.

ii:
Cass. Apollo, O Apollo! ond anti-

he.
Thou God of Ways, Apollo mine, Destroying name, aa
Whither hast thou made my way! what House is this!
ELDER. The Atridae’s; if you understand not that,

Learn it of me; you shall not find it false.

|

στρ. γ΄.

XO.

ἀντ. γ΄. KA,

XO.

στρ. δ΄. KA,

XO.

ἀντ. δ΄. ΚΑ.

ΧΟ.

AIZXYAOY

’ὔ \ “ Ν ’ὔ

μισόθεον μὲν οὖν, πολλὰ συνίστορα
> / ἊΝ \ »¥

avTopova Kaka καὶ apTapa,

> “ ἂν 4
ἀνδροσφαγεῖον καὶ πεδορραντήριον.
¥ » ε ΄ \ ,

ἔοικεν Evpis ἡ ξένη κυνὸς δίκην

μν ΄, > - 5 ΄ /
ειναι, μᾶάτευει ὃ ων ανευρήησει φόνον.

μαρτυρίοισι γὰρ τοῖσδ᾽ ἐπιπείθομαι:"
κλαιόμενα τάδε βρέφη σφαγὰς

5 ,ὔ ΄’ Ν Ν ΄
ὀπτάς τε σάρκας πρὸς πατρὸς βεβρωμένας.
τὸ μὲν κλέος σοῦ μαντικὸν πεπυσμένοι

ἘΣ

ἦμεν, προφήτας δ᾽ ovTwas ματεύομεν.

4 / ,ὔ ,
ἰὼ πόποι, τί ποτε μήδεται;

ὔ 4 , 5, 4
τί τόδε νέον ἄχος μέγα

72). Ὁ 5 δό A ὃ “ὃ \
μέγ᾽ ev δόμοισι τοῖσδε μήδεται κακὸν
ἄφερτον φίλοισιν,
δυσίατον; ἀλκὰ δ᾽
ἑκὰς ἀποστατεῖ.

A Yee 4 5 »“"Ἅ id
τούτων aidpis εἰμι TOV μαντευμάτων.

5 lay 3 » “ Ν / lal
ἐκεῖνα ὃ ἔγνων: πᾶσα γὰρ πόλις βοᾶι.

ἰὼ τάλαινα, τόδε γὰρ τελεῖς;

Ν ε 72 ,ὔ
τὸν ὁμοδέμνιον πόσιν
λουτροῖσι φαιδρύνασα---πῶς φράσω τέλος;
’ \ » 3,
τάχος γὰρ τόδ᾽ ἔσται,

’ὔ Ν \ »

προτείνει δὲ χεὶρ ἐκ
χερὸς ὀρεγομένα.

» lo an \ 5 > 4,
οὕπω ξυνῆκα" νῦν yap ἐξ αἰνιγμάτων

ἐπαργέμοισι θεσφάτοις ἀμηχανῶ.

1075

1080

1085

1090

1095

I1O0o

1076 καὶ ἄρταμα (vel aprauds) H. (κἀρτάμου Emperius, κἄρταμα H. L. Ahrens):

καρτάναι codd.

1077 ἀνδροσφαγεῖον Dobree (ἀνδροσφάγιον Casaubon): ἀνδρὸσ

σφάγιον M. 1079 ἀνευρήσει Porson: ἂν εὑρήση M. 1080 μαρτυρίοισι Pauw:

μαρτυρίοισ M | τοῖσδ᾽ ἐπιπείθομαι Abresch: τοῖσδε πεπείθομαι M.

«.

ἦμεν

ἤμην Μ.

1088 τὸ μὲν H.:

ATAMEMNQN 129

i τς

Cass. Nay, ‘tis abominable! ’t hath known within it 3rd

: : strophe.
Murder unnatural, butchery, limbs dissevered— 5

A human shambles, floor with horror spersing!
-ELDER. ’Tis a keen-scented hound; she hunts, she hunts,
And on this track will presently see killing.

ΠῚ:
(Acs a!

There are the witnesses I build my trust on—
Yonder, behold there, babes for slaughter plaining,
Plaining for roasted flesh, a father’s eating!

3rd anti-
strophe.

ELDER. Truly, we were acquainted with your fame

In soothsaying, but we seek no prophets here.

UNA πὶ
Cass. O God, what is this thing! . 4th
What awful, horrible thing! ae
Designed within these walls, what heinous act!
No art shall cure, nor love endure....
And all help far aloof.
ELDER. What she divines now is unknown to me;

The first I saw, because the whole city rings it.

ΤᾺ 2:
Cass. O monster, Failte thou so! 4th anti-
The partner of thy bed, sd
_ After his laving—How declare the end?

*Tis near—apace with hurrying reach

»

Hand upon hand, it comes!
ELDER. Beyond me still; dark riddle enough before;
Now ’tis obscure and purblind oracle.

a H. A. 9

sl

‘

130 AIZXYAOY

στρ. ε΄. ΚΑ. ὃ ὃ παπαῖ παπαῖ,
τί τόδε φαίνεται;
ἢ δίκτυόν τί γ᾽ “Λιδου;
ἀλλ᾽ ἄρκυς ἡ Edvevvos, ἡ ξυναιτία
id / ΕῚ > / ,ὔ
φόνου. στάσις δ᾽ ἀκόρετος γένει 1105
κατολολυξάτω
’ 4
θύματος λευσίμου.
ΧΟ. ποίαν ᾿"ρινὺν τήνδε δώμασιν κέληι
ἐπορθιάζειν; οὔ με φαιδρύνει λόγος.
ἐπὶ δὲ καρδίαν ἔδραμε κροκοβαφὴς ITO
σταγών, ἅτε Kai δορὶ πτωσίμοις
’ὕ ’ὔ
ξυνανύτει βίου
δύντος αὐγαῖς. ταχεῖ-

a δ᾽ ἄτα πέλει.

ἀντ. ἐ. ΚΑ. aa, ἰδοὺ ἰδού: ITI5
» An ,
ἄπεχε TIS Boos:
τὸν ταῦρον ἐν πέπλοισιν
/ “ ᾽ὔ
μελάγκερωι λαβοῦσα μηχανήματι
4 / > 5 5 ͵7ὕ 4
τύπτει: πίτνει δ᾽ <ev> ἐνύδρωι τεύχει.
δολοφόνου λέβη- 1120
TOS TUX QV σοι λέγω.
ΧΟ. οὐ κομπάσαιμ᾽ ἂν θεσφάτων γνώμων ἄκρος
> » , » ,
εἶναι, κακῶι δέ τωι προσεικάζω τάδε.
ἀπὸ δὲ θεσφάτων τίς ἀγαθὰ φάτις
βροτοῖς τέλλεται; κακῶν γὰρ διὰ 1125
πολυεπεῖς τέχναι
θεσπιωιδὸν φόβον
φέρουσιν μαθεῖν.

1105 ἀκόρετος Bothe: ἀκόρεστος M. 1111 δορὶ πτωσίμοις Casaubon: dopia
πτώσιμος Μ. 1119 ἐν addidit Schuetz. 1125 τέλλεται Emperius:
στέλλεται M | διαὶ Hermann.

ATAMEMNQN 131

Vier.
Cass. O Heavens, what should this be? Some devilish net ? ey
—But she’s a net that shares the bed, that shares
Murder! Uplift, ye ravenous haunting Pack,
Your jubilant hymn for sacrifice, O damnable!
ELDER. Avenging Spirit to raise her triumph-shout

Over this House? The words appal my cheer.

WAVES τς
The ruddy drops run yellow back to my heart,
Such pailor as when
Men faint of a mortal stroke, such pallor as times

With the sunset rays of life when the fatal end is nigh.

Ni 2.
Cass. Ah ware, beware, away! Keep clear of the Cow! sth anti-
Phesbull ...... imycloak™ <4. with horned engine, see, “ia
Felled! In a vessel of water prone he falls......

This is the tale of a Caldron’s murderous treachery !

ELDER. I cannot boast to be a master-judge

Of oracles, but I spell some mischief here.

ΝΠ 2:
But when from divinations ever hath come
One message of good ?
°Tis matter of evil still, some lesson of fear

Is ever the drift of all their multitudinous words.

“Η

9---2

132 AIZXYAOY

στρ. ς΄. KA. ἰὼ ἰὼ ταλαίνας
κακόποτμοι τύχαι--- 1130
Ν Ν > Ν lal
TO yap ἐμὸν θροῶ
/ 5 ’
πάθος ἐπεγχύδαν---
A“ 4 lal \ , »
ποῖ δή με δεῦρο τὴν τάλαιναν ἤγαγες;
» 4 > > Ν / , 4
οὐδέν ποτ᾽ εἰ μὴ ξυνθανουμένην. τί yap;
ΧΟ. φρενομανής τις εἶ θεοφόρητος, ἀμ- 1135
Ν > πὸ ἐὰ lal
di δ᾽ αὑτᾶς θροεῖς
, » Qi, Ν
νόμον ἄνομον, οἷά τις ξουθὰ
ἀκόρετος βοᾶς, φεῦ,
ταλαίναις φρεσὶν
Ἴτυν Ἴτυν στένουσ᾽ ἀμφιθαλῆ κακοῖς 1140

ἀηδὼν βίον.

ἀντ. ς«΄. ΚΑ. ἰὼ ἰὼ λιγείας
/ > 4
μόρον ἀηδόνος"
περέβαλόν γέ οἱ
’ὔ /
πτεροφόρον δέμας 1145
\ , 5) ΕΝ , ΕΝ
θεοὶ γλυκύν τ᾽ αἰῶνα κλαυμάτων ατερ'
> Ν δὲ ΄, ἊΝ > , ὃ /
ἐμοὶ δὲ μίμνει σχισμὸς ἀμφήκει δορί.
ΧΟ. πόθεν ἐπισσύτους θεοφόρους ἔχεις
, ’
ματαίους δύας,
τὰ δ᾽ ἐπίφοβα δυσφάτωι κλαγγᾶι 1150
μελοτυπεῖς ὁμοῦ τ᾽ Op-
θίοις ἐν νόμοις;
/ 4 » ’, ε lal
πόθεν ὅρους ἔχεις θεσπεσίας ὁδοῦ

κακορρήμονας ;

1132 ἐπεγχύδαν H.: ἐπεγχέασα M. 1138 ἀκόρετος Ald.: ἀκόρεστος M.
1143 μόρον ἀηδόνος Hermann: ἀηδόνος μόρον M. 1144 περέβαλόν γέ οἱ Enger:
περεβάλοντο γὰρ οἱ M. 1146 αἰῶνα yp. τι: ἀγῶνα M. 1148 θεοφόρους 7’ Μ:
corr. Hermann.

AFAMEMNQN 133
ΔΊΩΙ τς
Cass. O sorrowful doom οἵ me— oe
Aye, me, for the bowl I crown

With mine own fate—Ah whither hast brought me, then,

Only to share, yes, only to share in death!

VAs
CHoRuS. Thou art brainsick, heaven-distraught,
For thine own case lamenting
In lawless measures, like the brown sad nightingale,
That /tyn, /tyn calleth still-unhushed through all

Her sorrow-plenished life.

ΝΠ 2:
Cass. Ah fate of the nightingale ; 6th anti-
strophe.
Sweet singer, the Gods round her

Put wings, put life, save only for wailing, sweet;

For me ’tis cleaving soon with a two-edged blade!

WELL 2:
Cuorus. These wild and passionate throes,
Whence rush they on thee thronging?
Such terrors wherefore shape in uncouth dismal song,
Yet clarion-high? What is it guides thy boding lips

On their ill-uttering path?

134 AIZXYAOY

στρ. (.- KA, ἰὼ γάμοι γάμοι Πάριδος ὀλέθριοι
ON 5. SS / ὃ ΄, /
φίλων. ἰὼ Σκαμάνδρου πάτριον ποτόν'
/ ἊΝ Ψ Ν Ν Sees 4 5
τότε μὲν ἀμφὶ σὰς ἀϊόνας τάλαιν
ἡνυτόμαν τροφαῖς:
ἴων 5 > \ r ’ 5 4
νῦν δ᾽ ἀμφὶ Κωκυτόν τε κἀχερουσίους
¥ » ΄ ,
ὄχθους ἔοικα θεσπωιδήσειν τάχα.
ΧΟ. τί τόδε τορὸν ἄγαν ἔπος ἐφημίσω;
δ 5 ’ ’,
νεογνὸς ἀνθρώπων μάθοι.
πέπληγμαι δ᾽ ἅπερ δάκει φοινίωι
δυσαλγεῖ τύχαι μινυρὰ θρεομένας,

’ 3 5 Ν /
θραύματ᾽ ἐμοὶ κλύειν.

ἀντ. (. ΚΑ. ἰὼ πόνοι πόνοι πόλεος ὀλομένας
Ν ~ XN / 4 Ν
τὸ πᾶν. ἰὼ πρόπυργοι θυσίαι πατρὸς
A n , ¥y >
πολυκανεῖς βοτῶν ποιονόμων: ἄκος ὃ

2Q\ Sunes,
οὐδὲν εἐτὴρκεσαν

1155

I160

1165

Ν \ 3 » ΄, \ ν 5 »
τὸ μὴ «οὐκ ἔχειν; πόλιν μὲν ὠσπερ οὖν ἔχει" 1170

ἐγὼ δὲ θερμόνους τάχ᾽ ἐμπελῶ βόλωι
ΧΟ. ἑπόμενα προτέροις τάδ᾽ ἐφημίσω,
καί τίς σε κακοφρονῶν τίθη-

σι δαίμων ὑπερβαρὴς ἐμπίτνων

, , Ν /

μελίζειν πάθη yoepa Oavatroddpa: 1175

la > 5 la
τερμα ὃ αμηχανω.

Ἂς Ν ε 3 ,
KA. καὶ μὴν ὁ χρησμὸς οὐκέτ᾽ ἐκ καλυμμάτων

3 δεδορκὼ Ἵ j δί
ἐσται δεδορκὼς νεογάμου νύμφης δίκην,

1162 νεογνὸς ἂν ἀίων Karsten. 1168 ἅπερ Franz: ὑπὸ fg, ὑπαὶ ἢ | δάκει
Hermann: δήγματι codd. 1164 δυσαλγεῖ Canter: δυσαγγεῖ codd. | μινυρὰ
Schuetz: μινύρα κακὰ codd. 1170 οὐκ ἔχειν addidit Stadtmueller | ἔχειν παθεῖν
fg, ἔχει παθεῖν ἢ. 1171 ἐμπελῶ βόλωι H.: ἐμπέδωι βαλῷ codd., ἐν πέδωι
Casaubon. 1172 ἐπεφημίσω Paley. 1173 κακοφρονῶν Schuetz: κακοφρονεῖν

codd.

ATAMEMNQN 135

EX2:;
Cass. O bridal, bridal of Paris, ruin of home! 7th
Scamander river whereof my people drank ! is
By thy dear beaches once was I nursed and throve, but now
My place of prophecy is like to be

Cocytus and the shores of Acheron.

Xs Te
CHorus. Ah, what is this thou hast uttered all to. plain!

\

A babe might understand.....
Compassion wounds me in the flesh with fangs
At thy sore agonizing plaintive wail,

Harrowing my soul to hear.

EX 2.
Cass. O labour, labour of Ilium utterly lost! 7th anti-
strophe.
O slaughter lavish of kine my father made

For her proud rampired walls! Yet it would not serve—
no cure;

Her case is even as it is, and I

Shall in a fever soon dash into the snare.

X 2.
CHorus. Still in the former strain thine utterance goes ;
It is some Spirit malign
Whose heavy spite upon thee tunes thy song
To things of dole and sorrow, telling of death ;

And the end I cannot see.

Cass. No more now with a newly-wedded bride’s

Dim vision from a veil shall peep my oracle—

136 AIZXYAOY

λαμπρὸς δ᾽ ἔοικεν ἡλίου πρὸς ἀντολὰς

4 5» , so ν 4 /
πνέων ἐσάιξειν, woTe κύματος δίκην

A A 5 Ν Ὁ“ 4 Ν
κλύζειν πρὸς αὐγὰς τοῦδε πήματος πολὺ

A / > > iA) 5 » 4
μεῖζον" φρενώσω δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἐξ αἰνιγμάτων.
καὶ μαρτυρεῖτε συνδρόμως ἴχνος κακῶν
ῥινηλατούσηι τῶν πάλαι πεπραγμένων.

ἈΝ ἈΝ ͵ὕὔ 4 5 » 5 5 iy A
τὴν yap στέγην τήνδ᾽ οὐποτ᾽ ἐκλείπει χορὸς

4 5 3», -} Ν > /
ξύμφθογγος οὐκ εὔφωνος" οὐ γὰρ εὖ λέγει.

Ν Ν 4 » ce 4 vA

Kal μὴν πεπωκώς γ᾽, ὡς θρασύνεσθαι πλέον,
βρότειον αἷμα κῶμος ἐν δόμοις μένει,

4 » 1) 9 ie
δύσπεμπτος ἔξω, συγγόνων ᾿Ιὲρινύων.
ὑμνοῦσι δ᾽ ὕμνον δώμασιν προσήμεναι

, ΕΣ > , > 5» 4
πρώταρχον atnv: ev μέρει δ᾽ ἀπέπτυσαν

5 A 5 ἴων an nw a
εὐνὰς ἀδελφοῦ, τῶι πατοῦντι δυσμενεῖς.

2 x an , ν
ἥμαρτον, ἢ θηρῶ τι τοξότης τις ὡς;

ἢ ψευδόμαντίς εἰμι θυροκόπος φλέδων;
ἐκμαρτύρησον προυμόσας τό μ᾽ εἰδέναι
λόγωι παλαιὰς τῶνδ᾽ ἁμαρτίας δόμων.

Ν lal “Δ Ψ an i Ν

ΧΟ. καὶ πῶς ἂν ὅρκου πῆγμα γενναίως παγὲν
A , Bay ,
παιώνιον γένοιτο; θαυμάζω δέ σου,
πόντου πέραν τραφεῖσαν ἀλλόθρουν πόλιν
κυρεῖν λέγουσαν, ὥσπερ εἰ παρεστάτεις.
ΚΑ. μάντις μ᾽ ᾿Απόλλων τῶιδ᾽ ἐπέστησεν τέλει.
ΧΟ. μῶν καὶ θεός περ ἱμέρωι πεπληγμένος;
ΚΑ. προτοῦ μὲν αἰδὼς ἣν ἐμοὶ λέγειν τάδε.

ΧΟ. ἁβρύνεται γὰρ πᾶς τις εὖ πράσσων πλέον.

1180

1185

1190

1105

1200

1180 ἐσάιξειν Bothe: ἐς ἤξειν codd. 1181 κλύζειν Auratus: κλύειν codd.
1193 θηρῶ Canter: τηρῶ codd., κυρῶ H. L.. Ahrens. 1197 ὄρκου πῆγμα Auratus:
ὅρκος πῆμα codd. 1202, 1208 inverso ordine praebent codd., transposuit

Hermann.

ATAMEMNQN 137

I feel the spirit
Upon me rushing, like a mighty wind
To the sunrise blowing clear: now presently
Rolled up against the orient light shall wash
Disaster huger far! [1 monish you
No more in riddles; come, attest me, run
My pace now while I scent the traces out
Of acts done long ago.
Within these walls
There haunts a Quiring Band, that sings one tune,
But not sounds tuneful—’tis not sweet, their theme.
Aye, to more riotous courage well caroused
With human blood, within this House abides,
And will not be sent forth, a Rout of wassailers,
Kindred-Avengers, that besetting keep
Fast by the chambers, chanting; and their chant
Is Deadly Primal Sin:—anon they sicken,—
A Brother’s bed their fierce abhorrence, cursing
The abuser—Have I missed the target now,
Or will you cry me aim? Am I indeed
Mere babbler, knocker at the doors with lies
And trickery? On your oath, confess the long
Bad history of this House my knowledge!
ELDER. Nay,
Let oath be ne’er so well and truly plighted,
It cannot medicine:—but I marvel at thee,
To have lived thy life beyond the seas, and yet
Of alien people to speak sure as though
Thou hadst been a witness present.
CASS. It was the seer
Apollo made me mistress of this power.
ELDER. His Godhead smitten with love?

CASS. I was ashamed,
The time was, to speak of it.
ELDER. Aye, brighter days

Make daintier niceness ever.

138 ΑἸΣΧΎΛΟΥ

a 5 μὴ
KA. ἀλλ᾽ ἦν παλαιστὴς κάρτ᾽ ἐμοὶ πνέων χάριν. 1205
XO. ¥ καὶ τέκνων εἰς ἔργον ἠλθέτην νόμωι;
ΚΑ. ξυναινέσασα Λοξίαν ἐψευσάμην.
> ¥ Η ΄
ΧΟ. ἤδη τέχναισιν ἐνθέοις ἡιρημένη ;
= »
ΚΑ. ἤδη πολίταις πάντ᾽ ἐθέσπιζον πάθη.
ΕΣ wn A 3 » Ss -
XO. πῶς δῆτ᾽ avatos ἦσθα Λοξίου κότωι; 1210
KA. ἔπειθον οὐδέν᾽ οὐδέν, ws τάδ᾽ ἤμπλακον.
ψ» ε Lal ἴων
ΧΟ. ἡμῖν γε μὲν δὴ πιστὰ θεσπίζειν δοκεῖς.
ΚΑ. ἰοὺ ἰού, ὦ ὦ κακα.
ε 3 “ Ν 5 ’ὔ ’
ὑπ᾿ αὖ με δεινὸς ὀρθομαντείας πόνος
A , 4
στροβεῖ ταράσσων φροιμίοις.... 1215
c ~ 4 \ 4 5 4
ὁρᾶτε τούσδε τοὺς δόμοις ἐφημένους
’ A
νέους, ὀνείρων προσφερεῖς μορφώμασιν;
ἊὉᾳἬ) ’ ε Ν Ν lay ,
παῖδες, θανόντες ὡσπερεὶ πρὸς τῶν φίλων,
A “ ΄ > /, a
χεῖρας κρεῶν πλήθοντες, οἰκείας βορᾶς,
σὺν ἐντέροις τε σπλάγχν᾽, ἐποίκτιστον γέμος,Ἠ 1220 ,
πρέπουσ᾽ ἔχοντες, ὧν πατὴρ ἐγεύσατο.
ἐκ τῶνδε ποινὰς φημὶ βουλεύειν τινὰ
λέοντ᾽ ἄναλκιν ἐν λέχει στρωφώμενον,
οἰκουρόν, οἶμαι, τῶι μολόντι δεσπότηι
> ~ ων \ Ἂς Ν ὃ ’ὔὕ ’ ΒΞ
ἐμῶι: φέρειν γὰρ χρὴ τὸ δούλιον ζυγόν. 1225
ἴω 3 Ξ3, > , > > 4
νεῶν T ἄπαρχος ᾿Ιλίου τ᾽ ἀναστάτης
οὐκ οἶδεν οἷα γλῶσσα μισητῆς κυνὸς
λέξασα κἀκτείνασα φαιδρόνους, δίκην

5, ’ ’ “Ὁ tf
αΤΉς λαθραίου, τεύξεται κακὴν TUX).

1206 ἠλθέτην Elmsley: ἤλθετον codd. 1210 dvaros Canter: ἄνακτος codd.
1211 οὐδέν᾽ Canter: οὐδὲν codd. 1215 ἐφημένους post φροιμίοις habent codd.,
eiecit Butler. 1224 οἶμαι Paley: οἴμοι codd. 1226 νεῶν δ᾽ G. Voss |
ἔπαρχος Canter. 1228 κἀκτείνασα Canter: καὶ κτείνασα codd.

ATAMEMNQN I

CASS. O but he strove
Ardent with favour for me.

ELDER. And so in course
Came you to the act of kind?

CASS. I did consent
With Lowxias, and then failed him.

ELDER. Being possessed
Already with divining spirit?

Cass. Already

I showed my own folk all that should befall them.
ELDER. Yet without suffering from Apollo’s wrath ?
Cass. After that sin I never might have credit.
ELDER. Thy art seems credible enough to us.

CASSANDRA #0anin¢@.
fn)

Oh, oh, oh, my pain..... again comes on me
The agony of clear vision, racks me at first
With dizzying whirl..... anguish .....
' There, see now
Those yonder, seated at the House..... young forms
Like phantoms of a dream..... children, as ’twere,
Slain by their own kindred..... their hands filled
With flesh, familiar meat..... aye, they show now
Visible,—the inward parts, a rueful burden,
Tasted of by their father!
For these things
Vengeance is plotted by a faint soft Lion,
Wallowing the while in bed,—forsooth to keep it
Warm and safe against the Master’s coming!
My master—the slave’s yoke must be endured.
High admiral, proud vanquisher of Troy,
He dreams not, he,
After the fawning speeches long drawn out
By lecherous hound’s false tongue, what act it is
With smiling Ate’s treachery she designs

140 AIZXYAOY

4 , ἴων
τοιάδε τόλμα" θῆλυς ἄρσενος φονεὺς 1230
» nw
ἐστιν. τί vw καλοῦσα δυσφιλὲς δάκος
» » 4
τύχοιμ᾽ av; audio Bawar ; ἢ Σκύλλαν τινὰ
οἰκοῦσαν ἐν πέτραισι, ναυτίλων βλάβην;
ν ,
θύουσαν “Avdouv μητέρ᾽ ἄσπονδόν 7 “Apy
/
φίλοις πνέουσαν-- ὡς δ᾽ ἐπωλολύξατο, 1235
ε ’ὔ ν > 4 lal
Ἢ παντότολμος, ὥσπερ ἐν μάχης τροπῆι"
δοκεῖ δὲ χαίρειν νοστίμωι σωτηρίαι.
Ν Lal > ν », N , , ,
καὶ τῶνδ᾽ ὅμοιον εἴ τι μὴ πείθω: τί γάρ;
Ν ΄ ν Ν , > 5 , \
τὸ μέλλον ἥξει. Kal ov μ᾽ ἐν τάχει παρὼν
»» » 4 > , 5 La)
ἄγαν ἀληθόμαντιν οἰκτίρας ἐρεῖς. 1240
Yr \ ἴω ἴω
ΧΟ. τὴν μὲν Θυέστου δαῖτα παιδείων κρεῶν
“~ Ni » A ¢ 3 »,
ξυνῆκα καὶ πέφρικα, καὶ φόβος μ᾽ ἔχει
» an
κλύοντ᾽ ἀληθῶς οὐδὲν ἐξηικασμένα:"
\ 5 » > Ψ νῷ 5» ὔ Ν 4
τὰ δ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἀκούσας ἐκ δρόμου πεσὼν τρέχω.
,ὔ >’ ’
ΚΑ. ᾿Αγαμέμνονός σέ dnp ἐπόψεσθαι μόρον. 1245
= x ,
ΧΟ. εὔφημον, ὦ τάλαινα, κοίμησον στόμα.
- Ν A n
KA. ἀλλ᾽ οὔτι παιὼν τῶιδ᾽ ἐπιστατεῖ λόγωι.
᾿ ¥
XO. οὔκ, εἴπερ ἔσται γ᾽" ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτό Tas.
Ν \ 4 lad > 5 ’ὔ ’
ΚΑ. σὺ μὲν κατεύχηι, τοῖς δ᾽ ἀποκτείνειν μέλει.
- ΄, \ 9 δ κα > » ,
XO. τίνος πρὸς ἀνδρὸς τοῦτ᾽ ἄγος πορσύνεται; 1250
Ky , ΄, “ > “
ΚΑ. ἡ κάρτα ..... παρεκόπης χρησμῶν ἐμῶν.
ΧΟ. τοῦ γὰρ τελοῦντος οὐ ξυνῆκα μηχανήν.
ΚΑ. καὶ μὴν ἄγαν γ᾽ “Env ἐπίσταμαι φάτιν.

1230 τόλμα H. L. Ahrens: τολμᾷ (τολμᾶι) codd. 1234 “Apy Franz ("Apyv
anon. ap. Blomfield): ἀρὰν codd. 1239 μ᾽ ἐν Auratus: μὴν codd. 1240 ἄγαν
3othe: ἄγαν γ᾽ codd. 1241 παιδίων codd.: corr. Schuetz. 1248 εἴπερ ἔσται
Schuetz: εἰ παρέσται codd. 1250 ἄγος Auratus: ἄχος codd. 1251 κάρτ᾽ dp’

ἂν παρεσκόπεις (παρεσκόπη5) codd., κάρτα τἄρα παρεκόπης Hartung.

ey’: |

ATAMEMNQN [41

For deed in cursed hour! Such monstrous doing,—
The female slayer of the male! What beast
Most loathsome shall I call her? Asmphisbaena ?
—Or rather Scyl/a, dweller in the rocks,
Housed there for seaman’s ruin! A Mother wild
With Hell’s own bacchanal rage, whose heart breathes war
To the death against her own! With jubilant cry
The monster, how she shouted, as men’s triumph
Shouts when the battle breaks,—while safe return
Would seem her gladness.....
Credit me now or not,

’Tis all one; for what skills it? What must be
Will be; and you shall soon behold, and pity,
And call me all too true ἃ prophetess.

ELDER. Thyestes’ banquet on his children’s flesh
I understand and shudder,—nothing feigned,
No fable, terrible truth; but for the rest
I lose the track and wander.

CASS. You shall see
The death of Agamemnon.

ELDER. Hush, good words!
Calm thine unhappy lips.

CASS. Nay, what offence?

There is none in presence here with Healing office,
In the case I tell of!

ELDER. Not if [Ὁ 15 to! be;
But Heaven avert it!
CASS. While you stand and pray
They are busy there with killing.
| ELDER. What man’s hand
Must bring this crime about?
CASS. O wide then truly
You have wandered from my warning!
ELDER.. I cannot see

The means whereby the doer should compass it.
Cass. Yet am I well instructed in the tongue
Of Hellas,—all too well.

to

14 AIZXYAOY

XO. καὶ yap τὰ πυθόκραντα' δυσμαθῆ δ᾽ ὅμως.
KA. παπαῖ, οἷον τὸ mip: ἐπέρχεται δέ μοι. 1255
ὀτοτοῖ, Λύκει᾽ ἼΑΛπολλον, οἱ ἐγὼ ἐγώ.
9 ,ὔὕ 4 4,
αὕτη δίπους λέαινα συγκοιμωμένη
λύκωι λέοντος εὐγενοῦς ἀπουσίαι
~ A 4, ε Ἀ ,ὕὔ
κτενει με τὴν τάλαιναν: ὡς δὲ φάρμακον |
4 5 »μ Ν 5 » ’ὔ
τεύχουσα καμοῦ μισθὸν ἐνθήσει κότωι 1260
5 , , \ 4
ἐπεύχεται, θήγουσα φωτὶ φάσγανον,
ἐμῆς ἀγωγῆς ἀντιτείσασθαι φόνον.
΄ on > 5 A ΄' > 3», (ὃ Ι
τί ONT ἐμαυτῆς καταγέλωτ᾽ ἔχω τάδε,
καὶ σκῆπτρα καὶ μαντεῖα περὶ δέρηι στέφη;
Ν \ \ , nw 5 nw »
σὲ μὲν πρὸ μοίρας τῆς ἐμῆς διαφθερῶ. 1265
¥y3> 5 ΄ὕ ’ 5 5 \ 5 ν > ν
ir ἐς φθόρον πέσοντ᾽, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ἕψομαι.
» 5 » > > 5 ~ /
ἄλλην τιν atyns ἀντ᾽ ἐμοῦ πλουτίζετε.
ἰδοὺ δ᾽ ᾿Απόλλων αὐτὸς ἐκδύων ἐμὲ
/ 5 »"» 5 5 4 4
χρηστηρίαν ἐσθητ᾽, ἐποπτεύσας δέ pe
κἀν τοῖσδε κόσμοις καταγελωμένην μετὰ 1270
4 ε > 5 wn 5 / 4 4
φίλων ὑπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν οὐ διχορρόπως patnv—
΄ δὲ << 433 ε > ,
καλουμένη δὲ “ potas,” ws ἀγύρτρια
72 ὔ A 5 7
πτωχός, τάλαινα, λιμοθνής. ἠνεσχόμην---
καὶ νῦν ὁ μάντις μάντιν ἐκπράξας ἐμὲ ]
5» ᾽ὕὔ 5 5 4 4 4
ἀπήγαγ᾽ ἐς τοιάσδε θανασίμους τύχας. 1275
La) 4, > 5 > 5 χὰ 4
βωμοῦ πατρώιου δ᾽ ἀντ᾽ ἐπίξηνον μένει,
θερμὸν κοπέντος φοινίωι προσφαγματι.
5 Ν » , 5 5 “A VOW om
ov μὴν ἀτιμοί γ᾽ ἐκ θεῶν τεθνήξομεν,
. Ν ε “ IAD Ss 4
ἥξει yap ἡμῶν ἄλλος αὖ τιμάορος,

΄ /
μητροκτόνον φίτυμα, ποινάτωρ πατρός" 1280

1254 δυσμαθῆ Stephanus: δυσπαθῆ codd. 1257 δίπους Victorius: δίπλους
codd. 1260 ἐνθήσειν (ν finali post adscripto) ἢ | ποτῶι Auratus. 1266 ἐγὼ δ᾽
Heath, du’ ἕψομαι Hermann: ἀγαθὼ δ᾽ ἀμείψομαι codd., πεσόντα θ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἀμείψομαι
Verrall. 1276 ἀντεπίξηνον codd. 1277 θερμὸν Schuetz: θερμῶι codd. |
κοπέντος H.: κοπείσης codd.

ATAMEMNQN 143

ELDER. Why, so are the oracles
From Pytho, yet they are hard enough withal.
Cass. Ah! the fire, coming upon me..... how it burns,
O Slayer Apollo, O!
[ Groaning.
This human Lioness yonder couching with
A Wolf in absence of the generous Lion,
Will take my wretched life—as ’twere a poison
She were compounding, to the venomous brew
Vows she will add my wages,—while she whets
Her blade for man, vows for my bringing here
To take revenge in blood.
Why keep I then,
Only to be mockery of myself, these baubles—
Wands and prophetic wreaths about my neck?
You shall perish first before my hour:

[She flings off the sacred symbols of her office and then tramples
on them,—fillet and golden wand and gold-embroidered robe.

So:

Lie there; go to perdition,—I shall follow:

Endow some other with your fatal Wealth!

—Why, ‘tis Apollo that himself now strips

My prophet’s raiment off—that even in this,

His livery, let his eyes behold me laughed,

By friends and foes indifferently, to scorn:

—I suffered, like a vagrant mountebank,

Like some poor starveling wretch, the name of Wanderer,—

And now the Seer hath made a seer of me

To bring me to this bloody end! Here waits,

Here for my father’s altar waits a block,

Hot with the red stream from another's neck.
Yet shall we fall

Not unavenged of Heaven, for there shall come

A Champion of our cause, an Offspring born

To Mother’s death and Father’s recompense ;

144 AIZXYAOY

Ν a lanl
φυγὰς δ᾽ ἀλήτης τῆσδε γῆς ἀπόξενος
κάτεισιν, ἄτας τάσδε θριγκώσων φίλοις"
» ’ ‘ ν 5 “ ’
ὀμώμοται γὰρ ὅρκος ἐκ θεῶν μέγας,
ἄξειν νιν ὑπτίασμα κειμένου πατρός.
/ a > 5 Ν / “ς» > 4
τι δῆτ εγὼ κατοικτος ὧδ᾽ ἀναστένω; 1285
ἐπεὶ TO πρῶτον εἶδον ᾿Ιλίου πόλιν
πράξασαν ὡς ἔπραξεν, ot δ᾽ εἷλον πόλιν
οὕτως ἀπαλλάσσουσιν ἐν θεῶν κρίσει,
eS / 7) Ν lal
ἰοῦσα πράξω, τλήσομαι τὸ κατθανεῖν.
Ν
ἽΛιδου πύλας δὲ τάσδ᾽ ἐγὼ προσεννέπω" 1290
ἐπεύχομαι δὲ καιρίας πληγῆς τυχεῖν,
ε ’ 4 ε , 5 4
ὡς ἀσφάδαστος, αἱμάτων εὐθνησίμων
5 fy », ’ /
ἀπορρυέντων, ὄμμα συμβάλω τόδε.
ΧΟ. ὦ πολλὰ μὲν τάλαινα, πολλὰ δ᾽ αὖ σοφὴ
’ὔ Ν » 5 5 5 ’
γύναι, μακρὰν ἔτεινας. εἰ δ᾽ ἐτητύμως 1295
/ Ν Camas ἊΝ θ aA 0 ha
μόρον Tov αὑτῆς οἶσθα, πῶς θεηλάτου
ἊΝ ’ὔ Ν Ν > ,ὔ A
βοὸς δίκην πρὸς βωμὸν εὐτόλμως πατεῖς ;
ΚΑ. οὐκ ἔστ᾽ ἀλυξις, ov, ἕένοι, χρόνωι πλέω.
ΧΟ. ὁ δ᾽ ὕστατός γε τοῦ χρόνου πρεσβεύεται.
ΚΑ. ἥκει τόδ᾽ ἥμαρ' σμικρὰ κερδανῶ φυγῆι. 1300
ΧΟ. ἀλλ᾽ ἴσθι τλήμων οὖσ᾽ am εὐτόλμου φρενός.

ΚΑ. οὐδεὶς ἀκούει ταῦτα τῶν εὐδαιμόνων.
ΧΟ. ἀλλ᾽ εὐκλεῶς τοι κατθανεῖν χάρις βροτῶι.

7 Ὁ» nw 4
KA. ἰὼ πάτερ σοῦ σῶν TE γενναίων “τέκνων.

1283 post 1289 habent codd., huc transtulit Hermann | ἄραρε γὰρ ὅρκος ἐκ

θεῶν μέγας Cramer Anecd. Ox. 1 p. 88. 1285 κάτοικτος Scaliger: κάτοικος codd.
1287 εἷλον Musgrave: εἶχον codd. 1290 τάσδ᾽ ἐγὼ Auratus: τὰς λέγω codd.
1294 δὲ σοφὴ fg. 1304 σῶν Auratus: τῶν codd.

ATAMEMNQN 145

An exile and a stranger from the land,
A wanderer shall return
To set the last crown on this pile of doom:
In Heaven above there is a great oath sworn
His father’s outstretched corpse shall bring him home.

Why stand I then lamenting? Once I have seen
My town of Ilium in her present case,
While those that led her captive, under God’s
High judgraent, so come off,—I will go too
Forthwith and face my fortune—to my death,

[She goes up to the palace-gates.

The Gates of Death, hail you! I pray only
To get a mortal wound, that I may close
These eyes without a struggle, my life's blood
Ebbing to an easy death.

ELDER. Sad lady,

Of so much sorrow and withal so wise,

Thou art long in thy discoursing:

But if thou verily knowest thine own fate,
What means it, like the heaven-appointed ox,
Moving so patiently to the altar?

CASS. Sirs,

There is no avoidance, none, by time deferred.

ELDER. Yet latest is the best.
CASS. The day is come;

Little shall I gain by flight.

ELDER. Well, thou hast truly

A fortitude in sufferance.

CASS. Those are terms

Bright fortune never hears.

ELDER. Well, there is comfort

In death that comes with honour.

CASS. O my father,

Thou and thy noble children!
[151 entering the palace-doors she suddenly recoils with horror.

H. A. 5 fe)

XO.
ΚΑ.

ΧΟ.

AIZXYAOY

. τί δ᾽ ἐστὶ χρῆμα; τίς σ᾽ ἀποστρέφει φόβος;

φεῦ φεῦ.

,ὕ an 3 »» » Ν A ,
τί τοῦτ᾽ ἔφευξας; εἴ τι μὴ φρενῶν στύγος.

. φόνον δόμοι πνέουσιν αἱματοσταγῇῆ.

καὶ πῶς; τόδ᾽ ὄζει θυμάτων ἐφεστίων.
“ 9 . y > , ΄
ὅμοιος ἀτμὸς ὥσπερ ἐκ τάφου πρέπει.
οὐ Σύριον ἀγλάϊσμα δώμασιν λέγεις.
9 > > > ΄ , 3. {5
ἀλλ᾽ εἶμι κἀν δόμοισι κωκύσουσ᾽ ἐμὴν
3 ΄ ’, A > , ΄
Αγαμέμνονός τε μοῖραν" ἀρκείτω Bios.
᾽ν 4 ‘
ἰὼ ἕένοι,
οὔτοι δυσοίζω θάμνον ὡς ὄρνις φόβωι
Μ ΄ oN 3 4
ἄλλως: θανούσηι μαρτυρεῖτέ μοι τόδε,
ν Ν Ἂς b) > > -~ ’ὔ
ὅταν γυνὴ γυναικὸς ἀντ᾽ ἐμοῦ θάνηι,
5 4 4 > > 5 Ἂν; 4
ἀνήρ τε δυσδάμαρτος ἀντ᾽ ἀνδρὸς πέσηι:"
> “ A > ε /
ἐπιξενοῦμαι ταῦτα δ᾽ ws θανουμένη.
> A 3 , / 4
ὦ τλῆμον, οἰκτίρω σε θεσφάτου μόρου.
ἅπαξ er εἰπεῖν ῥῆσιν ἢ θρῆνον θέλω
ΘΙ ας Ν Ἂν »“.: c , > 3 ,
ἐμὸν τὸν αὐτῆς. ἡλίωι δ᾽ ἐπεύχομαι
πρὸς ὕστατον φῶς τοῖς ἐμοῖς τιμαόροις
> Ν / Ν 5 ᾿ ’ὔ c ~
ἐχθροὺς φόνευσιν τοὺς ἐμοὺς τίνειν ὁμοῦ,
δούλης θανούσης, εὐμαροῦς χειρώματος.
5Ν / , 5 5 la) Ν
ἰὼ βρότεια πράγματ᾽" εὐτυχοῦντα μὲν

4 ΕΥ̓ ΄ 5 \ A
OKLA τις ἂν πρέψειεν" εἰ δὲ δυστυχοῖ,

“A «ε 4 , ¥ aon
βολαῖς ὑγρώσσων σπόγγος ὠλεσεν γραφήν.

Ν Lal > 5 ’ »"» » ’΄ ’
καὶ ταῦτ ἐκείνων μᾶλλον οἰκτίρω πολύ.

1305

1310

1315

1325

1316 ἄλλως Hermann: ἀλλ᾽ ὡς codd. 1322 ἡλίου Jacob. 1324 exOpods..
τοὺς ἐμοὺς J. Pearson, φόνευσιν Bothe: ἐχθροῖς φονεῦσι τοῖς ἐμοῖς codd.

Cassandrae continuant codd.: corr. Weil.

Ψψειεν codd. | δυστυχοῖ Blomfield: δυστυχῆ codd.

1326 sqq.

1327 ἂν πρέψειεν Boissonade: ἀντρέ-

ATAMEMNON 147

ELDER. What is the matter? what is it affrights thee?
Cass. Faugh, faugh!
ELDER. Faugh, faugh? Wherefore so?
Unless it be some sickening in the spirit.
CAss. Blood! the air is full of weltering blood!
ELDER. Nay, nay; it is nothing but the smell of sacrifice
Offering upon the hearth.
CASS. Tis such a reek
As issues from a tomb.
ELDER. Well, truly that
Were most un-Syrian odour.
CASS. I will go in
To finish there my wailing for my own
And Agamemnon’s fate: life, content me!
—O think not, sirs,
I am as a bird that startles at a bush
In idle terror: when I am dead, confirm me,
When for this woman here a woman dies,
And slain a man for man tl-mated les :—
I crave this of you as at point of death.
ELDER. Poor soul, with death foreknown, I pity thee.
Cass. Yet once more will I speak, one speech, or dirge
Over my own death :—O thou Sun in heaven,
I pray to thee, before thy latest light,
That, when my champion comes, my enemies
May pay the same time then for Gime ΘΗ this
Poor slave, an easy victim!
[She passes into the palace.

ELDER. O sad vanity
Of human fortunes! Their best happiness
Faint as a pencil’d shadow; once unhappy,—
Dashed with a wet sponge at a sweep clean out!
This, to my thinking, pitiable far more,

10---2

AIZXYAOY

TO μὲν εὖ πράσσειν ἀκόρεστον ἔφυ 1330
πᾶσι βροτοῖσιν: δακτυλοδείκτων δ᾽
» > \ » ’ὔ’
οὔτις ἀπειπὼν εἴργει μελάθρων,
“μηκέτ᾽ ἐσέλθηις,᾽ τάδε φωνῶν.
καὶ τῶιδε πόλιν μὲν ἑλεῖν ἔδοσαν
΄, , F
μάκαρες II prapov: 1335
’ὔ » » > ε ’ὔ

θεοτίμητος δ᾽ οἴκαδ᾽ ἱκάνει"

lal 5 ᾿Ψν 4 a 3 5 ,
νῦν δ᾽ εἰ προτέρων αἷμ᾽ ἀποτείσει
καὶ τοῖσι θανοῦσι θανὼν ἄλλων
ποινὰς θανάτων ἐπικρανεῖ,
τίς ἂν ἐξεύξαιτο βροτῶν ἀσινεῖ 1340

δαίμονι φῦναι τάδ᾽ ἀκούων;

ὦμοι, πέπληγμαι καιρίαν πληγὴν ἔσω.

La Ν A /
. σῖγα' τίς πληγὴν ἀυτεῖ καιρίως οὐτασμένος;

ὦμοι μάλ᾽ αὖθις, δευτέραν πεπληγμένος.

τοὔργον εἰργάσθαι δοκεῖ μοι βασιλέως οἰμώγμασιν:
ἀλλὰ κοινωσώμεθ᾽ εὖ πως ἀσφαλῆ βουλεύματα. 1346
ἐγὼ μὲν ὑμῖν τὴν ἐμὴν γνώμην λέγω,

πρὸς δῶμα δεῦρ᾽ ἀστοῖσι κηρύσσειν βοήν.

πὶ 5. & , , 5.55 A κ
εμοι ὃ οτως τάχιστα Y εμπέσειν δοκεῖ

Ν “~ > > 4 Ν 7 ’ὔ
καὶ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἐλέγχειν σὺν νεορρύτωι Eider. 1350
x
γ΄. κἀγὼ τοιούτου γνώματος κοινωνὸς ὧν
lal \ >
ψηφίζομαί τι δρᾶν: τὸ μὴ μέλλειν δ᾽ ἀκμή.
’ c A , ’ὔ \ ε
δ΄͵ ὁρᾶν πάρεστι' φροιμιάζονται γὰρ ὡς
/ lal ’
τυραννίδος σημεῖα πράσσοντες πόλει.
1331 βροτοῖσιν Pauw: βροτοῖς codd. 1333 μηκέτ᾽ ἐσέλθηις Hermann: μηκέτι
δ᾽ εἰσέλθης codd. 1339 fort. ἐπικράνειεν. 1340 ἐξεύξαιτο Schneidewin:
εὔξαιτο codd. 1346 εὖ Donaldson: ἂν codd.

= >|
4

AT AMEMNQN 149

CHORUS.

With all on earth insatiate is
Good Fortune; while she wooes the door
Of gazed and gorgeous palaces,
None warns her from it, bars ingress
With Enter here no more!
Here is a man the Gods let burn
| The town of Priam; safe return
He finds, with Heaven-awarded bliss :—
If now for others’ blood-guilt he
Must pay the forfeit, his death be
For deaths of old the crowning fee,—
Who may boast harmless destiny
His birthright, hearing this?

AGAMEMNON within the palace.

O I am hurt! wounded, a mortal wound.
ELDER. Peace, hark! Whose voice is that cries out a hurt, a
mortal wound?
AGAM. O God! wounded again, another.
ELDER. To judge by groaning of the king, the deed should
e’en be done;
Come let us join debate and take safe counsel as we may.

First ELDER. I give you my opinion,—sound alarm

And summon rescue to the palace hither.

SECOND. And I say, burst in now immediately
And prove the matter with the naked sword.

THIRD. Holding the same opinion, I would vote
For acting somehow; there’s no tarrying here.
FOURTH. ’Tis gross and palpable; their opening act

Shows ominous of usurping tyranny.

,
la.

KEN.

AIZXYAOY

/ ἃ ἴω 7 lal

χρονίζομεν yap: ot δὲ τῆς Μελλοῦς κλέος

, nw 5 ,ὔὕ ’
πέδοι πατοῦντες οὐ καθεύδουσιν χερί.
οὐκ οἶδα βουλῆς ἧστινος τυχὼν λέγω.

n ἴων / > Ν Ἂς ἴω ’
τοῦ δρῶντός ἐστι καὶ τὸ βουλεῦσαι πέρι.
> Ν A“ / > > ΕῚ Ν A
κἀγὼ τοιοῦτός εἰμ᾽, ἐπεὶ δυσμηχανῶ
λόγοισι τὸν θανόντ᾽ ἀνιστάναι πάλιν.
ἢ καὶ βίον τείνοντες ὧδ᾽ ὑπείξομεν
δόμων καταισχυντῆρσι τοῖσδ᾽ ἡγουμένοις;
ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀνεκτόν, ἀλλὰ κατθανεῖν κρατεῖ"
πεπαιτέρα γὰρ μοῖρα τῆς τυραννίδος.
εν Ν , 5 9, ,
ἢ yap τεκμηρίοισιν ἐξ οἰμωγμάτων

’ 5» ὡΝ ε 5 te

μαντευσόμεσθα τἀνδρὸς ws ὀλωλότος;
σάφ᾽ εἰδότας χρὴ τῶνδε θυμοῦσθαι πέρι"
Ν ἊΝ ’ ων , > 5 "2 4
τὸ yap τοπάζειν τοῦ σάφ᾽ εἰδέναι δίχα.

, > A 4, »
ταύτην ἐπαινεῖν πάντοθεν πληθύνομαι,

΄“ > / 3 ΄ Lal 3 ν
τρανως Ατρείδην εἰδέναι κυροῦνθ᾽ ὅπως.

πολλῶν πάροιθεν καιρίως εἰρημένων

> 7 > -~ > 5
TAVQAVTL ELTTELY OUK ἐπαισχυνθήσομαι.

1360

1355
|

1365

1370

“A , > “A > Ν /, 4
πως YAP τις ἐχθροῖς ἐχθρὰ πορσυνῶων, φίλοις

δοκοῦσιν εἶναι, πημονὴν ἀρκύστατον
’ὔ ν “a 5 ’ὔ
φράξειεν ὕψος κρεῖσσον ἐκπηδήματος;
9 Ν 5 > \ 7O> 3 ΕῚ , ,
ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἀγὼν ὅδ᾽ οὐκ ἀφρόντιστος πάλαι
΄ a 3 Ν ΄ ΄
νείκης παλαιᾶς ἦλθε, σὺν χρόνωι γε μήν'
ν > » > »»Ἁ 3 Ss > 4
ἕστηκα δ᾽ ἔνθ᾽ ἔπαισ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐξειργασμένοις.

Ψ 3. Κ < \ 4Q9 > > »
OUTW ὃ επσραςα, και τάδ ουκ αρνήησομαι,

1375

1355 μελλοῦς Trypho (Rie. vill p. 741 Waltz, 111 p. 196 Spengel): μελλούσης
1356 πέδοι Hermann: πέδον codd. 1361 τείνοντες Canter: κτείνοντες

codd.

codd.

1367 θυμοῦσθαι FE. A. I. Ahrens: μυθοῦσθαι codd.

Auratus | ἀρκύστατ᾽ ἂν Elmsley. 1377 νείκης Heath: νίκης codd.

1374 πημονῆς

ATAMEMNQN 151

FIFTH. Because we dally! while the lauded name
Of Zarrying is as dirt beneath their feet.

SIxTH. I have no counsel or advice to give;

Counsel is Action’s own prerogative.

SEVENTH. I am of that same mind; it passes me

To raise the dead again with only words.

EIGHTH. Even to prolong our lives shall we bow down
Under these foul disgracers of the House?

NINTH. It is not to be borne, ’twere better die;
Death were a milder lot than tyranny!

TENTH. What, shall we then conjecture of his death

By divination of mysterious groans ?

ELEVENTH. We should be certified before we passion ;

Surmise is one thing, certitude another.

TWELFTH. I am multiplied on all sides for that course,

Plainly to assure us of the King’s condition.

[As THE ELDERS ave about to enter the palace, the bodies of Agamemnon
and Cassandra are exposed, with CLYTAEMNESTRA standing over them.

CiyT. All my politic speeches heretofore
Shall nowise make me blush now to confess
The truth and contrary :—how else indeed
When studying hate’s act for a hated foe
Supposed friend—how else pitch the toils of Doom
To a height beyond oerleaping? Ἴνναβ not sudden ;
For me, ’twas but
The test and trial of an ancient feud,
Long thought on, and at last in time arrived :-—
I stand here now triumphant, where I struck!

And so contrived it also—Ill avow it—

AIZXYAOY

ε ’ ’ὔ ae) 5 ’ὔ /
ὡς μήτε φεύγειν μήτ᾽ ἀμύνεσθαι μόρον.
ἄπειρον ἀμφίβληστρον, ὥσπερ ἰχθύων,
περιστιχίζω, πλοῦτον εἵματος κακόν.
’ / I, 5» “ > ,
παίω δέ vw δίς" κἀν δυοῖν οἰμώγμασιν
μεθῆκεν αὑτοῦ κῶλα: καὶ πεπτωκότι
’ > / a Ν \
τρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι, τοῦ κατὰ χθονὸς
Διὸς νεκρῶν Σωτῆρος εὐκταίαν χάριν.
ν Ν ε »“ νΝ ε ’ὔ ’ὔ
οὕτω τὸν αὑτοῦ θυμὸν ὁρμαίνει πεσών"
> “ : ΕῚ A ν Ν
κἀκφυσιῶν ὀξεῖαν αἵματος σφαγὴν
, la
βάλλει μ᾽ ἐρεμνῆι ψακάδι φοινίας δρόσου,
4 > Ν - “Ὁ ,
χαίρουσαν οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἢ διοσδότωι
’ ’, ’ 3 4,
γάνει σπόρητος κάλυκος ἐν λοχεύμασιν.
eo
ὡς ὧδ᾽ ἐχόντων, πρέσβος ᾿Αργείων τόδε,
’ὔ > x > 4, > > Ν > > ’
χαίροιτ᾽ ἂν, εἰ χαίροιτ᾽, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐπεύχομαι.
> Do ΄ ν > 9 ΄, aA
εἰ δ᾽ nv πρεπόντων wot ἐπισπένδειν νεκρῶι,
9 ἃ , BY ε ΄, \ ἊΣ
τάδ᾽ ἂν δικαίως ἦν, ὑπερδίκως μὲν οὖν.
A A?) > / “ ν
τοσῶνδε κρατῆρ᾽ ἐν δόμοις κακῶν ὅδε
, 3 ’ὔ 5 Ν 3 la ,
πλήσας ἀραίων αὐτὸς ἐκπίνει μολών.

’ la “A ε 4
θαυμάζομέν σου γλῶσσαν, ws θρασύστομος,
ν / 3 Lt) 5 Ν fe /
ἥτις τοιόνδ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρὶ κομπάζεις λόγον.

lal / Ν ε > ,
πειρᾶσθέ μου γυναικὸς ws ἀφράσμονος"
3 ἣν 3 > ΄ 7 Ν 5 /
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἀτρέστωι καρδίαι πρὸς εἰδότας
λέγω---σὺ δ᾽ αἰνεῖν εἴτε με ψέγειν θέλεις
Ψ a ͵ἅ > > , 258
ομοιον---οοὗτὸς ἐστιν Ἀγαμέμνων, ἐμὸς

/ Ἂν Ν “~ 1 A Ν
πόσις, νεκρὸς δὲ τῆσδε δεξιᾶς χερὸς

» ΄ ΄,) OQ? δὺὸ'᾽» ν
εργον, δικαίας TEKTOVOS. TAO ὧδ EXEL.

1380

1385

1390

1395

1400

1405

1380 ἀμύνεσθαι Victorius: ἀμύνασθαι codd. 1382 περιστοιχίζων f, περι-
στιχίζων g. 1386 Διὸς Enger: didov codd. 1387 ὀρυγάνει Hermann.
1390 sq. διοσδότωι yaver Porson: διὸς νότω γᾶν εἰ codd.

ATAMEMNQN 153

As neither should he scape me nor resist :
I wreathed around him, like a fishing-net,
Swathing in a blind maze,—deadly Wealth of robe,—
And struck two blows; and with a groan for each
His limbs beneath him slacked; and as he lay,
I gave him yet a third, for grace of prayer
To God Safe-keeper—of the dead below.
With that he lay still, panting his own life out:
And as the gory jets he blasted forth,
Rain of the sanguine drench bespattered me,
Rejoicing, as in balm of heaven rejoices
Cornland when the teeming ear gives birth!
The case then standing thus,
My reverend Elders, you may find herein
What gladness you may find,—but I do glory!
Yea, and upon the body could WE pour
Drink-offerings of the proper substance, then
Those offerings had been just, past measure just!
Drink-offering from the bowl of harm and bane
Brimmed for his home, which here his own lips drain!
ELDER. We are astonished at thy tongue’s audacity,
Such glorying over thine own wedded man.
CLYT. You practise on me
As I were a thoughtless woman:

With heart unshook I tell you what you know,—

And praise me or dispraise me as you please,

’Tis all one,—this is Agamemnon; my

Husband ; a corpse; the work of this right hand,

Whose workmanship was just. That is the case.

154

στρ. Χί ):

ἀντ. ΧΟ.

AIZXYAOY

τί κακὸν, ὦ γύναι,
Ν 3 Ν “Ἁ Ν
χθονοτρεφὲς ἐδανὸν ἢ ποτὸν
᾽’ὔ ε “A > ε Ἂς 3,
πασαμένα ῥυτᾶς ἐξ ἁλὸς ὄρμενον
/,
τόδ᾽ ἐπέθου θύος δημοθρόους τ᾽ ἀράς;
5 / > / 5 ’ὔ δ᾽ »
ἀπέδικες, ἀπέταμες.---ἀπόπολις δ᾽ ἔσηι---

μῖσος ὄβριμον ἀστοῖς.

ων Ν Ν
νῦν μὲν δικάζεις ἐκ πόλεως φυγὴν ἐμοὶ

\ “~ 5 la / > » 5 ,
καὶ μῖσος. ἀστῶν δημόθρους τ᾽ ἔχειν ἀράς,
οὐδὲν τότ᾽ ἀνδρὶ τῶιδ᾽ ἐναντίον φέρων'
ὃς οὐ προτιμῶν, ὡσπερεὶ βοτοῦ μόρον,

4 / 5 ’ ’,
μήλων φλεόντων εὐπόκοις νομεύμασιν,
ἔθυσεν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ

5 a 3 > ΝΥ la 5 ’
ὠδιν᾽, ἐπωιδὸν Θρηικίων ἀημάτων.

1410

1415

5 “a 5 an nw ~ » 5 nw
OU TOUTOV EK γὴης τῆσδε ΧΡ» Or ἀνδρηλατεῖν,

, 5» 5 5 , 5 5 lal
μιασμάτων ἀποιν᾽; ἐπήκοος δ᾽ ἐμῶν
» Ν Ἀ > 72) ’,
ἔργων δικαστὴς τραχὺς εἶ. λέγω δέ σοι
τοιαῦτ᾽ ἀπειλεῖν, ὡς παρεσκευασμένης
ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων, χειρὶ νικήσαντ᾽ ἐμοῦ
A aN Ν » ip γ
ἄρχειν: ἐὰν δὲ τοὔμπαλιν κραίνηι θεός,
γνώσηι διδαχθεὶς ὀψὲ γοῦν τὸ σωφρονεῖν.
΄ =
μεγαλόμητις εἰ,

, > A ν >
περίφρονα δ᾽ ἔλακες.ς ὥσπερ οὖν
φονολιβεῖ τύχαι φρὴν ἐπιμαίνεται,
λίπος ἐπ᾿ ὀμμάτων αἵματος εὖ πρέπειν'

53 / ᾿, Ν Ν - ,
ἀτίετον ETL σὲ χρὴ στερομέναν φίλων

4 4 “
τυμμα τυμματι τεισαι.

1420

1425

1430

1408 ῥυτᾶς Stanley: ῥύσας vel ῥυσᾶς codd. | ὄρμενον Abresch: ὁρώμενον (ὀρ- h)

codd. 1410 ἀπύπολις Seidler: ἄπολις οὐ. 1411 ὄμβριμον codd.
I. Voss: τόδ᾽ codd. 1418 ἀημάτων Canter: τε λημμάτων codd.
Porson: χρή codd. 1429 πρέπειν E. A. 1. Ahrens: πρέπει codd.

I. Voss: τύμμα codd.

1414 τότ᾽
1419 χρῆν
14381 τύμματι

ATAMEMNQN 155

CHORUS clamouring.
Woman, what poisonous herb of the earth hast eaten Strophe.
Or sorcerous liquor sprung from the running sea
To bring this slaughter upon thee and curse of the land?
Having stricken off, shorn off, cut off thyself shalt be,

With general hatred banned!

CLyT. Your sentence zozw is banishment for me

And execration and the people’s curse,

Though never did you then the least advance
Objection against /zm, that never recked

No more than a beast’s death, one lost from all
The abundance of the fleecy multitude,

But slaughtered his own child, my dearest travail,
To charm a wind from Thracia! Was’t not right
In recompense of that polluted act

To banish zm the land? Yet now you hear

My doing, you are a harsh judge. But I warn you,
If thus you mean to menace, be advised

That I am well prepared, conditions equal,

If you shall vanquish me by force, to own

Your rule ;—but if God will the contrary,

Then lessoning you shall have, though late, in wisdom !

CHORUS.

Lofty in arrogant vaunt as wicked of spirit ! cae
Mind being then so mad with shedding of gore,
On the eye should answering gore in a blood-fleck show;
Disgraced, abhorred, unowned, thou hast yet thy doom in

store,

To pay with blow for a blow!

156 AIZXYAOY
KA. καὶ τήνδ᾽ ἀκούεις ὁρκίων ἐμῶν θέμιν"
Ν Ν ’ “~ > “ Ν ’
μὰ τὴν τέλειον τῆς ἐμῆς παιδὸς Δίκην,
“Atnv ᾿Ερινύν θ᾽, αἷσι τόνδ᾽ ἔσφαξ᾽ ἐγώ,
οὔ μοι Φόβου μέλαθρον ᾿Ελπὶς ἐμπατεῖ, 1435
Ψ Ἃ » A 4.73 ὁ , A
ews av αἴθηι πῦρ ἐφ᾽ ἑστίας ἐμῆς
Αἴγισθος, ὡς τὸ πρόσθεν εὖ φρονῶν ἐμοί.
οὗτος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἀσπὶς οὐ σμικρὰ θράσους.

κεῖται γυναικὸς τῆσδε λυμαντήριος,

Χρυσηίδων μείλιγμα τῶν ὑπ᾽ “Idan, 1440
ν » 5 , ν Ν ’ὔ
ἢ τ᾽ αἰχμάλωτος ἥδε καὶ τερασκόπος,
Ἂ ἴω ἶ
καὶ κοινόλεκτρος τοῦδε θεσφατηλόγος |
Ν , / Ν ἊΝ
πιστὴ Evvevvos, ναυτίλων δὲ σελμάτων
> 4 A > > 5 ,
ἰσοτριβής.---ἀτιμα δ᾽ οὐκ ἐπραξάτην.
ὃ μὲν γὰρ οὕτως: ἣ δέ τοι, κύκνου δίκην 1445
\ ν ΄ , /
Tov ὕστατον μέλψασα θανάσιμον γόον,
΄ , Aas 5 Ν > > ,
κεῖται, φιλήτωρ τοῦδ᾽, ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπήγαγεν,

εὐνῆς παροψώνημα τῆς ἐμῆς, χλιδήν.

στρ. α΄. ΧΟ. φεῦ, τίς ἂν ἐν τάχει, μὴ περιώδυνος,

μηδὲ δεμνιοτήρης, 1450
/ \ IN /, 3 ε Lal

μόλοι Tov αἰεὶ φέρουσ᾽ ὁμιλεῖν

Μοῖρ᾽ ἀτέλευτον ὕπνον, δαμέντος
4 5» 4

φύλακος εὐμενεστάτου,

πολλὰ τλάντος γυναικὸς διαί"

πρὸς γυναικὸς δ᾽ ἀπέφθισεν βίον. 1455

1432 fort. axovon γ᾽. 1436 ἐμῆς Porson: ἐμάς codd. 1444 ἰσοτριβής
Pauw: ἱστοτρίβης codd. 1447 φιλήτως f. 1448 χλιδήν Auratus: χλιδῆς codd.
1451 ὁμιλεῖν H.: ἐν ἡμῖν codd. 1453 καὶ post εὐμενεστάτου habent codd.,
delevit Franz.

ATAMEMNQN 157

Hear then the sanction of my solemn oath :—
a Justice, taken in fulness for my child,
By Ate, and Erinys, unto whom
I slew that sacrifice, in the House of Fear
My spirit sets no foot! so long as fire
Is kindled on my hearth by my good friend
Aegisthus, true and kind as heretofore :
Him find we no slight shield of confidence.

Low lies the wronger of his wedded wife,
Solace of every Chryseid under Troy,—
With her, his bondservant and soothsayer,
His fortune-telling concubine, his true
Bedfellow, practised equally with him
In lore of the bench on shipboard.—But the pair
Have got their merits: his condition, thus ;
While she, after her swan’s last dying wail,
This lover of zm, lies there; to me this slight
Side-morsel to the wedded feast, this toy,

To me brings only the dear sweet of triumph!

CHORUS.
| ies

O for a Fate might bring me swift,
Without sore-agonizing pain

Or lingering bed, her blessed gift

Of sleep, that world-without-end sleep,

Converse with me still to keep, |
That would not wake again!

My kind Protector, he that bore

In woman’s cause a toil so sore,

By woman’s hand extinguished !

Ist
strophe.

158 AIZXYAOY

+N ὌΝ , Cry ,ὕ
ἰὼ «ἰὼ -- παράνους ᾿λένα
\ , \
μία τὰς πολλάς, Tas πάνυ πολλὰς
\ 5 / > c \ 4
ψυχᾶς ὀλέσασ ὑπο Τροίαι.
~ Ν / 4 5 ’,
νῦν δὲ τελείαν πολύμναστον ἐπηνθίσω
5 @ 93 » »¥ icy > 3 /
Sv αἷμ᾽ ἄνιπτον, εἴ τις ἣν ποτ᾽, ἐν δόμοις 1460

ἔρις ἐρίδματος, ἀνδρὸς οἰζύς.

ΚΛ. μηδὲν θανάτου μοῖραν ἐπεύχου
τοῖσδε βαρυνθείς"
pnd εἰς Ἑλένην κότον ἐκτρέψηις, 1465
ὡς ἀνδρολέτειρ᾽, ὡς μία πολλῶν
ἀνδρῶν ψυχὰς Δαναῶν ὀλέσασ᾽

ἀξύστατον ἄλγος ἔπραξεν.

= “ ἃ , Ν
ἀντ. α΄. ΧΟ. δαῖμον, ὃς ἐμπίτνεις δώμασι καὶ διφυί-

οισι Τανταλίδαισιν, 1470
΄’΄ 3 > , ΕῚ a
κράτος «τ΄ > ἰσόψυχον ἐκ yuvalKav
/ > Ν ’
καρδιόδηκτον ἐμοὶ κρατύνεις.
Sma Ν 4 ,
ἐπὶ δὲ σώματος δίκαν
4 5 ἴον A 3 5 ’
κόρακος ἐχθροῦ σταθεῖσ᾽ ἐννόμως
ὕμνον ὑμνεῖν ἐπεύχεται... .. 1475
na »
KA. νῦν ὠρθωσας στόματος γνώμην,

τὸν τριπάχυντον

δαίμονα γέννης τῆσδε κικλήσκων.

1456 ἰὼ addidit Blomfield | παράνους Hermann: παρανόμους codd. 1460 sq.
εἴ τις ἦν ποτ᾽ H. (εἴ τις ποτ᾽ Karsten) : ἥτις ἦν τότ᾽ codd. 1465 ἐκτρέχης f.
1467 ὀλέσαν ἴσ. 1469 56. ἐμπίτνεις Canter: ἐμπίπτεις codd. | διφυίοισι Hermann:
διφυεῖσι codd. 1471 7 add. Hermann. 1472 καρδιόδηκτον Abresch: καρδία
δηκτὸν codd. 1473 μοι post δίκαν habent codd., del. Dindorf. 1474 éxvouws h:
fort. ἐκνόμοις. 1475 fort. ἐπεύχεται νόμοις. 1476 νῦν δ᾽ codd.: corr. H.
1477 τριπάχυντον Bamberger: τριπάχυιον codd.

εν

AFAMEMNOQN 159

O Helena, thou cause insane
That all those many lives hath lost,
Lives untold for thy sole cost
Upon the Trojan plain!
But now thou hast crowned complete that hecatomb
In blood past all remission
With one full-perfect, memorable indeed
As eer the world hath seen,—thou bitter seed
Of enmity, firm-planted in man’s home
To man’s perdition!

CLYTAEMNESTRA.

Nay sink not so, be not so broke
Death for your portion to invoke,
Nor yet your wrath divert

On Helena, that her sole guilt
All those many lives hath spilt
With such deep yawning hurt.

CHORUS.
eps

O Spirit of haunting Doom that bears
The House down, O how sore thou art
On Tantaius’ twain soveran heirs!
In woman too twain weapon, steel’d
Of equal temper, thy hands wield,—
A poignard in my heart!
Feet planted on his corse, the proud
Foul raven, uttering harsh and loud

His chant of joy triumphant !

CLYTAEMNESTRA.

Ah, now you set your verdict right ;—
The Spirit of all our race indite,
So gross with o’ergrown flesh!

Mews

Ist anti-
strophe.

στρ. 8’. ΧΟ.

AIZXYAOY

ἐκ TOU yap ἔρως αἱματολοιχὸς
wr \ nw
νειριτροφεῖται, πρὶν καταλῆξαι

Ν Ἀ » , >
TO παλαιὸν ἄχος, νέος tyap.
> , » A
ἢ μέγαν οἴκοις τοῖσδε

’ \ , 5 “a
δαίμονα καὶ βαρύμηνιν aiveis,
φεῦ φεῦ, κακὸν αἶνον ἀτη-
pas τύχας ἀκορέστου'"
ἰὼ in, διαὶ Διὸς
παναιτίου πανεργέτα.
τί γὰρ βροτοῖς ἄνευ Διὸς τελεῖται;

’ Lad 5 5 4 / 5
τί τῶνδ᾽ οὐ θεόκραντόν ἐστιν;

ἰὼ ἰὼ βασιλεῦ βασιλεῦ,
πῶς σε δακρύσω;

\ 5 4 , > κ᾿
φρενὸς ἐκ φιλίας τί TOT εἴπω;

A 5 5 Se, > ε ’ ΄ε >
κεῖσαι δ᾽ ἀράχνης ἐν ὑφάσματι τῶιδ
ἀσεβεῖ θανάτωι βίον ἐκπνέων.

» ,ὔ ΄, 3 5 ’

ὦμοι μοι κοίταν τάνδ᾽ ἀνελεύθερον

/ 4 Ν
δολίων μόρωι δαμεὶς
ἐκ χερὸς ἀμφιτόμωι βελέμνωι.

4, ἘΝ > , ¥ > “
αὐχεῖς εἶναι τόδε τοὔργον ἐμόν;
μηδ᾽ ἐπιλεχθῆις
> , > ΄ > »
Αγαμεμνονίαν εἶναί μ᾽ adoxov:
φανταζόμενος δὲ γυναικὶ νεκροῦ
τοῦδ᾽ ὁ παλαιὸς δριμὺς ἀλάστωρ
> 4 nw lal
Atpéws χαλεποῦ θοινατῆρος

4 > 3 4
τόνδ᾽ ἀπέτεισεν

τέλεον νεαροῖς ἐπιθύσας.

1480 νειριτροφεῖται H.: νείρει τρέφεται codd.

1482 τοῖσδε corruptum. 1487 πανεργάταν fg.

1481 tyap H.: ἰχώρ codd.

1480

1485

1490

1495

1500

1505

ATAMEMNQN 161

’Tis he still fosters in the maw

This bloodthirst hungering for the raw,

With lickerish craving, ere last bite
Have well ceased aching, fresh!

CHORUS.
Pit

Huge of a truth his bloated mass 2nd
And fierce wrath never-bated: ΠΌΡΟΣ:
Story of ruthless Doom, alas,
With harm unsated.
By will of Zeus did this befall,
Sole author and sole cause of all;
Can aught without him come to pass?
Herein was aught not fated ?

O my King, my King,

Tears enough I cannot bring,

Words enough I cannot find

To voice my loving mind: |.

Thus to lie by murderous death

In that spider-web entangled,

Gasping out thy breath,

On so churlish bed, ay me,

With slaughtering weapon slain and mangled
By the hand of treachery !

CLYTAEMNESTRA,

Suppose you it was mine, this act?
Conceive not e’en that here in fact
‘Tis Agamemnon’s wife you see!
Mere semblance of her, she:
The fierce ancestral Ghost of him
That Atreus made a feast so grim
Hath made this man the price ;
Heaped him this man upon his own
Young firstlings offered yet ungrown,
Full perfect sacrifice !

H. A. It

162 AIZXYAOY

>
ι

ἀντ. β΄. ΧΟ. ὡς μὲν ἀναίτιος ε
nr 4 , c 4
τοῦδε φόνου Tis ὁ μαρτυρήσων;
πῶ πῶ; πατρόθεν δὲ συλλή-
4 > es > a
πτωρ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀλάστωρ.
βιάζεται δ᾽ ὁμοσπόροις 510
ἐπιρροαῖσιν αἱμάτων
μέλας “Apys, ὅποι δίκας προβαίνων

4 : , ’,
πάχναι κουροβόρωι παρέξει.

ἰὼ ἰὼ βασιλεῦ βασιλεῦ,
πῶς σε δακρύσω; 515
Ν 5 v2 7 5 »
φρενὸς ἐκ φιλίας TL TOT εἰπω;
΄“ > 5 , 5 ε ’ὔ lal >
κεῖσαι δ᾽ ἀράχνης ἐν ὑφάσματι τῶιδ
ἀσεβεῖ θανάτωι βίον ἐκπνέων.
» / ΄ 3 5 4
ὦμοι μοι κοίταν τάνδ᾽ ἀνελεύθερον
, / ὮΝ
δολίωι μόρωι δαμεὶς 1520
ἐκ χερὸς ἀμφιτόμωι βελέμνωι.

ΚΛ. οὐδὲ γὰρ οὗτος δολίαν ἄτην
οἴκοισιν ἔθηκ᾽; 1525
ἀλλ᾽ ἐμὸν ἐκ τοῦδ᾽ ἔρνος ἀερθέν,
πολυκλαύτην ᾿Ιφιγένειαν,
ἄξια δράσας ἄξια πάσχων
μηδὲν ἐν ἽΛιδου μεγαλαυχείτω,
ξιφοδηλήτωι 1530

Ψ 5
θανάτωι τείσας απέερ ἦρξεν.

1512 δίκας Martin (δίκην Butler): δὲ καὶ codd. προβαίνων Canter: προσβαίνων
codd. 1522 sq. οὔτ᾽ ἀνελεύθερον οἶμαι θάνατον | τῶιδε γενέσθαι damnavit Seidler.
1527 τὴν πολύκλαυτόν 7 codd., τὴν delevit Meineke, πολυκλαύτην coniecit Porson.
1528 ἀνάξια δράσας codd.: corr. Hermann. 1531 ἔρξεν Spanheim.

ATAMEMNQN

CHORUS.
112.
‘Not guilty’? Then support that plea:

Whose witness can be cited?
Go to:—yet such a Ghost might be
In aid united ;
Onward it rolls in kindred blood,
Red Slaughter’s torrent, flood on flood,
Till Babes’ flesh fed-upon shall see
Its firm stain full requited !

O my King, my King,

Tears enough I cannot bring,

Words enough I cannot find

To voice my loving mind:

Thus to lie by murderous death

In that spider-web entangled,

Gasping out thy breath,

On so churlish bed, ay me,

With slaughtering weapon slain and mangled
By the hand of treachery !

CLYTAEMNESTRA,

Of treachery! Dealt not he then too
This House a treacherous blow ἢ

But what he wrought that branch that grew
From me, that he made grow,

My sore-wept own beloved maid,

With equal penance hath he paid ;

Slain for it even as he slew,

He need not boast below!

ἸΕῚ EF

163

2nd anti-
strophe.

164 AIEZXYAOY

στρ. γ. XO. aunyava φροντίδος στερηθεὶς
εὐπάλαμον μέριμναν,
ὅπαι τράπωμαι, πίτνοντος οἴκου.
δέδοικα δ᾽ ὄμβρου κτύπον δομοσφαλῆ
τὸν αἱματηρόν: ψεκὰς δὲ λήγει.
Δίκαν δ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλο πρᾶγμα θήγεται βλάβης
mes ἄλλαις θηγάναισι μοῖρα.

ἰὼ ya γᾶ, εἴθε μ᾽ ἐδέξω,
Ν / > > A 3 4
πρὶν τόνδ᾽ ἐπιδεῖν ἀργυροτοίχου
δροίτης κατέχοντα χαμεύνην.
’ ε ’ὔ ’ὔ ε “7
τίς ὁ θάψων vw; τίς ὁ θρηνήσων;
“ἡ Ν 7» ¥ 4 / >
ἢ σὺ τόδ᾽ ἔρξαι τλήσηι, κτείνασ
ἄνδρα τὸν αὑτῆς ἀποκωκῦσαι
ψυχῆι T ἄχαριν χάριν ἀντ᾽ ἔργων
Εν 507 > an
μεγάλων ἀδίκως ἐπικρᾶναι;
τίς δ᾽ ἐπιτύμβιος αἶνος ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρὶ θείωι
Ν 4 -} If
σὺν δακρύοις ἰάπτων
=z

ἀλαθείαι φρενῶν πονήσει;

- 3
ΚΛ. οὐ σὲ προσήκει τὸ μέλημ᾽ ἀλέγειν
τοῦτο: πρὸς ἡμῶν
’ὔ ’ὔ Ν 4
κάππεσε, κάτθανε, καὶ καταθάψομεν---

> ¢ Ἂν lal “ ΕῚ »
ουχ U7O κλαυθμῶν των ἐξ Οἰκων,

7
1533 εὐπάλαμνον codd.: corr. Porson. 1537 δίκη f, δίκα

1535

1540

1545

1550

a | @n
g | θήγεται

Emperius: θήγει codd. 1538 θηγάναις codd. 1545 ψυχῆι τ᾽ E. A. I. Ahrens:

ψυχὴν codd. 1550 μέλημ᾽ ἀλέγειν Karsten: μέλημα λέγειν codd.

ATAMEMNQN 165

CHORUS.
ELST

Thought fails me; in a maze I grope 3rd

And find no means of help or hope, cae
While the very House is quaking:

Under this crashing rain of gore

"Twill sink—'tis early drip no more.

—Yet other whetstones rest, whereon

Justice for other work undone
Her weapon sharp is making!

O Earth, O Earth, would thou hadst been
My shroud, ere I my lord had seen

Here in a silvern coffer spread,

That kingly head

Laid on such a lowly bed!

Who shall bury him? who make moan?
Wilt zou add sin to sin,—thine own
Man’s blood upon thy hands, proceed
Then with a mockery to atone,—

With funeral dole for his dead soul

To salve thy heinous deed?

And how should mourning o’er him dart
The hero’s praise with tears of ruth?
How should it bear that heavy part
With heart-felt sorrow’s truth ?

CLYTAEMNESTRA.

dhat care is no. concern for thee;
Beneath our hand he fell,

Down beneath ws lay dead; and we
Beneath will speed him well :—

But not with household from his gates
To wail behind his bier—

166 AIZXYAOY

ἀλλ᾽ ᾿Ιφιγένειά νιν ἀσπασίως

θυγάτηρ, ὡς χρή, 1555
πατέρ᾽ ἀντιάσασα πρὸς ὠκύπορον

πόρθμευμ᾽ ἀχέων

περὶ χεῖρα βαλοῦσα φιλήσει.

ἀντ. γ. ΧΟ. ὄνειδος ἥκει τόδ᾽ ἀντ᾽ ὀνείδους,
δύσμαχα δ᾽ ἔστι κρῖναι. 1560
4 / 3 5 72 > ε 4
φέρει φέροντ᾽, ἐκτίνει δ᾽ ὁ καίνων.
,ὔ Ἂν 7 5 /, Ν
μένει δὲ μίμνοντος ἐν θρόνωι Διὸς
“Ἂ Ν » , 4
παθεῖν τὸν ἔρξαντα: θέσμιον yap.
, “Δ Ν 5» lal ΕῚ / ’
τίς ἂν γονὰν ἀραῖον ἐκβάλοι δόμων;

κεκόλληται γένος πρὸς ἄται. 1565

KA. és τόνδ᾽ ἐνέβης ξὺν ἀληθείαι
χρησμόν. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὖν
ἐθέλω δαίμονι τῶι Πλεισθενιδῶν
ὅρκους θεμένη τάδε μὲν στέργειν,
δύστλητά περ ov’, ὃ δὲ λοιπόν, ἰόντ᾽ 1570
ἐκ τῶνδε δόμων ἄλλην γενεὰν
τρίβειν θανάτοις αὐθένταισιν.
κτεάνων τε μέρος
βαιὸν ἐχούσηι πανεπαρκὲς ἔμοιγ᾽
ἀλληλοφόνους 1575
μανίας μελάθρων ἀφελούσηι.

1554 ᾿Ἰφιγένειά νιν Auratus: ᾿Ιφιγένειαν" ἵν᾽ codd. 1558 φιλήσει Stanley:
φιλήσηι codd. 1562 θρόνωι Schuetz: χρόνω (χρόνωι) codd. 1564 ἀραῖον
Hermann: ῥᾶον codd. 1565 πρὸς ἄται Blomfield: προσάψαι codd. 1566 ἐνέβης
Canter: ἐνέβη codd. 1574 πανεπαρκὲς ἔμοιγ᾽ H.: πᾶν ἀπόχρη μοι δ᾽ codd.

ῃ ee Ν

AFAMEMNQN 167

His daughter at the Doleful Straits
Below stands waiting near:

Her love, her duty she shall bring,

Her arms about his neck shall fling,
And kiss her Father dear!

CHORUS.
Diz:

Thrust by counterthrust is foiled; ae
Judgment is hard,—the spoiler spoiled,

The price for bloodshed yielded.
While Zeus upon his throne shall reign,
For wrong done, penance must remain
Commandment :—How shall forth be cast
The seed of Curse? To Ruin fast

The race is glued and welded.

CLYTAEMNESTRA.
Ah, justly now you leave your taunts
For God’s most firm decrees.—
I say now to the Spirit that haunts
The House of Pleisthenes:
“T am ready—let an oath be sworn—
To bear, though heavy to be borne,
Thus much: but now begin
New order; quit this House outworn;
Henceforth some other race be torn
By own blood shed within.
If such within these halls the price,
For me small riches will suffice
Once having rid them of their vice,

The frenzy murdering kin!”

168 AIZXYAOY

ΑἸΤΊΣΘΟΣ.
ὦ φέγγος εὖφρον ἡμέρας δικηφόρου.
φαίην ἂν ἤδη νῦν βροτῶν τιμαόρους
\ + “ > ΄ +
θεοὺς ἄνωθεν γῆς ἐποπτεύειν ayn,
ἰδὼν ὑφαντοῖς ἐν πέπλοις ᾿Ερινύων 1580
τὸν ἄνδρα τόνδε κείμενον φίλως ἐμοί,
χερὸς πατρώιας ἐκτίνοντα μηχανάς.
“ lal 7
᾿Ατρεὺς γὰρ ἄρχων τῆσδε γῆς, τούτου πατήρ,
/, / Ν 5 ’ ε “ ’
πατέρα Θυέστην τὸν ἐμόν, ὡς τορῶς φράσαι,
“ , ,
αὑτοῦ δ᾽ ἀδελφόν, ἀμφίλεκτος ὧν κράτει, 1585
5 2, > / Ν /
ἠνδρηλάτησεν ἐκ πόλεως TE Kal δόμων.
Ν , ε , Ν ΄,ὕ
καὶ προστρόπαιος ἑστίας μολὼν πάλιν
τλήμων Θυέστης μοῖραν ηὕρετ᾽ ἀσφαλῆ,
Ν Χ Ν Ὁ“ ε ’ /
TO μὴ θανὼν πατρῶιον αἱμάξαι πέδον
“ lal ΧΝ
αὐτοῦ: ξένια δὲ τοῦδε δύσθεος πατὴρ 1590
᾿Ατρεύς, προθύμως μᾶλλον ἢ φίλως, πατρὶ
τὠμῶι, κρεουργὸν ἦμαρ εὐθύμως ayew
δοκῶν, παρέσχε δαῖτα παιδείων κρεῶν.
τὰ μὲν ποδήρη καὶ χερῶν ἄκρους κτένας
ἔθρυπτ᾽ ἄνωθεν ἀνδρακὰς καθήμενος 1595
δ 5 aA 5 5 lal 5 4 3 Ψ » Ν
aon: ὃ δ᾽ αὐτῶν αὐτίκ᾽ ἀγνοίαι λαβὼν
A ΝΣ » ε ε “ 4
ἔσθει βορὰν ἄσωτον ws ὁρᾶις γένει.
κάπειτ᾽ ἐπιγνοὺς ἔργον οὐ καταίσιον

¥ 5 ΄ > 9. ΟΝ N » oA
ὠιμωξεν, ἀμπίπτει δ᾽ ἀπὸ σφαγὴν ἐρων,

/ 3 » / 5 Ψ,
μόρον δ᾽ ἄφερτον Πελοπίδαις ἐπεύχεται, 1600 |
'
1579 ἄγη Auratus: ἄχη codd. 1585 αὑτοῦ δ᾽ Elmsley: αὐτοῦ 7’ codd.
Post 1594 lacunam indicavit Hermann. 1595 fort. ἔνθρυπτ᾽.' 1596 ἄσημ᾽᾽ |
ὃ δ᾽ Dindorf: ἄσημα δ᾽ codd. 1599 ἀμπίπτει Canter: ἄν" πίπτει codd. | σφαγὴν ;

Auratus: σφαγῆς codd. ᾿

ATAMEMNQN 169

[Enter AEGISTHUS attended by a body-guard of spearmen.
AEGISTHUS.
O welcome dawning of the day of judgment!
Now will I say the Gods above look down
With eyes of justice on the sins of earth,
When I behold this man, to my dear pleasure,
In woven raiment from the loom of Vengeance
Paying for the foul craft of his father’s hands.
Atreus was his father, reigning here
In Argos; and his right being questioned by
Thyestes—understand,
My father and his brother—he drove out
Thyestes from the house and from the land.
Returning then
Suppliant in sacred form petitionary,
Safety so far did poor Thyestes find
As not to perish there upon the spot
And spill his life-blood where his fathers trod:
But mark what entertainment this dead man’s
Ungodly father makes the sacred guest ;
With welcoming
Most hearty but scarce kind, feigning a day
Of cheer and sacrifice and flesh-killing,
He served a feast up of his children’s flesh.
The foot-parts and the fringes of the hands
He kept aside concealed; the rest in messes
Gave him to eat, obscure; he straightway took of it
Unwitting, and made banquet, as you see,
Most thriftless for this House! Then being aware
Of that enormous deed, he groaned, he reeled
Backward, spewing up the butchery, and invoked
An awful doom upon the House of Pelops,

AlZXYAOY

λάκτισμα δείπνου Evvdixws τιθεὶς ἀρᾶι,
οὕτως ὀλέσθαι πᾶν τὸ Πλεισθένους γένος.

> ~ / / / > 5 “A ,):

ἐκ τῶνδέ σοι πεσόντα τόνδ᾽ ἰδεῖν πάρα,
κἀγὼ δίκαιος τοῦδε τοῦ φόνου ῥαφεύς:

’ὔ Ν » 3 5 Ἁ > 5 4 Ν
τρίτον γὰρ ὄντα μ᾽ ἐπὶ δύ᾽ ἀθλίωι πατρὶ

, Ν A > > ’ὔ

συνεξελαύνει τυτθὸν ὄντ᾽ ἐν σπαργάνοις"
τραφέντα δ᾽ αὖθις ἡ δίκη κατήγαγεν.

\ an 5 San ει a »
καὶ τοῦδε τἀνὸρὸς ἡψάμην θυραῖος ὧν,
πᾶσαν συνάψας μηχανὴν δυσβουλίας.

ν Ν Ἂν Ν \ “A > 4
οὕτω καλὸν δὴ καὶ τὸ κατθανεῖν ἐμοί,

δ a A ΄ > 7
LOOVTH® TOVTOV TNS δίκης εν ερκεσιν.

. Αἰγισθ᾽, ὑβρίζειν ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐ σέβω.

ἈΝ > 3, ’, Ν ε Ν a)
σὺ δ᾽ avdpa τόνδε φὴς ἑκὼν κατακτανεῖν,
μόνος δ᾽ ἔποικτον τόνδε βουλεῦσαι φόνον"
ov φημ᾽ ἀλύξειν ἐν δίκη. τὸ σὸν κάρα
δημορριφεῖς, σάφ᾽ ἴσθι, λευσίμους ἀράς.
σὺ ταῦτα φωνεῖς νερτέραι προσήμενος
κώπηι, κρατούντων τῶν ἐπὶ ζυγῶι δορός;

/ , x « , δ
γνώσηι γέρων ὧν ὡς διδάσκεσθαι βαρὺ
τῶι τηλικούτωι σωφρονεῖν εἰρημένον.

Ν Ν Ν Ν A ν Je
δεσμὸς δὲ Kal τὸ γῆρας at τε νήστιδες
δύαι διδάσκειν ἐξοχώταται φρενῶν

ἰατρομάντεις. οὐχ ὁρᾶις ὁρῶν τάδε;

πρὸς κέντρα μὴ λάκτιζε, μὴ πταίσας μογῆις.

Ν Lyd
. γύναι, σὺ TOUS NKOVTAS EK μάχης νέον

> Ν 5 ‘ 5 Ν > , 4
OLKOUPOS EVVYV ἀνδρὸς ALO KUVOV Apa

> Ν La! / > 5 7 /
ἀνδρὶ στρατΉγωι τόνδ ἐβούλευσας μορον;

1605

1610

1615

1620

1625

1602 ὀλέσθαι Tzetzes: ὀλέσθη codd.
1613 τόνδε φὴς Pauw: τόνδ᾽ ἔφης codd.
παίσας schol. Pind. Pyth. 11 173.

1605 ἐπὶ δύ᾽ Emperius: ἐπὶ δέκ᾽ codd.
1624 πταίσας Butler: πήσας codd.,
1626 αἰσχύνων Keck: αἰσχύνουσ᾽ codd.

ἱ
4
|

ΜΝ

ἈΔ
Rie hg

ATAMEMNQN 171

Thus, with a kick to aid his curse, and dashing
The table down,

Thus perish all the seed of Pletsthenes !

Hence comes it in your sight a corpse lies he,
And I the just contriver of his death.

A third-born living child, a third last hope,

In my unhappy father’s banishment

He drave me out a babe in swaddling-clothes,
And Justice now hath brought the grown man back.
While yet without I touched him, hit my man,
For this dark subtle train was all my plan.
My hour is ripe for death now when he lies
In toils of Justice caught before these eyes.
ELDER. Aegisthus, to insult upon distress
I like not—So thou sayest that wilfully
Thou hast compassed the man’s death, alone devised
This woful tragedy? Thine own head then,
I say, shall not scape justice; thou shalt feel
The pelting volleys of a people’s curse!
AEGISTH. Thou talk so, sirrah, from the lower bench,
When on the main thwart sits authority !
The task is wisdom, and grey hairs will find
At these years how ’tis grievous to be put
To school; but prison and the pangs of hunger
Are your most excellent doctors to instruct
The hoariest head in wisdom. Hast thou eyes
And seest not? Kick not thus
Against the goad or thou mayst hurt thy feet.
ELDER. Vile woman, thou to deal with soldiers thus
Come newly from the field! Home-keeping, and
Dishonouring the man’s bed, to plot this death
Against a man and captain of the war!

172 AlIZXYAOY

Al. καὶ ταῦτα τἄπη κλαυμάτων ἀρχηγενῆ.
Ὀρφεῖ δὲ γλῶσσαν τὴν ἐναντίαν ἔχεις"
ἃ A ἊΝ = 4 > 5» Ν lal lol
ὃ μὲν yap nye πάντ᾽ ἀπὸ φθογγῆς χαρᾶι, 1630
Ν 9 9 δ᾽ ’ὔ / ε /
av δ᾽ ἐξορίνας νηπίοις ὑλάγμασιν
ἄξηι: κρατηθεὶς δ᾽ ἡμερώτερος φανῆι.
ΧΟ. ὡς δὴ σύ μοι τύραννος ᾿Αργείων ἔσηι,
ὃς οὐκ, ἐπειδὴ τῶιδ᾽ ἐβούλευσας μόρον,
δρᾶσαι τόδ᾽ ἔργον οὐκ ἔτλης αὐτοκτόνως; 1635
Al. τὸ yap δολῶσαι πρὸς γυναικὸς ἣν σαφῶς:
ΒΝ 35. Ὁ 5 Ν > ΄
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὕποπτος ἐχθρὸς ἢ παλαιγενής.---
ἐκ τῶν δὲ τοῦδε χρημάτων πειράσομαι
» “ \ Ν XN /
ἄρχειν πολιτῶν: τὸν δὲ μὴ πειθάνορα
ζεύξω βαρείαις.---οὔτι μὴ σειραφόρον 1640
κριθῶντα πῶλον: ἀλλ᾽ ὁ δυσφιλεῖ σκότωι
λιμὸς ξύνοικος μαλθακόν σφ᾽ ἐπόψεται.
ΧΟ. τί δὴ τὸν ἄνδρα τόνδ᾽ ἀπὸ ψυχῆς κακῆς
5 > Ν » / 5 ’ ,
οὐκ αὐτὸς ἠνάριζες, ἀλλά νιν γυνή,
χώρας μίασμα καὶ θεών ἐγχωρίων, 1645
extew ; ᾿Ορέστης apd που βλέπει φάος,
ὅπως κατελθὼν δεῦρο πρευμενεῖ τύχηι
3 la , a δ ΄
ἀμφοῖν γένηται τοῖνδε παγκρατὴς φονεύς.
ΑἹ. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ δοκεῖς τάδ᾽ ἔρδειν καὶ λέγειν, γνώσηι τάχα---
εἶα δή, φίλοι λοχῖται, τοὔργον οὐχ ἑκὰς τόδε. 1650
ΧΟ. εἶα δή, ξίφος πρόκωπον πᾶς τις εὐτρεπιζέτω.
ΑΙ. ἀλλὰ κἀγὼ μὴν πρόκωπος οὐκ ἀναίνομαι θανεῖν.

ΧΟ. δεχομένοις λέγεις θανεῖν σε: τὴν τύχην δ᾽ αἱρούμεθα.

1691 νηπίοις Jacob: ἠπίοις codd. 1637 7 Porson: 7 codd. 1638 ἐκ
τῶνδε codd.: corr. Jacob. 1641 δυσφιλεῖ σκότωι Scaliger: δυσφιλὴς κότωι codd.
1644 νιν Spanheim: σὺν codd. 1650 choro dant codd.: corr. Stanley.

1653 αἱρούμεθα Auratus: ἐρούμεθα codd,

ATAMEMNQN 173

| AEGISTH. Progenitors of tears are these words too :—
The very counter thine to Orpheus’ tongue!
| He with his ravishing voice did all things hale ;
Thou, with a foolish yelp exasperating,
Shalt see thyself
Haled, and thine own breast by compulsion tamed.
ELDER. Thou to be despot over Argive men!
When after plotting murder of this one
Thou durst not venture thine own hand to do it.
AEGISTH. The cozening clearly was the woman’s part;
| I was a suspect foe hereditary.
) —However,
| With help of this man’s treasure I will essay
To rule here, and the disobedient colt
. With heavy yoke will break—no courser running
; In traces, crammed with corn! ’tis hunger lodged
In loathsome darkness that shall humble his flesh.
ELDER. Ah, why then didst thou with a craven’s heart
Not slay the man thyself, but take a woman,
Stain to her country and her country’s Gods,
To do the killing? O doth somewhere look
Orestes on the light, that Fortune’s grace
May give him good speed home again to be
Victorious executioner of these both!
AEGISTH. O well then, sirrah,
If thus you mean with act and word, you soon shall under-

|
|
'

stand—
What ho! my trusty men-at-arms! Your work lies here

to hand.
[The Guard advance.

ELDER. What ho! let each his sword well-gripped be now
prepared to ply.

AEGISTH. Well, I too with my sword well-gripped will not
refuse to die.

ELDER. Zodie! Anomen! Be it so; content, content, am I.

174 AIZXYAOY

KA. μηδαμῶς, ὦ φίλτατ᾽ ἀνδρῶν, ἄλλα δράσωμεν κακά,
ἀλλὰ καὶ τάδ᾽ ἐξαμῆσαι πολλά, δύστηνον θέρος" 1655
la > ν 3 ε / x ε /
πημονῆς δ᾽ ἅλις γ᾽ ὑπάρχει μηδὲν ἡιματωμένοις.
στείχετ᾽ αἰδοῖοι γέροντες πρὸς δόμους, πεπρωμένοις,
Ν A » Y lal TANS) ε 5» ἐφ
πρὶν παθεῖν, εἴξαντες Wpar: χρὴν τάδ᾽ ὡς ἐπράξαμεν.
εἰ δέ τοι μόχθων γένοιτο τῶνδ᾽ ἅλις, δεχοίμεθ᾽ ἄν,
δαίμονος χηλῆι βαρείαι δυστυχῶς πεπληγμένοι. 1660
τῷ» »¥ ) , x > A a
ὧδ᾽ ἔχει λόγος γυναικός, εἴ Tis ἀξιοῖ μαθεῖν.
ΑἹ. ἀλλὰ τούσδ᾽ ἐμοὶ ματαίαν γλῶσσαν ὧδ᾽ ἀπανθίσαι
ΕῚ A 3, lal 4 ’ὔ
κἀκβαλεῖν ἔπη τοιαῦτα δαίμονος πειρωμένους,
σώφρονος γνώμης θ᾽ ἁμαρτεῖν τὸν κρατοῦντ᾽ a<pvov-
μένους».
ΧΟ. οὐκ ἂν ᾿Αργείων τόδ᾽ εἴη, φῶτα προσσαίνειν κακόν.
ΑΙ. ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώ σ᾽ ἐν ὑστέραισιν ἡμέραις μέτειμ᾽ ἔτι. 1666
ΧΟ. οὔκ, ἐὰν δαίμων ᾿Ορέστην δεῦρ᾽ ἀπευθύνηι μολεῖν.
Al. οἶδ᾽ ἐγὼ φεύγοντας ἄνδρας ἐλπίδας σιυτουμένους.
σ “ 72 ᾽ὔ \ if > Ν ’ὔ’
ΧΟ. πρᾶσσε, πιαίνου, μιαίνων τὴν δίκην: ἐπεὶ πάρα.
Al. ἴσθι μοι δώσων ἄποινα τῆσδε μωρίας χρόνωι. 1670
ΧΟ. κόμπασον θαρσῶν, ἀλέκτωρ ὥστε θηλείας πέλας.
Ἂν fe , “ » ε 4 > ἊΝ
ΚΛ. μὴ προτιμήσηις ματαίων τῶνδ᾽ ὑλαγμάτων: ἐγὼ

Χ Ν ΄ n “ , “
καὶ σὺ θήσομεν κρατοῦντε τῶνδε δωμάτων καλῶς.

1654 δράσωμεν Victorius: δράσομεν codd. 1655 θέρος Schuetz: ὁ ἔρως codd.
1656 ὑπάρχει Scaliger: ὕπαρχε codd. | ἡιματωμένοις Hermann: ἡματώμεθα codd.
1657 sq. στείχετ᾽ αἰδοῖοι H. L. Ahrens: oreixere δ᾽ of codd. | rempapévas...elEavres
Madvig: πεπρωμένους τούσδε.. ἔρξαντες (ἔρξαντα gh) codd. | wpac H. (ὥραν Housman):
καιρόν codd. 1659 δέχοιμεθ᾽ Martin: γ᾽ ἐχοίμεθ᾽ codd. 1663 δαίμονος
Casaubon: δαίμονας codd. 1664 @ Stanley: δ᾽ fh | ἁμαρτεῖν τὸν Casaubon:
ἁμαρτῆτον fh, om. g | ἀρνουμένους supplevit H. 1670 χρόνωι Wecklein: χάριν
codd. 1671 θαρρῶν codd.: corr. Porson | ὥστε Scaliger: ὥσπερ codd. 1672 sq.
ἐγὼ et καλῶς om. codd., ex schol. suppleverunt Canter et Auratus.

i ξυμ δι

APAMEMNQN 175

CLYTAEMNESTRA, zzlerposing.

Nay nay forbear, my dearest lord, let us no mischief more ;
The harvest here already reaped is plenty and full sore ;
We have surely suffered harms enough without the waste
of gore.—
Most reverend Elders, get you home; yield now to Fate’s
decree,
Betimes, before you suffer; Fate’s executor were we.
But should this heavy chastening prove enough, we will
submit,
So hard by our familiar Spirit with his fierce talon smit:
A woman's counsel here you have, will any stoop to it.
AEGISTHUS, fuming still.
But these to let their tongue run wild and wanton at this
rate,
And fling such whirling words abroad in tempting of their
fate,
And be so reft of all advice, their master thus to brave!
ELDER. ’Twas never yet the Argive way to cringe before a

knave.

AEGISTH. Ah well, 111] have my vengeance of you yet in days
to come!

ELDER. Thou shalt not, if but Heaven direct Orestes’ footsteps
home.

AEGISTH. O, well I know how banished men will feed on
husks of hope.

ELDER. Do, do; with fatness gross defile God’s law; ’tis in
thy scope.

AEGISTH. The day will come; I warn thee, thou shalt rue
this folly then!

ELDER. O bravely now the cock may crow and strut beside
his hen!

CLYTAEM. These idle yelpings prithee hold in slight regard ;
we two

Will be the masters in this House, and our dispose will do,

NOTES

4 ff. The Watchman has been watching for the greater part of a
whole year—not longer, because according to God’s prophecy through
Calchas Troy was only to fall in the tenth year and not before: see
Homer B 329. The ἀστέρες are of course the constellations whose
risings and settings were the signs of seasons (P.V. 473f. ἀντολὰς ἐγὼ
ἄστρων ἔδειξα τάς τε δυσκρίτους δύσεις), and the Watchman has had time
to learn the signs of Winter or Storm-season—the same word expresses
both in Greek—for it is now past the autumnal equinox, the time when
χειμέριαι δύνουσι Πελειάδες (Hes. fr. 44), and the setting of the Pleiades
proverbially marked the season most dangerous of all at sea. In this
allusion theréfore an ominous note is heard at once; and presently
confirmed, for the capture, as we are duly informed in v. 817, has taken
place ‘about the sinking of the Pleiades,’ and Agamemnon has set
sail for home immediately, committing the rash act against which
Neoptolemus in Quint. 7. 298-311 is expressly warned by Lycomedes.
His rashness was followed by the disastrous storm in the Aegean.—The
construction ὅταν φθίνωσιν in v. 7 is idiomatic for watching, observing,
marking (φυλάττειν, τηρεῖν) the time when ; Herodas 3. 55 is an example,
νοεῦνθ᾽ ὁπῆμος παιγνίην aywyte. Dem. 4. 31 Φίλιππος φυλάξας τοὺς
ἐτησίας ἢ τὸν χειμῶνα ἐπιχειρεῖ ἡνίκ᾽ ἂν ἡμεῖς μὴ δυναίμεθα ἐκεῖσε
ἀφικέσθαι.-. δυνάστας is an astrological word: see Proclus on Plat.
Rep. in Schoell and Studemund Avxecdota ii. p. 26; in sense, synony-
mous with more familiar terms such as κρατήτωρ, δεσπόζειν, οἰκοδεσποτεῖν,
tyrannus Hesperiae Capricornus undae (Hor. C. 11. 17. 19).

ἀστέρας repeats in plain words the preceding metaphorical descrip-
tion. This is a common feature of Tragic style, and as such is
burlesqued by Xenarchus (Ath. 63 f) kovre βυσαύχην θεᾶς Δηοῦς σύνοι-
Kos, γηγενὴς BoABos. Further Aeschylean examples will be found zzf
500, 816, Pers. 615, ἍΜ. τοῦ; 476, 717, 926, P. V7; 3747 20. ὉΠ ἢ
1054, Supp. 231.

8. καὶ viv answers to μὲν in v. 1, which is itself intended to qualify
φρουρᾶς ἐτείας μῆκος : as throughout the year...so now. Similarly 777. 592
ἀνωλόλυξα μὲν πάλαι (for πάλαι μὲν avwodrv&a)...603 καὶ viv, Theb. 21

aA A , > > ΄ a
καὶ νῦν μὲν ἐς τόδ᾽ ἦμαρ (for καὶ νῦν és μὲν TOO Apap) εὖ ῥέπει θεός - viv δέ

NOTES 177

κιτιλ., Soph. Phil. 617 οἴοιτο μὲν μάλισθ᾽ (for οἴοιτο μάλιστα μὲν)
ἑκούσιον λαβών, εἰ μὴ θέλοι δ᾽, ἄκοντα, Ant. 327 GAN εὑρεθείη μὲν μάλιστ᾽,
ἐὰν δέ τοι ληφθῆι τε καὶ μή... Aesch. fr. 36 εὐοδίαν μὲν πρώτον, Soph. fr. 807.

1of. ‘For so a woman’s manlike spirit is sanguine to expect,’ 27α
enim sperare valet. The MS. gives ἐλπίζων with o written above ὦ,
meaning ἐλπίζον, an obvious conjecture which naturally has not con-
tented scholars. The correction ἐλπίζειν I find from Wecklein had
been proposed before by an anonymous critic in 1834, but I have
never seen it even mentioned. For the infinitive after κρατεῖν, ex-
pressing what your superiority or predominance enables you to do,
cf. Thuc. iv. 104 κρατοῦντες τῶι πλήθει ὥστε μὴ αὐτίκα τὰς πύλας
ἀνοίγεσθαι. νὶ. 74 ἐν ὅπλοις ὄντες ἐπεκράτουν μὴ δέχεσθαι τοὺς ᾿Αθηναίους.
Eur. Hel. 1639 ΘῈ. ἀρχόμεσθ᾽ ap’, οὐ κρατοῦμεν. ΧΟ. ὅσια δρᾶν, τὰ δ᾽
ἔκδικ᾽ ov. For ἀνδρόβουλον cf. Soph. fr. 857 κατ᾽ ὀρφανὸν γὰρ οἶκον
ἀνδρόφρων γυνή.

12 ff. εὖτ᾽ ἂν δὲ is resumed by ὅταν δ᾽ (16) after the interruption
caused by the explanatory yap-clause. For similar instances of a re-
sumptive δέ cf. Cho. 988, 1024, Plat. Afol. 34 D «i δή τις ὑμῶν οὕτως
- ἔχει,---Οοὐκ ἀξιῶ μὲν yap ἔγωγε: εἰ δ᾽ οὖν κιτιλ., Gorg. 480 E ἐὰν μόνον μὴ
αὐτὸς ἀδικῆται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ" τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ εὐλαβητέον: ἐὰν δὲ ἄλλον
ἀδικῆι ὁ ἐχθρός... Ῥαυδαῃ v. 25. 8, 9 τῶν δὲ ἐπὶ τῶι Ἕκτορι κληρουμένων
ἀριθμὸν ὄντων ὀκτώ, τὸν γὰρ ἔνατον..., τῶν δὲ ὀκτὼ τούτων κοτιλ.

15. τὸ μὴ.. συμβαλεῖν depends on φόβος παραστατεῖ---ἃ favourite
construction in Aeschylus. Cf. Pers. 294 ὑπερβάλλει γὰρ ἥδε συμφορὰ
τὸ μήτε λέξαι μήτ᾽ ἐρωτῆσαι πάθη, P. V. 891 μίαν δὲ παίδων ἵμερος θέλξει
τὸ μὴ κτεῖναι σύνευνον.

16. μινυρίζειν : cf. Max. Tyr. 7. 7 ἤδη τις καὶ ὑπὸ αὐλημάτων ἀνὴρ
ἄμουσος διετέθη μουσικῶς, καὶ τὰ ὦτα ἔναυλος ὧν διαμέμνηται τοῦ μέλους,
καὶ μινυρίζει πρὸς αὑτόν.

27. εὐνῆς ἐπαντείλασαν is a reverent phrase, suggested by a com-
parison with the rising of the sun or stars. Lucian i. 474 applies it in
the same way to a great man dawning on the clients waiting in his
ante-chambers till he rises: ὃ δὲ μόγις av ποτε ἀνατείλας αὐτοῖς πορφυροῦς
τίς ἢ περίχρυσος ἢ διαποικίλος εὐδαίμονας ὥιετο καὶ μακαρίους ἀποφαίνειν
τοὺς προσειπόντας ἢν τὸ στῆθος ἢ τὴν δεξιὰν προτείνων δοίη καταφιλεῖν.
In the Lacchae 747 a messenger wishes to say ‘the flesh was torn from
their limbs before you could wink’ (πρὶν pica, πρὶν καταμύσαι), but
feeling this is too familiar to a king, he turns it θᾶσσον δὲ διεφοροῦντο
σαρκὸς ἐνδυτὰ ἢ σὺ ξυνάψαις βλέφαρα βασιλείοις κόραις ‘than you could
close your eyelids on your royal eyes.’ οὐδ᾽ εὖ πραπίδων οἴακα νέμων,
applied by the Chorus to the King in v. 793, is another such respectful
phrase.

H. A. 12

178 NOTES

28. ddoAvypos is the ‘lulu’, ‘ullaloo’, familiar to us now from
Africa, the shrill cry of women either for joy and triumph, or in
sorrow and mourning. For its association with the παιάν cf. Bacchyl.
xvi. 124 ff. ἀγλαόθρονοί τε κοῦραι σὺν εὐθυμίαι νεοκτίτωι ὠλόλυξαν...ἠίθεοι
δ᾽ ἐγγύθεν νέοι παιανιξαν, Aesch. Zhed. 254 ὀλολυγμὸν ἱερὸν εὐμενῆ
παιώνισον. For the dative λαμπάδι cf. Eur. 7, A. 1467 ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἐπευφη-
μήσατ᾽, ὦ νεάνιδες, παιᾶνα THUAL συμφορᾶι.

32 f. τὰ δεσποτῶν... φρυκτωρίας. The metaphor is taken from the
game of πεσσοί, Zables or Backgammon, in which the moves of the
pieces were determined or limited by the throws (βάλλειν, βόλος), or
falls (πίπτειν, πτώσεις) of the dice. τίθεσθαι is applied to the skill of the
player, whose opportunities are so conditioned: cf. Soph. fr. 861
στέργειν τε τἀκπεσόντα καὶ θέσθαι πρέπει | σοφὸν κυβευτήν, ἀλλὰ μὴ
στένειν τύχην. Plat. Rep. 604 C ὥσπερ ἐν πτώσει κύβων, πρὸς τὰ πε-
πτωκότα τίθεσθαι τὰ αὑτοῦ πράγματα. This is referred to by Plut. 7707.
467 A where he says κυβείαι γὰρ 6 Πλάτων τὸν βίον απείκασεν, ἐν ὧι καὶ
βάλλειν δεῖ τὰ πρόσφορα, καὶ βαλόντα χρῆσθαι καλῶς τοῖς πεσοῦσι.
Stob. Alor. 124. 41 πεττείαι τινι ἔοικεν ὃ Bios, καὶ δεῖ, ὥσπερ ψῆφόν τινα,
τίθεσθαι τὸ συμβαῖνον. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἄνωθεν βαλεῖν, οὐδ᾽ ἀναθέσθαι τὴν ψῆφον
(‘to make another throw or withdraw the move’). [Plat.] Wipparch.
229 E ὥσπερ πεττεύων, ἐθέλω σοι ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ἀναθέσθαι ὅτι βούλει τῶν
εἰρημένων. Plut. Pyrrh. 26 ὅθεν ἀπείκαζεν αὐτὸν ὁ ᾿Αντίγονος κυβευτῆι
πολλὰ βάλλοντι καὶ καλά, χρῆσθαι δὲ οὐκ ἐπισταμένωι τοῖς πεσοῦσι. Hor.
C. i. 9. 14 guem sors dierum cungue dabit, lucro appone. NWHence
expressions like Dem. 23. 134 πρὸς τὸ καλώς ἔχον τίθεσθαι, Eur. fr. 287
ἀλλ᾽ οὑντυγχάνων Ta Tpaypar ὀρθῶς av τιθῆι, πράσσει καλῶς. But that εὖ
belongs to πεσόντα is shown by Eur. O7. 603, 224 1101, ete.

43 f. δισκήπτρου τιμῆς: Lum. 629 διοσδότοις σκήπτροισι τιμαλφούμενον,
Hom. A 278 ἐπεὶ ov ποθ᾽ ὁμοίης ἔμμορε τιμῆς σκηπτοῦχος βασιλεύς.

48. κλάζοντες introduces the following simile: Hom. II 428 οἱ &
ὥστ᾽ αἰγυπιοὶ γαμψώνυχες ἀγκυλοχεῖλαι πέτρηι ἐφ᾽ ὑψηλῆι μεγάλα κλάζοντε
μάχωνται, Hes. Scut. 405, Eur. 770. 146 μάτηρ δ᾽ ὡσεί τις πτανοῖς κλαγγὰν
ὄρνισιν, ὅπως ἐξάρξω.

49. ἐκπατίοις. Criticism here has wavered between the MS. ἐκπατίοις
and ἐκπάγλοις the conjecture of Blomfield. ἐκπάγλοις ἄλγεσι ‘ exceeding
anguish’ would of course be perfectly natural in language ; but ἐκπατίοις
is better rhythmically, and better sustains the figure. Other poets are
content with transitory metaphors, and that is one way of writing; no
one but Aeschylus has his habitual practice—no one, perhaps, but
Pindar had his power—of pursuing a similitude, of carrying a figure
through. This passage is a very fine example. Eagles always re-
presented Kings, but the Kings here—for the two are closely coupled,

NOTES 179

and one’s quarrel is the other’s (vv. 42-44)—whose high bed has been
robbed are compared to eagles whose high bed has been robbed,
ἄλγεσι παίδων ὑπατηλεχέων, δεμνιοτήρη πόνον ὀλέσαντες. As the
Kings launch forth in ships, so fly the eagles πτερύγων ἐρετμοῖσιν ἐρεσ-
copevo.—this need not be pressed, but still it happily maintains the
parallel. And then the likeness is pursued; the eagles in their lofty
haunts are conceived as denizens (μέτοικοι) in the region of the loftiest-
dwelling Gods,—Apollo, Pan, or Zeus; and as μέτοικοι when wronged
appealed at Athens to their προστάται or ‘patrons,’ so the eagles will
appeal to these; One above will surely hear their cry and will defend
their right. ‘And thus,’ continues Aeschylus, ‘the Atridae are sent by
a greater lord, Ζεὺς ξένιος, against Alexander.’

It is in the manner of Aeschylus, then, to choose an epithet which
will bear out his comparison. Now eagles and vultures were notoriously
remote and solitary ; so of course, from the nature of their high degree,
were Kings—all Kings, though the more ἀπρόσιτοι they were, the more
marked was the resemblance: Horapoll. Averoglyph. 11. 56 βασιλέα
ἰδιάζοντα καὶ μὴ ἐλεοῦντα ἐν τοῖς πταίσμασι. βουλόμενοι σημῆναι, ἀετὸν
ζωγραφοῦσιν- οὗτος γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐρήμοις τόποις ἔχει τὴν νεοσσιὰν καὶ
ὑψηλότερος πάντων τῶν πετεινῶν ἵπταται.

50. ἄλγεσι παίδων ὑπατηλεχέων, ‘in exceeding anguish for their lofty-
cradled children... As you could say ἀλγεῖν τινος (zf. 576, Eur.
ffec. 1256), so you could say ἄλγος τινός: Pers. 837, Eur. Hel. 202,
Suppl. 807, 1117 παίδων ὑπὸ πένθους, Phoen. 1578 ἄχει δὲ TéKvwv.—Mr
Housman (Journ. Phil. xvi. 247) first pointed out that ὕπατοι λεχέων
(see cr. ἢ.) could not mean ‘high above their eyries.’ ὕπατος means
ὕψιστος, and is always a superlative: trate κρειόντων Hom. Θ 31, σὸν δὲ
κράτος πάντων ἐσθ᾽ ὕπατον Theogn. 376, θεῶν ὕπατον Ap. Rhod. iv. 146,
Δία τὸν πάντων ὕπατον, hymn. ap. Aristid. 1. 452, ὕπατον παίδων
Pind. P. x. 9. The genitive is of the partitive nature, as in avrvé ἣ
πυμάτη θέεν ἀσπίδος Hom. Z 118, τὸν δ᾽ ὕστατον εὗρεν ὁμίλου ἑσταότα
Ν 459, οἴακος ὑστάτου νεώς Aesch. Supp. 725, ὃ δ᾽ ὕστατός γε τοῦ χρόνου
inf. 1299, ἐσχάτη χθονός P. Κ΄. 872, ἤδη γὰρ ἕδραι Ζεὺς ἐν ἐσχάτηι θεών ;
Soph. fr. 821: so ὕπατός τε χώρας Ζεύς inf. 514 Means ‘supreme ἴῃ the
land,’ as Pind. O. xiii. 24 rar εὐρυανάσσων ᾿Ολυμπίας, and in Tim. Locr.
IOOA ws τἄλλα μέρεα ὑπηρετεῖν τούτωι καθάπερ ὑπάτωι TO σκάνεος ἅπαντος,
translate it as you may, it will be seen that ὑπάτωι is still superlative,
and τῷ oxaveos a partitive genitive; and this is the sense which is
impossible in ὕπατοι λεχέων. I believe that the MS. reading is the
corruption of a compound, to be added to the many adjectives in
-λεχής, AS πρωτολεχής, μουνο-, κοινο-, aivo-, δεινο-, ἀπειρο-, εὖ-, ἵππο-, ὀρει-,
γη-» χαμαι-. The formation would first be ὑπατολεχέων, and in Epic the

I2—2

180 NOTES

X might merely be doubled in pronunciation, as πολύλλιστος Hom.,
μονόλλυκος Arat. 1124; but the usual plan for metrical purposes or for
euphony was to substitute 7 for 0, as θανατηφόρος, αἱματηφόρος, θεσφατη-
λόγος, ἐλαφηβόλος, πολεμηδόκος, ἕενηδόκος, γλαυκηπόρος, ὀμφαλητόμος,
νεήφατος, νεηθαλής, and countless others, to which I will only add
ὀφιηβοσίη from the Luscriptions of Cos, p. 113. The whole subject is
treated with his unique learning by Lobeck, Pzryn. p. 633-713.

55. εἴ τις ᾿Απόλλων would be easier to support than the MS. 7 τις :
see on 149, 1461.—For τις (‘Apollo, it may be’) cf. Antiphanes fr. 129
(ii. 63 K.) θαλάττιον. μὲν οὗτος οὐδὲν ἐσθίει | πλὴν τῶν παρὰ γῆν, yoyypov
τιν᾽ ἢ νάρκην tw ἢ κτὲ., Alexis fr. 108 (il. 334 K.) ὃ μὲν οὖν ἐμὸς vids...
τοιοῦτος γέγονεν, Οἰνοπίων τις ἢ Μάρων τις ἢ Καπηλος ἡ <tis> Τιμοκλῆς,
Lucian ili. p. 14 ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις ἢ Τιτυός, ἢ τος, ἢ ᾿Εφιάλτης, ὑπὲρ ἐκείνους,
ii. p. 60 μὴ πρὸς ἕν μέρος ὁράτω...εἰ μὴ Βρασίδας τις εἴη προπηδῶν ἢ
Δημοσθένης ἀνακόπτων τὴν ἐπίβασιν.

65. ἐν προτελείοις, before the issue is decided. προτέλεια, as repre-
senting the ceremonies previous to the consummation of marriage, was
metaphorically used for prveiminaries to the completion, perfection,
accomplishment of anything—of a voyage in v. 237, of mature age in
v. 721, and often in later authors.

70. ἀπύρων ἱερῶν. ἄπυρα, far from being abnormal, were a distinct
class of offerings, roughly parallel ἔμπυρα and λοιβαί, but not
needing dedication by fire, as when in an ordinary sacrifice the wor-
shipper shared his meal with the gods. They might be offered to the
Olympians as a means of propitiation; but as a rule these deities were
invited to fire-sacrifices. The mistake of the Rhodians in Pind. O. vii.
88 was that they established a worship of Athena with ἄπυρα, whereas,
being an Olympian, she should have been honoured with fire. The
regular offerings to the subterranean powers were ἄπυρα, partly because
intended to sink into the earth instead of ascending to Heaven, and
partly because their worship in general involves propitiation rather than
communion. The scholiast rightly recognises the customary character
of such offerings: τῶν θυσιῶν τῶν Μοιρῶν καὶ τῶν “Epwiwv, ἃ καὶ νηφαλια
καλεῖται. So Eur. fr. 904 mentions the offering of θυσίαν ἄπυρον παγ-
καρπείας to a deity who may be either Zeus or Hades: Ζεὺς εἴτ᾽ ᾿Αίδης
ὀνομαζόμενος στέργεις. Other instances of ἄπυρα, given in Gardner and
Jevons’ Manual of Antiquities, p. 238, are coins, locks of hair, horses
driven into the sea and so forth. Of course neither the kindling of fire
nor the pouring of libations would make azvpa effective; and the
Chorus cannot mean by ὑποκαίων and ἐπιλείβων (Apoll. Rhod. i. 1132
πολλὰ δὲ THVYE λιτῆισιν ἀποστρέψαι ἐριώλας Αἰσονίδης γουνάζετ᾽ ἐπιλλείβων
ἱεροῖσιν | αἰθομένοις) that somebody might seek so to appease divine anger

ee ae

way baits ν

—

NOTES 181

aroused by another regular kind. It is clearly their intention to express
that by no sort of offering, neither by ἔμπυρα nor by λοιβαί nor by
ἄπυρα will anyone appease the stubborn anger of Zeus (or of Μοῖρα Διός
implied in τὸ πεπρωμένον, which comes to the same thing), whose intention
is to cause many woes to Greeks and Trojans alike. Thus, ‘the stern
temper of unburnt sacrifices’ represents the fixed mood of Fate, in
relation to which all sacrifice is useless: Verg. Aen. vi. 376 desine fata
deum flecti sperare precando. Moschion fr. 2(#.7.G. p. 812) ὦ καὶ
θεῶν κρατοῦσα καὶ θνητῶν μόνη | μοῖρ᾽, ὦ λιταῖς ἄτρεπτε (see Class. Rev.
XVill. Pp. 430) δυστήνων βροτῶν, πάντολμ᾽ ἀνάγκη. Manetho p. 92 Koechly
τίπτε μάτην, ἄνθρωπε, θυηπολέεις μακάρεσσιν; | τίπτε μάτην τρισέλικτος
ἀν᾽ οὐρανὸν ἤλυθε κνῖσα ; | ἴσχεο, οὐ γὰρ ὄνειαρ ἐν ἀθανάτοιο θυηλαῖς (ἐν
ἀθανάτοισι θυηλῆς). | od γάρ τις δύναται γένεσιν μετατρεψέμεν ἀνδρῶν, |
ἦθ᾽ ἅμα νηπιάχοις συγγίγνεται ἀνθρώποισιν, εὐθύ τε Μοιράων εἱλίσσεται
ἀμφὶ μίτοισιν, | κλώσμασιν ἀρρήκτοισι σιδηρείοισι τ᾽ ἀτράκτοις.

71. παραθέλξει without τις is strange: perhaps we should read παρα-
θέλέεις.

72. ἀτίται means ‘insolvent,’ ‘ defaulters,’ ‘bankrupt,’ unable to pay
the debt of military service to the State (χρέος τόδε Theb. 20). Hesych.
ἀτίτην: ἄπορον. ἄτιμον. τὸν μὴ ἔχοντα ἀποτῖσαι, and τίται: εὔποροι, ‘men
of means.’

76 ff. 8 τε γὰρ νεαρὸς μυελὸς στέρνων ἐντὸς ἀνάσσων ἰσόπρεσβυς"... τί θ
ὑπεργήρως ; .. «παιδὸς οὐδὲν ἀρείων : as the marrow in its nonage is as feeble
and unfit for war as in old age, so conversely in extreme old age it is as
feeble and unwarlike as a child’s,—a pathetic expansion of the saying
dis παῖδες οἱ γέροντες, ‘old age is second childhood.’ The marrow is the
measure of the whole bodily vigour: in fact a familiar name for it was
αἰών, ‘the life,’ as in Pind. fr. 111 αἰὼν δὲ δι᾿ ὀστέων ἐραίσθη. ἀνάσσων is
appropriate to the marrow, regent in its frame of bone and dominating
vital functions (Tim. Locr. 100 a, Plat. Zim. 73 8B), and should not
be changed to ἀνάσσων, shooting up like a beanstalk! See also Plin.
LV. H. xi. 37, 67.—These lines prepare us for the βουλαὶ γερόντων which
we find instead of ἔργα at the crisis. Euripides would have apologised
at the crisis itself.

79. τί θ᾽ ὑπεργήρως ; xré. For the question cf. Pind. P. viii. 95
ἐπάμεροι" τί δέ Tis; τί δ᾽ οὔ TIS; σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος.

87. See cr.n. The corruption is due to the tendency of the
copyists to remove paroemiacs.

00. τῶν τε θυραίων τῶν τ᾽ ἀγοραίων appears to be the right antithesis,
viz. that of the shrines of all deities in the public places of the town and
of those in each several and private place,—at the street-door of each
house. ‘The title θυραῖος is assigned to Apollo in Macrob. Sav. i. 9. 6.

182 NOTES

For the similar practice of the Jews see Isaiah 57. 8 ‘Behind the doors
also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance.’ 1 Maccabees 1. 55
‘And at the doors of the houses and in the streets they burnt incense.’

96. βασιλείωι. The appellation ‘royal’ often connotes choiceness
of quality: Athen. 64b (BoABor) οἱ βασιλικοὶ λεγόμενοι, ot καὶ κρείσσονες
τῶν ἄλλων εἰσί, id. 54 Ὁ, 76f.

97 f. ὅ τι καὶ δυνατὸν καὶ θέμις αἰνεῖν. Cf. Eur. fom 233 πάντα
θεᾶσθ᾽ ὅτι καὶ θέμις ὄμμασι.

99. τε γενοῦ. ‘The sentence begins as though another τε were to
follow, but it never does, because the intervening relative clauses are
supposed to have put it out of mind; a parenthesis usurps the place of
the main sentence. Cf. Supp. 490 κλάδους τε τούτους ail’ ἐν ἀγκάλαις
λαβών xré. It is studied carelessness to resemble the irregularity of
actual speech, like the ‘nominativus pendens,’ which Aeschylus is so
fond of using.

tor ff. See οἵ. ἢ. The words, I think, were transposed to show
the construction, 2.6. in order to bring ἐκ θυσιῶν--- ἀγανὰ paivovo’ together,
and τὴν θυμοφθόρον λύπης φρένα was an explanation of τὴν θυμοβόρον
φροντίδα. In reading φαίνουσ᾽ I follow f and Triclinius. ἀγανὰ φαίνουσα
is like Vheocr. ii. 10 ἀλλὰ Σελάνα, φαῖνε καλόν : so now the reason is
apparent why we find d@yava, not ἀγανη : it was not feminine but neuter
plural.

106. ἐκτελέων, ‘men of prime’: which, however, would be more
naturally contrasted with immaturity than with the aged Elders’ own
decay. ἐντελέων (Hermann al.) would be ‘men in power.’

108. πειθώ should possibly be πειθοῖ (Heller), ‘inspires me by
divine impulse with puissance in song.’ The general sense is ‘though I
am now too weak to fight, I am still strong enough to sing,’ as the old
shepherd says in A. P. vi. 73 εἰσέτι yap σύριγγι μελίσδομαι, εἰσέτι φωνὰ
ἄτρομος ἐν τρομερῶι σώματι ναιετάει. The passage has echoes of Pind. O.
i. 104-112, and seems to me to be itself echoed in Eur. Phaethon fr.
774. 44 κοσμὸν δ᾽ ὑμεναίων δεσποσύνων | ἐμὲ καὶ τὸ δίκαιον ayer καὶ ἔρως]
ὑμνεῖν: δμωσὶν γὰρ ἀνάκτων | εὐαμερίαι προσιοῦσαι | μολπᾶν θράσος
αἴρουσ᾽ | ἐπὶ χάρμασιν (as I emend yappar.

113. Seecr.n. δίκας was a gloss on πράκτορι, and καὶ χερὶ was
no doubt lost owing to the recurring final syllable.

121 ff. The kings subduing Troy with her teeming multitude inside
are typified by eagles. Aeschylus, I suspect, was thinking of that
remarkable passage—Hesiodic or Orphic in character rather than Ionic
—about "Arn and the Aurac: Hom. I 505 ἡ δ᾽ “Arn σθεναρή τε καὶ
ἀρτίπος, οὕνεκα πάσας πολλὸν ὑπεκπροθέει, φθάνει δέ Te πᾶσαν ἐπ᾽ αἷαν

βλάπτουσ᾽ ἀνθρώπους, with βλαφθεὶς in 512. So Ζγ7. 406, when “Arn

NOTES 183

has her way, λιτᾶν ἀκούει οὐδεὶς θεῶν. For the significance of βλαβέντα
λοισθίων δρόμων, ‘prevented from her final course,’ as applied to the
hare, see Platt in C/ass. Rev. xi. p. 94. For the accusative after Booxo-
μενοι cf. Eur. Med. 826 φερβόμενοι κλεινοτάταν σοφίαν, Cratinus (i. 57 K.)
ap. Athen. 99 f. ἦσθε πανημέριοι χορταζόμενοι γάλα λευκόν. The order
of the words (λαγίναν... γένναν), common in Latin, is rare in Greek,
although Lucian has it.

125 f. The principle that in Greek the emphatic words are placed
first, and the unemphatic follow after, is the key to the understanding
of this sentence. All critics have assumed that λήμασι δισσούς go
together ; then, seeing that δισσούς is unsuitable, some have substituted
other words, as Lobeck πιστούς, Dindorf ἴσους. The truth is that the
words which go together are δύο λήμασι : ‘seeing the twain warrior sons
of Atreus two in temper.’ What enables the sage prophet to identify
the pair of eagles with the pair of princes is that the birds are royal
warriors, but one κελαινός and the other ἐξόπιν dpyas—in common
language μελανάετος and πύγαργος (Arist. 618 b 18). These represent
characters which correspond to those of Agamemnon and Menelaus.
The taunt of spiritlessness or κακία so often aimed at Menelaus (largely
based, one may suppose, on the lost Epic and Lyric literature) seems
to be hinted at in v. 420—424; οὐ yap εἰκός, says Pindar fr. 81, τῶν
ἐόντων ἁρπαζομένων παρά θ᾽ ἑστίαι καθῆσθαι Kat κακὸν ἔμμεν. Menelaus
is called by Apollo in the guise of Asiades (Hom. P 588) μαλθακὸς
αἰχμητής, and of him Orestes says (Eur. Or. 754) οὐ yap αἰχμητὴς πέ-
φυκεν, ἐν γυναιξὶ δ᾽ ἄλκιμος, Electra (Or. 1201) οὔτε γὰρ θρασὺς οὔτ᾽
ἄλκιμος πέφυκεν, Helen (Colluthus 314) οἶσθα γὰρ ὡς Μενέλαος ἀνάλκιδός
ἐστι γενέθλης. Add Quint. vi. 3ο---43. δισσοὶ ᾿Ατρεῖδαι is the common
phrase, Eur. Hee. 510, Or. 818, Soph. Az. 57, 947, and similarly 390,
g60, Phil. 793, 1024, sup. 43.

131. ἀγρεῖ recalls the ἄγρα of the eagles.

134. κτήνη is not κτήματα, but means ‘beasts, cattle.’ There is a
double meaning, as the language suggests to the audience the herd
of the Greek forces.

136 ff. οἷον μή...-κνεφάσηι means μόνον φράζεσθαι or φυλακτέον μὴ...
and this is the saving clause which it appears from some amusing
parodies was proper to a prophecy: A. P. ΧΙ. 163 a wrestler, a pent-
athlete, and a runner come to find out from a μάντις which will win.
« πάντες ἔφη “νικᾶτε" μόνον μή τις σὲ παρέλθηι, καὶ σὲ κατατρέψηι, καὶ
σὲ παρατροχάσηι. In xi. 365 a farmer consults an astrologer on his
prospects. ‘If it rains enough,’ is the response, ‘and not too much, and
the furrows are not spoilt by frost, nor young shoots crushed by hail,
nor the crop devoured by deer, and nothing else unfavourable befalls

184 NOTES

from earth or air, I foretell you a good harvest—povvas δείδιθι τὰς
ἀκρίδας. "-- στόμιον... στρατωθέν, ‘the great embattled bit that should hold
the mouth of Troy.’ στρ. is an epithet ‘limiting’ the metaphor. προ-
turév, as by lightning.

139. οἴκτωι: cf. Philipp. Thess. 4. P. ix. 22 ἡ θεὸς ὠδίνων yap ἐπί-.
σκοπος, οὐδ᾽ ἐδίκαζεν τικτούσας κτείνειν, ἃς ἐλεεῖν ἔμαθεν.

143. θυομένοισιν glances αἱ Iphigeneia.

146. We should probably read τόσον περ evppwv <d€>, καλά, or
τόσον περ εὔφρων, ἀκαλα, ‘thou gentle one’ (so Platt in C. 2. xi. 95).
That at any rate should be the metre. καλα, if sound, is the well-known
epithet of Artemis [more often καλλίστη: but see Ar. Ran. 1359 and
other evidence quoted by Gruppe, Gv. A/y¢h. p. 1271, n. 1], used here
after the usual custom to flatter and conciliate the goddess. τόσσων of
M is an epicism, due to the familiarity of Homer to the copyists.

147. λεόντων. The on, which is common on Lydian coins and
still extant on the ancient gates of Mycenae, was probably the badge of
the Lydian dynasty of Pelops. ‘That seems to be the reason why the
term is applied to various members of that family, Agamemnon in
v. 1258, him or his army in v. 818, Clytaemnestra in v. 1257, Aegisthus
in v. 1223; and as the lion’s offspring is a type of Helen in v. 718, so
it appears here to mean Iphigeneia.

149. ὀβρικάλοις, εἴπερ τινά : see crit. ἢ. ‘Consent to ratify, if ever
any, the portents of these fowls. The alteration involves the writing
of OBPIKAAOICITTEPTINA for OBPIKAAOICITEPTINA, by which
means we obtain the usual formula of invocation, justifying (as in no
other way it can be justified) the emphatic place of τούτων, and abolish-
ing the superfluous and inappropriate τερπνά which had been already
bracketed by Paley. The form of appeal is ‘if ever before, so now,’
that is ‘no occasion was ever more urgent than the present’; e.g. Dem.
32. 3 δέομαι δ᾽ ὑμῶν πάντων, εἴπερ ἄλλωι τινὶ πώποτε πράγματι τὸν νοῦν
προσέσχετε, καὶ τούτωι προσέχειν: Isae. ὃ. 5 εἴ τινι οὖν καὶ ἄλληι πώποτε
δίκηι προσέσχετε τὸν νοῦν, δέομαι ὑμῶν καὶ ταύτηι προσέχειν ὁμοίως : for
other examples see Blomfield on mf. 503 (525 W.) εἴ που, πάλαι,
φαιδροῖσι τοισίδ᾽ ὄμμασιν δέξασθε, ‘with bright eyes now,’ Blaydes on
Ar. ub. 356, Thesm. 1157, Leaf on Hom. Q 704, Stat. Achill. τ. 509 st
quando, autdissimus haurt.

151. κατάμομφα: since after all they are not wholly favourable to
us, not satisfactory altogether (ἀψεγῆ, Soph. £7. 496), but with elements
in them which portend us evil too.

159. σύμφυτον, ‘cleaving,’ is used in the same way as ξύμφυτος
αἰών (Vv. 109).

165. ἀπέκλαγξεν, like ἔκλαγξεν inf. 211, expresses the loud and

NOTES 185

excited tone of voice which marked the spiritual exaltation of the μάντις.
This is the explanation of other words applied to the delivery of oracles,
as ἰάχειν and κέλαδος and those which are technical of them, λακεῖν,
ὀρθιαζειν. λακεῖν does not mean ‘to say,’ or, as L. and S. suppose,
‘to noise abroad,’ but ‘to utter with a wild, confused, and _ half-articulate
cry,’ such as comes from the victims of a xéghtmare. Compare for
instance Cho. 35, 533, 127. 287.

170 ff. How could Agamemnon, so plainly warned, commit this
fatal crime? Because he is an example of the general law laid down by
Zeus that man shall learn wisdom, not by foresight or prophetic admoni-
tion, but after the event by experience and reflexion on his own past
actions. Experience teaches by memory revisiting us in dreams or by
unnoticed working.

175. μάταν, ‘causeless,’ ‘unaccountable,’ ‘unwarranted.’ μάταν, as
often, is used like the adjective μάταιος.

178. οὖλός τις: see cr. n. I am aware that ὅστις may be argued
for, but probability is very much against it, and when we find the
sentence beginning with οὐδ᾽ ὅστις, suspicion is considerably increased.
For what is certain is that οὐδ᾽ ὅστις πάροιθεν or οὐδ᾽ ὃς τοῖς πάροιθεν
could only mean ‘not even he that was great aforetime,’ the stress being
on πάροιθεν. That is pointless here. The only plausible conjecture
I have seen is οἶδ᾽ ὅστις (Pauw). For OYAOCTIC I write OYAOCTIC,
‘a violent one was great of old, swelling with boisterous puissance.’
The metaphor throughout is of a combat—rpraxrjpos and παμμάχωι, a
word which it will be seen in the Zesaurus was properly used of the
pancratiast. οὖλος, the epithet applied by Homer to Ares and Achilles,
is eminently suitable to this turbulent swasher.

180. οὐδὲ λέξεται : ‘but shall not be reckoned, being one of the
past.’ Cf. Eur. Adc. 322 ἀλλ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἐν τοῖς μηκέτ᾽ οὖσι λέξομαι, Hec. 905
σὺ μέν, ὦ πατρὶς Ἰλιάς, τῶν ἀπορθήτων πόλις οὐκέτι λέξη. For the sense
cf. Timotheus ap. Athen. 122 d (fr. 21 Wil.) νέος ὃ Ζεὺς βασιλεύει. τὸ
πάλαι δ᾽ ἦν Κρόνος ἄρχων. ἀπίτω μοῦσα παλαιά.

181. τριακτῆρος: an allusion to the myth, probably of Orphic
origin, of the wrestling-match between Cronos and Zeus at Olympia.
Pausanias, in his account of Olympia (v. 7. 10) refers to it: “Some say
that Zeus here wrestled with Cronos himself; others that he held the
games in honour of his victory over Cronos.” See also viii. 2. 2.

185. τεύξεται φρενῶν τὸ πᾶν is the opposite of ἁμαρτήσεται φρενῶν.

186 ff. It was in this way, I believe, that Prometheus became
reconciled to Zeus. For the proverb Jnstruction by Suffering see
Hom. P 32 ῥεχθὲν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω, Hes. Of. 218 παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος

ἔγνω, Hdt. i. 207 τὰ δέ μοι παθήματα ἐόντα ἀχάριτα μαθήματα ἐγεγόνεε,
Plat. Symp. 222 Β κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν ὥσπερ νήπιον παθόντα γνῶναι.

186 NOTES

189 ff. ἔν θ᾽ ὕπνωι.. «καὶ is an instance of the common idiom,
according to which τε... «καί serve rather to subordinate than to co-
ordinate: ‘when...then...’ Cf. Soph. fr. 234. 5 «ir ἦμαρ αὐξει μέσσον
ὄμφακος τύπον, | καὶ κλίνεταί τε καποπερκοῦται βότρυς, ‘and as it declines
the grape reddens.’ Antig. 1186. Hdt. iv. 181, 199, ii. 93, vi- 41
Stein. Xen. Anad. iv. 2. 12, vil. 4. 12, £g. 5. 10 οὐ φθάνει τε ἐξαγόμενος
ὃ ἵππος καὶ.... Aristid. 1. 492, 511. Lucian ii. 584. Timocles (Ath.
407 d) καὶ ταῦτα τε εἴρητο (Porson for εἴρηται) xai.... Heliod. viii. 8,
v. 18 ἀλλ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ἥλιός τε ἀνίσχε καὶ ἡμεῖς ἄγκυραν καθίεμεν. Plat. Phaedr.
254 Β καὶ πρός τ᾽ αὐτώι ἐγένοντο καὶ εἶδον τὴν ὄψιν κτὲ.--- στάζει is
rightly explained by Dr Verrall: ‘The admonitory recollection of
experience is compared to a wound which long afterwards will ache
at times and even break out again, reminding the sufferer of the original
hurt.’ I cannot go with him further in his reading and explanation ;
but the root of the idea is a sore that oozes, bleeds, breaks out again.
And ἐν ὕπνωι is a most important part of it. Bodily disease may be
unfelt in the activity of day, but will disturb the sick man’s rest upon
his bed: Dio Chrys. u. p. 169 R. οὐδὲ yap νόσημα οὐδὲν οὕτως ἀναίσθητον
τοῖς ἔχουσιν ws μηδέποτε βλάψαι μηδὲ ἐμποδὼν γενέσθαι μηδεμιᾶς πράξεως,
ἄλλα κἂν ἐγρηγορότι καὶ βαδίζοντι μὴ σφόδρα ἐνοχλῆι, εἴς γε τὴν κοίτην
ἀπήντησε καὶ διασπᾶι καὶ διαφθείρει τὸν ὕπνον. And as it is with bodily
diseases, so it is with the sufferings of a wounded spirit, which are
eloquently described by Achilles Tatius 1. 6 ὡς δ᾽ εἰς τὸ δωμάτιον
παρῆλθον, ἔνθα μοι καθεύδειν ἔθος ἦν, οὐδ᾽ ὕπνου τυχεῖν ἡδυνάμην. ἔστι μὲν
γὰρ φύσει καὶ τἄλλα νοσήματα καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματος τραύματα ἐν νυκτὶ
χαλεπώτερα καὶ ἐπανίσταται μᾶλλον ἡμῖν ἡσυχάζουσι καὶ ἐρεθίζει τὰς
ἀλγηδόνας: ὅταν γὰρ ἀναπαύηται τὸ σῶμα, τότε σχολάζει τὸ ἕλκος νοσεῖν"
τὰ δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τραύματα μὴ κινουμένου τοῦ σώματος πολὺ μᾶλλον ὀδυνᾶι.
ἐν ἡμέραι μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ ὦτα πολλῆς γεμιζόμενα περιεργίας ἐπι-
κουφίζει τῆς νόσου τὴν ἀκμήν, ἀντιπεριάγοντα τὴν ψυχὴν τῆς εἰς τὸ πονεῖν
σχολῆς ἐὰν δ᾽ ἡσυχίαι τὸ σῶμα πεδηθῆι, καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἡ ψυχὴ γενομένη τῶι
κακῶι κυμαίνεται" πάντα γὰρ ἐξεγείρεται τότε τὰ τέως κοιμώμενα- τοῖς
πενθοῦσιν αἱ λῦπαι, τοῖς μεριμνῶσιν at φροντίδες, τοῖς κινδυνεύουσιν οἵ
φόβοι, τοῖς ἐρῶσι τὸ πῦρ. Conscience also ‘chastens in the night-season,’
as they say in the Old Testament, from which many illustrations could
be drawn; the best, perhaps, are Job 33. 14. For God speaketh once,
yea twice, in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth
upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men,
and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose,
and hide pride from man; he keepeth back man from the pit, and his life
from perishing ‘by the sword. He ts chastened also with pain upon his
bed, and with continual strife in his bones: and so on; such act of God
is a χάρις Biavos—whom he loveth he chasteneth—to make man repent

-σ-

NOTES 187

and deliver his soul from going into the pit: 5. 17 Happy ts the man
whom God correcteth ; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the
Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his
hands make whole. Psalm 16. 7 7. will bless the Lord who hath given
me counsel: yea, my reins instruct me tn the night seasons. συμφέρει, as
we are told in the Lumentdes v. 523, σωφρονεῖν ὑπὸ στένει, under the
deterrent influence of fear ; and when fear was sent divinely to a man,
it was commonly in the time of rest upon his ‘bed, in dreams (Job 4.
I2—17, 30. 15—17, Wisdom of Solomon 17 and 18. 17—19); and such
fears, in the Greek view, came by the agency of δαίμονες, black spirits
(e.g. Cho. 282—8): thus were theologised the twinges of a guilty con-
science, which Plato in ep. 330 D—e describes as torturing a man
upon his death-bed with the fear of Hell, and causing him to start up,
like a frightened child, from sleep: he had ridiculed such myths before,
but now they rack him with the apprehension that they may be true—
whether it be merely from the weakness of old age, or because he really
sees those terrors plainer, being nearer to them. It was in dream that
the divine part of us waked and saw; εὕδει δέ, says Pindar in fr. 231,
πρασσόντων μελέων, it lies dormant while the limbs are active, but
becomes prophetic while we are asleep. Aeschylus can hardly not have
shared in the Pythagorean doctrine, and must, I think, include allusion
to it here; it is his brevity in allusion to familiar doctrine that makes
his lyrics difficult. μνησιπήμων, like μνησιστέφανος ἀγών in Pindar,
means ‘putting in mind of suffering,’ and could mean both ‘reminding
of the past’ and ‘ warning of the future.’—rpé καρδίας is ‘at the seat of
consciousness,’ cf. 967, Cho. 390, Hum. 103.

102 f. δαιμόνων δέ που χάρις «.7.A. The particles δέ που (‘and I .
suppose,’ P. V. 848, Plat. Phaedr. 270 Ἑ, Legg. 650 B) are often used of
some presumption that may be entertained about dvinities. See Pers.
726 γνώμης δέ πού τις δαιμόνων EvvyWaro. Bacchyl. v. 91 τὰ δέ που
Παλλαδι ξανθᾶι μέλει. Plat. Rep. 517 Β θεὸς δέ που οἶδεν εἰ ἀληθὴς οὖσα
τυγχάνει. Soph. “42. 489 θεοῖς γὰρ ὧδ᾽ ἔδοξέ που.---Τί΄ might, however,
be suggested that the purpose of the lines is to contrast the gentle and
spiritual mode of correction existing under the reign of Zeus with the
turbulent rule of Ouranos and Cronos. For how, the poet would then
conclude, should man be grateful to and adore a deity who ruled the
world by main force? Thus, with ποῦ and βιαίως retained, ‘whereas

‘where is there any joy of deities who sit upon their awful seat

violently ὃ

104. καὶ τότε means ‘so it was then,’ as καὶ νῦν means ‘so it is on
this occasion’; in other words, both phrases are employed to mark
a particular example of a general principle: Pind. P. iii. 29 κλέπτει τέ

188 NOTES

νιν ov θεὸς od βροτὸς ἔργοις οὔτε βουλαῖς. Kal τότε γνοὺς Ἴσχυος Eidarida
ξεινίαν κοίταν.... Agamemnon acted hastily, yielding without critical
enquiry (παθὼν ἔγνω gives the contrast to μάντιν ψέγων), and so is
described as ἐμπαίοις τύχαισι συμπνέων, ‘letting his spirit yield to violent
circumstance,’ which is the same thing as φρενὸς πνέων δυσσεβῆ τροπαίαν
in v. 220.

197 ff. συμπνέων. Cf. Schol. Pind. vi. 90 (55) ἢ ζάκοτόν φησι
κατὰ μετουσίαν τοῦ φέροντος καὶ αὐτὸ συμπνέον τῆι ὀργῆι ἀπὸ τῶν παρ᾽
Ὁμήρωι (A 573 f.).—The lyric method is to begin at the crisis and to
jot in points of description or narrative without regard to their logical
sequence.—xevayyet, fumishing, is a Hippocratean word: lit. emptying
the vessel of the stomach. [Cf. ἀγγεῖον as used by Empedocles (A 74
Diels). ]

211. προφέρων : cf. 22f. 955 δόμοισι προυνεχθέντος ἐν χρηστηρίοις.

212 f. χθόνα βάκτροις ἐπικρούσαντας. The action shows their emo-
tion: see Hom. A 245, 9 80.

219. πατρώιους x.7.4. See cr.n. The reading of the MS. arises
through τὸ ἑξῆς, 2.6. the tendency of the scribes to simplify the order of
the words, with ῥεέθροις substituted for ῥοαῖς.

228 ff. ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀνάγκας ἔδυ λέπαδνον...τόθεν τὸ παντότολμον φρονεῖν
μετέγνω: once he had persuaded himself that he was yielding to
Necessity, from that point he abandoned himself in desperation and
resolved to stick at nothing. This was a familiar idea, that ἀνάγκη
(of poverty or love, for instance) drives a man to do or suffer anything :
Theognis 195 ἐπεὶ κρατερή μιν ἀνάγκη ἐντύει, ἢ T ἀνδρὸς τλήμονα θῆκε
νόον. 384 πενίην μητέρ᾽ ἀμηχανίης ἔλαβον, τὰ δίκαια φιλεῦντες, 7 7
ἀνδρῶν παράγει θυμὸν ἐς ἀμπλακίην, βλάπτουσ᾽ ἐν στήθεσσι φρένας κρατερῆς
ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης" τολμᾶι δ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλων αἴσχεα πολλὰ φέρειν, χρημοσύνηι εἴκων, 7)
δὴ κακὰ πολλὰ διδάσκει, ψεύδεά τ᾽ ἐξαπάτας T οὐλομένας T ἔριδας, ἄνδρα καὶ
οὐκ ἐθέλοντα. Antiphon 121. 12, P. V. 16, Sappho 2. 17. Hence
πάντολμος became a regular epithet of ἀνάγκη: A. P. 1x. 11 πάντα δὲ
ταῦτ᾽ ἐδίδαξε πικρὴ πάντολμος ἀνάγκη. XVI. 15. 7 ἀσχήμων ἔνδεια Kat
& πάντολμος ἀνάγκας. Moschion, Zelephus fr. 2 Ν. ὦ καὶ θεῶν κρατοῦσα
καὶ θνητῶν μόνη Motp, ὦ λιταῖς ἄτρεπτε δυστήνων βροτῶν πάντολμ᾽
ἀνάγκη, στυγνὸν 7) Kat’ αὐχένων ἡμῶν ἐρείδεις τῆσδε λατρείας ζυγόν. The
parenthesis βροτοὺς θρασύνει γὰρ αἰσχρόμητις τάλαινα παρακοπὰ πρωτο-
πήμων describes the process by which ἀνάγκη produces this state of
mind: he is at his wits’ end; ἀμηχανίη drives him to distraction
(παρακοπά), βλάπτουσ᾽ ἐν στήθεσσι φρένας κρατερῆς ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης, as
Theognis says; he abandons the restraint (σωφροσύνη) which had hitherto
kept him in check, and gives himself up wholly to θράσος, the spirit of
bad audacity, bold recklessness and sin. ᾿Ανάγκη, therefore, acts in the

NOTES 189

same way as “Ary βλαψίφρων, who makes a man φρενοβλαβῆ and leads
him astray into ἀνιερὸν θράσος (v. 764).

The words δυσσεβῆ, ἄναγνον, aviepov mean ‘wicked,’ ‘sinful against
God’: ἄναγνος or dvcayvos always means ‘polluted’ by sacrilege or
bloodshed.

When used in a bad sense, τόλμα is much the same as θράσος, and
expresses ‘criminal wickedness’ or ‘crime’ in general; and παντό-
τολμος Or πάντολμος is the strongest term of condemnation that can
be applied to man or woman, ‘ready to commit any crime without
restraint of conscience.’ This is the meaning of ὑπέρτολμον φρόνημα
and παντόλμους ἔρωτας in Cho. 591, 595 and ἄτολμον 20. 628 is the
opposite. τλᾶν and τλήμων are sometimes used to the same effect,
as τλάμονι καὶ πανούργωι χειρί in Cho. 383: just as ἀτολμήτων in v. 385
implies a ‘wicked sin,’ so ἄτλητα τλᾶσα in v. 417 means in English
‘committing a crime.’ Similarly érAa in v. 234 is equivalent to érdA-
pyoev in the sense indicated.

230. τόθεν, ‘from that moment,’ might also be relative, picked up
by ἔτλα δ᾽ οὖν after the parenthesis ; but in any case it refers to ἀνάγκας,
as has been shown in the previous note.

232. Seecr.n. The copyist assumed that yap must be the second
word, and therefore punctuated after βροτούς, the explanation offered in
the schol. being ὅθεν ἔγνω πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τολμᾶν. It was pro-
bably another groping at a sense that produced the reading of M.
Similarly, the right reading (Heath) in Eur. A Δὲ 1126 is ἀρκεῖ σιωπὴ
yap μαθεῖν ὃ βούλομαι ; but yap was assumed to be the second word ;
a stop accordingly was placed after ἀρκεῖ, and then to get a sense the
ὃ was changed to οὐ: so that we find ἀρκεῖ" σιωπὴ (or σιωπῇ) yap μαθεῖν
οὐ βούλομαι.

237. προτέλεια. It is possible that, as in Eur. 7 4. 433 ᾿Αρτέμιδι
προτελίζουσι τὴν νεάνιδα, there is an allusion to the pretended marriage
with Achilles.

239. [Mueller’s correction was provisionally adopted. For the
form see the commentators on CZo. 349.|

243. περιπετῆ: the adj. is passive corresponding to περιβάλλω τινὰ
πέπλοις. ‘ Where she lay, wrapt in her robes.’

246. φυλακᾶι. If the MS. reading is kept, it should be treated as
subject to κατασχεῖν. In Eur. 770. 194 τὰν παρὰ προθύροις φυλακὰν
κατέχουσ᾽ the sense is ‘to keep watch.’ Cf. Pind. P. iv. 75 τὸν μονο-
κρήπιδα πάντως ἐν φυλακᾶι σχεθέμεν μεγάλαι.

257 ἴ. τριτόσπονδον... παιᾶνα. Cf. Harmodius ἐν τῶι περὶ τῶν κατὰ
Φιγάλειαν νομίμων, ap. Athen. iv. 149 ο μετὰ δὲ τὸ δεῖπνον σπονδὰς
ἐποιοῦντο... ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν σπονδῶν παιὰν ἀιδεται.

[90 NOTES

265. ἴσον. So Eur. Ov. 426 τὸ μέλλον δ᾽ ἴσον ἀπραξίαι λέγω.-- τὸ δὲ
προκλύειν added by m to 263 was a gloss on this word.

266. σύνορθρον αὐγαῖς, ‘full clear with the rays of morning ’—a vague
but ominous reference.

268 f. τόδ᾽ ἄγχιστον x.7.A. refers to Clytaemnestra. ἄγχιστον de-
scribes her relation to the throne, which is expressly stated in the verses
following (Schuetz). It was the almost invariable practice of the Greek
stage for a character on the first appearance to be announced and
described for the information of the audience. So zz. 590.

ἕρκος 15 used several times in Homer of persons: so ἔρυμα (Lum. 704),
πύργος, ἕρμα and the like.

276. εὐάγγελος μέν. The tenor of the answer with its repetition
of εὐάγγελος from the previous speech corresponds exactly to Supp. 381
ἄγος pev...tuiv δ᾽ ἀρήγειν...

282. Cf. Plut. Camill. 30 δακρύοντες ἀπιστίαι τῆς παρούσης ἡδονῆς.

283. εὖ γὰρ φρονοῦντος ὄμμα σοῦ κατηγορεῖ. For an explanation of
the full force contained in these words we must look to the records
of Physiognomy. In that science, so much studied in the East, it is
the eyes that give the most important signs and are the windows of the
soul: Script. Physiogn. 1. p. 305 Foerster τὰ δὲ πολλὰ τῶν σημείων Kal
τὰ σύνολα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐνίδρυται καὶ ὥσπερ διὰ πυλῶν τούτων ἡ ψυχὴ
διαφαίνεται. 170. 11. 17, 409. 1 Samuel 16. 7 ‘for man looketh on the
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the eyes,’ that is, ‘the
heart.’ Leon. Tar. 4. P. vii. 661 φυσιγνώμων ὃ σοφιστής, δεινὸς ἀπ᾽
ὀφθαλμοῦ καὶ τὸ νόημα μαθεῖν. Eur. ed. 215. There are other passages
in this play which are explained by the same notion; see notes on 786
and 1427. κατηγορεῖν, ‘to argue,’ ‘prove,’ belongs to the physiognomical
vocabulary (see Foerster’s Index ii. p. 394—5), having been used,
doubtless, by old Ionic writers on the subject and retained as technical ;
hence it appears in other writers often when they speak of what is indi-
cated, whether good or evil, by such outward signs. See Eur. fr. 690 τό
γ εἶδες αὐτὸ σοῦ κατηγορεῖ σιγῶντος ὡς εἴης ἄν...» Philostr. [mag. 29
ὠκύτητα κατηγορεῖ τοῦ κυνός, Vit. Soph. 1. τῇ πειθὼ κατηγορεῖ τοῦ
ἀνδρός (il. p. 19 and p. 380 Kayser), Heroic. p. 303 -- 08, Aelian
NV. A. i. 5, Heliod. ii. 5, Plut. AZor. 695 Ὁ, Schol.» Zeb. 109: there are
also some examples in the Dictionaries which should be classed under
this head.

287. λάκοιμι is Karsten’s correction of the MS. λάβοιμι, which
cannot bear the sense attributed to it here—‘I would not accept the
mere fancy of a slumbering mind’; that would be οὐδ᾽ av δεχοίμην δόξαν
εὑδούσης φρενός. But δόξαν λαβεῖν is used only in the following senses :
(1) 20 get reputation, with or without an epithet, or with a genitive vepu-

NOTES ΙΟῚ

tation of or for; as λαβεῖν αἰτίαν, ἔπαινον, ψόγον, ὄνειδος, εὔκλειαν, δια-
βολήν, φθόνον, αἰσχύνην, γέλωτα etc., (2) 40 conceive a notion (of ), entertain
a conception (of), as λαβεῖν ἔννοιαν, φαντασίαν, νόησιν. But δόξαν or
δόκησιν λέγειν is fo state mere opinion as opposed to knowledge (Eur.
7. T. 1164, Bacch. 628, Heracl. 395, Soph. Trach. 426, Hdt. vil. 185) :
λάκοιμι is a stronger synonym of λέγοιμι (see on 619), and now the
emphasis falls where it should, on δόξαν.

288. The old men assume that she has only ordinary woman’s
reasons, dream or rumour, as in Eur. Hel. 1190 πότερον ἐννύχοις πε-
πεισμένη στένει: ὀνείροις ἢ φάτιν tw οἴκοθεν κλύουσα ;-- ἐπίανεν is a
heightened synonym of ἔθρεψεν : Bacchyl. iii. 67 ὅστις μὴ φθόνωι πιαί-
νεται, Plut. Mor. 516 D ἡ ψυχή... βόσκουσα καὶ πιαίνουσα τὸ κακόηθες.
Similar is the use of αὐξειν : Ath. 782 d αὔξει γὰρ καὶ τρέφει μεγαλύνει τε
τὴν ψυχὴν ἡ ἐν τοῖς ποτοῖς διατριβή, Pind. ΔΙ ili. 58 ἐν ἀρμένοισι πᾶσι
θυμὸν αὔξων, Bacchyl. i. 52 ἐθέλει δ᾽ αὔξειν φρένας ἀνδρός (sc. πλοῦτος).
So ἐλπίδι τρέφεσθαι is varied by βόσκεσθαι, σιτεῖσθαι (inf. 1668), φέρ-
βεσθαι: see Class. Rev. xv. p. 102.--- ἄπτερος φάτις, of which fantastic
explanations have been given, means a zzged, or metaphorically a
wing-swift rumour. Φήμη, fama, was a thing that flew: Hdt. ix. roo,
ro1, Telestes (Ath. 616 f), Orph. Avg. 596 ; fama uolat. It should be
observed that when the phrase τῆι δ᾽ ἄπτερος ἔπλετο μῦθος occurs in the
Odyssey, it seems always to denote a certain obscurity in the speaker’s
words, which causes them to fall short of the hearer’s intelligence. Thus
in Od. 17. 57, when Penelope has questioned Telemachus about the
result of his voyage to Pylus, and Telemachus, who has just recognised
his father at the swineherd’s hut and been commanded to keep silence,
has made an evasive reply, the meaning is that the full intention of his
speech was hidden from her. In Qd. tg. 29 Telemachus makes no
direct answer to Eurycleia’s question about the torch-bearer who would
be required, and it is implied that his words had a hidden import in
reference to his father which failed to reach her. In Od. 21. 386
Eurycleia failed to understand that the slaying of the suitors was
implied in the speech of the swineherd. In Od. 22. 398 Eurycleia,
when invited to enter, beholds to her joyful amazement the bloody
corpses of the suitors lying on the ground.

However this may be, the old poetical word ἄπτερος was used by
later writers of things which though wingless are swift as with wings,
wing-swift, like the Flying Dutchman. And in this sense ἀπτέρωι τάχει
was a favourite phrase (fully illustrated by Nauck, / 7: G.’ p. 922):
we find πτηνῶι τάχει sometimes used instead. In the same sense—the
usual explanation of the grammarians is ταχέως or aidvidiws—was used
the adverb ἀπτέρως, or ἀπτερέως (lengthened like ἀψοφέως for the

192 NOTES

purpose of dactylic verse). ἄπτερος or ἀπτέρως should probably be read
in P. V. 707: see Journ. Phil. xx. p. 296, where further illustrations are
quoted.

298. πόντον ὥστε νωτίσαι may be either ‘to put the ocean at his
back’ or ‘to skim the broad back of ocean.’ The passage is incom-
plete, and the line which follows cannot be explained with any certainty.
[The translation favours Weil’s view that the gloss of Hesychius,
προσαιθρίζουσα πόμπιμον φλόγα, which Dindorf wished to substitute for
πλέον καίουσα τῶν εἰρημένων in 313, formed part of a passage which has
been lost here.]

299. It is possible that there is an allusion to Ischys, the son of
Elatus (pitch-pine), who intrigued with Coronis, daughter of Phlegyas,
when she was with child by Apollo.

305. σημαίνει μολόν may mean ‘signified his arrival,’ as translated
(cf. 960) ; or simply ‘arrived, giving signal,’ [as in Soph. Amt. 1208.]

316. μὴ χρονίζεσθαι : see cr.n. So in 1670 χρόνωι and χάριν are
confused.

318. πώγωνα: 50 πωγωνίας in familiar use of a comet.

319. κατόπτην : seecr.n. This is the form which analogy supports:
cf. fr. 304 τοῦτον δ᾽ ἐπόπτην ἔποπα τῶν αὑτοῦ κακῶν, Sup. 299 πορευτοῦ
λαμπάδος, Ar. Au. 57 τὸν πότην λύχνον. See also Stat. Sz/u. il. 2. 3 celsa
Dicarchei speculatrix uilla profundi. In Theb. 631 cod. Viteb. has ἄνδρα
τευχιστὸν for ἄνδρα τευχηστὴν, and in Anacreont. 40. 10 φθόνον οὐκ οἶδα
δαϊκτόν Pauw restored δαϊκτην.

320. ἔσκηψεν : tum demum terrae incubuit cum ad Arachnaeum montem
uentt.

321. For mt. Arachnaeus see Pausan. 11. 25. τὸ, Steph. Byzant.
p- 110, 4 ᾿Αραχναῖον: ὄρος “Apyovs.

322. ἐς τόδε: seecr. n. In Hum. 755 M has oy where ὅδ᾽ is
preserved by the other copies, and in Soph. O. C. 860 F has τόν γ᾽ for
τόνδ΄.

326. πρῶτος δραμεῖν, though it could mean ‘to start first,’ usually
meant ‘to finish first,’ and the play of words (which may have been
familiar in the case of torch-running) depends upon this ambiguity,
The light from Ida ran both first and last, as starting first and ending
last ; the light from Mount Arachnaeus ran both first and last, as start-
ing last and ending first.

331. ὡς λέγεις, ‘your version of this tale’: see cr. ἢ, Perhaps we
should read ἕως λέγοις (the optative following θέλοιμ᾽ av), as ἕως av
is now read for ws av in Soph. Phil. 1330, Az. 1117, O. C. 1361: this
would be ‘so long as you should speak.’ For the optative see Goodw.
M. T.§ 531, who quotes Plat. Zheaet. 155 A.

NOTES 193

335. οὐ φίλως might appear to belong to προσεννέποις (Soph. LZ.
1471 προσηγορεῖν φίλως, O. C. 758 τήνδε τὴν πόλιν φίλως εἰπών, Eur.
Hipp. 793 εὐφρόνως προσεννέπειν), but sense requires that it should be
joined to διχοστατοῦντε ‘unfriendly separated.’ Many editors accept
Auratus’ διχοστατοῦντ᾽ av, οὐ φίλω ‘separated, and not friends,’ which
may well be right.

348. ἀπαλλαχθέντες is corrupted to ἀπαλλαγέντες fh. So for κρυφθείς
we get κρυφείς and even κρυβείς. See also on 737.—ds δ᾽ εὐδαίμονες,
‘and how blest!’ exclamatory, as in 1235 ws δ᾽ érwAodvéato. This use
of ws and ὅσος, in combination with δέ, is very common in Greek verse,
but sometimes escapes critics because Greek does not use the note
of exclamation. Cf. Ar. Zg. 269 ws δ᾽ ἀλαζών, ὡς δὲ μάσθλης, Dem.
21. 209 Tov δὲ βάσκανον, τὸν δὲ ὄλεθρον, τοῦτον δὲ ὑβρίζειν ἀναπνεῖν
δέ, Lucian i. 552 ὅσον δὲ καὶ ἀποπνεῖ μύρων, ὡς δὲ καὶ σφαλερὸν βαδίζει.
So the text is quite sound in Eur. Swf. got πολλοὺς δ᾽ ἐραστὰς κἀπὸ
θηλειῶν ὅσας ἔχων, ἐφρούρει μηδὲν ἐξαμαρτάνειν, where Canter con-
jectured ἴσας, which would be correct if instead of πολλούς a definite
number had been named. Liban. iv. 116. 11 μετὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς πολέ-
μους, μετὰ τὰς πολλὰς μάχας Kal ἀριστείας Kai τρόπαια, καὶ θάλατταν
ὅσην, ‘and all that seal’ zetzes, Chil. vii. 39 ἵππων τε τοῖς ἀρδεύμασι
τοὺς ποταμοὺς Enpavas ἄλλα te πόσα βάρβαρα δράσας εἰς ἐπιπλήξεις.
Damoxenus fr. 3 (il. 353 K.) 7 δ᾽ εὐρυθμία τό τ᾽ ἦθος ἡ τάξις θ᾽ ὅση.

It was ἃ commonplace in praise of Peace that you could sleep the
whole night long and were not wakened by the trumpet in the morning
just when sleep is sweetest : Bacchylides fr. 2. 9 J.

A > > ” , ΄
χαλκεᾶν δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστι σαλπίγγων κτύπος,
οὐδὲ συλᾶται μελίφρων ὕπνος ἀπὸ βλεφάρων
adios ὃς θάλπει κέαρ.

Polyb. ili. 433, Schweighauser δεῖν ἀναμνησθῆναι τοὺς συνέδρους διότι
κοιμωμένους τὸν ὄρθρον ἐν μὲν τῷ πολέμῳ διεγείρουσιν αἱ σάλπιγγες, κατὰ δὲ
τὴν εἰρήνην οἱ ὄρνιθες, a saying quoted by Plut. Vic. 9. So ἀφύλακτον --
‘without a watch to keep.’

350. εὐσεβοῦσι need not be altered to εὖ σέβουσι (Scaliger). In
Lyric you would say εὖ σέβειν (εὐσεβοῦντες in Hum. 1020 is perhaps an
exception), εὖ λέγειν, εὖ θαρσεῖν : elsewhere εὐλογεῖν etc. The edd.
unnecessarily restore εὖ θαρσεῖτε in Theb. 34, and Cobet wrongly rejects
κατηφεῖς in Eur. Zed. 1012.

352. οὔ τὰν ἑλόντες αὖθις ἀνθαλοῖεν ἄν : the combination is proverbial.
Zenob. i. 35, Diogen. i. 33 αἱροῦντες ἡιρήμεσθα, Suid. 5.0. αἱρήσω τάχα,
Ael. WV. ZH. i. 29 αἱρεῖ τοὺς ὀρνιθοθήρας ἡιρημένη, Opp. Hal. 11. 133 ὀλλύμενοι
δ᾽ ὀλέκουσι καὶ ols πέφνουσι φονῆας, Xen. (7. vi. 3. 20 εἰ οἱ κυκλούμενοι

H. A. 13

194 NOTES

κυκλωθεῖεν, A. P. ix. 14 εἷλε δ᾽ ἁλούς, Soph. O. C. 1025 ἔχων ἔχει, καί σ᾽
εἷλε θηρῶνθ᾽ ἡ τύχη : such phrases for ‘the biter bit,’ ‘turning the tables,’
or ‘catching a Tartar’ are favourite in Greek and Latin.

353 f. She is still imagining the scene. μὴ ἐμπίπτηι could not
refer to the future ; we must have had μὴ ἐμπέσηι, as in Pers. 128. So
above εἰ εὐσεβοῦσι can only mean ‘if they are reverencing.’

357 ff. θεοῖς δ᾽ ἀναμπλάκητος εἰ μόλοι στρατός,

εὐήγορον τὸ πῆμα τῶν ὀλωλότων
γένοιτ᾽ ἄν,- εἰ πρόσπαια μὴ τύχοι κακά.

This is somewhat darkly worded for the sake of double meanings.
To their intelligence she says: ‘The only danger to be apprehended
now is that they may commit some sacrilege, which would bring the
vengeance of the gods upon them; otherwise, if they arrive without
having offended against Heaven, the human discontent at home caused
by the losses in an unpopular war is likely to be reconciled, to hush its
murmuring voice and welcome the returning Princes with good words ;
there is nothing to be apprehended here, unless some accident should
happen to them.’ τὸ πῆμα τῶν ὀλωλότων, ‘the grievance of the lost’—
the wound that each home suffers for the loss of its dead kinsman, the
growls under the breath at the unworthiness of the cause, the festering
resentment against the Princes growing under the surface like a spread-
ing gangrene, and the grave danger that the angry murmurs of the
people may result in insurrection, are the theme on which the Elders
dwell in the succeeding chorus (455 ff.) :

«ἀλλοτρίας διαὶ γυναικός,

τάδε σῖγά τις βαΐζει,

φθονερὸν δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἄλγος ἕρπει
προδίκοις ᾿Ατρείδαις.

βαρεῖα δ᾽ ἀστῶν φάτις σὺν κότωι,
δημοκράντου δ᾽ ἀρᾶς τίνει χρέος.

However, as Clytaemnestra anticipates, this bitter feeling has abated
by the time the King arrives ; εὔφρων πόνος εὖ τελέσασιν is the note of
his reception, ‘ good ends make all amends’ (v. 797).

But the covert meaning for herself is that her own sore mjpya—the
word she uses with the same concealed significance in vy. 856—her own
grievance for the loss of Iphigeneia will know how to put on fawning and
effusive welcome, as of course it does when the time comes; her
daughter’s death she does not even mention—but a ‘sudden stroke’ may
fall upon him unawares !

It is for the sake of this that she selects the word εὐήγορον (Eubul.
"06. 1), a synonym of εὔφημον, as εὐαγορία (Callim. Law. Pall. 139)

onal te

NOTES 195

of εὐφημίας She anticipates her own long-drawn smiling welcome
and laudation, εὔφροσιν δέξεται λόγοις, inf. 1227 οἷα γλῶσσα... λέξασα
κἀκτείνασα φαιδρόνους .. τεύξεται; which is what the Chorus hint to
Agamemnon in 779—8o0o0, and what he understands, 821—83r.
The MS. reading is supposed to mean ‘And (even) if they came
without offence towards Heaven, (yet) the soreness of the slain might
become wide-awake, even supposing no sudden accident befel them’ ;
except that ἐγρηγορὸς γένοιτ᾽ ἄν is usually slurred over and taken as
though it were ἐγρηγορὸς εἴη, ‘would be on the watch.’ But some
word of favourable sense appears to be demanded by the order of
the words. ἐπήγορον...γένοιτ᾽ av, if we read it, would be ‘might turn
accuser’; the φθονερὸν ἄλγος of the Argives on account of their be-
reavements (457) might give its discontentment voice; but my objection
to that sense is still the same, that the Greek should then have been
εἰ δὲ καὶ θεοῖς ἀναμπλάκητος μόλοι στρατός, ἀλλὰ τῶν γ᾽ ὀλωλότων ἐπήγορον
(or ἐγρηγορὸς) γένοιτ᾽ av τὸ 7mHpa.—The last clause is added like an
afterthought, correcting a too confident expression, as Hom. A 60,
Sophie iO; 7: 960, O..C. 1450, Trach. 586.

361. τὸ 8 εὖ κρατοίη: Supp. 985 εἴη δὲ τὰ λῶιστα, Dem. 4. 51
νικώιη δ᾽ ὅ τι πᾶσιν ὑμῖν μέλλει συνοίσειν.

362. τὴν ὄνησιν, ‘the due fruit. Cf Soph. fr. 533 ἀλλὰ τῶν
πολλῶν καλῶν τίς xapis; ‘The blessings are many: what I want is
their enjoyment.’

365. θεοὺς προσειπεῖν αὖ παρασκευάζομαι: so Ar. Aw. 226 οὕποψ'
μελωδεῖν αὖ παρασκευάζεται, Thesm. 99 σίγα: μελωδεῖν αὖ παρασκευάζεται.
They never said θεοὺς εὖ προσειπεῖν, but used the verb alone, προσειπεῖν,
προσαυδᾶν, προσφωνεῖν, προσεννέπειν, προσαγορεύειν. Observe that in
Soph. Zrach. 229 ἀλλ᾽ εὖ μὲν ἵγμεθ᾽, εὖ δὲ προσφωνούμεθα there is a
special reason for the addition of the adverb. In Eur. HF. 599 Paley
was wrong in taking καλῶς with πρόσειπε.

368. κόσμων. The Pythagoreans called the stars κόσμοι {Aét. ii.
13. 15, Diels, Doxogr., p. 343, 7].

374 ff. Ata τοι ξένιον: ‘It is Zeus Hospitable, I say, who is the
author of this act; if the vengeance has been long in coming, let that
cause no doubt; it has only been deferred in order that the stroke
might fall the surer.’ Such is the connexion with the following lyric,
where the sentiment is taken up and developed: ἔπραξεν ὡς éxpaver.
There is a strong stress on Δία τοι as there is with σύ τοι, σέ τοι,
which is only one case of a more general use. τοὶ makes an appeal
to the knowledge or conscience of the hearer and so is often used in
assertion, aS οὔτοι in negation, to lay stress upon the word it goes with.
Examples are zw. 913, 1031, 1039, Cho. 913, Supp. 375, 545, Lum. 758,

13—2

196 NOTES

Soph. £2. 582, 624, 773, Phil. 1095, Pind. P. v. 122: so in &« twvde
τοι ‘this is the reason,’ 27. 867, 1603, Cho. 1054.

379. ᾿Διὸς πλαγὰν ἔχουσιν κιτιλ. The lyric takes up the preceding
declaration and confirms it: ‘ /¢ zs the stroke of Zeus that they have felt
may safely be pronounced, and if we follow out the sequence of events,
the act and its motive can be traced to him. It was his act, and his
act was the execution of a determined purpose. It has been said that
the gods do not concern themselves to visit sin: an irreligious lie!
Here is a manifest proof that they do visit it; for the destruction of
Troy is evidently punishment for the presumptuous sin of Paris. This
is the reward of those who are made insolent with riches and righteous-
ness.’

There is a chorus in the Hercules Furens of Euripides precisely to
the same effect as this passage, and closely resembling it in language.
It is sung after the triumph of Heracles over the murderous usurper
Lycus: his dying cry is heard within, ὦ πᾶσα Κάδμου γαῖ᾽, ἀπόλλυμαι
δόλωι: and then the Chorus rejoin:

747 καὶ yap διώλλυς-: ἀντίποινα δ᾽ ἐκτίνων
τόλμα, διδούς γε τῶν δεδραμένων δίκην.---
τίς θεοὺς ἀνομίαι χραίνων θνητὸς ὧν
ἄφρονα λόγον οὐρανίων μακάρων
κατέβαλ᾽ ws ap οὐ σθένουσιν θεοί; ---
γέροντες, οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι δυσσεβὴς ἀνήρ.

73 θεοὶ θεοὶ τῶν ἀδίκων
μέλουσι καὶ τῶν ὁσίων ἐπαίειν.

6 χρυσὸς ἃ τ᾽ εὐτυχία
φρενῶν βροτοὺς ἐξάγεται
δύνασιν ἀδικον ἐφέλκων,

but Justice shatters them in time.

802 πιστόν μοι τὸ παλαιὸν ἤδη
λέχος, ὦ Ζεῦ, τὸ σὸν οὐκ
ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι φάν θη,
λαμπρὰν δ᾽ ἔδειξ᾽ ὃ χρόνος
τὰν Ἡρακλέος ἀλκάν.
8ο9 κρείσσων μοι τύραννος ἔφυς
ἢ δυσγένει᾽ ἀνάκτων,
ἃ νῦν ἐσορῶντι φαίνει
ξιφηφόρων ἐς ἀγώνων
ἅμιλλαν εἰ τὸ δίκαιον
θεοῖς ἔτ᾽ ἀρέσκει.
‘The base-born usurper affords manifest proof, when you regard
the issue of the contest, that Righteousness is still pleasing in the sight
of Heaven.’

NOTES 197

Blomfield pointed out that πλαγὰν ἔχουσιν must be taken together:
but few have heeded. πληγήν, ἕλκος (Herod. iv. 60), τραῦμα, ἔχειν are
regular expressions for ‘to be wounded,’ ἔχειν serving to form a passive as
IN αἰτίαν ἔχω, etc. εἰπεῖν πάρεστιν is ‘that judgment may be pronounced
indeed’; as in Zheb. 906 παρέστι δ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἐπ᾿ ἀθλίοισιν ὡς ἐρξάτην... and
Philemon, fr. 108 “καλὸν τὸ θνήισκειν ἔστιν ἐπὶ τούτωι λέγειν."---ΕῸΓ
ἐξιχνεῦσαι οἵ. Swpp. 89 Διὸς ἵμερος οὐκ εὐθήρατος ἐτύχθη.

381. See cr. n. The first ws was inserted to explain the con-
struction. Cf. Schol. Swpp. 441 λείπει τὸ ὅτι.---οὐκ ἔφα τις. It has
been supposed (Jebb on Soph. Azz. 620) that Diagoras of Melos is
referred to, and the allusion suits the reason for his atheism given in
Sext. Emp. J/a//. ix. 53, that the guilty are not punished: ἀδικηθεὶς ὑπό
τινος ἐπιορκήσαντος καὶ μηδὲν ἕνεκα τούτου παθόντος. [But it is very
doubtful if he can be placed so early: see e.g. Gomperz, Greek Thinkers,
Bete yp. 577.

385 f. The MS. reading (see cr. n.) is meaningless. We can
quickly clear the ground; for a little reflection will admit what Karsten
and Weil have pointed out, that there is no place here either for ἐκγόνους
or for "Ἄρη πνεόντων : Paris, who is the sinner (v. 409), has paid for his
sin in his own person; and the subject of the passage is the retribution
following sin that comes through a spirit made insolent with riches;
whereas Ἄρη πνεόντων μείζον᾽ ἢ δικαίως would condemn him for a spirit
over-bellicose! Hartung’s reading therefore, ἐκτίνουσα τόλμα τῶν Αρη
πνεόντων «té., besides giving an unparalleled caesura, is untenable for
sense: nevertheless the chief part of the credit is due to him for ἐκτίνουσα.
For apy I merely restore apy, havoc, destruction by the sword, a word used
by Aeschylus in Sf. 86. No accusative is now required with ἐκτίνουσα,
because ἀρή is itself the penalty—a turn of phrase exactly paralleled
in v. 1512 ᾿Αρης δίκας πάχναι κουροβόρωι παρέξει. There is the same
conception in 760—6 (δαίμονα τίταν) and in Cho. 643 (τίνειν μύσος).

389 ff. ὑπὲρ rd βέλτιστον, 2.6. ‘beyond due Measure’ (ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτρον).
But it is not necessary to read with Weil μέτρον τὸ βέλτιστον, though that
is in any case the meaning: see Paroem. 11. p. 80—z2 Leutsch, for the
proverb πάντων μέτρον ἄριστον, Lucian i. 756, and Aristotle, Zrdex s.v.
μέσος for βέλτιστον. The reference to ‘Troy is illustrated by Homer N
621 Τρῶες ὑπερφίαλοι, Bacchyl. xii. 158 ἢ μεγάλαις ἐλπίσιν πνείοντες
ὑπερφίαλον.. Τρῶες ἱππευταί. In the following words the definition of
τὸ μέτρον is laid down as ‘Sufficience, clear of harm, with an ample
endowment of understanding (cvveors), as Pythagoras μήκιστον πραπίδων
ἐκτήσατο πλοῦτον according to Empedocles (fr. 129, 2 Diels); or
‘sufficience for one well-endowed with sense.’ ἀπήμαντον ἀπαρκεῖν
means ἔχειν ὅσον ἀποζῆν ἀβλαβῶς (Theognis 1153), as ἐξαρκέων κτεάτεσσι

198 NOTES

in Pind. O. v. 24, ζώειν τ᾽ am’ οἰκείων ἔχει Bacchyl. 1. 57, Solon 5. 1
δήμωι μὲν yap ἔδωκα τόσον κράτος, ὅσσον ἐπαρκεῖ.

305. εἰς ἀφάνειαν : that is ὅταν τὴν δίκην τις ἀφανίση. Cf. Trag. fr.
in Stob. Zc/. i. 3. 45 (fr. adesp. 418 N.) ἄφρονες δ᾽ ὁπόσοι τὸ δίκαιον
ἄγουσ᾽ ὑπὸ τᾶς ἀδίκου βιοτᾶς ἀφανές. Max. Tyr. 31. 2 ὁμολογίαν εἶναι
δεῖ ἔργου καὶ λόγου, καὶ μήτε τὰ ἔργα εἰς ἀφάνειαν κομιδῆι ξυνεληλάσθαι κτὲ.

396. βιᾶται δ᾽ ἁ τάλαινα ΤΤειθώ; [for the significance of Persuasion in
connexion with ὕβρις, ἄτη, and ἐλπίς, see Cambridge Praelections,
prs ff. |;

397- The reading of the MS. (see cr. n.) is not a metrical line at
all, apart from strophic correspondence. προβούλου παῖς (Hartung) is
right: Soph. fr. 533 ποικιλομήτιδες atar, Cho. 645 τέκνον δ᾽ ἐπεισφέρει
δόμοις αἱμάτων παλαιτέρων τίνειν μύσος χρόνωι κλυτὰ βυσσόφρων Ἐρινύς,
like Hecate in Macbeth, ‘the close contriver of all harms.’ πρόβουλοσ
παῖσ was probably the first stage in the error.

398 f. ἄκος recalls Hesiod’s νήκεστον ἀασθῆι quoted on v. 469.—
σίνος, mischief, is a synonym of ἄτη or βλάβη: for “Arn βλάπτουσ᾽
ἀνθρώπους see Hom. I 505, T 91.

404. ποτανὸν ὄρνιν is an allusion to ἐλπίς: πτηνὰς διώκεις, ὦ τέκνον,
τὰς ἐλπίδας Eur. fr. 271. In Soph. Anz. 615 ἐλπίς is & πολύπλαγκτος.
Hope of wrongful gain, Ambition, is a stage on the road to ruin:
Thuc. i. 45 79 τε ἐλπὶς καὶ ὁ ἔρως ἐπὶ παντὶ πλεῖστα βλάπτουσι,
V. 103 ἐλπὶς δέ, κινδύνωι παραμύθιον οὖσα, τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ περιουσίας χρω-
μένους αὐτῆι κἂν βλάψηι, οὐ καθεῖλε: τοῖς δὲ ἐς ἅπαν τὸ ὑπάρχον ἀναρριπτοῦσι
(δάπανος γὰρ φύσει) ἅμα τε γιγνώσκεται σφαλέντων, καὶ ἐν ὅτωι ἔτι φυλάξεταί
τις αὐτὴν γνωρισθεῖσαν, οὐκ ἐλλείπει. Plut. Pyrrh. 26 οὕτω μὲν ἐξέπεσε
τῶν ᾿Ιταλικῶν καὶ Σικελικῶν ὃ Πύρρος ἐλπίδων, νομισθεὶς ἃ ταῖς πράξεσιν
ἐκτᾶτο ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἀπολλύναι, dv ἔρωτα τῶν ἀπόντων οὐδὲν εἰς ὃ δεῖ
θέσθαι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων φθάσας. Pind. P.iii. το ἀλλά τοι ἤρατο τῶν ἀπεόντων"
οἷα καὶ πολλοὶ πάθον" ἔστι δὲ φῦλον ἐν ἀνθρώποισι ματαιότατον, | ὅστις
αἰσχύνων ἐπιχώρια παπταίνει τὰ πόρσω, | μεταμώνια θηρεύων ἀκράντοις
ἐλπίσιν. | ἔσχε τοιαύταν μεγάλαν αὐάταν | καλλιπέπλου λῆμα Κορωνίδος.
Thue. iv. 17 μὴ παθεῖν ὅπερ οἱ ἀήθως τι ἀγαθὸν λαμβάνοντες τῶν ἀνθρώπων:
ἀεὶ γὰρ τοῦ πλέονος ἐλπίδι ὀρέγονται διὰ τὸ καὶ τὰ παρόντα ἀδοκήτως
εὐτυχῆσαι.

405. See cr. ἢ. What the MS. gives is merely a case of ογηιφίθα
ordo, as explained in my paper on Transposition of Words, Class. Rev.
XVl. DP. 243.--πρόστριμμα suggests βάσανος (401): Max. Tyr. 20. 3 τὸν
μὲν yap χρυσὸν βασανίζει λίθος προστριβόμενον αὐτῆι.

418. δόμων προφῆται ‘spokesmen of the house’ are members of
Menelaus’ household whose gossip voiced abroad the condition of
affairs within; gave whispered utterance to the private and domestic

NOTES 199

grief of the deserted husband. ‘These revelations they convey in
guarded language like the Chorus in the Choephori, 45—82, not
mentioning names, but saying πρόμοι, ἀφημένων, ὑπερποντίας, ἀνδρί, τις.
For zp. with the genitive cf. Athen. 187 b, ὁ δ᾽ ᾿Επίκουρος ἅπαντας εἰσήγαγε
προφήτας ἀτόμων.

421. See οἵ. nn. The reading of the MSS. is neither sense nor
metre: with σιγὰς ἀτίμους ἀλοιδόρους Hermann restored both. The
corruption was introduced by some scribe who failed to perceive the
construction of πάρεστιν ideiv—thought that it required a nominative.
Just the same thing happened in Eur. 770. 36 τὴν δ᾽ ἀθλίαν τήνδ᾽ εἴ τις
εἰσορᾶν θέλει, πάρεστιν, “ExaBynv κειμένην πυλῶν πάρος: where inferior
MSS. give πάρεστιν Ἑκάβη κειμένη. What ἅδιστος should be is uncertain.
ἀφημένων, ‘sitting apart’: of Achilles sulking in his tent in Hom, O 106
ὁ δ᾽ ἀφήμενος οὐκ ἀλεγίζει οὐδ᾽ ὄθεται (with which Leaf compares ® 207,
A 81). Add Hdt. iv. 66 ἠτιμωμένοι ἀποκατέατα. Mourners are
constantly said to 579 moping, e.g. Hom. κ 497, € 41, 7 145, Epictet.
11. 16. 33 κλαύσεις καθήμενος ws τὰ παιδία: SO il. 24. 25 τί οὖν ἐκεῖνον
(Achilles) ὠφελεῖ ταῦτα, ὅταν καθήμενος κλαίηι διὰ τὸ κορασίδιον; 111. 13. 9
μέλλω καθήμενος κλαίειν, ὅτι μόνος ἀπελείφθην καὶ ἔρημος ; ill. 24. 8
ἂν δέ τις ἀποδημήσηι τῶν συνήθων, καθήμενοι κλαίωμεν ; See κάθημαι in
Upton’s index. So ‘ By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept,
remembering Zion.’

424. δόξει. Attic puts δόξειεν av where the Ionic writers say ἐρεῖς or
the like: so Herodas, e.g. iv. 31.

427. ὀμμάτων δ᾽ ἐν ἀχηνίαις ἔρρει πᾶσ᾽ ᾿Αφροδίτα is precisely like an
Orphic line quoted by Lobeck, Ag/aophamus, p. 951 χειρῶν δ᾽ ὀλλυμένων
ἔρρεν πολυεργὸς ᾿Αθήνη, ‘with the destruction of hands, Athena, the
goddess of handicraft, was clean gone’: and so all spirit of love, love-
sense, is departed in the lack of eyes, which are the channels of desire
(ἵμερος), and were created, according to Empedocies, by Aphrodite
(frs. 86, 87 Diels).

429. πενθήμονες of the MSS. is contrary to the sense: πειθήμονες
Housman (‘si dicerentur πειθήμονες, intelligerem’ Karsten) mghtly:
v. 286 ὀνείρων φάσματ᾽ εὐπιθῆ. Tryphiod. 456 (Aphrodite) προσέφη
πειθήμονι φωνῆι.

431. This line has caused much trouble because the sentence has
no finite verb; yet δοκῶν dpa, the most plausible of the conjectures,
cannot be right, because Greek never said δοκῶν ὁρῶ, always δοκώ
δρᾶν. The verb is in fact omztted, with dramatic effect: ‘For oft, as
dreaming that he beholds his joy, he would embrace.’ This is quite
common in Greek writing: Semon. Amorg. 7. 110 κεχηνότος yap avdpos—
οἱ δὲ γείτονες χαίρουσ᾽ δρῶντες, Philem. 126 μῦς λευκός, ὅταν αὐτήν τις---

200 NOTES

ἀλλ᾽ αἰσχύνομαι λέγειν---κέκραγε... 4. 15, Xenarch. 4. 16, Theocr. i. 105
od λέγεται τὰν Κύπριν ὁ βουκόλος---- ; Lucian 1. 242 ἐγὼ δὲ ἤδη ποτὲ τὴν
᾿Αφροδίτην ---αλλ᾽ οὐ χρὴ αὐχεῖν, 111. 178, 1. 232, 274, 4... v. 34, 184. 5,
128, Priap. 82. 6, Verg. Lcd. iii. 8, Ar. Vesp. 1178 Blaydes. Soph.
O.T. 1288 τὸν πατροκτόνον, τὸν pytpds—avddv ἀνόσι᾽ οὐδὲ ῥητά μοι,
Lucian ill. 296 πολὺ τὸ “ἐὰν ὁ πατήρ---καὶ κύριος γένωμαι τῶν πατρώιων,
[καὶ] πάντα σά, Ov. Heroid. xiii. 164. Cf. ἡ, 503 (as Ar. Lys. 33, 37),
1095, Cho. 193, 1030, Eur. 770. 713.

To the passages already cited in general illustration may be added
Lycophr. 112—4, Eur. He/. 35, Meleag. A.P. xii. 125, Hor. C. iv. 1. 37,
Theocr. xxx. 22, Eur. 4/c. 348—356.

ἐσθλά here and elsewhere = the Attic ἀγαθά.

434. κελεύθοις of the MSS. was an easy error for κελεύθων (see
cr. n.): when there was the choice, Aeschylus can hardly have preferred
to make the sense less lucid by an assonance less pleasant to the ear.
For the sense cf. Lucian 11. 711 (of the Dream) πτηνὸς ov, ὥς φασι, καὶ
ὅρον ἔχων τῆς πτήσεως τὸν Urvov..—Milton must have been thinking of
this passage when he wrote (// Penseroso, 6—10) :

And fancies fond with gaudy shapes possess
As thick and numberless

As the gay motes that people the sunbeams,
Or likest hovering dreams,

The fickle pensioners of Morpheus? train.

436. ὑπερβατώτερα, or ὑπερφατώτερα as Herwerden proposed. It is
an extremely easy alteration, and so would be ὁ πολύφατός τ᾽ ἀγὼν
βροτῶν in Theb. 759, if not in Pind. fr. 75: cf. A. xi. 47. Hom. B 50
and the oracle in Hdt v. 78.—%tzepBaprov in Aesch. fr. 99. 21 may be
for ὑπέρφατον or ὑπέρβατον.

437 ff. τὸ πᾶν δ᾽ ἀφ᾽ Ἕλλαδος alas συνορμένοις of the MSS. is
impossible rhythm here: it would be a single unrepeated logaoedic
figure in a stanza of quite different rhythm. See cr. n. From the
private grief of Menelaus while he sat at home we pass now to the
general multitude at large, the warriors across the sea at Troy and
their kinsmen, whom they left at home in Greece: what of the warriors ἢ
In their homes too the due and fitting behaviour towards them is
mourning. πρέπει governs the dative συνορμένοις : for a victor, acclama-
tion is the proper tribute, Pind. 4. 11. 67 Boa δὲ νικαφόρωι σὺν ᾽Αριστο-
κλείδαι πρέπει ; the proper tribute to the dead is (also praise, but in the
shape of) regretful lamentation. And γοῦν depends on πρέπει: well,
they may, there is reason enough, surely, why their houses should
behave so.

ἀτλησικάρδιος is ‘broken-hearted,’ as ἀτλησίφρων (Hesych. ἀτλησίφρων:

> ὦ

~~ ὡ».». eee oe ee

NOTES 201

οὐδεμιᾶς τόλμης ἔννοιαν ἔχων). The MSS. give πένθεια τλησικάρδιος, the
opposite of the sense, and a contradiction in terms: P.V. 169 τίς ὧδε
τλησικάρδιος θεῶν ὅτωι τάδ᾽ ἐπιχαρῆ; Tis οὐ συνασχαλᾶι κακοῖς τεοῖσι ;
‘who is so hard-hearted as to feel no grief or indignation?’ But
Hesychius also records τλασίφρονα : ὑπομονητικόν, ‘patient, ‘long-
suffering, ‘stout-hearted” Hom. 1 3 πένθει δ᾽ ἀτλήτωι βεβολήατο
(T 367 ἄτλητον ἄχος, Apoll. Rhod. ii. 858 κῆδος), E 382 τέτλαθι... καὶ
ἀνάσχεο κηδομένη περ, Y 18 τέτλαθι δή, κραδίη: Kat κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾽
ἔτλης, Ὦ 48 ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τοι κλαύσας καὶ ὀδυράμενος μεθέηκεν: τλητὸν γὰρ μοῖραι
θυμὸν θέσαν ἀνθρώποισι. inf. 886 thaw ἀπενθήτῳ φρενί. 41.}. vii. 335
τλῆθι πένθος, εὔνασον. Archilochus 9. 5—10 ending τλῆτε, γυναικεῖον
πένθος ἀπωσάμενοι.

443. τεύχη may mean ‘arms.’

445 ff. ὁ χρυσαμοιβὸς δ᾽ "Ἄρης κτέ. ‘This is a fine example of the
power that Aeschylus has of developing an image and sustaining it:
The God of War is like a money-changer who gives gold for bulkier
metal; but his dealing is in flesh and blood; he has his scales like the
money-changer, but they are the scales of battle; he receives a human
body, a man’s bulk, and what he gives back for it in exchange is like
the merchant’s gold-dust (ψῆγμα), fined in the fire (πυρωθέν), and heavy,
for it causes heaviness ; and packed in vessels which are εὔθετοι, a word
covering two senses,—‘ handy,’ Aadzles, and ‘decently disposed,’ δε
compositi, applied to a corpse: Bekker Axecd. 40. 23 εὐθετεῖν νεκρόν: τὸ
εὖ κοσμεῖν ἐν τάφοις νεκρόν.

455. In asimilar spirit, as reported by Eur. 770. 374 ff., Cassandra
argues that the sorrows of Argos were worse than those of Troy:

ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀκτὰς ἤλυθον Yxapavdpious,
ἔθνηισκον, οὐ γῆς Ope ἀποστερούμενοι

οὐδ᾽ ὑψίπυργον πατρίδ᾽ - ots δ᾽ ΓΑρης ἕλοι,
οὐ παῖδας εἶδον, οὐ δάμαρτος ἐν χεροῖν
'πέπλοις συνεστάλησαν, ἐν ἕένηι δὲ γῆι
κεῖνται. τὰ δ᾽ οἴκοι τοῖσδ᾽ ὅμοι᾽ ἐγίγνετο"
χῆραί τ᾽ ἔθνηισκον, οἱ δ᾽ ἄπαιδες ἐν δόμοις
ἄλλως τέκν᾽ ἐκθρέψαντες, οὐδὲ πρὸς τάφοις
ἔσθ᾽ ὅστις αὐτῶν αἷμα γῆι δωρήσεται.

The consequence of discontent at home formed the subject of well-
known stories referred to by Plat. Zege. 682 Ὁ: οὐκοῦν ἐν τούτωι τῶι
χρόνωι, ὄντι δεκέτει, Ov τὸ Ἴλιον ἐπολιορκεῖτο, τὰ τῶν πολιορκούντων ἑκάστων
οἴκοι κακὰ πολλὰ ξυνέβαινε γιγνόμενα περὶ τὰς στάσεις τῶν νέων, οἱ καὶ
ἀφικομένους τοὺς στρατιώτας εἰς τὰς αὐτῶν πόλεις τε καὶ οἰκίας οὐ καλῶς οὐδ᾽
ἐν δίκηι ὑπεδέξαντο, ἀλλ᾽ ὥστε θανάτους τε καὶ σφαγὰς καὶ φυγὰς γενέσθαι
παμπόλλας;

202 NOTES

461 εὔμορφοι. So Homer X 370 (the Greeks gathering round the
corpse of Hector) οἱ καὶ θηήσαντο φυὴν Kai εἶδος ἀγητὸν Ἕκτορος.

463. βαρεῖα, dangerous, is answered by βαρύ in 475.

464. Snpoxpavrov: popular indignation is as effectual as a curse
officially pronounced (Dem. 18. 130 οὐδὲ yap ὧν ἔτυχεν ἦν, GAN οἷς ὁ
δῆμος καταρᾶται, id. το. 70): it may lead to a rising and the stoning of
its object.— χρέος is anything vegui7ed; in prose confined to a debt of
money, but in poetry any function, service, obligation. ἀπαιτεῖν is to
demand, τίνειν to fulfil the requirement.

469. Another image, developed out of the word ἀμαυρόν: Hesiod
had said that when a man is prosperous unrighteously, his estate is
minished and brought low: Op. 321

εἰ γάρ τις καὶ χερσὶ βίηι μέγαν ὄλβον ἕληται,
ἢ OY ἀπὸ γλώσσης ληΐσσεται, οἷα τε πολλὰ

γίγνεται, εὖτ᾽ ἂν δὴ κέρδος νόον ἐξαπατήσηι

ἀνθρώπων, αἰδῶ δέ τ᾽ ἀναιδείη κατοπάζηι:
ῥεῖα δέ μιν μαυροῦσι θεοί, μινύθουσι δὲ οἶκοι
ἀνέρι τῶι, παῦρον δέ T ἐπὶ χρόνον ὄλβος ὀπηδεῖ.

and ΠῚ 282:
ὃς δέ κε μαρτυρίηισιν ἑκὼν ἐπίορκον ὀμόσσας
ψεύσεται, ἐν δὲ δίκην βλάψας νήκεστον ἀασθῆι,
τοῦ δέ τ᾽ ἀμαυροτέρη γενεὴ μετόπισθε λέλειπται"
ἀνδρὸς δ᾽ εὐόρκου γενεὴ μετόπισθεν ἀμείνων.

471. παλιντυχεῖ τριβᾶι βίου has not been understood: τριβᾶι means
attrition; as Fortune caused him to wax great unnghteously, so the
Erinyes cause him eventually to wane again and dwindle, minishing
him to a faint shadow, till at last he disappears in Hell. The working
of a curse, of which the Erinyes are the embodiment, upon the
conscience of the victim is more fully pictured in the Hwmenides: they
suck his blood, until they have worn him away to a shadow (264-7,
302, 360, 371, 938), and then drag him down to Hell (267), from which
there is no escape (175, 341).

476. «dpava. ‘The construction of the sentence corresponds to
Athen. 523 Ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ βαλλόμενοι πυρὶ καὶ xadAKor.

The MS. reading βάλλεται γὰρ ὄσσοις Διόθεν κεραυνός has received
the following interpretations: (1) ‘for a thunderbolt is hurled from Zeus
upon the eyes (of the too-famous man).’ Even if the construction be
allowed to pass, this is excluded, because Greek never spoke of hurling a
thunderbolt on a man’s eyes; it would convey no meaning. ‘The eyes
are plainly the jealous eyes of Zeus. (2) ‘for a thunderbolt is hurled
by the eyes of Zeus (upon the too-famous man).’ But though lightning
may be flashed from his eyes, the thunderbolt was always wielded in his

NOTES 203

hand. On these grounds I am convinced that Prof. Tucker (C/ass.
Rev. vil. p. 340) is right in regarding κεραυνός as an error and in
substituting xapava: that is precisely what the sentence wants.

477. ἄφθονος ὄλβος : there is a pun on the double meaning of
ἄφθονος, of which some early moralist must have taken advantage.

484. εἴ τι.. «ψύθος is added as an afterthought: see on 359.

487 ff. The phrases of the Chorus are mockingly borrowed from
the fire, πυρωθέντα καρδίαν and in 491 πιθανὸς ἄγαν ὁ θῆλυς ἔρος ἐπινέμεται
—for there were two things ἐπινέμεσθαι was so commonly applied to
that the original metaphor from grazing cattle was forgotten in their
case and became appropriated to themselves,—the ravages of five or of
disease (Thue. il. 54, 58). ‘There is a playful application of the word in
Plut. Aor. 415 F ὁρῶ τὴν Στωικὴν ἐκπύρωσιν ὥσπερ τὰ Ἡρακλείτου καὶ
᾿Ορφέως ἐπινεμομένην ἔπη οὕτω καὶ τὰ Ἤσιόδου καὶ συνεξάπτουσαν : and
what the Elders mean (with an undercurrent of allusion to her amorous
intrigue and protestations) is that a woman is ready to accept good
news upon the slightest warrant (gwo rumorem reconciliationts afficeret,
acciperetque Agrippina, facili feminarum credulitate ad gaudia, Vac. Ann.
xiv. 4), without waiting for proof visible and palpable, πρὸ τοῦ φανέντος:
such premature rejoicing is presently apt to be extinct as the fire among
the thorns.—The MS. reading ὅρος ἐπινέμεται cannot be interpreted as
‘the boundaries of a woman’s mind are encroached upon’ (ἐπινέμεται
passive). To cross a limit was ὑπερβαίνειν (ὑπερπηδᾶν, ὑπερθορεῖν)
ὅρον : but no Greek ever said ἐπινέμεσθαι dpov.— For the general sense
cf. Plut. Avfox. 28 καθόλου μὲν οὖν tows, τὸ Σοφόκλειον, “ταχεῖα πειθὼ
TOV κακῶν OdouTope:’ (fr. 714) λεία γάρ τις ἡ πορεία καὶ κατάντης ἐπὶ τὸ
βουλόμενον. For χάριν ξυναινέσαι, ‘to yield assent to pleasure,’ cf. Pind.
P. i. 139f. ἐντὶ μὲν θνατῶν φρένες ὠκύτεραι κέρδος αἰνῆσαι πρὸ δίκας
δόλιον. ;

500. κόνις. The dust is an indication of speed: Zheb. 60 χωρεῖ
κονίει. Lucian 1. 623 οὐχ ὁρᾶις δὲ καὶ τὸν “Eppjy αὐτὸν ἱδρῶτι ῥεόμενον καὶ
τὼ πόδε κεκονιμένον καὶ πνευστιῶντα; μεστὸν γοῦν ἀσθματος αὐτῷ τὸ
στόμα. τί ταῦτα, ὦ Ἕρμῆ, ἡ σπουδή; The speed of the Herald shows
that he comes with a definite message: e7s. 240 ἀλλ᾽, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, τάχ᾽
εἴσηι πάντα ναμερτῆ λόγον: τοῦδε yap δράμημα φωτὸς Περσικὸν πρέπει
᾿ μαθεῖν καὶ φέρει σαφές τι πρᾶγος ἐσθλὸν ἢ κακὸν κλύειν. TZheb, 356 ὅ τοι
κατόπτης, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, στρατοῦ πευθώ τιν᾽ ἡμῖν, ὦ φίλαι, νέαν φέρει,
σπουδῆι διώκων πομπίμους χνόας ποδῶν. Eur. Hec. 216 καὶ μὴν Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἔρχεται σπουδῆι ποδός, Βκάβη, νέον τι πρὸς σε σημανῶν eros. fel. 602
λέγ᾽, ὡς φέρεις τι τῆιδε τῆι σπουδῆι νέον. AZed. 1118 καὶ δὴ δέδορκα τόνδε
τῶν ᾿Ιάσονος στείχοντ᾽ ὀπαδῶν: πνεῦμά T ἠρεθισμένον δείκνυσιν ws τι καινὸν

ἀγγελεῖ κακόν. Christ. Pat. 98, 125, 1858. Lucian il. 681 ἀλλὰ τίς ὁ

204 NOTES

σπουδῆι προσιὼν οὗτός ἐστιν; ἢ πού τι ἐκ γῆς νεώτερον ἀπαγγέλλεις.
ΕΡΜ. ὑπέρμεγα, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ μυρίας τῆς σπουδῆς δεόμενον.

501. σοι. The dative belongs to both clauses, and must be taken
after σημανεῖ. Ch Hum. 36 ὡς μήτε σωκεῖν μήτε μ᾽ ἀκταίνειν βάσιν,
Theb. 651, Soph. Ὁ.7.. 1455.

504. ἀποστέργω always means “1 fall out of love with,’ ‘I cease to
care for’: thus here the thought implied is that anything less than glad
news explicitly told will leave the speaker dissatisfied. Hence yap in
v. 505: what has appeared is so good that any addition which is other-
wise will be disappointing. For the force of ἀπό in composition cf.
ἀπεσθίειν = to leave off eating, as illustrated in Athen. 649 Ὁ. So ἀπαλγή-
σαντας τὰ ἴδια in Thue. 11. 61.

5009. δεκάτου: see cr. n. Some modern editors retain the MS.
error δεκάτωι, as though the Herald said he had returned on the tenth
day of the year, for it could not mean anything else.

510. ῥαγεισῶν: hopes were anchors or cables to a Greek: Eur.
Fel. 277 ἄγκυρα δ᾽ ἣ μοι τὰς τύχας ὠχει μόνη, πόσιν ποθ᾽ ἥξειν καί μ᾽
ἀπαλλάξειν κακῶν, οὗτος τέθνηκεν, οὗτος οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστι δή. Heliod. ν. 19
Χαρίκλειά μοι βίος ἦν, ἐλπὶς καὶ διαδοχὴ τοῦ γένους: Χαρίκλεια μόνη παρα-
ψυχὴ καί, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἄγκυρα. καὶ ταύτην ὑπετέμετο καὶ παρήνεγκεν ὅτι ποτ᾽
ἐστὶ τὸ εἰληχός με δαιμόνιον. For ῥαγεισῶν cf. spem abrumpere (Tac.
Ann. iv. 50 etc.).

516. ἦλθες (see cr. n.) was perhaps an explanation of a false
reading ἤισθα.

518. ἀγωνίους: gods of assembly, as in Supp. 195, where Zeus,
Apollo, Poseidon, and Hermes are subsequently singled out for
mention: so 7. 248. Probably they were the twelve chief gods of
the tribes who worshipped at the games. As gods of meeting they
are also ἀγοραῖοι : Schol. Hom. Q 1 παρὰ δὲ Βοιωτοῖς ἀγὼν ἡ ἀγορά...
ὅθεν καὶ ἀγωνίους θεοὺς Αἰσχύλος τοὺς ἀγοραίους.

521. ἥρως: cf. Xen. Cyr. il. 1. 1 προσευξάμενοι θεοῖς καὶ ἥρωσι τοῖς
τὴν Περσίδα γῆν κατέχουσιν ἵλεως καὶ εὐμενεῖς πέμπειν σφᾶς, Plut. Avzst. 11
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἥρωες, οἷς ἐκέλευε θύειν, ἀρχηγέται Πλαταιέων ἦσαν.

525. εἴ που, ‘if perchance’ (2πμέα).... Cf. Ar. 2g. 347 εἴ που δικίδιον
εἶπας εὖ κατὰ ἕένου μετοίκου, Supp. 405 εἴ που τι μὴ τοῖον τύχοι. The
prayer is of the same form as Hom. E 116 εἴ ποτέ μοι καὶ πατρὶ φίλα
φρονέουσα παρέστης δηίωι ἐν πολέμωι, viv αὖτ᾽ ἐμὲ pirat, ᾿Αθήνη. Apoll.
Rhod. iv. 757 νῦν, εἴ ποτ᾽ ἐμὰς ἐτέλεσσας ἐφετμᾶς, εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε. Sappho i. 5
ἀλλὰ τυῖδ᾽ ἔλθ᾽, αἴποτα κατέρωτα... ἔκλυες. 25 ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν. Ar. Ach.
405 ὑπάκουσον, εἴπερ πώποτ᾽ ἀνθρώπων twit. We expect καὶ νῦν, but that
is here expressed by τοισίδε, which has been a great puzzle to critics:
‘with bright eyes now.’ Else we should only have had τοῖσιν (which

NOTES 205

h writes), as Alciphron i. 38 ἡ δὲ οὐκέτι φαιδροῖς τοῖς ὄμμασιν ὄψεται
μειδιῶσα.

530 ff. There are certain images in Isaiah which this passage
recalls: 14. 23 ‘I will sweep it (Babylon) with the besom of destruc-
tion, saith the Lord of hosts.’ 30. 28 The breath of the Lord shall
reach ‘to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity.’ Aeschylus in his
characteristic way sustains his image. In the MSS. however it 15
interrupted by a line interpolated from the margin (ers. 813) βωμοὶ
δ᾽ ἀΐστοι δαιμόνων θ᾽ ἱδρύματα, which had been quoted to illustrate the
devastation of the land. In the /ersae the verse is spoken by the
ghost of King Darius, who has been raised from the dead to give
advice to the Persians after their defeat at Salamis: on being informed
of Xerxes’ expedition he condemns it, and prophesies the crowning
disaster of Plataea, v. 809

ov σφιν κακῶν ὕψιστ᾽ ἐπαμμένει παθεῖν,
ὕβρεως ἄποινα καθέων φρονημάτων.

οἱ γῆν μολόντες Ἕλλαδ᾽ οὐ θεῶν βρέτη
ἠιδοῦντο συλᾶν οὐδὲ πιμπράναι νεώς,
βωμοὶ δ᾽ ἀΐστοι, δαιμόνων θ᾽ ἱδρύματα
πρόρριζα φύρδην ἐξανέστραπται βάθρων.
τοιγὰρ κακῶς δράσαντες οὐκ ἐλάσσονα
πάσχουσι, τὰ δὲ μέλλουσι, κοὐδέπω κακῶν
κρηνὶς ἀπέσβηκ᾽ αλλ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἐκπιδύεται.

There in store abides

The crown of all their ills, in recompense
For their presumptuous and ungodly sin,
That in the land of Hellas made no conscience
Either to spoil the images of the gods
Or burn the temples; the altars are clean gone,
The shrines of deities torn up by the roots
And overturned and swept from their foundations.

Therefore for their ill-doing, ills no less
They have in suffering, and yet more shall have ;
The fount of sorrow is not stanched yet
But still comes welling forth.

That is his denunciation of those barbarous and irreligious acts of
desecration which Herodotus records (viii. 33, 53, 109, 1X. 42) and
which had impressed the Greek imagination with such deep and lasting
horror (see e.g. Isocr. 4. 155). The passage in the Persae must have
been familiar to all that heard the Agamemnon, and the acts them-
selves—including the burning of the temples on the Acropolis at
Athens—must have been within the memory of many. Is it con-
ceivable that Aeschylus before this audience, or any Greek at any

206 NOTES

time, could have put this statement as a proud boast in the mouth
of a religious herald? See also Eur. Hec. 802—5.

The destruction of sacred buildings had no significance in the story
of the Sack of Troy. If it happened, it was because in the burning of
the town it was inevitable.

Quint. xi. 432 speaks of the fire raging round: ὁμοῦ καίοντο δὲ
πάντα ᾿Αντιμάχοιο μέλαθρα, καταίθετο δ᾽ ἄσπετος axpy Πέργαμον ἀμφ᾽
ἐρατὴν περί θ᾽ ἱερὸν ᾿Απόλλωνος νηόν τε ζάθεον Τριτωνίδος ἀμφί τε βωμὸν
Ἑρκείου: θάλαμοι δὲ κατεπρήθοντ᾽ ἐρατεινοὶ υἱωνῶν Πριάμοιο: πόλις δ᾽
ἀμαθύνετο πᾶσα: and in Seneca, Agam. 653 the Chorus lament ¢empla
εἶδος super usta suos. But this is nowhere mentioned as having brought
them retribution; and indeed for the Greeks to commit this act de-
liberately would have been impossible ; there was no religious enmity ;
the Trojan gods were their gods. This is quite a different matter from
the particular acts of sacrilege that were committed by individuals:
Eur. Zo. 15 Poseidon complains ἔρημα δ᾽ ἄλση καὶ θεῶν ἀνάκτορα dover
καταρρεῖ" πρὸς δὲ κρηπίδων βάθροις πέπτωκε Πρίαμος: and in describing
the massacre ‘Tryphiodorus 598 says: οὐδὲ θεῶν ὄπιν εἶχον ἀθεσμοτάτης
ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς, ἀθανάτων δ᾽ ἔχραινον ἀπενθέας αἵματι βωμούς. οἰκτρότατοι δὲ
γέροντες ἀτιμοτάτοισι φόνοισιν οὐδ᾽ ὀρθοὶ κτείνοντο, χαμαὶ δ᾽ ἱκετήσια γυῖα
τεινάμενοι πολιοῖσι κατεκλίνοντο καρήσιν.

537. συντελής, sharing the same privileges and so involved in the
same liabilities.

539. κλοπῆς: Hdt. ii. 114 ἥκει ξεῖνος, γένος μὲν Tevxpos, ἔργον δὲ
ἀνόσιον ἐν τῆι Ἑλλάδι ἐξεργασμένος: ξείνου γὰρ τοῦ ἑωυτοῦ ἐξαπατήσας
τὴν γυναῖκα, αὐτήν τε ταύτην ἄγων ἥκει καὶ πολλὰ κάρτα χρήματα,
7, ITO LEO:

543. τῶν ἀπὸ στρατοῦ, returned from the field = ἀπὸ στρατείας (608).

544. The form τεθνᾶναι was long ago rejected by Hermann.
Against all such conjectures as retain τεθνάναι οὐκ ἀντερῶ it is sufficient
to point out that ἀντιλέγω θανεῖν could not possibly mean ‘I refuse to
die’; still less could ἀντιλέγω τεθνάναι. Hartung’s χαίρω: θανεῖν ἂν δ᾽
οὐκέτ᾽ ἀντερῶ θεοῖς would mean ‘I will not urge against the gods that
I would die’; and Kayser’s χαίρω: θανεῖν δέ μ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἀντερῶ θεοῖς “1 will
not urge against the gods that I died.’ The only conjecture that
approaches the meaning aimed at is Schneidewin’s χαίρω: τὸ τεθνάναι
δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἀντερῶ θεοῖς, if rendered, ‘as to dying, I will no more oppose
the gods.’ The general idea is doubtless the same as that in Hom.
ἢ 225 (first cited by Butler) ὥς κ᾽ ἐμὲ τὸν δύστηνον ἐμῆς ἐπιβήσετε πάτρης |
καίπερ πολλὰ παθόντα ἰδόντα με καὶ λίποι αἰὼν κτῆσιν ἐμὴν δμῶάς τε καὶ
ὑψερεφὲς μέγα δῶμα. Add hk. Aphrod. 154 βουλοίμην κεν ἔπειτα, γύναι
εἰκυῖα θεῆισιν, σῆς εὐνῆς ἐπιβάς, δῦναι δόμον ἴΑιδος εἴσω. Aesch. Cho. 437

NOTES 207

ἔπειτ᾽ ἐγὼ νοσφίσας ὀλοίμαν. Cailim. fr. 219 τεθναίην ὅτ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἀποπνεύ-
σαντα πυθοίμην. Eur. £7. 281 θάνοιμι μητρὸς αἷμ᾽ ἐπισφάξασ᾽ ἐμῆς.
Or. τιτό καὶ μὴν τόδ᾽ ἔρξας δὶς θανεῖν οὐχ ἄζομαι. Musaeus 79 αὐτίκα
τεθναίην λεχέων ἐπιβήμενος Ἡροῦς. Plat. Apol. 28 Ὁ, Synes. LZ fist. 107,
Plut. Mor. 1094 A οὐδ᾽ εὐξατό τις ἐμπλησθεὶς ὄψων ἢ πεμμάτων βασιλικῶν
εὐθὺς ἀποθανεῖν, Aristid. i. p. 709. 20 Dind., wf 1610. Cic. 2 Phil. 119
mihi uero, patres conscript:, tam etiam optanda mors est, perfuncto rebus
215, etc. Guided by these passages I read as in the text. Cf. Othello
11. 1. 187 If it were now to die, | "[f'were now to be most happy ; for
I fear, | My soul hath her content so absolute | That not another
comfort like to this | Succeeds in unknown fate.

χαίρω ye, read by Enger and others, cannot be right, as this is the
answer to χαίρεις ; not to χαῖρε.

551. When it is seen that this line is the answer to a question
(as Heath took it), it is plain that the natural supplement is γ᾽, ‘ Aye,’
which is besides most easily omitted. For similar instances see Eur.
Or. 1122, Phoen. 1344, Cycl. 217, El. 667, Ar. Mub. 469.

552. στυγοστράτωι: see cr. n. The corruption is an example of a
very common form of error, which has been illustrated in C/ass. Rev.

ave Ρ- 7.
555. τὸ σὸν refers to his τεθναίην in v. 544. Cf. Strabo, p. 793
ὥστε νῦν, TO τοῦ ποιητοῦ, “ ἐξ ἑτέρων ἕτερ᾽ ἐστίν. Aristid. ii. 164, Dind.

καλῶς γε ποιῶν, ὦ ἑταῖρε, τὸ σὸν δὴ τοῦτο, καὶ τἀληθῆ λέγων.

561. παρείξεις (from παρείκω as εἶξις from εἴκω), ‘opportunities, or
‘relaxations.’ See οἵ. ἢ. ‘The schol. has σπανίους. καὶ τούτου yap ov
συνεχῶς ἀπηλαύομεν.---κακοστρώτους: Chionides ἥρωες fr. τ (i. 4 K.)
πολλοὺς ἐγώιδα Kod κατὰ σὲ νεανίας φρουροῦντας ἀτεχνῶς (Ὁ ἀτενὲς K.)
καν σάμακι κοιμωμένους.

562 is corrupt. For οὐ λαχόντες, οὗ λάχοι τις might be suggested.
Margoliouth’s ἀσχάλλοντας would require a second negative.

563. καὶ προσῆν πλέον στύγος is perhaps a case of simplex ordo
(see Class. Rev. xvi. p. 244), and we should read καὶ πλέον προσῆν
στυγος.

565. 8 For the corruption into γάρ see Porson on Med. 34,
1083, Ox editing Aeschylus, p. 119.—The words κἀπὸ.. δρόσοι are
parenthetic, which accounts for the gender of τιθέντες (Verrall). Cf.
616 f. οὐδ᾽ οἶδα τέρψιν-- οὐδ᾽ ἐπίψογον φάτιν. ἄλλου πρὸς ἀνδρός.

566 f. ‘Causing mildew and making the hair or wool of our
garments verminous,’ év@ypov,—for θηρίον was applied in more or less
humorous horror to the smallest creatures. No one who has served
a campaign—in South Africa or elsewhere—will dispute the truth of
the description. Plut. Mor. 352 Ε, speaking of the linen garments

A

208 NOTES

worn by the Egyptian priests, remarks that linen is ἥκιστα φθειροποιόν,
ws λέγουσι.
This in any case is the meaning of ἔνθηρον, which is applied to
a festering wound in Soph. P77. 698; and the rhythm is in favour
of the punctuation adopted in the text. The usual arrangement
δρόσοι κατεψέκαζον, ἔμπεδον σίνος
ἐσθημάτων, τιθέντες ἔνθηρον τρίχα,
moves haltingly and throws the unemphatic τιθέντες into an abnormal
place at the beginning of a clause. Sophocles, however, would appear
to have read it so and taken τρίχα to mean the hair of the head: in the
Ajax he makes his sailors before Troy complain as follows :—

600 ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὁ τλάμων παλαιὸς af’ ov χρόνος
Ἴδαῖα μίμνων λειμώνι᾽ ἄποινα μηνῶν
ἀνήριθμος αἰὲν εὐνῶμαι.
1206 κεῖμαι δ᾽ ἀμέριμνος οὕτως
ἀεὶ πυκιναῖς δρόσοις τεγγόμενος κόμας,
λυγρᾶς μνήματα Τροίας.

577. The sense is ἔρρετ᾽ ἀνῖαι A. P. v. 72, ualete curae. χαίρειν
καταξιῶ is merely one of the many variations of the phrase χαίρειν λέγω
or κελεύω, which meant ‘I say to you χαῖρε, ‘I bid you hail,’ or ‘I bid
farewell to you,’ ‘I say good-bye to you.’ Instead of these words
poetical or humorous language indulged in a great variety of sub-
stitutes: χαῖρε προσείπας Kaibel, Δ 210. 256. προσείπας χαίρειν 781.
αὐδήσαντες χαίρειν 205. ἔννεπε χαίρειν το3. ἐνέπω κλαίειν μακρά Arche-
stratus (Ath. 117 ἃ). χαίρειν προυννέπω Soph. Zrach. 227. χαίρειν
ἐφίεμαι Az. 112. ἄρτι δὲ χαίρειν τοῖσι τεοῖς προθύροις ἐπιτέλλομαι Theocr.
xIx. 26. αείσας χαίρειν Kaibel, 2,229. 237. χαίρειν κελεύων πολλα Ar.
Ach. 200. πολλὰ χαίρειν φράσας : ἀποταξάμενος Hesych. μακρὰ χαίρειν
λέγων Lucian ii. 614, ἐῶν i. 714, φράσαντες il. 820. ἐρρῶσθαι λέγων
Antiphanes 88. ἐρρῶσθαι φράσας πολλὰ Dem. 19. 248, Lucian ii. 861.
κλαίειν ἄνωγα Eur. Cycl. 340, 701. κλαίειν ἀγορεύω Plat. Com. 173.
οἰμώζειν παραγγείλαντες Lucian 1. 422.

583. θεοῖς.. τοῖς καθ᾽ “Ελλάδα: Soph. fr. 871 νὴ τοὺς ἐν [Αργει καὶ
κατὰ Σπάρτην θεούς.

585. εὐλογεῖν : see on 350.

589. εὐμαθεῖν, ‘teachableness,’ as δυσμαθεῖν (Cho. 224) from δυσμαθής,
ὀψιμαθεῖν, φιλομαθεῖν. ‘It is never too late to learn.’

501. σὺν δὲ πλουτίζειν ἐμέ: Cho. 820 πλεῖ τάδ᾽ εὖ: ἐμὸν ἐμὸν κέρδος
αὔξεται τόδ᾽ - ata δ᾽ ἀποστατεῖ φίλων.

592. ἀνωλόλνυξα μὲν πάλαι is equivalent to πάλαι μὲν ἀνωλόλυξα (see
note on ν. 8), and πάλαι μὲν is taken up by καὶ νῦν in 603.

NOTES 209

505. καί τις μ᾽ ἐνίπτων reproduces the language of the Elders in
vv. 481 ff., which Clytaemnestra had not heard. But the Chorus merely
expressed the general sense of Argos, and the queen must have become
acquainted with this in the interval implied in πάλαι (592).

602. κοιμῶντες perhaps means ‘extinguishing with wine at the end
of the rite.’

609. πύλας ἀνοῖξαι. Similarly Eur. Cyc. 502 θύραν τίς οἴξει μοι;
Eupolis fr. 220 ἣν οὐκ ἀνέωιξα πώποτ᾽ ἀνθρώποις ἐγώ. Ar. Eccl. 962, 990.
Nicet. Eugen. 4. 245, 268, 6. 528.

614. σημαντήριον. Oppian Aa/. iii. 361 κτῆσιν ἀεὶ κείροντες ἀση-
μάντοιο dduovo—an orphan’s unprotected home. It was the common
practice to seal up store-rooms and other treasuries, e.g. Eur. Or. 1108,
Plat. Legg. 954 aB, Ar. Zhesm. 414 ff., Lys. 1199, Diog. L. iv. 59, Hdt.
τ 121 B, Plaut. Cas. 144, Amphitr. 773, Stob. Flor.-6. 33 (so here
σημαντήριον includes the seal of chastity).

616 f. ἄλλου πρὸς ἀνδρὸς belongs to τέρψιν and has no connexion
with the intervening words οὐδ᾽ ἐπίψογον φάτιν. So Theogn. 461 μή ποτ᾽
ἐπ᾿ ἀπρήκτοισι νόον ἔχε, μηδὲ μενοίνα, χρήμασι, τῶν ἄνυσις γίνεται οὐδεμία.
[For fuller discussions of this idiom, which Bergk (P. Z. G. ii. p. 159)
unnecessarily doubts, see Tyrrell in C. &. 1. p. 140 f., Kaibel on Soph.
El. 1358 (p. 279').|—It is most natural to understand χαλκοῦ Badds
(with the schol.) as poetical for σιδήρου Badds, which is often mentioned,
the tempering of iron, to harden it or to soften it. The illustration is
chosen of course for the double meaning.

618 ff. The MS. gives 618—g to the Herald; most critics follow
Hermann now in giving them to Clytaemnestra; Dr Verrall thinks they
are spoken by a ‘Conspirator.’ Many commentators render toed’ ὁ
κόμπος, ‘alts guidem sui tactatio, ‘a boast like this, ‘that sort of boast,
as though it were τοιόσδε κόμπος ; but it can only mean ‘such ἐς the
éoast,’ and unless it is corrupt—which is improbable, for corruption would
rather be the other way—our explanation must allow it its due meaning.
μανθάνω means 7tellego, ‘I see, “7 understand, “7 take your meaning’ ;
μανθάνεις, ‘do you see?’ Examples are abundant in Comedy and Plato:
Eur. Or. 1129 ILY. εἶτ᾽ αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τοὔργον ot τείνειν χρεών. OP. Ἑλένην
φονεύειν. μανθάνω τὸ σύμβολον. IY. ἔγνως. Ar. Ran. 64. ΔΙ. ap’ ἐκδι-
δάσκω τὸ σαφές, ἢ ᾽τέραι φράσω; HP. μὴ δῆτα περὶ ἔτνους ye: πάνυ yap
μανθάνω. And μανθάνεις accordingly means ‘you understand,’ rem tenes,
as Lucian 1. 564 ATO. οὐκοῦν... δῆλον ὅτι μόνος ὁ σπουδαῖος μισθὸν ἐπὶ
τῆι ἀρετῆι λήψεται; ΧΡΥΣ. μανθάνεις. This is implied by a participle
in Cho. 112 HA. ἐμοί τε καὶ σοὶ tap’ ἐπεύξωμαι τάδε; XO. αὐτὴ σὺ ταῦτα
μανθάνουσ᾽ ἤδη φράσαι, 7.6. μανθάνεις : and the same is implied here by
μανθάνοντί σοι: “2767 speech is thus, as you understand.’ The person

H. A. 14

210 NOTES

addressed, therefore, must have shown the Elder that he understands ;
and it follows that the previous remark cannot have been made by
Clytaemnestra :; seeing no reason to believe in Dr Verrall’s Conspirator,
I conclude that the MS. is right in assigning 618—g to the Herald.
αὕτη piv οὕτως εἶπε is a formula dismissing er case, aS 941 τοὐμὸν μὲν
οὕτω, Lum. 556, Theb. 409, 1003, Supp. Busy they jot in μανθάνοντί σοι,
and add a plainer explanation in the following line, of which the natural
interpretation is ‘in the judgment of good critics—those who can read
between the lines—only very specious words.’ Then σὺ δ᾽ εἰπέ, κῆρυξ, is
the antithesis to αὕτη μὲν οὕτως, ‘now for your story further.’ λακεῖν is
an invidious word ; it means ‘to scream’ or ‘cry aloud without reserve
or self-control’ (αὔειν, λακάζειν, σωφρόνων μισήματα Theb. 169, Supp. 884):
it is used contemptuously by Clytaemnestra of the bawling news-bringers
in 856, and her γυναικείων νόμωι ὀλολυγμὸν ἔλασκον in 601 is a retort,
quoting the contemptuous judgments passed on her supposed impetuous
behaviour ; in 1427 περίφρονα ἔλακες is used of her by the Chorus (as
κομπάζεις In 1399) to rebuke her vaunting menaces, but a woman of her
character would never, I think, apply it to herself: see n. on 287.—
But the most important phrase is ὡς γυναικὶ yevvaiat, in which ws after
an adjective should have a limiting or qualifying force; not, as Peile
takes it, ‘particularly for a noble lady,’ but ‘for such a person as a
noble lady,’ ‘considering that a noble lady is the speaker.’ Examples
are familiar, as Soph. O. 7. 1118 πιστὸς ws νομεὺς ἀνήρ, ‘trusty as any,
in his shepherd’s place,’ Ὁ. C. 20 μακρὰν yap ὡς γέροντι προυστάλης
ὁδόν, ‘a long way for an old man,’ Az. 395 ἔρεβος ὦ φαεννότατον, ws
ἐμοί, Plat. Sophist. 226 C ταχεῖαν, ws ἐμοί, σκέψιν ἐπιτάττεις, ‘a rapid
process of thought for such as I am,’ Parmen. 136 D πολὺ ἔργον προσ-
τάττεις ὡς τηλίκωιδε, Dio Chrys. 11. p. 267 R. δριμὺν <pev> καὶ δόλιον
ὡς ἐν τοῖς τότε, πολὺ δὲ ἀπέχοντα τῆς νῦν κακοηθείας, Thuc. v. 43 ἡλικίαι
μὲν ἔτι τότε ὧν νέος ὡς ἐν ἄλληι πόλει, iv. 84 ἦν δὲ οὐδὲ ἀδύνατος, ὡς
Λακεδαιμόνιος, εἰπεῖν. The meaning then should be that such unabashed
avowals, though brim-full of truth, are surely zzdecorous, unbecoming a
true gentlewoman. If the punctuation is made interrogative, this is
exactly what the Herald says.—The Chorus are well aware of Clytaem-
nestra’s hypocrisy ; therefore I do not think 618—g would be said by
one of them; but the Herald, who knows nothing, is surprised and un-
favourably impressed, thinking that noble ladies do not usually proclaim
their fidelity and affection in such terms (cf. Plut. 2207. 768 B ἡ δὲ γενναία
γυνὴ πρὸς avdpa νόμιμον συγκραθεῖσα Ov "Epwros ἄρκτων ἂν ὑπομείνειε καὶ
δρακόντων περιβολὰς μᾶλλον ἢ ψαῦσιν ἀνδρὸς ἀλλοτρίου καὶ συγκατάκλισιν);
thinking perhaps that there is some indecency in her saying ‘that I may
give my honoured lord the best and soonest welcome—for to a woman’s

NOTES 211

eyes what hour is dearer than ἀπὸ στρατείας ἀνδρί, σώσαντος θεοῦ, πύλας
ἀνοῖξαι (v. 608 f., where see n.)?’ Clytaemnestra here of course is
merely overacting; but in Sophocles her true behaviour is such that
Electra refuses her the character of γενναία γυνή: 24 287 αὕτη γὰρ ἡ
λόγοισι γενναία γυνὴ φωνοῦσα τοιάδ᾽ ἐξονειδίζει κακά: ὦ δύσθεον μίσημα,
σοὶ μόνηι πατὴρ τέθνηκεν; κτὲ. It is true that Sir R. Jebb renders,
‘this woman, in professions so noble’; but I incline to the other inter-
pretation, ‘this so-called noble lady,’ as in Eur. £7. 326 Aegisthus is to
Electra τῆς ἐμῆς μητρὸς πόσις ὁ κλεινός, ws λέγουσιν. Or. 17 ὁ κλεινός,
εἰ δὴ κλεινός, ᾿Α γαμέμνων.

623. σεσωμένος. [In support of this form Wecklein, Curae epigr.
p. 60 quotes Photius, p. 507, 22 σέσωται καὶ σεσωμένος οἱ παλαιοὶ ἄνευ
τοῦ &...01 δὲ νεώτεροι σέσωσμαι, and Suid. s.v. σέσωται, and concludes
‘librarios peccauisse addendo o ex posteriore dicendi consuetudine.’ |

631. ἀναχθεὶς ἐμφανῶς ἐξ ᾿Ιλίου points to the form of the legend
according to which Menelaus quarrelled with Agamemnon after the
sack of Troy, and set sail before him: see Hom. y 136 ff., Soph.
ire 470, Pausan. x. 25. 3.

641 ff. εὔφημον ἦμαρ οὐ πρέπει κακαγγέλωι γλώσσηι μιαίνειν: χωρὶς 7
τυμὴ θεῶν... (65 3) πῶς κεδνὰ τοῖς κακοῖσι συμμείξω; These are all religious
phrases. In the /oz 1017 Creusa has two drugs with different virtues,
one wholesome and the other—venom from the Gorgon’s serpents—
deadly, and is asked εἰς ἕν δὲ κραθέντ᾽ αὐτὸν ἢ χωρὶς φέρεις; She
replies χωρίς: κακῶι γὰρ ἐσθλὸν οὐ συμμείγνυται. See further Paley’s
note on 7071 246, and compare Plat. Legg. 800 Β--Ἔ, Plut. dem. Paul.
35 τὴν ὠμότητα τῆς τύχης, ὡς οὐκ ἠιδέσατο πένθος τοσοῦτον εἰς οἰκίαν
ζήλου καὶ χαρᾶς καὶ θυσιῶν γέμουσαν εἰσάγουσα καὶ καταμιγνύουσα θρήνους
καὶ δάκρυα παιᾶσιν ἐπινικίοις καὶ θριάμβοις. The words χωρὶς ἡ τιμὴ
θεῶν are a brief proverbial expression of familiar doctrine—‘ tha? cere-
mony is apart from the Gods of Heaven’: see Plat. Legg. 828c ἔτι δὲ
Kal τὸ τῶν χθονίων καὶ ὅσους av θεοὺς οὐρανίους ἐπονομαστέον Kal τὸ τῶν
τούτοις ἑπομένων οὐ ξυμμεικτέον, ἀλλὰ χωριστέον κτὲ., Zi. 69 Ὁ σεβόμενοι
μιαίνειν τὸ θεῖον, ὅ τι μὴ πᾶσα ἣν ἀνάγκη, χωρὶς ἐκείνου κατοικίζουσιν εἰς
ἄλλην τοῦ σώματος οἴκησιν τὸ θνητόν, Plut. Mor. 361 Β θεοί and ἀθάνατοι
are often used in discrimination from the χθόνιοι δαίμονες : Apollodor.
i. 33 Wagner, Persephone was compelled to remain the third part of
the year peta Πλούτωνος, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν παρὰ τοῖς θεοῖς : frequently by
Aeschylus in the EZwmenides, 109, 352, 363, 414, who have λάχη θεῶν
διχοστατοῦντα 389. But each form of worship is /i¢¢ing in its proper
place, and πρέπει is the word habitually used: the true paean should
be sung at banquets, ἀνδρείων παρὰ δαιτυμόνεσσι πρέπει παιᾶνα κατάρχειν
Alcman fr. 22; praise and honour are the fitting tributes (πρέπει) to a

I4—2

212 NOTES

conqueror or benefactor, suf. 437, 529, Pind. fr. 121, O. 11. 50, il. 9,
P. v. 43, Δ᾽ iii. 67 Bod δὲ νικαφόρωι σὺν ᾿Αριστοκλείδαι πρέπει: praise
also is the fitting memorial of the dead, only in their case it takes the
form of lamentation—zpeéra λέγειν παιᾶνα τόνδ᾽ ᾿ΒΠρινύων.

645 ff. ‘News of the double wound inflicted by the double scourge
that Ares uses—one the general public wound felt by the whole country,
the other that felt severally by each home in private for the loss of a
loved man.’ The notion of a wound suggests a scourge ; the notion of
a scourge leads Aeschylus to conceive these lost men as driven out
from their houses danned and excommunicate beneath *the curse of
War; because polluted men banned by the people’s execration were
expelled ἀγηλάτωι μάστιγι as Lycophron calls it, v. 436, which would
seem to have been the original reading in Cho. 288 διώκεσθαι rodews |
ἀγηλάτωι μάστιγι λυμανθὲν δέμας where the MS. has χαλκηλάτωι πλάστιγγι.
This one may suppose was the reason why Christ used a scourge in
driving out the money-changers from the Temple (John 2. 15) as
defilers and polluters of it. See also Cho. 374 ἀλλὰ διπλῆς yap τῆσδε
μαράγνης | δοῦπος ἱκνεῖται: τῶν μὲν ἀρωγοὶ | Kata γῆς ἤδη: τῶν δὲ Kpa-
τούντων | χέρες οὐχ ὅσιαι, where, as in the present passage, the two
lashes are the clauses marked by μέν and dé. Both passages have been
misinterpreted, but would not have been if critics had remembered
that when the items signified by Greek words meaning fwo or double
are specifically named, it was regular to indicate them by the particles
μέν and δέ, or τε and τε, or te and καί: examples near at hand are
V. 337, 826, 872, Supp. 1020, Fers. 168, Theb. 769, Eur. Andr. 516.
Here, instead of preceding as is usual, the word didn follows the two
items, as in Pind. JV v. 52, Eur. Supp. 332, Soph. ZZ. 1078, A. P. 1x.
40. 5, Ov. Zrist. ili. 8. 33. δίλογχον ἄτην and φοινίαν ξυνωρίδα introduce
new metaphors, and δίλογχον no more refers to the μάστιξ than
ξυνωρίδα : it is derived from the common practice of carrying a pair
of spears. ‘

654. οὐκ ἀμήνιτον θεῶν refers to the crime and punishment of Aias
the Locrian: see Schol. AD on Hom. N 66.

656. πῦρ καὶ θάλασσα. ‘This in the usual story was regarded asa
compact struck between Poseidon and Athena (privileged to employ
her father’s lightning : wm. 830), who had previously been on opposite
sides. The opening of the Zyoades of Euripides shows them making
this agreement.

659. Seecr.n. It is impossible to say whether f’s reading is an
epicism introduced by the copyists or whether the Attic poets really
used such forms; nor do inscriptions give any help.

661. σὺν ἵάληι τ᾽ ὀμβροκτύπωι. In descriptions of storms at sea

NOTES 213

ὄμβρος, rain, is a constant detail. [Thus Eur. Z7o. 78 (referring to
this particular storm) καὶ Ζεὺς μὲν ὄμβρον καὶ χάλαζαν ἄσπετον πέμψει. |
Greek ships, we must remember, were undecked and had no bilge-
pumps; all the baling must be done by hand.

667 f. ἤτοι τις ἐξέκλεψεν ἢ ᾿ξηιτήσατο, kre. ‘We were either spirited
away θεῶν κλοπαῖς (Eur. Or. 1497) or saved by the intercession of some
divinity who begged us off,’ ἐξηιτήσατο, as Apollo, for example, ἐξηιτή:
gato ᾿Αδμητον from the Fates, schol. Eur. AZ. 12. παῦροι δὲ φύγον
μόρον ovs ἐσάωσεν ἢ θεὸς ἢ δαίμων, says Quintus of this, xiv. 627. Gods
often, save fom shipwreck: Apoll. Rhod. iii, 323 θεὸς δέ τις app
ἐσάωσεν, 328 Ζηνὸς νόος ἠέ τις αἶσα. iv. 930 Thetis steers the Argo
between the Shifting Rocks, ἡ δ᾽ ὄπιθεν πτέρυγος θίγε πηδαλίοιο. Val.
Flacc. 11. 48. Ach. Tat. 11. 5 δαίμων τις ἀγαθὸς περιέσωσεν ἡμῖν τῆς
πρώιρας μέρος. Lucian i. 652 sailors narrate τοὺς Διοσκούρους ἐπιφαινο-
μένους ἢ τιν᾽ ἄλλον ἐκ μηχανῆς θεὸν ἐπὶ τῶι καρχησίωι καθεζόμενον ἢ πρὸς
τοῖς πηδαλίοις ἑστῶτα καὶ πρός τινα ἠϊόνα μαλακὴν ἀπευθύνοντα τὴν ναῦν.

670. ἐν ὅρμωι refers to the danger of a rising swell when the ship is
at anchor. Cf. Supp. 774 οὐδ᾽ ἐν ἀγκυρουχίαις θαρσοῦσι ναῶν ποιμένες
παραυτίκα, ἄλλως τε καὶ μολόντες ἀλίμενον χθόνα ἐς νύκτ᾽, Sup. 203 πνοαὶ
δύσορμοι. Such was the position of the Athenians at Pylos: ‘Vhuc.
iv. 26 τῶν νεῶν οὐκ ἐχουσῶν Oppov...ot δὲ μετέωροι ὥρμουν... ῥᾶιον γὰρ τὴν
᾿ φυλακὴν τῶν τριήρων ἐλάνθανον, ὁπότε πνεῦμα ἐκ πόντου εἴη: ἄπορον γὰρ
ἐγίγνετο περιορμεῖν. The correction ἁρμῶι should mean xz compagibus—
in the seams or frame of the ship. But that would be ἐν ἁρμοῖς.

676 ff. καὶ νῦν ἐκείνων: he endeavours to suggest grounds for hoping
the best. The connexion of thought is as follows :—‘ All we know for
certain is that Menelaus and the rest have disappeared ; but after all,
we do not know that they have perished: we conjecture it; but ‘hey,
no doubt—if there are any among them that survive—are now con-
jecturing the same of ws; and it is possible that our conjecture may be
equally mistaken. So we need not quite despair. Let us hope for the
best in a bad business. For the truth is you must expect that Menelaus
is most probably in great distress ; but still, wherever he may be, if only
he is alive, there is some hope yet that he may manage to get home
again.’—yévorto δ᾽ ὡς ἄριστα : ‘as well as may be.’—mpardv τε kal μάλιστα
is opposed to εἰ 8 οὖν (‘if, however’) in the same way as the ordinary
phrase μάλιστα μέν may be followed by ἔπειτα (¢.g. Heliod. 1. 15 μάλιστα
μὲν εἰκὸς σχολάσειν τὸν ἔρωτα" εἰ δ᾽ ἐναπομείνειεν;,...), πρῶτον being neuter
and adverbial: Plut. Wor. 574 E μάλιστα μὲν καὶ πρῶτον...., δεύτερον OE...
Isaeus ii. 20 μάλιστα μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐρημίας ἐπείσθη, δεύτερον δὲ διὰ.... So
Iambl. ii. 4τ6. Diog. Laert. ix. 66 διαγωνίζεσθαι δ᾽ ὡς οἷόν τε πρῶτον
μὲν τοῖς ἔργοις πρὸς τὰ πράγματα, εἰ δὲ μή, τῶι λόγωι. ‘Though your

514 NOTES

first and chiefest expectation—the great probability—must be that he
is in sore straits, still there is some hope.’ Aristid. 1. 810 μάλιστα μὲν
δὴ καὶ πρῶτον..., ere δέ. Hdt. 11. 59 μάλιστα μὲν καὶ προθυμότατα....,
δεύτερα.... πρῶτον might also be masculine, although that is less likely
here: Ath. 524d μάλιστα δὴ καὶ πρῶτοι. Plat. Amat. 136D μή pot,
εἶπον ἐγώ, ἀμφοτέρους λέγε, ἀλλ᾽ ὁπότερον μᾶλλόν τε καὶ πρότερον. οὐδεὶς
av, ἔφη, τοῦτό γ᾽ ἀμφισβητήσειεν, ὡς οὐχὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν καὶ μᾶλλον καὶ πρό-
τερον. Dio Chrys. i. 180 πρώτωι καὶ μάλιστα αὑτῶι. οὖν merely adds
emphasis to the other particles it is combined with: O. 7: 834 ἡμῖν
μέν, ὦναξ, ταῦτ᾽ Oxvnp: ἕως δ᾽ ἂν οὖν πρὸς τοῦ παρόντος ἐκμάθηις, ἔχ᾽
ἐλπίδα, ‘but still have hope.’ δ᾽ οὖν is a more emphatic δές εἰ δ᾽ οὖν is
the same as εἰ δέ, but a little stronger. It introduces the alternative,
to which πρῶτόν te καὶ μάλιστα is Opposed.—poyeiv: see cr. ἢ. Tzetz.
Antehom. 140 κεῖνοι γάρ Te μέγα πέλαγος Τύρων περόωντες | ἄστυ Tparov
ἴδον, ὅλον λυκάβαντα μογεῦντες.

696. Ζεφύρου γίγαντος αὔραι : the reason for this epithet is to suggest
that Zephyrus, the Spring-wind, lent his influence as the wind of Love ;
because according to one legend the father of "Epws was Ζέφυρος γίγας:
Lydus de mens. p. 117, de ostent. p. 282 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Τύχηι ἐφόρωι
(ηὔχοντο) Σωφροσύνηι τε καὶ "Epwrt, dv οἱ μυθικοὶ Ζεφύρου τοῦ γίγαντος
εἶναι παῖδα ἀξιοῦσιν, ws φησιν Evputos 6 Λακεδαιμόνιος ὃ μελοποιός ap-
χεται δὲ οὕτως - “ ἀγλαομειδὲς "Epws.’ See Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Gr. iil. p. 639.
[Alcaeus fr. 13 calls Eros δεινότατον θεῶν <tov> γέννατ᾽ εὐπέδιλλος
Ἶρις χρυσοκόμαι Ζεφύρωι puyeioa. |

697. πολύανδροι : she is always πολυάνωρ γυνή (v. 62), but the
swarms of men pursuing her in hot quest now are in a different temper.

702 ff. κῆδος ὀρθώνυμον τελεσσίφρων μῆνις ἤνυσεν (that is, ἐτέλεσεν,
ἐτελείωσεν, ἐξέπραξεν) : ‘thought-executing Wrath brought the κῆδος to
fulfilment in the true meaning of the term,’ as Anfg. 1178 ὦ μάντι,
τοὔπος ws ap ὀρθὸν nvvaas. Cf. O. C. 454 παλαίφαθ᾽ ἁμοὶ Φοῖβος ἤνυσέν
mote, O. 7: 166 ἠνύσατ᾽ ἐκτοπίαν φλόγα, Hom. τ 567 οἵ ῥ᾽ ἔτυμα
κραίνουσιν, Theb. 870 ἀληθῆ... .ἐπέκρανεν. This transformation is the
subject of the following passage to v. 717, which describes how the
Doom of Ζεὺς ξένιος was at last effected, how Helen παρακλίνασ᾽
ἐπέκρανεν γάμου πικρὰς τελευτάς, and how joy was changed to sorrow.
κῆδος means both ‘relationship by marriage’ and ‘mourning’ (the due
office of relations); and there is no single word in English that will
cover the two senses. Cf. Eur. Andy. 103 ᾿Ιλίωι αἰπεινᾶι ἸΠάρις οὐ γάμον
ἀλλά τιν᾽ ἄταν aydyer εὐναίαν ἐς θαλάμους Ἑλέναν. The MS. reading
κῆδος ἤλασε would mean ‘drove away,’ ‘dispelled,’ as in Orph. Aymmn.

73.7 πολύστονα κήδε᾽ ἐλάσσας. In Eur. Herac/. 788 Reiske substituted
dunvucev for διήλασεν.

NOTES 215

707 f. τὸ νυμφότιμον μέλος ἐκφάτως τίοντας : Troy, in the person of
the bridegroom’s kinsmen (γαμβροί), to whom fell the singing of the
wedding-chorus, honoured (that is, celebrated, as εὔποτμον παιᾶνα φίλως
ἐτίμα in v. 258) the Hymenaeus sung in honour of the guilty bride and
bridegroom, slighting and d/shonouring thereby the Stranger’s Table.
But if it was all joy and merry-making then, it is all sorrow now and
lamentation ; ὑμέναιος has been changed to O@pyvos.—That being an
εὔφημος ὕμνος changed to a δύσφημος, it is very likely that ἐκφάτως is a
mistake for evparws meaning εὐφήμως, as δυσφάτωι κλαγγᾶι In ν. 1150
means δυσφήμοωοι. Τί ἐκφάτως is sound, it means ‘ outspokenly,’ in loud
and bold avowal. ‘The sentence is turned artificially in order to make
all these antithetical points in a brief compass with the telling words in
telling places. ‘The change of the ὑμέναιος to the θρῆνος was a common-
place: Eur. Alc. 922 viv δ᾽ ὑμεναίων γόος ἀντίπαλος, Soph. O. 7. 420 fi.
βοῆς δὲ τῆς σῆς... ὅταν καταίσθηι τὸν ὑμέναιον, ὃν δόμοις ἄνορμον εἰσέπλευσας,
εὐπλοίας τυχών.

712. γεραιά, 7.6. all too late: 27, 1425 γνώσηι διδαχθεὶς ὀψὲ γοῦν τὸ
σωφρονεῖν. It must be joined with μεταμανθάνουσα (cf. ὀψιμαθής).

718 ff. ἔθρεψεν δὲ λέοντος ἵνιν δόμοις ἀγάλακτα βούτας ἀνὴρ φιλόμαστον :
throughout this simile we must remember that the Lion-cub means
Helen and the Herdsman Paris, and observe how carefully the touches
are designed to correspond. It does not seem unlikely that λέοντος
ivy would be specially appropriate to Helen as a member by marriage
of the Pelopid House; see my note on v. 147: but Paris who carried
her off and kept her in his house was of course habitually called Bovras
ἀνὴρ (Eur. Hec. 646) or βουκόλος or pastor,—which confirms the truth
of the corrected reading. As Wecklein has pointed out, without this
word we should not know what μηλοφόνοισι (v. 731) meant. For the
evidence of the wider sense of μῆλον see Ox editing Aeschylus, p. 137.
Yet Wilamowitz in C. 2. xx. 446 speaks as if μηλοφόνοισι were fatal
to Bovras, and had been overlooked. ἀγάλακτα (from ἀγάλαξ) means
ὁμογάλακτα, ‘foster-brother’; for as yet it is an unweaned suckling,
φιλόμαστος.

723. γεραροῖς ἐπίχαρτον calls to mind the famous passage in the
Thad, T 149 ff., where the aged councillors at the Scaean gate are
entranced by the sight of Helen’s beauty. The late Epic writers
describe the spell of her beauty in similar terms: Quint. xiv. 58,
Tzetz. Antehom. 141.

724 ff. πολέα 8 ἔσχ᾽ ἐν dyKddats...patSpwrds ποτὶ χεῖρα σαίνων τε
γαστρὸς ἀνάγκαις (see cr. n.) could only mean, as Dr Verrall takes it,
the young lion ‘got many a thing, when embraced it wooed the hand
with radiant visage under stress of appetite’; but as ἐν ἀγκάλαις ἔχειν

216 NOTES

was the regular phrase for holding a child or a pet-creature in one’s
arms, I incline to read with Auratus what I have translated, φαιδρωπὸν
ποτὶ χεῖρα σαίνοντα γαστρὸς ἀνάγκαις. Which we take of these two
readings matters little, but if we read σαίνοντα we must also read
adpwrov—whether masculine or neuter used adverbially with oai-
vovra—because both these words belong to the description of the
lion-cub. The point is that he, or Helen whom he typifies, began
by fawning with a smile “ke treacherous Ate, who σαίνει φιλόφρων or
φαιδρόνους as I shall show on v. 1226. ‘This is clear when we com-
pare the corresponding final lines of the antistrophe, ἐκ θεοῦ δ᾽ ἱερεύς
τις Α τας δόμοις προσεθρέφθη.

729. χάριν. ‘As grace to his maintainers owed’: because it was
the custom for children on coming of age to make their parents and
nurses a symbolic thank-offering (Opémtpa Hom. A 478, θρεπτήρια,
τροφεῖα) in return for their bringing-up.— By the slaughter of the cattle
we are to imagine the carnage in the streets of Troy.

731. μηλοφόνοισιν dras. As a point is elsewhere reinforced by the
insistent repetition of a word, by πολύθρηνον for example in wv. 713,
715, and by ἄτας following ara in v. 736, so, when the comparison
is expounded, the conclusion is that Helen proved a νυμφόκλαυτος
᾿Βρινύς (748). This recalls the language of Soph. fr. 519 ἢ δ᾽ ap ἐν
σκότωι λήθουσά pe ἔσαιν᾽ Epwis. For the words cf. Pers. 655 οὔτε yap
ἄνδρας ποτ᾽ ἀπώλλυ πολεμοφθόροισιν ἄταις.

737. προσεθρέφθη : 566 cr. ἢ. In Eur. Hec. 600 for θρεφθῆναι L. has
τραφῆναι: and in MSS. generally the heavier first aorist forms tend to
be wrongly ousted by the weaker second aorists (On editing Aeschylus,
p. 104 ff.).—é« θεοῦ = θεόθεν, ‘by the will of the gods’ (7hed. 311 iw
ἀνδρὸς ᾿Αχαιοῦ θεόθεν περθομέναν). So 7) εὐ. 23 καλώς τὰ πλείω πόλεμος
ἐκ θεῶν κυρεῖ, and see the examples quoted in On editing Aeschylus, p. 107.

739. φρόνημα μὲν νηνέμου yaddvas: the idea this would suggest is
smiling and seductive Calm, who tempts men to embark, but in
seeming innocence treacherously lures them to disaster,—just as "Ary
does, whose wrath is elsewhere likened to a storm (v. 810). A. P.
Vil. 668 οὐδ᾽ εἴ μοι γελόωσα καταστορέσειε γαλήνη Kipata,...vyoBarny μ᾽
ὄψεσθε. Lucian il. 197 ὅτι μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἡ θάλαττα ἱκανὴ προκαλέσασθαι
καὶ εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἐπισπάσασθαι ἐν γαλήνηι φανεῖσα, ἴστε, κἂν μὴ εἴπω" ὅτε
εἰ καὶ παντάπασιν ἠπειρώτης καὶ ἀπειρόπλους τις εἴη, πάντως ἂν ἐθελήσ ειε
καὶ αὐτὸς ἐμβῆναι καὶ περιπλεῦσαι καὶ πολὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀποσπάσαι.
Lucret. il. 556: wrecks are a warning to mankind

infidi maris insidias uirisque dolumque
ut uitare uelint, neue ullo tempore credant,
subtola cum ridet placidi pellacia ponti

ἘΝ Ὁ aa ν

NOTES 217

and again, v. 1004

nec poterat quemquam placidi pellacia pontt
subdola pellicere in fraudem ridentibus und?s,
improba nauclert ratio cum caeca tacebat.

Meleager, 4. P. v. 156:

ἁ φίλερως χαροποῖς ᾿Ασκληπιὰς οἷα Γαλήνης
ὄμμασι συμπείθει πάντας ἐρωτοπλοεῖν.

Such glittering Calm of sunlit weather
In her bright eyes hath she,

Fair Amoret! all men’s hearts together
Launch upon Love’s alluring sea.

Simonides quoted by Plut. 7720γ. 798 Ὁ (where I adopt Hermann’s
παρέπεισαν for the MS. παρήισαν):

λευκᾶς καθύπερθε yaravas
εὐπρόσωποί σφας παρέπεισαν ἔρωτες ναΐας
κλαΐδος χαραξιπόντου δαιμονίαν ἐς ὕβριν,

the result of which is ὄλεθρος or arn.

γαλήνη calm and γέλως smile are in fact the same in origin, γαληνής
and yeAavys merely different forms of the same word: γελανώσας θυμόν
Bacchyl. v. 80, διαγαληνίσας πρόσωπον Ar. Lg. 646, ee μειδιάματος
Themist. 282 A, μειδιᾶι τῆς θαλάσσης aos χαριέστερον Alciphr.
i. 1. Aristotle, Physzogn. Ὁ: ὅτι Ὁ 37 οἱ κύνες ἐπειδὰν θωπεύωσι,
γαληνὲς τὸ πρόσωπον ἔχουσιν. ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἥ TE συννεφὴς ἕξις αὐθάδειαν
ἐμφαίνει ἥ τε γαληνὴ κολακείαν, ἡ μέση ἂν τούτων ἕξις εὐαρμόστως ἔχοι.
Philostratus, /mag. ti. 1 says of the ὑμνήτριαι singing before Aphrodite
that their gestures prove that they have risen from the sea, τὸ μειδίαμα
δ᾽ αὐτῶν γαλήνης ἐστὶν αἴνιγμα.

740. ἀκασκαῖον δ᾽ ἄγαλμα πλούτου, ‘a jewel in the crown of Wealth.’
In Δ. V. 482 he applies the phrase to horses, bred by the wealthy
for the race-course, ἵππους, ἄγαλμα τῆς ὑπερπλούτου χλιδῆς, ‘the lustre
of luxurious affluence’; and Meredith in Beauchamp’s Career c. 15,
doubtless with both these passages in mind, very happily makes a
double application of it: ‘As the yacht, so the mistress: things of
wealth, owing their graces to wealth, devoting them to wealth—splendid
- achievements of art both !...Did Beauchamp at all desire to have those
idly lovely adornments of riches, the Yacht and the Lady, swept away ?’
Thucyd. vi. 41 speaks of ἵπποις καὶ ὅπλοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις οἷς ὃ πόλεμος
ἀγάλλεται, ‘all the pride and pomp of war,’ and in Philostr. Hevozre.
p- 791 Ajax, for his strength and beauty, is dalled ἄγαλμα πολέμου. In
Thuc. ii. 44 Pericles asks the Athenians to regard their houses and
their lands as κηπίον καὶ ἐγκαλλώπισμα πλούτου, the mere pleasance

218 NOTES

for wealth to display its graces in. ἀγλαΐσμα is used in the same way:
Achill. Tat. ii. 1 of the rose, γῆς ἐστι κόσμος, φυτῶν ἀγλάϊσμα, ὀφθαλμὸς
ἀνθέων. Heliod. 111. 6 εἶδες τὸ ἀγλαΐσμα ἐμόν τε καὶ Δελφών, Χαρικλείαν.
ἀκασκαῖον, ‘gentle,’ expresses ‘languid, delicate’: Hesych. ἄκασκα- ἡσύχως,
μαλακῶς, βραδέως. Cratinus ap. Bekk. “ποιά. p. 371, 1 σκήπτροισιν
ἄκασκα προβώντες. ᾿
This passage affords a remarkable instance of a common formula
of description, in which the details are accumulated without any
connecting particles. The mannerism has been imitated by Milton,
Paradise Regained ii. 156 More like to goddesses | Than mortal
creatures, graceful and discreet, | Expert in amorous arts, enchanting
tongues | Persuasive, virgin majesty with mild | And sweet allayed,
yet terrible to approach, | Skilled to retire, and in retiring draw |
Hearts after them, tangled in amorous nets. So Ach. Tat. i. 3
ἐφίσταται δέ μοι γυνὴ φοβερὰ καὶ μεγάλη, τὸ πρόσωπον ἀγρία, ὀφθαλμὸς
ἐν αἵματι, βλοσυραί παρειαί, ὄφεις αἱ κόμαι: ἅρπην ἐκράτει τῆι δεξιᾶι,
δᾶιδα τῆι λαιᾶι. 1. 4 τοιαύτην εἶδον ἐγώ ποτ᾽ ἐπὶ ταύρωι γεγραμμένην
Σελήνην: ὄμμα γοργὸν ἐν ἡδονῆι: κόμη ξανθή, τὸ ξανθὸν οὖλον: ὀφρῦς
μέλαινα, τὸ μέλαν ἄκρατον: λευκὴ παρειά, τὸ λευκὸν εἰς μέσον ἐφοινίσσετο
καὶ ἐμιμεῖτο πορφύραν, οἵαν εἰς τὸν ἐλέφαντα Λυδία Barre γυνή: τὸ στόμα
ῥόδων ἄνθος ἦν, ὅταν ἄρχηται τὸ ῥόδον ἀνοίγειν τῶν φύλλων τὰ χείλη. ὡς
δ᾽ εἶδον, εὐθὺς ἀπωλώλειν: κάλλος γὰρ ὀξύτερον τιτρώσκει βέλους καὶ διὰ
τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν καταρρεῖ: ὀφθαλμὸς yap 480s ἐρωτικῶι
τραύματι. Vill. 12 παρθένος ἦν εὐειδής, ὄνομα Ῥοδῶπις, κυνηγίων ἐρῶσα
καὶ θήρας: πόδες ταχεῖς, εὔστοχοι χεῖρες, ζώνη καὶ μίτρα καὶ ἀνεζωσμένος
εἰς γόνυ χιτών, καὶ κατ᾽ ἄνδρας κουρὰ τριχῶν. Antiphanes “Art. fr. 33
(ii. 23 K.) A. ὦ τάν, κατανοεῖς τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστὶν οὑτοσὶ | 6 γέρων; Β. ἀπὸ
τῆς μὲν ὄψεως Ἑλληνικός" λευκὴ χλανίς, φαιὸς χιτωνίσκος καλός, | πιλίδιον
ἁπαλόν, εὔρυθμος βακτηρία, | βεβαία τράπεζα---τί μακρὰ δεῖ λέγειν; Odws |
αὐτὴν ὁρᾶν γὰρ τὴν ᾿Ακαδημίαν δοκῶ. Ter. Phorm. 104 uidemus: uirgo
pulchra: et quo magts diceres, | nil aderat adiumenti ad pulchritudinem: |
capillus passus, nudus pes, ipsa horrida, | lacrumae, uestitus turpis.
Aesch. Zheb. 611 γέροντα τὸν νοῦν, σάρκα δ᾽ ἡβῶσαν φύει, | ποδῶκες
ὄμμα, χεῖρα δ᾽ οὐ βραδύνεται. Eur. Supp. 867 φίλοις τ᾽ ἀληθὴς ἦν φίλος
παροῦσί τε | καὶ μὴ παροῦσιν: ὧν ἀριθμὸς οὐ πολύς | ἀψευδὲς ἦθος, εὐπροσ-
ἤγορον στόμα, | ἄκραντον οὐδὲν οὔτ᾽ ἐς οἰκέτας ἔχων | οὔτ᾽ ἐς πολίτας.
ib. 994 οὐκ ἐν λόγοις ἦν λαμπρὸς ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀσπίδι | δεινὸς σοφιστὴς πολλά
τ᾽ ἐξευρὼν σοφά, | γνώμηι δ᾽ ἀδελφοῦ Μελεάγρου λελειμμένος ἴσον παρέσχεν
ὄνομα διὰ τέχνης δορός, εὑρὼν ἀκριβῆ μουσικὴν ἐν ἀσπίδι" φιλότιμον
ἦθος πλούσιον, φρόνημα δὲ | ἐν τοῖσιν ἔργοις, οὐχὶ τοῖς λόγοις ἔχων. Verg.
Aen. xi. 338 largus opum et lingua melior, sed frigida bello | dextera,
consilits habitus non futilis auctor, | seditione potens. So in Aesch,

NOTES 219

Supp. 577 Bordv ἐσορῶντες δυσχερὲς μειξόμβροτον, | τὰ μὲν Boos, τὰ δ᾽
αὖ γυναικός, he might have said τὰ μὲν βοῦν, τὰ δὲ γυναῖκα or τὰ μὲν
Boos ἔχουσαν, τὰ δὲ γυναικός, but it was as easy and more elegant to
introduce τὰ μὲν Bods without construction. The earliest example is
Semonid. Amorg. 7. 71 τὴν δ᾽ ἐκ πιθήκου: τοῦτο δὴ διακριδὸν | Ζεὺς
ἀνδράσιν μέγιστον ὥπασεν κακόν. | αἴσχιστα μὲν πρόσωπα: τοιαύτη γυνὴ
εἶσιν δι ἄστεος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις γέλως: | ἐπ᾿ αὐχένα βραχεῖα, κινεῖται
μόγις, | ἄπυγος, αὐτόκωλος. In this passage the word κινεῖται enables
me to see that the Physiognomic writers were the source from which
this manner of description was derived.

748. νυμφόκλαυτος ᾿Εἰρινύς. So in describing Hecuba’s dream of the
birth of Paris, Pind. fr. Paean. viti. 30 (Ox. Pap. v. p. 65) ἔδοξε de
τεκεῖν πυρφόρον ᾿Βρινύν. According to Stasinus, the author of the
Cypria, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Nemesis: Athen. vii.
334 cd, Eratosth. Catast. 25.

749 ff. There is an important passage in an earlier and remarkable
writer with which this, I believe, has not been brought into comparison :
Ezekiel 18. 1 Zhe word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What
mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,
The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on
edge? As 7 live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion to use
this proverb any more in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the
soul of the father, so also the soul of the son ts mine: the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. But if a man be just, and do that which ts lawful
and right,...he is just, he shall surely live satth the Lord God. See the
remainder of the chapter, and Jeremiah 31. 29. That is a general
repudiation of inherited guilt, the doctrine of the Decalogue; an
assertion of individual responsibility, the Buddhist doctrine. For the
doctrine of Aeschylus see Introduction p. 31.

761. ἐν κακοῖς. There are two forms of the proverb. Solon fr. 7
has τίκτει yap κόρος ὕβριν, ὅταν πολὺς ὄλβος ἕπηται ἀνθρώποισιν ὅσοις
μὴ νόος ἄρτιος ἦι, but in Theogn. 153 the lines are altered to τίκτει
τοι κόρος ὕβριν, ὅταν κακῶι ὄλβος ἕπηται ἀνθρώπωι, καὶ ὅτωι μὴ νόος
ἄρτιος ἦι. “ἃ

762. The correction βαθύσκοτον (see cr. n.) implies the common
᾿ confusion of ¢ and β (cf. 436, 770) and of o and 6. Somewhat similar
is Bentley’s τηλέσκοπον for τῆιδε σκοπῶν in Soph. fr. 314.

771 f. δύναμιν od σέβουσα πλούτου παράσημον αἴνω.. ‘The best illustra-
tion is Plat. Zege. 870 a—c. ‘The coining of money often marked the
first assumption of absolute power.—When Bacchylides ix. 49 says οἶδα
καὶ πλούτου μεγάλαν δύνασιν ἃ καὶ τὸν ἀχρεῖον τίθησι χρηστόν---τί μακρὰν
γλῶσσαν ἰθύσας ἐλαύνω ἐκτὸς ὁδοῦ; I suppose that a passage on the

220 NOTES

power of wealth must have followed in the poem of Solon (fr. 13) part
of which (v. 33 sqq.) he has been paraphrasing for his young Athenian.
The examples of παντοῖοι ἔρωτες became a commonplace; see Hor. C.
1. τ. 3 546. with Orelli-Hirschfelder’s note on v. 18.

774 ff. In this address to Agamemnon the Chorus have two
objects: first, as representatives of the people, to assure him of a
favourable reception; secondly, to warn him of Clytaemnestra’s in-
_ sincerity and unfaithful stewardship. The latter object they attain by
using phrases which appear to point at her obliquely: 784 ξυγχαίρουσιν
ὁμοιοπρεπεῖς, 788 δοκοῦντ᾽ εὔφρονος ἐκ διανοίας, 796 οὐκ ἀπ᾽ ἄκρας φρενὸς
οὐδ᾽ ἀφίλως and 799 τὸν ἀκαίρως οἰκουροῦντα. Agamemnon, when he
refers to their welcome (v. 821 ff.) replies in the same manner (ν. 831),
showing that he fully understands them.

777. Cf. Eur. Δ A. 977 πῶς av σ᾽ ἐπαινέσαιμι μὴ λίαν λόγοις, μηδ᾽
ἐνδεῶς τοῦδ᾽ ἀπολέσαιμι τὴν χάριν; - καιρὸν χάριτος = ‘the due measure of
thy content.’

779. τὸ δοκεῖν εἶναι, or τὸ δοκεῖν εὖνοι as read by Weil. The latter
phrase is used by Lucian 111. 274 where he is reminding Samippus, who
had wished to be a king, what the drawbacks of the position would
have been: ἐπιβουλαὶ μυρίαι καὶ φθόνος παρὰ τῶν συνόντων καὶ μῖσος καὶ
κολακεία, φίλος δὲ οὐδεὶς ἀληθής, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ δέος ἅπαντες ἢ πρὸς τὴν
ἐλπίδα εὖνοι δοκοῦντες εἶναι.

782. δϑῆγμα.. λύπης, Pang of grief, resembles 742 δηξίθυμον ἔρωτος
ἄνθος, 1472 καρδιόδηκτον, Soph. fr. 757 ἔρωτος δῆγμα. The metaphorical
use οἵ δάκνω, as applied to pain, grief, annoyance and the like, is very
common: see the examples collected in Ox editing Aeschylus, p. 102.
δάκνω, δῆγμα are merely equivalent to Avra, λύπη, the words regularly
given as their synonyms in lexicons and scholia. δῆγμα λύπης is a
periphrasis for λύπη just as δῆγμα ἔρωτος (quoted above) is a periphrasis
for ἔρως. The same MS. error (see cr. n.) is found in Lucian 1. 24 οὔτε
κίνησις ὁμοία πρόσεστιν οὔτε ψυχῆς δεῖγμά τι, ἀλλὰ τέρψις ἄλλως καὶ
παιδιὰ τὸ πρᾶγμα, where Cobet (V. 2. p. 142) shows that δῆγμα is to
be read.

784 ff. Two things indicate that at least a line—probably a
paroemiac—is missing, the metrical hiatus between βιαζόμενοι and
ὅστις, and the sense; for ξυγχαίρουσιν, if taken as a verb ‘they sym-
pathise in gladness,’ is not true; they only feign to sympathise; it is
the dative, ‘in the guise of sympathisers,’ Lucian i. 838 προσιόντες οὖν
ἐδεξιοῦντο καὶ θαυμάζουσιν ἐώικεσαν (see for the idiom Cobet, 4. Z.,
p- 341), and the verb followed in the missing line. The purport almost
certainly was ‘they smile a forced smile only with the lips; but their
eyes bewray them’: Heliod. 11. 19 πρὸς ταῦτ᾽ ἐμειδίασεν ὀλίγον καὶ

ΕΝ Fe eee

NOTES 221

βεβιασμένον καὶ μόνοις τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐπιτρέχον.υΌ Hom. O 101 ἡ δὲ
γέλασσεν χείλεσιν, οὐ δὲ βέτωπον ἐπ᾿ ὄφρυσι κυανεηϊσιν ἰάνθη. Lucian
ill. 153 Beceem: μὲν καὶ προσμειδιᾶι τοῖς χείλεσιν ἄκροις, μισεῖ δὲ καὶ
λάθρα τοὺς ὀδόντας διαπρίει. Plaut. Capt 484 nemo γίαρί, sciui extemplo
rem de confecto gert. ne canem quidem inritatam uoluit gquisquam
imitarier, saltem, si non adriderent, dentis ut restringerent. Fronto,
p- 243 Naber 6 τοι γέλως, οὕτως τὸ πρὶν ἄδολος εἶναι πεφυκὼς ὡς Kal
τοὺς ὀδόντας τῶν γελώντων ἐπιδεικνύειν, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤδη κακομηχανίας καὶ
ἐνέδρας ὡς καὶ τὰ χείλη κρύπτειν τῶν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς προσγελώντων. Scholl.
Plat. Rep. 337A, p. 926 μήποτε οὖν τὸ Ὁμηρικόν, ὅθεν καὶ ἡ παροιμία
ἴσως ἐρρύη, ἱμείδησε δὲ θυμῶι σαρδάνιον μάλα τοῖον᾽ τὸν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν
τῶν χειλῶν γέλωτα καὶ μέχρι τοῦ σεσηρέναι γιγνόμενον σημαίνει. προ-
βατογνώμων : he uses ἱππογνώμων in the same connexion in fr. 243:

νέας γυναικὸς οὔ με μὴ λάθηι φλέγων
ὀφθαλμὸς ἥτις ἀνδρὸς ἢ ἦι γεγευμένη"
ἔχων δὲ τούτων θυμὸν ἱππογνώμονα..

which, as I learn from Burton, is the regular metaphor in Arabic ;
firasah, their word for physiognomy, means properly ‘skill in judging
the points of a mare (/faras),’ an eye for horseflesh: and the metaphor
in Greek was derived, I suppose, from ἘΞ common Oriental source. In
that science, as I have shown in the note on v. 283, it was the eye that
told the truth.—Sape, ‘watery,’ is the opposite of ἀκράτωι, ‘neat’ or
‘undiluted’ as applied to wine and metaphorically ‘absolute,’ ‘un-
mitigated.’ Ar. Pol. 11. 4, p. 1262b 614 ἐν δὲ τῆι πόλει τὴν φιλίαν
ἀναγκαῖον ὑδαρῆ γίνεσθαι διὰ τὴν κοινωνίαν τὴν τοιαύτην (1.6. of Women
and children), καὶ ἥκιστα λέγειν τὸν ἐμὸν ἢ υἱὸν πατέρα ἢ πατέρα υἱόν.
For the description of the false friend cf. Max. Tyr. vi. 7 τὸ δὲ εἴδωλον
αὐτοῦ πρόχειρον καὶ παντοδαπόν, κολάκων σιν καὶ θίασαι, σεσηρότων
καὶ σαϊνόντων, καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄκραι τῆι γλώττηι τὸ φιλεῖν ἐχόντων: οὐχ ὑπ᾽
εὐνοίας ἀγομένων KTE,

701. οὐκ ἐπικεύσω : 566 cr.n. γὰρ may have been inserted merely
for sense: see Ox editing Aeschylus, p. 121.

794 f. ὍΘ, ἑκούσιον ἀνδράσι θνήισκουσι κομίζων, ‘in τς to re-
cover a consenting wanton by means of the lives of men.’ κομίζειν is
used of the quest for Helen by Pind. OQ. xiii. 59 τοὶ μὲν γένει φίλωι σὺν
᾿Ατρέος Ἑλέναν κομίζοντες, ot δ᾽ ἀπὸ πάμπαν eipyovres, and JV. vil. 28
ξανθῶι Μενέλαι δάμαρτα κομίσαι and in the Zebtunis Papyri, vol. i, p. 3
ce I, 1) ὦ φανεὶς χάρμα poe φίλον ὅτε μ᾽ ἤγάπας ὅτε δόρατι ee
τὰν Φρυγῶν πόλιν ἐπόρθεις μόνα τἀμὰ κομίσαι θέλων λέχεα πάλιν εἰς
πάτραν.-- θάρσος ἑκούσιον is, as Dr Verrall takes it, a description of
Helen herself, rather than ‘the willing wantonness of Helen,’ as

222 NOTES

Weil explained it: θράσος is used in a personal sense in Zheb. 172
κρατοῦσα μὲν yap (γυνὴ) οὐχ ὁμιλητὸν θράσος (ἐστί), Eur. Andr. 261
ὦ βάρβαρον σὺ θρέμμα καὶ σκληρὸν θράσος, and many other neuter
words like στύγος, μῖσος, ἔλεγχος, ὄνειδος, μίασμα, ἄλημα, παιπάλημα,
παροψώνημα (ν. 1448) were used to describe persons not only in
addressing them but in speaking of them (Class. Rev. xiv. p. 117).

This view of Helen’s conduct would be familiar to a Greek audience
so that they would not experience the least difficulty in understanding
what was meant, especially after the introduction of Helen’s name in
v. 791. Stesichorus (before his Recantation) had declared that “Ἑλένη
ἑκοῦσα ἀπῆρε (Bergk, p. 215); and her conduct was a ground of dis-
contentment both at home and in the camp. It was bad enough that
men’s blood should be shed for a woman’s sake at all (sup. 62, cf.
Supp. 486), especially when that woman was another’s wife (sup. 455,
Achilles in Hom. A 154, I 327, 339); but for a woman who went off
with her lover of her own accord (see also Eur. Andr. 592 ff.), this was in-
deed a thing intolerable. Herodotus i. 4 presents the Asiatic view of this
very matter ; when women were carried off, it was folly to make exertions
for revenge, δῆλα yap δὴ ὅτι, εἰ μὴ αὐταὶ ἐβούλοντο, οὐκ av ἡρπάζοντο.

796f. If ἀφίλως is sound, a supplement such as ἔστιν ἐπειπεῖν seems
to be required. A short line was often written at the side and after-
wards omitted. ἐπιλέγειν is to pronounce a judgment, censure, eulogy
or epitaph: Plut. Aor. 704 Ε ταύταις μόναις τὸ ᾿“καλώς᾽ ἐπιλέγεσθαι.
Arist. 1323 Ὁ τι εἰ det καὶ τούτοις ἐπιλέγειν μὴ μόνον τὸ “ καλόν᾽ ἀλλὰ καὶ
τὸ “χρήσιμον. Philem. 128 καλὸν τὸ θνήισκειν ἔστιν ἐπὶ τούτωι λέγειν.
Ζ εὐ. οοῦ πάρεστιν εἰπεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἀθλίοισιν ὡς... sup. 570.--- εὔφρων means
pleasant, agreeable, welcome, -- σαίνει, προσγελᾶι, arridet: as ἴπ 1577,
Supp. 19, 383, 543, 983, Pind. O. ii. 40, WV. vii. 67. For the sentiment
Seei@ope on: Ar esi. ΤῈ ὃ.

800. οἰκουροῦντα. If nothing else had told Agamemnon that the
Chorus are alluding to Clytaemnestra, this word could not fail to tell
him. οἰκουρεῖν, to keep house, was the duty of the faithful housewife.
Eur. Hec. 1277 κτενεῖ viv ἡ τοῦδ ἄλοχος, οἰκουρὸς πικρά. Or. 928 εἰ
τἄνδον οἰκουρήμαθ᾽ οἱ λελειμμένοι φθείρουσιν, ἀνδρῶν evvidas λωβώμενοι.
Lycophr. 1107 λυπρὰν λεαίνης εἰσιδοῦσ᾽ οἰκουρίαν. Liban. iv. 115:
Agamemnon on departing for the Trojan expedition is supposed to
have charged his wife in these terms:—6 μὲν πλοῦς, ὦ γύναι, μακρός,
at δὲ περὶ τοῦ ζῆν ἐλπίδες ἄδηλοι: δεῖ yap, ἢν δέηι, πάντα παθεῖν ὅπως
σωφρονῶσιν ἡμῖν αἱ γυναῖκες. ταυτί σοι παρακατατίθεμαι τὰ παιδία.
οἰκούρει, καὶ φύλαξ τῆς οἰκίας ἔσο πιστή καὶ μεῖνον ἀπόντι πάλιν γυνὴ
καὶ τοῖς παισὶ μήτηρ, καὶ πατὴρ ἀντ᾽ ἐμοῦ. ἴσως ἐπανήξω καὶ ἐπαινέ-

, “ ΄
σομαί σε τῆς οἰκουρίας.

NOTES 223

802. τοὺς ἐμοὶ μεταιτίους recalls the arrogant inscriptions set up by
Pausanias at Delphi and Byzantium: Thue. 1. 132, Athen. 536 a.

806. αἱματηρὸν τεῦχος : an urn of blood, like μελιτηρὸν ayyos—a
honey pot (Ar. ἔτ. 440): κεράμιον ὀξηρόν---α vinegar jar (tb. 511).

807 f. τῶι δ᾽ ἐναντίωι κύτει ἐλπὶς προσήιει χειρὸς οὐ πληρουμένωι. ‘The
other urn saw Hope of the hand which was to drop a vote in it con-
tinually coming nigh, but never saw it quite arrive: for when a hope
arrived, it was a hope realised: Eur. Or. 859 οἴμοι: προσῆλθεν ἐλπὶς ἣν
doBovpévy....Herc. Fur. 771 δοκημάτων ἐκτὸς ἦλθεν ἐλπίς. Hopes far
from realisation were called μακραὶ ἐλπίδες, distant hopes; when realised,
or nearly, they were ἐλπίδες παροῦσαι: Cho. 694 viv δ᾽ ἥπερ ἦν δόμοισι
βακχείας κακῆς ἰατρὸς ἐλπίς, ἦν παροῦσαν ἐγγράφειν.

809. καπνῶι δ᾽ ἁλοῦσα κτέ. : ‘the capture of the city now remains
still manifest by the smoke.’ Dio Chrys. i. p. 72 R. καὶ viv ἔτι τοῦτο
Spar, Menander fr. 113 (iii. 34 K.) καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἀποίητα πάμπολλ᾽ ἐστὶν
ἡμῖν.

810. Seecr.n. If Hermann’s reading is taken, Troy with all her
insolent wealth—the cause of her damnation—is conceived as a burnt
sacrifice to "Arn (cxf. 1434, Theb. 938 ἕστακε δ᾽ "Aras τροπαῖον ἐν πύλαις).
Helen, who fired Troy (Achill. Tat. 1. ὃ τὸ μὲν yap Ἑλένης τῶν γάμων
πῦρ ἀνῆψε κατὰ τῆς Τροίας ἄλλο πῦρ), has been already likened ἴο ἃ
sacrificial minister of “Ary in v. 736. ζῆν, which appears in ζωπυρεῖν,
is a proper word of fire in Greek as uiuere and uiuus are in Latin:
Eur. Bacch. 8, Ar. Lys. 306, ἄνθρακι ζώοντι Arat. 1041. The wind fans
the flame into life, which is contrasted with the dying ash: Quint. il.
712 ff. Cf. Hom. p 68 πυρός τ᾽ ὀλοοῖο θύελλαι.

812. πολύμνηστον χάριν. Max. Tyr. xxx. 4 speaks of Pausanias and
Lysander sacrificing or dedicating a tithe of their spoils.

826. Tzetzes on Lycophr. 354 pointed out that πεπαμένος should
be written with a single μ. τῶι πεπαμένωι is the Aeschylean substitute
where poetry would generally give τώι κεκτημένωι, prose τῶι ἔχοντι.

829 ff. By the vague δοκοῦντας, ‘certain ones in appearance,’ he
conveys to ἂς that he is quite aware of Clytaemnestra’s insincerity ;
and then, as though he were thinking only of the Greeks at ‘Troy, con-
tinues with μόνος δ᾽ ᾿Οδυσσεύς, just as they had continued with ov δέ μοι
in ν. 790.- ὁμιλίας κάτοπτρον here means the mirror which ὁμιλία, con-
suetudo, converse or conversation, association, companionship, familiarity,
holds up, the glass in which the associate’s true character is shown:
κατόπτρωι μὲν ἐμφανίζεται τύπος τῆς μορφῆς τοῦ σώματος, ὁμιλίαις δὲ καὶ
λόγοις τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ἦθος χαρακτηρίζεται Stobaeus, Flor, WV." Ρ. 429,
Gaisford. ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἐσόπτροις ὁ τῆς ὄψεως, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ὁμιλίαις ὃ τῆς
ψυχῆς χαρακτὴρ βλέπεται is the form in Antonius and Maximus. Eur.

224 NOTES

£1. 383 ov μὴ ἀφρονήσεθ᾽, οἱ κενῶν δοξασμάτων πλήρεις πλανᾶσθε, τῆι
δ᾽ ὁμιλίαι βροτοὺς | κρινεῖτε καὶ τοῖς ἤθεσιν τοὺς εὐγενεῖς; Andr. 683
7 δ᾽ ὁμιλία | πάντων βροτοῖσι γίγνεται διδάσκαλος. Aesch. Supp. 1004
ἀγνῶθ᾽ ὅμιλον ὡς ἐλέγχεσθαι χρόνωι. In Plut. Mor. 53 the flatterer
is compared to a mirror, which only reflects foreign images :-- --δίκην
κατόπτρου, παθῶν ὀθνείων καὶ βίων καὶ κινημάτων εἰκόνας ἀναδεχόμενον.
But that is a different comparison. It is certain that ὁμιλία does not
mean friendship (φιλία), nor is κάτοπτρον ever used of a mere reflexion
(σκιά Or εἴδωλον). See fr. 393 κάτοπτρον εἴδους χαλκός ἐστ᾽, οἶνος δὲ νοῦ,
Eur. Hipp. 428 κακοὺς δὲ θνητῶν ἐξέφην᾽, ὅταν τύχηι, προθεὶς κάτοπτρον
wore παρθένωι νέαι χρόνος.

835. τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα πρὸς θεούς. This use of τὰ πρός, ‘with regard το,
is not of the commonest and occurs chiefly with θεούς and πόλιν : Soph.
Phil. 1441 εὐσεβεῖν τὰ πρὸς θεούς, O. C. 617 τὰ πρὸς σέ, Trach. 879
σχετλίωι τὰ πρός ye πρᾶξιν (Hermann), Eur. Or. 427 τὰ πρὸς πόλιν δὲ
πῶς ἔχεις; 1664 τὰ πρὸς πόλιν δὲ τῶιδ᾽ ἐγὼ θήσω καλῶς, Xen. Rep. Lac.
¥3. τὰ, Dem. 3. 26, Aeschin. 3. 120. In later prose the idiom is
employed freely.

841. See cr. ἢ. and for the form of expression cf. Soph. PAz7. 765
τὸ πῆμα τοῦτο τῆς νόσου τὸ viv παρόν, AZ. 363 τὸ πῆμα τῆς ἄτης, Apoll.
Rhod. iv. 4 ἄτης πῆμα δυσίμερον.

845. νίκη 8’.... But in his contest presently with Clytaemnestra
(v. 933) he quickly yields the victory to her, and before long her
triumph is complete.

855 f. Ford, The Broken Heart v. 3

When one news straight came huddling on another

Of death! and death! and death!
In κακοῦ κάκιον ἄλλο πῆμα she means him to understand disasters
happening to him, his wounds or death; she herself has in mind
apaia κακά (ν. 1396) inflicted by Agamemnon on his wife at home,
the slaughter of her child (τὸ πῆμα τῶν ὀλωλότων v. 358) and his un-
faithfulness (v. 1440).

859. τέτρηται, which H. L. Ahrens gave for the MS. τέτρωται, is
the right verb; a net is not full of wounds, but of holes: δικτύου
πολυτρήτου Babr. iv. 4.

860. εἰ 8 ἦν τεθνηκώς.... A shade of intonation in the Greek as in the
English would make a wish of this, ‘If only he had been killed!’ and I
fancy this is the suggestion, that he deserved to die three times over,
ἄξιος τρὶς τεθνάναι in the common phrase: Eur. O7 1512 OP. ἐνδίκως
ἡ Τυνδάρειος ἄρα παῖς διώλετο; | PP. ἐνδικώτατ᾽, εἴ ye λαιμοὺς εἶχε
τριπτύχους θανεῖν like some three-headed monster.

The ‘coverlet’ of earth or stones was a familiar metaphor from

NOTES 225

Homer downwards: Τ' 57 ἢ τέ κεν ἤδη Aawov ἕσσο χιτῶνα κακῶν ἕνεχ᾽
ὅσσα ἔοργας. See the passages collected by Blomfield.

868. ἐκ τῶνδέ τοι. The real reason of course was that she might
carry on her intrigue with Aegisthus undisturbed ; that was the ‘price’
for which she ‘sold’ Orestes, Cho. 132 πεπραμένοι γὰρ νῦν γε πως
ἀλώμεθα πρὸς τῆς τεκούσης, ἄνδρα δ᾽ ἀντηλλάξατο Αἴγισθον, 2ὁ. 914.

872 ff. Στροφίος is so accented by M in Cho. 675. [Blass (ChoepA.
p- 24) says: ‘Ferner accentuire ich mit M v. 679 =tpodios gemass der
Regel wonach diese Namen auf -ἰὸς bei kurzer erster Silbe Paroxytona
sind: "Exéos Στρατίος und doch Φήμιος.᾽ See also Cobet’s remarks to the
same effect in V. LZ. p. 59.]

ἀμφίλεκτα πήματα. Two things might happen: Agamemnon first
might fall at Troy; and then the people might revolt and frame a plot
to murder the young heir, and so destroy the dynasty entirely. Lucian’s
Tyrannicide 11. 151, who has killed the tyrant’s son, argues that τὸ ὑπ᾽
ἐμοῦ γεγενημένον οὐ φυγή, οὐδὲ δευτέρας ἐπαναστάσεως ἐλπίς, ἀλλὰ παντελὴς
καθαίρεσις, καὶ πανωλεθρία παντὸς τοῦ γένους, καὶ ῥιζόθεν τὸ δεινὸν ἅπαν
ἐκκεκομμένον.--- For βουλὴν καταρράψειεν cf. Alexis 11. 329 K. (Athen. 568 a)
ῥάπτουσι δὲ | πᾶσιν ἐπιβουλάς. Ael. WV. A. vil. 10 ἐπιβουλὰς ῥάπτοντες
(v.l. ῥίπτοντες), Hum. 26 καταρράψας μόρον, inf. 1604 φόνου ῥαφεύς.
Similarly ῥάπτειν is combined with κακά, φόνον, θάνατον: add the
compounds δολορράφος, pnxavoppados, δικορράφος. βουλὴν καταρρίψειεν
could not mean ‘hazard a plot,’ because Greek said ἀναρρίπτειν, or
ἀναβάλλειν, κύβον βόλον or κίνδυνον, never καταρρίπτειν. If, on the
other hand, the meaning were ‘overthrow the Council,’ we should at
least have had τὴν βουλήν, but Tragedy never uses this technical
Athenian term to describe a body of councillors in the heroic age.
Observe moreover that she is speaking of a danger to Orestes’ life.

880 ffi. I take it that Clytaemnestra here is feigning just what
Imogen says honestly in Cyméeline 111. 4. 38

False to his bed! What is it to be false?

To lie in watch there, and to think on him?

To weep ’twixt clock and clock? if sleep charge nature,
To ᾽ν. it with a fearful dream of him,

And cry myself awake ?

Night after night, she means, the lamp has been burning in _ her
chamber and she waiting to receive him there, and weeping because he,
like a faithless lover, never heeded it: Azth. Pal. v. 190. 3

dpa. ye τὴν φιλάσωτον ἔτ᾽ ἐν κοίταισιν ἀθρήσω
ἄγρυπνον, λύχνωι πόλλ᾽ ἀποδαομένην ἡ
(ἀποδυρομένην Jacobs, ἀποκλαομένην Huschke)

NOTES

τ
:
σι

Ah, shall I find the unthrift still awake
And sorrowing to her lamp for my dear sake?

th. 279, 263, 150. Plut. Mor. 759 Ε Λαΐς τις ἢ Tvabainov “ἐφέσπερον
δαίουσα λαμπτήρων σέλας᾽ ἐκδεχομένη. But in truth the lamp has been
alight in expectation of Aegisthus, or in Aegisthus’ company, for the
lamp was always witness, Heliod. 1. 12, Auth. Pal. v. 4, 5, 7, 8, 128,
165, 166—in Lucian 1. 648 it is cited as a witness, and in amatory
language plays a large part as a sentimental symbol: lovers, says Plut.
Mor. 513 ¥, κἂν μὴ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, πρὸς ayvya περὶ αὐτῶν διαλέγονται,
«ὦ φιλτάτη κλίνη, καὶ “ Βακχὶς θεόν σ᾽ ἐνόμισεν, εὔδαιμον λύχνε,᾽ a Saying
Asclepiades alludes to in A. P. ν. 7 λύχνε, σὺ δ᾽, εἰ θεὸς εἶ, τὴν δολίην
ἀπάμυνον. And if a gnat’s least whining woke her in alarm, it was
alarm about Aegisthus; that is why in 881 and 884 she repeats the
ἀμφὶ σοί, which for that reason I have thought should be a little stressed.

In the ears of the audience the words τοῦ ξυνεύδοντος would suggest
another bed-fellow than the time she speaks of. For βλάβας (or βλάβην)
ἔχειν, Zo suffer injury, see Eum. 802 ὡς ταῦτ᾽ ᾿Ορέστην δρῶντα μὴ βλάβας
ἔχειν, Soph. At. 1325 τί γάρ σ᾽ ἔδρασεν, ὥστε καὶ βλάβην ἔχειν ; schol. Eur.
Or. 542 on μὴ ᾿πισήμους" φανερὰς βλάβας ἔλαβε, schol. Flor. on Ag. 72
βλάβην ἔχοντες ἀπὸ (1. for ἀντὶ) τοῦ γήρως.

887 ff. These are familiar examples of a single ἐλπίς, a saving hope
or stay, existing or afforded, to rely upon: but critics since Blomfield
have been offended by the καὶ in v. 890; and rightly, on their view
of the construction : some therefore would read γαῖαν for καὶ γῆν, while
others take the καὶ to begin a new series of comparisons. Yet καὶ γῆν
I am sure is sound, for povoyeves τέκνον πατρὶ (zap ἐλπίδα φανὲν) καὶ γῆν
φανεῖσαν ναυτίλοις παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα is the meaning. So Pindar O. x. 86
speaks of his late-appearing ode as coming dearly welcomed like a
long-desired child granted to a father late in life: τὰ παρ᾽ εὐκλέϊ Δίρκαι
χρόνωι μὲν pavev ἀλλ᾽ wre παῖς ἐξ ἀλόχου πατρὶ ποθεινὸς ἵκοντι νεότατος
τὸ πάλιν ἤδη. Liban. iv. 651. 10 πόσους ἐπιδείξω σοι τῶν πολιτῶν γυναῖκας
μὲν αὑτῶν ἔχοντας εἰπεῖν πατέρας δ᾽ οὐ κεκλημένους, ἀνθρώπους εἰς ἔσχατον
ἤδη γήρως ἥκοντας καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα τοῦ πράγματος προσαφηιρημένους ; ἂν
οὖν ἐγὼ μέν σοι ταῦτα πείθωμαι γύναιον δὲ ἔνδον ἦι παῖδες δὲ μηδαμῆ
φαίνωνται, ... τη. ἡ. Dem. 219 παῖδα δέ μοι τρέφε τόνδε, τὸν ὀψίγονον
καὶ ἄελπτον ὥπασαν ἀθάνατοι.

παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα with its double meaning (vv. 278, 1042) comes with
telling irony at the end: but the effect of it is weakened by three
lines which follow in the MSS., and which I have omitted, believing
them to have been merely an illustration quoted in the margin (see
Cre) ΠῸ»

NOTES 227

κάλλιστον ἦμαρ εἰσιδεῖν ἐκ χείματος,
ὁδοιπόρῳ διψῶντι πηγαῖον ῥέος,
τερπνὸν δὲ τἀναγκαῖον ἐκφυγεῖν ἅπαν.
Fair is the clear day viewed after the storm,
Spring-water to the parching wayfarer,
Dear the deliverance from all hard constraints.

That is the construction of them, as in Theognis 255 κάλλιστον τὸ
δικαιότατον, λῶιστον δ᾽ ὑγιαίνειν, πρᾶγμα δὲ τερπνότατον τοῦ τις ἐρᾶι TO
τυχεῖν, Soph. fr. 329 κάλλιστόν ἐστι τοὔνδικον πεφυκέναι, λῴώιστον δὲ τὸ
ζῆν ἄνοσον, ἥδιστον δ᾽ ὅτωι πάρεστι λῆψις ὧν ἐρᾶι καθ᾽ ἡμέραν, A. P. ν. τόρ
ἡδὺ θέρους διψῶντι χιὼν ποτόν, ἡδὺ δὲ ναύταις ἐκ χειμῶνος ἰδεῖν εἰαρινὸν
στέφανον: ἥδιστον δ᾽ ὁπόταν κρύψηι μία τοὺς φιλέοντας χλαῖνα καὶ αἰνῆται
Κύπρις ὑπ᾽ apdorepwv,—this epigram repeating the same commonplace.
I need only add Eur. Andy. 870 ὦ ναυτίλοισι χείματος λιμὴν φανείς and
Or. 719 ἡδεῖαν ὄψιν: πιστὸς ἐν κακοῖς ἀνὴρ κρείσσων γαλήνης ναυτίλοισιν
εἰσορᾶν to show that κάλλιστον ἦμαρ εἰσιδεῖν ἐκ χείματος would be little
more than tautology with γῆν φανεῖσαν ναυτίλοις. Besides, τοιοῖσδέ τοι
νιν ἀξιῶ προσφθέγμασιν should follow the προσφθέγματα immediately.

004. Seecr.n. An alternative reading is σὺν θεοῖσιν, ἄρμενα.

005 ff. Agamemnon answers coldly, and δωμάτων ἐμῶν φύλαξ
would have made another woman wince. His first remark is a_severe
snub, and his next, that praise should come from others, is at least
ambiguous.

914. κάλλεσιν : a technical term of worship. Cf. Eupol. fr. 333
(i. 346 K.) Barre τὰ κάλλη τὰ περίσεμνα τῆι θεῶι.

917. ‘This line was explained by Blass A/édanges Henri Wetl, 1898,
p- 13: to walk merely over ποδόψηστρα would be ἀνεπίφθονον ; but it
would have a very different sound if rumour said that he had walked
upon τὰ ποικίλα, which belong to the service of the gods. Cf. Da-
mascius ap. Suid. s.v. χωρὶς τὰ Mvodv...xwpis yap τὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων καὶ
TOV ἱερέων δὁρίσματα, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ TA λεγόμενα Μυσῶν καὶ Φρυγῶν. 80 χωρίς
is predicative, followed by τε καί, in Soph. O.C. 808, Plat. Prot. 336 B.

918 f. τὸ μὴ κακῶς φρονεῖν θεοῦ μέγιστον δῶρον : Eur. Med. 635 στέργοι δέ
με σωφροσύνα, δώρημα κάλλιστον θεῶν. Inthe allusion to felicity (ὀλβίσαι)
which follows there appears to be ἃ side-reference to the proverbial
Theb. 612 θεοῦ δὲ δῶρόν ἐστιν εὐτυχεῖν βροτούς, Cho. 57 τὸ δ᾽ εὐτυχεῖν, τόδ᾽
ἐν βροτοῖς θεός τε καὶ θεοῦ πλέον. Jebb on Soph. O. 7: 1529 remarks
that this is the first allusion in literature to the famous adage attributed
to Solon. Cf. Dio Chrys. xxviii. 13 (ii. 535 R.) ὅστις δὲ τοῖς μεγίστοις
ἀγαθοῖς συναπέρχεται τὰ ἄριστα πράξας, οὗτος εὐδαιμονέστατα τελευτᾶι.

ΘΖῚ. Seecr.n. The reading of the MSS. could only mean ‘if it
is the case that (supposing certain conditions) I should act’ (or ‘ fare’)

I5—2

228 NOTES

‘in all things thus, I have no misgivings.’ This can hardly be called
a meaning; nor is ws so used in Tragedy. Cf. Supp. 403 εἶπον δὲ καὶ
πρίν, οὐκ ἄνευ δήμου τάδε πράξαιμ᾽ av. Cho. 684 τοσαῦτ᾽ ἀκούσας εἶπον.
Eum. 641 τὴν δ᾽ αὖ τοιαύτην εἶπον.

922. καὶ μὴν τόδ᾽ εἰπὲ...ἐμοί is the preface to a question: Hdt. vii.
47, Ar. Nub. 500, 748, Thesm. 740, Plut. 902, Plat. Craty/. 385 B, Rep.
351 Ὁ, Lucian i. 297. Everyday language would say καὶ μὴν τόδε μοι
εἰπέ. Tragic style habitually uses ἐγώ, σύ superfluously: if emphasis
were desired it would have been secured by the position of the word,
καὶ μὴν ἐμοὶ τόδ᾽ εἰπέ. Nevertheless in the use of ἐγώ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ at
the end of three successive lines we hear an undertone of strife between
two wills. Thus, μὴ παρὰ γνώμην is interposed, as in the following
examples: Soph. Ant. 446 σὺ δ᾽ εἰπέ μοι, μὴ μῆκος ἀλλὰ συντόμως,
ἤιδησθα..., Trach. 1117, Eur. Med. 768 μὴ πρὸς ἡδονήν, sup. 515,
897, Theb. 266 μὴ φιλοστόνως. Ar. fr. 473 Kal κρῖνον αὐτὴ μὴ μετ᾽
ὀξυρεγμίας. Plat. Com. 86 (Ath. 110 d) Kaur’ ἄρτους... «ἧκε πριάμενος, μὴ
τῶν καθαρύλλων (where μή shows ἧκε to mean ‘return ’—it is often used
in the imperative—not, as the editors take it, ‘he came back’). εἰπεῖν
παρὰ γνώμην is ‘to speak contrary to one’s own γνώμη, deliberate
opinion, conviction, advised judgement.’ Cf. Thuc. vi. 9. οὔτε ἐν τῶι
προτέρωι XPOVOL...€LTOV παρὰ γνώμην οὔτε νῦν, lll. 42 οὕτω yap ἥκιστα ἂν
παρὰ γνώμην τι καὶ πρὸς χάριν λέγοι. Plut. 7707. 986 Β ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐκστήσομαι
ὑμῖν, μὴ καὶ παρὰ γνώμην ἐμοὶ δοκῆι χαριζόμενος διαλέγεσθαι ‘against his
conviction, to please me.’ Dem. 1451. τό τὸ χαρίζεσθαί τι παρὰ γνώμην
opposed to τὰ δοκοῦντά μοι βέλτιστα παραινεῖν. Plut. Phoc. ο ἐμὲ...λέγειν
ἃ μὴ δεῖ παρὰ γνώμην οὐκ ἀναγκάσετε. 1712. Gracch. 2 ὥστε καὶ παρὰ
γνώμην ἐν τῶι λέγειν ἐκφερόμενον ὑπ᾽ ὀργῆς... βλασφημεῖν. Philop. 6 ὡς
παρὰ γνώμην βιασθεῖεν εἰς χεῖρας ἐλθεῖν. So παρὰ δόξαν or τὰ δοκοῦντα
εἰπεῖν: Plat. Laches τ78 Β οὐκ ἂν εἴποιεν ἃ νοοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ... ἄλλα λέγουσι
παρὰ τὴν αὑτῶν δόξαν. Rep. 346 A ἐπεὶ τοσόνδε εἰπέ: οὐχὶ φαμέν...; καὶ ὦ
μακάριε μὴ παρὰ δόξαν ἀποκρίνου. Gorg. 500 Β μηδὲ παρὰ τὰ δοκοῦντα
ἀποκρίνου. 495A εἴπερ παρὰ τὰ δοκοῦντα ἐρεῖς. In Eur. Med. 577 ὅμως
δ᾽ ἔμοιγε, κεἰ παρὰ γνώμην ἐρῶ, δοκεῖς προδοὺς σὴν ἄλοχον οὐ δίκαια δρᾶν
the meaning is ‘ unadvisedly,’ as in Thue. i. 70 παρὰ γνώμην κινδυνευταί,
Soph. Zrach. 389 οὐκ ἀπὸ γνώμης λέγεις. Liban. i. 291 προήκατο ῥῆμα
παρὰ γνώμην, κελεύοντος τοῦ θυμοῦ, 2.ε. ὀργῆι βιασθὲν μᾶλλον ἢ γνώμηι
φρενῶν Soph. O. Z. 524, ‘more upon humour than advised respect.’
Philoct. 1191 XO. τί ῥέξοντες ἀλλοκότωι γνώμαι τῶν πάρος, ὧν προὔφαινες;
ΦΙ. οὔτοι νεμεσητὸν ἀλύοντα χειμερίωι λύπαι καὶ παρὰ νοῦν θροεῖν. ‘Con-
trary to my opinion’ would be παρὰ γνώμην ἐμήν, as Eur. 7. A. 502 ὅτι
παρὰ γνώμην ἐμὴν ὑπέθηκας ὀρθῶς τοὺς λόγους, where the sense is
‘expectation,’ as in Aesch. Supp. 463 γένοιτο δ᾽ εὖ παρὰ γνώμην ἐμήν,
Eur. 4. F. 594 μὴ παρὰ γνώμην πέσηις.

NOTES 220

924. ἔρξειν : see cr. ἢ. εὔχομαι in the sense “7 vow that J will’
always takes the future. Greek never said ηὔξω ἔρδειν ἄν for ‘you
vowed that you would,’ and ηὔξω ἔρδειν could only mean ‘you vowed
that you were performing.’—epdev was probably the alteration of a
scribe who thought that ἄν and épfew belonged together. The editors
strangely imagine that ὧδ᾽ ἔρδειν τάδε means ‘to refrain from treading on
dyed robes’ ; having forgotten that when you made a vow to the gods
you did not say οὐ θύσω, ‘save me, and I will—vofr sacrifice!’ Vows
were made in times of fear or danger (Plat. Legg. gog Ε, Anth. Pal.
ix. 7); you said, Deliver me from this danger, and I vow to sacrifice
so much. Similarly in v. 954 Clytaemnestra says πολλῶν πατησμὸν
εἱμάτων av ηὐξάμην, “1 would readily have vowed the sacrifice of many
robes to ransom Agamemnon’s life. Agamemnon would have obeyed
Calchas as he had done in the matter of Iphigeneia.

925. ‘Yes, supposing the authority on ritual (the priest, εὖ εἰδὼς
μαντευόμενος Hom. 8 170: cf. Z 438) had prescribed (πιφαύσκων εἶπε
or ἐξηγήσατο) this holy service’ (τόδε τέλος, which now has a proper
sense).—éetrov of the MSS. is the alteration of a scribe who mistook
the construction of εἴπερ tus.—If εἴπερ τις had really meant ‘if anyone
ever did,’ we should have had no ye with εἰδὼς εὖ: yet ye must be
genuine, for it was never inserted by scribes except metvi gratia: εἴπερ
...ye 15 stguidem ; in answer to a question, ‘yes; that is, if...’ (0.7. 369).

933- 7 καὶ σὺ is ¢u guogue, and could not mean anything else.

934. See cr. ἢ. and cf. Soph. Az. 1353 κρατεῖς tor τῶν φίλων
νικώμενος. In v. 932 Clyt. has forced him to accept the ominous ‘ felici-
tation’ of v. 919 (see Solon in Hdt. i. 32), and now contrives to make
him yield of his own accord (ἑκών).

935. ὑπαί τις..«λύοι: Hom. ἕξ 496 ἀλλά τις εἴη εἰπεῖν ᾿Ατρεΐδηι
᾿Αγαμέμτονι.

938. πρόσωθεν marks the connexion with θεῶν: Hum. 297 κλύει δὲ
καὶ πρόσωθεν ὧν Geos, 76. 400 πρόσωθεν ἐξήκουσα, Cho. 690, Blomf. on
PANEER 20.

939 f. πολλὴ yap αἰδὼς δωματοφθορεῖν ποσὶν φθείροντα πλοῦτον ἀργυρωνήτους
᾿ ὑφάς : this is the scruple that Clytaemnestra scornfully replies to in
v. 949 ff. δωματοφθορεῖν is a synonym of the usual word οἰκοφθορεῖν,
to squander one’s substance, ruin one’s estate by spendthrift prodigality.
ὠλεσίοικος and ἀπωλεσίοικος were used humorously in the same sense.

941. τοὐμὸν μὲν οὕτω: so Max. Tyr. xxll. 3 καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐμὰ ταύτηι ἔχει"
ὅτι δὲ καὶ περὶ ὑμᾶς κτέ, Lucian ii. 729 ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἱκανῶς: τὰ
Πυθαγόρου δὲ ἤδη λέγε, ii. 872. Either τούτων μὲν ἅλις or ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω
would be Greek, but not τούτων μὲν οὕτω (see cr. Π.).

944. She, therefore, being a delicately-nurtured princess, will feel

230 NOTES

the condition of slavery with peculiar keenness. At the same time
Agamemnon wishes to convey that she has only been assigned to him
according to the common practice as the choicest flower of all the spoil,
and that he has no personal interest in her beyond that. A comma is
substituted for the full-stop which is commonly but wrongly placed at
the end οὖν. 944. The formula πάντες (or οὐδείς).. αὕτη δέ is extremely
common. ‘The predicate comes first in Greek, and the stress here is
on πολλών χρημάτων ἐξαίρετον ἄνθος.

949 ff. Clytaemnestra utters not a word about Cassandra, but
replies ‘ You talk of squandering wealth and ruining the house; surely
there is the whole sea to draw from, with as good purple-fish in it as
ever came out of it; purple only costs its weight in silver, and we
can afford to pay for it. Besides, thank Heaven! there is a store of
purple garments in the house already; we are not quite paupers;
the house is surely not going to be ruined by the sacrificing of a few
dyed robes.’ Thus ἔστιν θάλασσα not ‘there is a sea,’ but ‘the sea is
in existence’: cf. Ach. Tat. vil. 9 εἰ δὲ ταῦτα γέγονεν οὕτως, ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ
οἶδα, μαθεῖν δ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐξέσται: ἔχετε τὸν δεδεμένον - εἰσὶν αἱ θεράπαιναι: ἔστιν
ὁ Σωσθένης. Alexis 15. 14 ὃ ταριχοπώλης ἐστίν: ἐλθὼν πυνθάνου (you
can go and ask him whether I didn’t pay him as much). Acts 19. 38
ἀγοραῖοι ἄγονται, Kat ἀνθύπατοί εἰσιν - ἐγκαλείτωσαν ἀλλήλοις. Soph.
O. C. 506 ἔστ᾽ ἔποικος ὃς φράσει.-- οἶκος δ᾽ ὑπάρχει κτέ. ‘The house
affords us store of these.’ Cf. Theocr. 22. 222 λιγεῶν μειλίγματα
Μουσέων, οἷ᾽ αὐταὶ παρέχουσι καὶ ws ἐμὸς οἶκος ὑπάρχει, Eur. ZZ. 359
ξενίων κυρήσεθ᾽, οἵ ἐμὸς κεύθει δόμος, 1b. 870 φέρ᾽ οἷα δὴ ἔχω καὶ δόμοι
κεύθουσί μου κόμης ἀγάλματ᾽ ἐξενέγκωμαι. If any alteration is to be made,
I think it should be οἴκοι, giving the construction ὑπάρχει (ἡμῖν) ἔχειν
τῶνδε: in that case cf. PRhes. 170 GAN ἔστ᾽ ἐν οἴκοις: οὐ βίου σπανίζομεν,
178 καὶ πρόσθεν εἶπον: ἔστι χρυσὸς ἐν δόμοις. Alexis 127 A. λάβ᾽ ἐλθὼν
σήσαμα. B. ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ἔνδον. Ar. Pac. 522 πόθεν ἂν λάβοιμι... ; οὐ γὰρ
εἶχον οἴκοθεν.

954 ff. Perhaps the thought in her mind is ‘If you sacrificed
Iphigeneia to recover Helen (κομίζειν v. 795), I would have sacrificed
more than a few robes to recover the life of my dear daughter !’

957 ff. These lines appropriate certain familiar Oriental images,
which may be illustrated from a well-known Arabic poem', speaking
of a friend,

Sunshine he in wintry season ;

When the dog-star burned, a shadow.

1 Translated by Dr H. M. Posnett, Comparative Literature (1886) p. 135, a book
full of interesting and fruitful ideas.

NOTES 231

But these figures are so manipulated by Clytaemnestra as to allow
herself an ironical side-reference to her real intention.

‘Aye and when Zeus is maturing bitter vengeance for an unripe
virgin, then there is coolness in the house!’ ὄμφαξ was used in that
sense, πικρός often means ‘bitter’ in resentment, and Cassandra in
v. 1229 foresees ota τεύξεται, the deed that Clytaemnestra’s workman-
ship designs for execution. The ye in ὅταν δὲ τεύχηι Ζεύς ye gives a
meaning intonation to the sentence. ‘Then echoing ἀνδρὸς τελείου---
‘complete’ or ‘perfect’ of a fullgrown man as being married and head
of a householi—she appeals to Zeus himself, as God of τέλος, con-
summation in all senses, to complete, fulfil, perfect her prayer.—onpatver
μολόν : see cr. n. ‘ Warmth...signifies its coming’ is the literal render-
Ing: See v. 305.

967 f. δεῖμα προστατήριον καρδίας ποτᾶται is a metaphor from wind,
such as is often employed in poetry to describe emotions of the spirit :
Sup. 229 φρενὸς πνέων δυσσεβῆ τροπαίαν, Theb. 692 ἐπεὶ δαίμων λήματος
αὖ τροπαίαι χρονίαι μεταλλακτὸς ἴσως ἂν ἔλθοι θεμερωτέρωι πνεύματι" νῦν δ᾽
ἔτι ζεῖ. προστατήριον καρδίας is ‘set stubbornly before my conscious-
ness,’ like πάροιθεν δὲ πρώιρας δριμὺς ἄηται κραδίας θυμός in Cho. 390,
where the preceding words τί γὰρ κεύθω φρέν᾽ ὃ σεῖον ἔμπας ποτᾶται;
illustrate ποτᾶται here. ‘The allusion is to the phrases technically used
of wind; στάσις, properly its setting in a certain quarter, ἱστάμενος,
εὐσταθής, ἀντιοστατεῖν : SO οὐριοστάταν νόμον in Cho. 817 is an allusion
to the οὖρος ὕμνων. Cf. Pers. 705 ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ δέος παλαιὸν σοὶ φρενῶν
ἀνθίσταται. -- ἘῸΓ the confusion of δεῖμα and δεῖγμα (see cr. n.) see
On editing Aeschylus p. τοι.

970 ff. οὐδ᾽ ἀποπτύσας.. θάρσος tte. The construction is slightly
varied from οὐδ᾽ ἀποπτύσας... θαρσῶ, as in Hum. 100. Cf. Eur. Ale. 604
πρὸς δ᾽ ἐμᾶι ψυχᾶι θάρσος ἧσται.

973 ff. χρόνος δ᾽ ἐπεὶ κτέ, ‘Time has passed since the sandy shore
chafed’ (or ‘grazed’ from παρ-αφάω, related to παραφάσσω) ‘the cables
cast out together from the stern when the sea-borne host sped for the
walls of Troy.’ Cf. sup. 40 δέκατον ἔτος τόδ᾽ ἐπεὶ τῆσδ᾽ ἀπὸ χώρας ἦραν,
437 af “Ἕλλανος αἴας συνορμένοις, Eur. 7 A. 1319 μή μοι ναῶν
χαλκεμβολάδων πρύμνας Αὐλὶς δέξασθαι τούσδ᾽ εἰς ὅρμους ὦφελεν ἐλάταν
πομπαίαν, Zl. 1022 πρυμνοῦχον Αὖλιν, Ov. Trist. ΠΙ. 9. 13 dum soluttur
aggere funis, Val. Flace. 11. 428. ‘Thus πρυμνησίων ξυνεμβολὰς is equivalent
to πρυμνήσια ξυνεμβεβλημένα: Lum. 751 ἐκβολὰς ψήφων. Some may
prefer aya, the alternative suggestion of Ahrens ; for, though ay is not
glossed by axry, the two words appear sometimes to be confused. ‘Thus
in Pind. Δ ii. 42 Νείλου πρὸς ἀκτάν Schneidewin reads ἀγάς and Bury
ayav from the schol. πρὸς αὐγάς: see also Jacobs Axn/h, xil. p. 96.

232 NOTES

Schneidewin also restored πρὸς dyds in Anth. Pal. v. 82 and ἀγήν in
Arat. Phaen. 668. Numenius ap. Ath. 305 a ὁππότε πέτραι ἀμμώδεις
κλύζωνται ἐπ᾽ ἄκρηι κύματος ἀγῆι. ψαμμάς is taken in preference to
Ways in view of the copious collection of adjectives belonging to
this type which are brought together by Lobeck, Path. Proll. p. 442 f.

984 ff. σπλάγχνα δ᾽ οὔτοι ματάιζει, πρὸς ἐνδίκοις φρεσὶν τελεσφόροις δίναις
κυκώμενον κέαρ: In simple terms the meaning is ‘My heart too is
beating violently, and I know its agitation is not idle but warranted
by apprehensions that will surely come to pass,’ as Hecuba says in
Eur. Hec. 83 ἔσται τι νέον: ἥξει τι μέλος γοερὸν γοεραῖς: οὔποτ᾽ ἐμὰ φρὴν
ὧδ᾽ ἀλίαστος φρίσσει, ταρβεῖ. The metaphor is built up out of the
phrase κυκώμενον κέαρ ‘a troubled heart’: Archilochus 66 θυμέ, θύμ᾽
ἀμηχάνοισι κήδεσιν κυκώμενε, Tragic fragment in Clem. Alex. Pp: 486
οὗτοι yap οὗτοι καὶ διὰ σπλάγχνων ἔσω χωροῦσι καὶ κυκῶσιν ἀνθρώπων κέαρ.
ΔΒ κυκώμενος was usually said of tossing waves, the heart dashing against
the midriff (κραδία δὲ φόβωι φρένα λακτίζει P. V. 881) can be spoken of
as a boat tossed in swirling eddies on a troubled sea and dashed upon
ashore. ‘These considerations support the conjecture δίναις κυκώμενον
(see cr. n.), as Apoll. Rhod. i. 1327 ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ δίνηισι κυκώμενον adpeev
ὕδωρ. Plat. Cratyl. 439 C ὥσπερ εἴς τινα δίνην ἐμπεσόντες κυκῶνται,
[Arist.] “ηέγαδιβ cxxx. p. 46, 16 Westermann τότε δὴ πάλιν σὺν πολλῶι
μὲν βρυχηθμῶι μεγάλαις δὲ καὶ ταχείαις δίναις τὴν θάλασσαν ἀναζεῖν καὶ
μετεωρίζεσθαι κυκωμένην ἐκ βυθῶν, where there are variants κυκλωμένην,
κυκλουμένην. The same error is illustrated by Tryphiod. 325 ἴαχε καὶ
Ξάνθου ποταμοῦ κυκλούμενον ὕδωρ, where κυκοώμενον should be read
(κυκλόμενον, κυκώμενον and κυκοώμενον are quoted as variants), and
by Nonn. Dionys. xx. 336 ἄφνω δ᾽ ἐκ σκοπέλοιο χύθη κυκλούμενον ὕδωρ
(al. κυκοώμενον). So κυκῶντες (Reiske) should be restored for κυκλοῦντες
in Polyb. xi. 29. το. The MS, reading could not mean anything but
‘circling round,’ not ‘eddying’; for κυκλοῦσθαι can only be applied
to a river which encircles or to the surrounding stream of Ocean
(Nonn. Dionys. 1. 495 etc.).

990 ff. are corrupted, but the sense is clear; probably we should
begin with μάλα τί τοι... The language recalls Solon 13. 71 ff. (=Theogn.
227 ff.) πλούτου δ᾽ οὐδὲν τέρμα πεφασμένον ἀνθρώποισιν...τίς ἂν κορέσειεν
ἅπαντας; cf. inf, 1330. The idea of Health as a Mean appears in Max.
‘Tyr. Xxxix. 2 οὐχ ἡ μὲν ὑγεία μέτρον τι ἐστὶ τῆς τῶν σωμάτων εὐαρμοστίας ;
...€6TW οὖν ὅπως ποικίλον τι σοὶ ἡ ὑγεία ἔσται, καὶ παντοδαπόν, οὐχὶ δὲ
ἁπλοῦν καὶ ὡμολογημένον;

994. It is generally agreed that something has been lost here.
The supplement adopted and its insertion in this particular place are
advocated on the ground that ἀνδρὸς should not be separated far from

NOTES 233

πότμος, and παίειν πρός is the usage in such cases. In Aesch. fr. 99. 23
Blass restored μὴ πάντα παίσασ᾽ ἐκχέω πρὸς ἕρματι, a reading which is
made certain by Plat. Ref. 553 B πταίσαντα ὥσπερ πρὸς ἕρματι τῆι πόλει
καὶ ἐκχέαντα τά τε αὑτοῦ Kal ἑαυτόν κτέ. Com. adesp. fr. 391, 2 (ill. 482 Καὶ.)
μὴ πολλάκις πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν λίθον πταίειν ἔχοντα καιρὸν ὁμολογούμενον.

995 ff. ὄκνος (nearly the same as εὐλάβεια) is the opposite of θράσος,
and πημονᾶς is a synonym of ἄτας, so that the whole means: ‘ Now let
but timid caution cast beforehand some of the possession overboard
from the derrick of Proportion’ or ‘Due Measure, the whole fabric
does not founder through being loaded with surcharge of Harm’—the
Too Much that causes ἄτην. For the contrast see Plat. Defin. Θάρσος
ἀπροσδοκία κακοῦ, EiAad Bea φυλακὴ κακοῦ, Xen. Ages. ii. 2 θαρρῶν πλείονα
ἔθυεν ἢ ὀκνῶν ηὔχετο, Thuc. 11. 40 διαφερόντως yap δὴ Kal τόδε ἔχομεν,
ὥστε τολμᾶν τε οἱ αὐτοὶ μάλιστα, καὶ περὶ ὧν ἐπιχειρήσομεν ἐκλογίζεσθαι-"
ὃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀμαθία μὲν θράσος, λογισμὸς δὲ ὄκνον φέρει: which is
illustrated by Xerxes’ speech in Hdt. vii. 49g—50 with θρασύς and
ὀκνέουσι opposed. 7 δ᾽ εὐλάβεια καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ayav ἄριστον, as Plut.
Camill. 6 says of believing or disbelieving miracles. Horace (( ἢ.
10. 13 ff.) after the famous passage on the Golden Mean continues thus:
sperat infestis, metuit secundis alteram sortem bene praeparatum pectus.
The grammatical construction of the MS. reading is far from clear : πρὸ
μέν τι (see cr. n.) is probably right. μέν marks the antithesis with
Vv. 1004 τὸ δ᾽ ἐπὶ γᾶν πεσόν, as in Supp. 452 καὶ χρήμασιν pev...458 ὅπως
δ᾽ ὅμαιμον αἷμα.---σφενδόνη, as is proved by an inscription discovered by
the French at Delphi (see Wyse in C/Zass. Rev. xiv. p. 5), was the
technical term for the derrick used in discharging cargo.

1002. τε couples ἀμφιλαφής to πολλά, and καὶ must be taken with
what follows (‘even from the annual ploughing of the fields’).

1007 ff. οὐδὲ is equivalent to οὐ καὶ ‘not ever the one who knew...’:
SO 1524 οὐδὲ yap οὗτος -- οὐ καὶ οὗτος yap, Soph. O. ZT. 325 ὡς οὖν μηδ᾽
ἐγὼ ταὐτὸν πάθω -- καὶ ἐγὼ py.—In reference to the death of Asclepius
the Chorus say in Eur. Ad. 124 μόνος δ᾽ av εἰ φῶς τόδ᾽ ἦν | ὄμμασιν
δεδορκὼς | Φοίβου παῖς, προλιποῦσ᾽ ἦλθεν ἕδρας, σκοτίας | “Avda τε πύλας"
τοὺς δμαθέντας γὰρ ἀνίστη | πρὶν αὐτὸν εἷλε Διόβολον | πλῆκτρον πυρὸς
xepavviov. So Pindar (P. iii. τ ff.) says ‘I would that Cheiron, who
brought up Asclepius, best of physicians, were still alive ’—ei χρεὼν τοῦθ᾽
Gpetépas ἀπὸ γλώσσας κοινὸν εὔξασθαι ἔπος. But Asclepius was stopped
by Zeus, when he was tempted to restore the dead to life (2d. 55 ff.), as
Aeschylus says here, ἐπ᾿ ἀβλαβείαι to prevent his arrangements being
thwarted—or ἐπ᾽ εὐλαβείαι (Plat. Rep. 539 6) as a precautionary measure
to that end; either would do. (For a possible instance of confusion
between ἀβλαβέως and εὐλαβέως see H. Herm. 83.) Apollodorus iii. 122

234 NOTES

says Ζεὺς δὲ φοβηθεὶς μὴ λαβόντες ἄνθρωποι θεραπείαν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ βοηθῶσιν
ἀλλήλοις, ἐκεραύνωσεν αὐτόν. Ov. Kast. vi. 759 Luppiter exemplum ueritus
adirexitt in tllum fulmina. ‘Vhen, according to the ancient story which
he himself narrates at the beginning of the A/cestis, Apollo, in anger at
the killing of his son, destroyed the Cyclopes who had forged the
thunderbolt. Zeus thereupon condemned him to a year’s penal
servitude in the house of Admetus son of Pheres; and while there,
Apollo saved Admetus from death by tricking the Fates (Μοίρας
δολώσας Alc. 12) whom he had made drunk with wine. In Aesch.
Lum. 726 the Eumenides refer to this :
EYM. τοιαῦτ᾽ edpacas καὶ Φέρητος ἐν δόμοις"
Μοίρας ἔπεισας ἀφθίτους θεῖναι βροτούς.
ΑΠ. οὔκουν δίκαιον τὸν σέβοντ᾽ εὐεργετεῖν
ἄλλως τε πάντως χὥώτε δεόμενος τύχοι;
EYM. σύ τοι παλαιὰς διανομὰς καταφθίσας
οἴνωι παρηπάτησας ἀρχαίας θεάς.

These are the same terms in which they had reprehended the dealings of
Apollo with Orestes, v. 172 f. παρὰ νόμον θεῶν βρότεα μὲν τίων παλαιγενεῖς
δὲ μοίρας φθίσας. ‘The Μοῖραι are personifications of these μοῖραι or
διανομαί ‘apportionments’ or ‘dispensations,’ provinces allotted to
the various divinities and severally administered by them. In the same
play, the Eumenides complain that Athena, by her decision in the
case of Orestes, is robbing them of their τιμαὶ δαναιαί (848), rights
assigned to them in perpetuity by Μοῖρα (335 f.). Hades has his
μοῖρα: mortal men have theirs; not to live for ever, but to fall one
day within the power of Death. Hippolytus therefore was restored
to life Dzte indignante Ov. Met. xv. 535, dis indignantibus 11. 645: at
Clymenus (Hades) Clothogue dolent, haec fila renert, hic fiert regni tura
minora sui by being baffled of their prey, Aas. vi. 757. And so, as
Spenser says, “6716 Queene Bk. 1. ν. 40:
Such wondrous science in man’s wit to reign

When Jove avised, that could the dead revive
And fates expired could renew again,

he put an end to it. The exact force of ἐπ᾿ ἀβλαβείαι therefore would
be ‘to prevent the appointed μοῖραι being hindered by the interference
of Asclepius.’ From this we conclude that there exist in the system
over which Zeus presides certain ‘vested interests’ or ‘spheres of
influence’ assigned by Dispensation (Μοῖρα). With a_polytheistic
system it is evident that they will often be in opposition; just as
human destinies may be: see Conington’s note on Verg. Aen. vil. 293
fatis contraria nostris fata Phrygum. For, to take a particular instance,

or

NOTES 235

there is no reconciling the interests of Ceres and of Famine, xeguve
enim Cereremgque Famemgue fata coire sinunt, Ov. Met. viii. 785; or of
Artemis and Aphrodite. But each must be content to abide within his
own sphere and not seek to encroach upon another’s, or the balance of
power will be upset, which Μοῖρα regulates, whose dispensations are
upheld and administered by Zeus. There is a good illustration in
Ov. Mez. ix. 427, where the Gods murmur and complain that they
should not be allowed to confer the gift of youth as Hebe does :

cut studeat deus omnts habet ; crescitgue fauore
turbida seditio: donec sua Iuppiter ora

soluit, et ‘O nostri si qua est reuerentia, dixit ;
‘quo ruitis? tantumne aligquts sibt posse widetur
Fata quoque ut superet? Fatis Lolaus tu annos
guos egit reditt; Fatis tuuenescere debent
Callirhoe genitt, non ambitione nec armis.

uos etiam, quogue hoc animo meliore feratis,

me guoque Fata regunt: quae st mutare ualerem,
mec mostrum sert curuarent Aeacon anni, etc.

And in Eur. A/zpfol/. 1327 Artemis explains why she has not interfered
to save her votary from the wrath of Aphrodite :

Κύπρις yap ἤθελ᾿ ὥστε γίγνεσθαι τόδε,
A ΄ a“ 27, 80? ν᾿ ΄

πληροῦσα θυμόν: θεοῖσι δ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἔχει νόμος "
3 ‘ 3 A 4 ΄

οὐδεὶς ἀπαντᾶν βούλεται προθυμίαι

τῆι τοῦ θέλοντος, ἀλλ᾽ ἀφιστάμεσθ᾽ ἀεί.
ἐπεί, σάφ᾽ ἴσθι, Δῆνα μὴ φοβουμένη

3 ΝΜ 39. Φ > ANS) > , 3.25
οὐκ ἄν ποτ᾽ ἦλθον ἐς τόδ᾽ αἰσχύνης ἐγὼ
A > yy ’ὕ ’ “ 2 Ν
ὥστ᾽ ἄνδρα πάντων φίλτατον βροτῶν ἐμοὶ
θανεῖν ἐᾶσαι.

‘ Aphrodite’s heart was set upon it; and in such a case we none of us
offer opposition to the desire of any of our fellows: otherwise, but for
fear of Zeus (who upholds this system of spheres of influence with its
rule of give and take), I would never have suffered him to perish.’—For
πλέον φέρειν cf. Soph. O. 7: 1190 τίς ἀνὴρ πλέον τᾶς εὐδαιμονίας φέρει ἢ
τοσοῦτον ὅσον KTE.

1022. κτησίου βωμοῦ, in the open court-yard in front of the palace.
Athen. 189 ε Ὅμηρος δὲ τὴν αὐλὴν ἀεὶ τάττει ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπαίθρων τόπων, ἔνθα
ἦν ὁ τοῦ ἑρκείου Ζηνὸς βωμός.

1023. ἀπήνης: this was four-wheeled (τετράκυκλος Hom. 2 324) and
usually drawn by mules. In Eur. £7 998 it may be that the Trojan
slaves of Clytaemnestra are in the car with her. In 770. 573 Andro-
mache is placed among the spoil, which is being removed in the ἀπήνη
(when τετραβάμονος ἀπήνης is used of the Wooden Horse, it is compared

236 NOTES

to a four-wheeled carriage). It was commonly used as a travelling-
carriage: Eur. 7 4. 147, 618, Soph. O. Z. 753, 803. So Tryphiod. 241,
where the old men accompanying Priam come down from the πόλις in
ἀπῆναι. It may be that Agamemnon came back ina car suited to an
oriental monarch: thus the car of the King of Babylon is said to be
ἅπαν ἐλέφαντος εἰργασμένον, ἐγγύτατα ἀπήνης Ἑλληνικῆς (Walz, her.
οι τϑῖ}

1024 f. ‘This was the Greek commonplace of consolation, that even
heroes half-divine (ἡμίθεοι) had not been free from human sorrows, and
had submitted to the like themselves. One of the earliest examples is
in the /fervaclea of Panyasis (fr. 16 Kinkel) :

τλῆ μὲν Δημήτηρ, τλῆ δὲ κλυτὸς ᾿Αμφιγυήεις,

τλῆ δὲ Ποσειδάων, τλῆ δ᾽ ἀργυρότοξος ᾿Απόλλων

ἀνδρὶ παρὰ θνητῶι θητευέμεν εἰς ἐνιαυτόν,

τλῇ δὲ καὶ ὀβριμόθυμος “Apys ὑπὸ πατρὸς ἀνάγκηι,
where no doubt he was speaking of the servitude of Heracles to
Omphale in Lydia.

1034 f. Hesych. χελιδόνος δίκην: τοὺς βαρβάρους χελιδόσιν ἀπεικά-
ζουσι διὰ τὴν ἀσύνθετον λαλίαν (read ἀσύνετον). Just below we have
χελιδόνων μουσεῖον : ws βάρβαρα καὶ ἀσύνετα ποιούντων τῶν τραγικῶν, with
reference to Ar. Rav. 93. Thus βάρβαρος is practically the equivalent
of ἀσύνετος, and here merely strengthens ἀγνῶτα φωνήν: Hesych. Bap-
Papa: ἀσύνετα, ἄτακτα. One of the tests for admission to the Eleusinian
mysteries was that the candidate should not be φωνῆς agvveros; in other
words, he must be Ἕλληνα τὴν φωνήν (see Cobet, Misc. Crit. p. 165).

Ι041. πάρος: see cr. Nn. πρὸς σφαγὰς πυρός could only mean that
fire was to cut the victims’ throats or that the victims were to cut the
throat of fire; and there would be no construction for the genitive
ἑστίας. Musgrave’s correction removes both these blemishes and gives
precisely what we want: Eur. H. Δὲ 922 ἱερὰ μὲν jv πάροιθεν ἐσχάρας
Διὸς | καθάρσι᾿ οἴκων. on 376 προβωμίοις σφαγαῖσι μήλων. Alc. 162
πρόσθεν ἑστίας κατηύξατο. Andry. 1112 ὡς πάρος χρηστηρίων εὔξαιτο. ---
πάρος usually follows its case immediately, or with a word intervening
as in Zyrach. 724, and may surely have as much intervening as other
prepositions; see Fritsche on Theocr. 16. 109: so sup. 133 πάντα δὲ
πύργων κτήνη πρόσθε τὰ δημιοπληθῆ. There is the same corruption in Eur.
Hel. 870 κροῦσον δὲ πεύκην, ἵνα διεξέλθω, πάρος (Reiske for πυρός), and as
I believe in Lum. 1050 τιμᾶτε καὶ τὸ φέγγος ὁρμάσθω πάρος (codd. πυρός).

1045. σὺ δὲ ‘marks an antithesis, not of persons, but of clauses, and
serves merely to emphasise the second clause’: Jebb on Soph. 22 448,
who quotes several parallels. Cf. Lucian ii. p. 656 οὐχ ἅπαντες, ὦ Zed,

NOTES 237

“Oo

τὴν Ἑλλήνων φωνὴν ξυνιᾶσιν: ἄμεινον οὖν, οἶμαι, τῆι χειρὶ σημαίνειν καὶ
παρακελεύεσθαι σιωπᾶν. [But this passage, so far from supporting the
ordinary interpretation, rather favours Wecklein’s view that σὺ is ad-
dressed to the Chorus. Since, however, καρβάνωι cannot be separated
from χερί, Prof. Mackail suggests (C. #. xix. 197) that κάρβανος χείρ
alludes to the forcible removal of Cassandra from the car. |

1053. ἐποικτίρω from the Chorus strikes the note which is meant to
be in our thoughts throughout this scene. It is repeated in v. 1320, and
again in 1329—their last word as it is their first. Agamemnon partly
brings his owr doom on himself, and we are not to feel that he is
altogether to be pitied; so by heightening our pity for Cassandra
Aeschylus has weakened it for Agamemnon.

1055. tvydv: cf. Eur. Or. 1330 ἀνάγκης δ᾽ ἐς ζυγὸν καθέσταμεν,
sup. 228.

1063. προσήκοντ᾽ : cf. Soph. fr. 592 μὴ σπεῖρε πολλοῖς τὸν παρόντα
δαίμονα" σιγώμενος γάρ ἐστι θρηνεῖσθαι πρέπων.

1077. καὶ πεδορραντήριον. Dr Verrall would read παιδιορραντήριον
‘a place for sprinkling (with the blood of) babes.’ παιδίον is not else-
where used in Tragedy, but the sense suits admirably if it can be got
out of the word.

1095. λουτροῖσι φαιδρύνασα : Apoll. Rhod. ili. 300 αὐτοί τε λιαροῖσιν
ἐφαιδρύναντο λοετροῖς.

1103. ἦἤ...γε is used in a question, as in Cho. 417 τί δ᾽ ἂν φάντες
τύχοιμεν; 1) τάπερ πάθυμεν ἄχεα πρός γε τῶν τεκομένων; ye Serves as a link
with the previous question: Cho. 992 τί σοι δοκεῖ; μύραινά γ᾽ εἴτ᾽ ἔχιδν᾽
ἔφυ... ; Theb. 836 τί φῶ; τί δ᾽ ἄλλο γ᾽ ἢ πόνοι πόνων δόμων ἐφέστιοι;
[Eur. Cyc/. 207], Dio Chrys. ix. 20 p. 294 R. τί δέ; εἰ χωλοὶ πάντες ἦσαν οἱ
τρέχοντες, ἐχρῆν ye μέγα φρονεῖν, ὅτι χωλοὺς χωλὸς ἔφθης ; Max. Tyr. xvi. 3
ἄρα γε μάθησιν (sc. ὀνομάζοιμεν av), ἢ Πλάτωνι ὁμοφώνως ἀνάμνησιν ;

1107. θύματος λευσίμου: ‘abominable sacrifice ’—z.e. ‘stonable,’
‘deserving stoning’ (that is ‘lynching’), as καταλεύσιμος (Suid. Phot.
5.0.), ἀράσιμος, μαστιγώσιμος, ἀκούσιμος Soph. fr. 823, ἐπόψιμος O. T.
Bete.) Se 777: 1409, 1413.

110g. Cf. Eur. /oz 685 οὐ yap pe σαίνει θέσφατα μή τιν᾽ ἔχηι δόλον.

IIIO. κροκοβαφής. The hue of pallor—white in Northerners, and
ashy in the Negro—is in Greeks and Indians green or yellow. Hence
χλωρὸν δέος was the regular expression, describing the effect of fear upon
the countenance. Both in Greek and Latin paleness is spoken of as
‘greener than the grass’ (Sappho fr. 2. 14, Longus i. 17), or ‘ yellow as
the saffron crocus,’ or ‘as boxwood,’ or ‘as gold.’

Strictly the blood runs to the heart leaving the complexion sallow,
which Aeschylus understood as well as Aristotle p. 1520 διὰ τί of μὲν

238 NOTES

αἰσχυνόμενοι ἐρυθριῶσιν, οἱ δὲ φοβούμενοι ὠχριῶσιν, παραπλησίων τῶν
παθῶν ὄντων ; ὅτι τῶν μὲν αἰσχυνομένων διαχεῖται τὸ αἷμα ἐκ τῆς καρδίας εἰς
ἅπαντα τὰ μέρη τοῦ σώματος, ὥστε ἐπιπολάζειν τοῖς δὲ φοβηθεῖσι συντρέχει
εἰς τὴν καρδίαν, ὥστ᾽ ἐκλείπειν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν. (‘A true account,’
says Gellius xix. 6, who quotes this, ‘but why is it that fear has that
effect?” a question to which fanciful answers are suggested by Macrob.
vil. 11.) Cf. Zhe Emperor of the East iv. 5. What an earthquake I
feel in me! | And on a sudden my whole fabric totters ; | My blood
within me turns, and through my veins, | Parting with natural redness, I
discern it | Changed to a fatal yellow. Others prefer to explain κροκο-
βαφὴς σταγών as ‘the drop of red blood,’ like πορφυρᾶι βαφῆϊι in Pers.
320, on the ground that the dye called saffron was made from a purple
crocus and is termed ruder, rubens, puniceus by the Romans. [Yet
another view, that κροκοβαφὴς σταγών is the gall, is taken by Tucker on
Cho. 183. |

IIII ff. ἅτε καὶ δορὶ πτωσίμοις ξυνανύτει (whose arrival synchronises,
coincides with) βίου δύντος αὐγαῖς, the very pallor that is seen in wounded
men when life is ending in a yellow sunset. Thus δορὶ πτώσιμος =
δοριπετής.

1116. {The common punctuation, corrected by H., places a colon
after ταῦρον instead of after βοός.]

1124. ἀπὸ δὲ θεσφάτων. From Soph. Zrach. 1131, τέρας τοι διὰ
κακών ἐθέσπισας, this would appear to be an allusion to some proverbial
phrase.

1131 ff. τὸ γὰρ ἐμὸν θροῶ πάθος ἐπεγχύδαν. The parenthesis is an
explanation of ταλαίνας. Hitherto she has seen Agamemnon’s fate ;
now she sees that her own death is to be added to his. Cf. Eur. Hee.
736 EK. δύστην᾽--ἐμαυτὴν yap λέγω λέγουσα cé—ExaBy, τί δράσω;
Not unlike are 770. 869, Soph. O. Z: 1071, Oppian Had. iv. 345: see
also on 1225. It is evident, therefore, that θροῶ is right, and that
Hermann’s θροεῖς ἐπεγχέας will not stand. ἐπεγχέαι, another suggestion,
is not Greek. The MS. reading ἐπεγχέασα is metrically impossible; but
if it would only scan, we feel that it gives just the sense required.
ereyxvoav—following the analogy of χύδην, καταχύδην, dudiyvdnv—seems
to me the most probable correction, because such adverbs are com-
monly explained by participles, e.g. Cho. 65 οὐ διαρρύδαν] ἀντὶ τοῦ οὐ
διαρρέων, Lum. 556 περαιβάδαν] παραβεβηκότα, Hesych. σπερχυλλάδην

κέκραγας : ἀγανακτήσας ὑλακτεῖς ἄγαν, schol. Lycophr. 1425 χανδόν:
χαίνοντες.

1140 f. Ἴτυν... βίον. The grammatical relation of the accusatives
is not certain. A possible alternative rendering would be: ‘With (cry
of) * Ztyn,’ ‘ [tyn,’ plaining for a life luxuriant in misery.’

NOTES 239

1142 f. The exclamatory accusative in Greek is almost unknown
to the grammarians. It became much more common in Roman times,
but was always introduced by some such word as αἰαῖ or iw,

1144. περέβαλόν γέ of. This correction (partly anticipated by Enger)
| explains the origin of περεβάλοντο, while the meaningless yap is an
| interpolation. When Sophocles uses oi, he also follows the practice of

the lyric poets, Zrach. 650 a δέ oi, “1. 196 ore οἱ (Hermann for σοι),
and so does Cratinus in a burlesque lyric verse, fr. 241, Ἥραν te of. In
our passage ye is equivalent to μέν, in opposition to ἐμοὶ δέ.

1146. γλυκύν τ᾽ αἰῶνα κλαυμάτων ἄτερ. ‘A sweet life except for
lamentation,’ otherwise the conditions are all pleasant. I have never
been able to see that κλαυμάτων ἄτερ can have any other meaning here
than that which Schneidewin also had suggested: the nightingale in
Greek poetry from the earliest to the latest was the type of unconsolable
lamentation. ἄτερ, like ἄνευ, and many other words meaning ‘without,’
‘apart from,’ is used elsewhere in the sense ‘except.’ For the general
sense cf. Aphthonius Pvogym. 11 (Walz Ret. Gr. 1. p. 103) Niobe is
speaking ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα ὀδύρομαι, παρὸν αἰτῆσαι θεοὺς ἑτέραν ἀλλάξασθαι

+ φύσιν, μίαν τῶν ἀτυχημάτων τεθέαμαι λύσιν, μεταστῆναι πρὸς τὰ μηδὲν
9 , > Ν -“ ,ὔ Ν Ν “ ~ , ,
αἰσθανόμενα " ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον δέδοικα μὴ καὶ τοῦτο φανεῖσα μείνω δακρύουσα,
For the nightingale see Dio Chrys. ix. 19 p. 293 R. οὐκοῦν, ἔφη ὁ Διογένης,
εἴπερ TO ταχύτατον εἶναι κράτιστόν ἐστι, πολὺ βέλτιον κόρυδον εἶναι σχεδὸν ἢ
ἄνθρωπον᾽ ὥστε τὰς ἀηδόνας οὐδέν τι δεῖ οἰκτίρειν οὐδὲ τοὺς ἔποπας, ὅτι ὄρνιθες
ἐγένοντο ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ μύθου λέλεκται.

1159. ‘There is considerable similarity to Eur. 770. 460 f., where
Cassandra says, addressing her country, her dead father and brothers :
> Ἂς ὃ / 6 , > Ξ Ἐξ Q? > Ν " ‘4
ov μακρὰν δέξεσθέ μ᾽. ἥξω δ᾽ ἐς νεκροὺς νικηφόρος

καὶ δόμους πέρσασ᾽
᾿Ατρειδῶν, ὧν ἀπωλόμεσθ᾽ ὕπο.

1167. πρόπυργοι might also mean ‘before his walls.’ Cf. Max.
Tyr. xi. 2 καὶ τῶι μὲν Πριάμωι εὐχομένωι ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκείας γῆς, βοῦς
καὶ ous ὁσήμεραι τῶι Διὶ καταθύοντι, ἀτελῆ τὴν εὐχὴν τίθησι (Sc. ὃ Ζεύς).

1170 f. 866 οἵ. πη. and cf. P. V. 950 οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτῶι ταῦτ᾽ ἐπαρκέσει
τὸ μὴ οὐ πεσεῖν ἀτίμως. ‘The text was first corrupted to τὸ μὴ πόλιν μὲν
ὥσπερ οὖν ἔχει ἔχειν, παθεῖν being merely an insertion to patch the metre.
Constantly, finding μὴ οὐ, scribes omitted the οὐ as περισσόν (see Journ.
Phil. xxiii. p. 296), and it should always be written in texts, at any rate
where there is any trace of it.—épred βόλωι describes exactly what she
does in v. 1290 ff. For the metaphor, see the oracle in Hdt. 1. 62
ἔρριπται δ᾽ ὃ βόλος, τὸ δὲ δίκτυον ἐκπεπέτασται, θύννοι δ᾽ οἰμήσουσι σεληναίης
διὰ νυκτός, Opp. Had. iii. 465, Cyz. iv. 141, Eur. Bacch. 847 ἁνὴρ ἐς
βόλον καθίσταται, Rhes. 730, Herod. vil. 75.—For θερμόνους cf. A. P. vi.
173 (of a votary of Cybele) θερμὸν ἐπεὶ λύσσης ὧδ᾽ ἀνέπαυσε πόδα.

240 NOTES

1179. λαμπρός. The metaphor shifts by means of this word, which
covers the meaning ‘fresh’ applied to wind. As πνεῖν and πνεῦμα,
spiritus, meant not only znd but zaspiration, the spirit of prophecy is
spoken of in terms belonging to a rushing mighty wind, which will wash
the unseen horror to the light, as though it were a wave rolled up against
the Orient rays. The wind is ἀργεστὴς Ζέφυρος )( ἀπηλιώτης.

1180. ἐσάιξειν : seecr. ἢ. digac is often used of wind: Hom. B 146
τὰ (κύματα) μέν τ᾽ Etpds te καὶ Νότος te ὠρορ᾽ ἐπαίξας, Soph. Az. 358
ἄιξας ὀξὺς νότος ὡς λήγει.

1181. If πῆμα is the subject (cf. Hom. Ψ 61 ὅθι κύματ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἠιόνος
κλύζεσκον), perhaps κλύσειν may be right.—For the image Catull. xiv.
26g is quoted: hic gualis fluctu placidum mare matutino | horrificans
Lephyrus procliuis incitat undas | Aurora exoriente uagi sub limina
solis, | guae tarde primum clementi flamine pulsae | procedunt leuiterque
sonant plangore cachinni, | post uento crescente magis magis increbrescunt.

1187 ff. The κῶμος, drunken well with human blood, refusing to
be sent away, sit fast against the chamber singing; and their song is
deadly Primal Sin (πρώταρχον arnv), the first act of Kin-murder when
Atreus slew the children of Thyestes: Cho. 1066 παιδοβόροι μὲν πρῶτον
ὑπῆρξαν μόχθοι τάλανες τε Θυέστου. For δώμασιν προσήμεναι cf. Verg. A.
vil. 342 Allecto Laurentis tecta tyranni | celsa petit, tacitumgque obsedit
limen Amatae, ἵν. 471 Orestes | armatam factbus matrem et serpentibus
atris | cum fugit, ultricesque sedent in limine Dirae. So they sit guarding
the vestibule of Hell: vi. 563 (with Conington’s note), 279, 555, 574,
Ov. Met. iv. 453-

Ι1ΟῚ f. ἐν μέρει δ᾽ ἀπέπτυσαν κτέ, is part of the Image of the κῶμος
explained above: Jeremiah 25. 27, Lucian i. 750.—The words admit of
various constructions. δυσμενεῖς may be either nominative or accusative
(belonging to εὐνάς) ; or we might take ἀπέπτυσαν absolutely and under-
stand the rest to mean δυσμενεῖς τῶι εὐνὰς ἀδελφοῦ πατοῦντι.---ΒῸΓ ἐν
μέρει ‘each in turn’ cf. Cho. 331 κλῦθί νυν, ὦ πάτερ, ἐν μέρει πολυδάκρυτα
πένθη.

1103. ἢ θηρῶ τι τοξότης τις ὥς; ‘Or have I brought my quarry
down?’ Greek often adds to metaphors such phrases as ὥστε τοξότης
(Soph. Anz. 1084), ναυτίλων δίκην (Cho. 201), which we should not express.
So Eur. Hipp. 872 πρὸς yap twos οἰωνὸν ὥστε μάντις εἰσορῶ κακόν.

1106. λόγωι παλαιάς, ‘storied,’ ‘historic’: Soph. O. 7: 1394
ὦ Πόλυβε καὶ Κόρινθε καὶ τὰ πάτρια | Adyor παλαιὰ δώματα (where,
however, the editors of Sophocles, neglecting this parallel, connect
λόγωι with πάτρια against the natural order). Hermann and Dobree,
followed by Paley and others, substituted τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι in 1195, to be
joined with λόγωι in the sense ‘that I know not merely by hearsay.’

NOTES 241

Apart from other objections, this is contrary to the order of the words:
since the point in that case would consist in λόγωι, which must have
preceded εἰδέναι, 2.6. τὸ μὴ λόγωι εἰδέναι. See Eur. Heracl. 5 οἶδα δ᾽ οὐ
λόγωι μαθών. Antiphon 5. 75 ἀπολογεῖσθαι ὧν πολλῶι νεώτερός εἰμι
καὶ λόγωι οἶδα. λόγωι often implies ‘in word ovly’: Eur. fr. 57 καὶ τὸ
δοῦλον οὐ λόγωι (not only in word) ἔχοντες, ἀλλὰ τῆι τύχηι. Theb. 832
ἦλθε δ᾽ αἰακτὰ πήματ᾽ οὐ λόγωι. Soph. Trach. 1046, δὰ 1453, Az. 813.
[For ἐκμαρτυρεῖν, which has nothing to do with the technical ἐκμαρτυρία
but signifies ‘to testify openly,’ see Wyse on Isae. 111. 77.|

1107. ὅρκου πῆγμα, an oath’s plight: Eur. ΔΛ A. 395 τοὺς κακῶς
παγέντας ὅρκους καὶ κατηναγκασμένους.

1205. ἀλλ᾽ ἦν παλαιστὴς κάρτ᾽ ἐμοὶ πνέων χάριν : 7.6. ‘he contended
for me strenuously’ (ἐπάλαιεν as ὑβριστής). Similarly Eur. Sp. 704
λόχος δ᾽ ὀδόντων ὄφεος eEnvdpwpevos δεινὸς παλαιστὴς ἦν. Cf. generally
the speech of Lady Faulconbridge in Aing John i. τ. 253:

King Richard Cceur-de-lion was thy father:

By long and vehement suit I was seduced

To make room for him in my husband’s bed:
Heaven lay not my transgression to my charge !
Thou art the issue of my dear offence,

Which was so strongly urged past my defence.

So in Ovid Herod. 5. 139 Oenone says of Apollo:

Me fide conspicuus Trotae munitor amauit ;
ile meae Spoltum uirginitatis habet.

ta quogue luctando. rupi tamen ungue capillos
oraque sunt digitis aspera facta mets.

Oenone too, according to Ovid, received her gift of medicine from
Apollo (26. 145).

1206. νόμωι, they say, to make it easy for her to confess what was
so natural: cf. Hom. ψΨ 296 ἀσπάσιοι λέκτροιο παλαιοῦ θεσμὸν ἵκοντο. ---
For ἠλθέτην see Cobet, AZzsc. Crit. p. 279.

I210. dvaros: see cr.n. ‘There is a similar confusion in Lycophr.
ΤΊ:

I215. Seecr.n. An adjective has been lost.

I216. τοὺς δόμοις ἐφημένους, ‘seated against the house ’—like the
Furies, who personify their vengeance (see ἢ. on 1187 f.),—1rather than
‘seated on the roof.’ She sees the figures, vague and shadowy at first ;
as they grow plainer, gradually she discerns the details one by one; at
last they show distinct, πρέπουσι (v. 1221).

1223. λέοντ᾽ : he was a Pelopid like the rest, but avadxis: see
on 147.

ἩΓ Ay 16

242 NOTES

1224. oipa, credo, ‘no doubt’: see on 800.

1225. φέρειν γὰρ κτὲ., explaining δεσπότηι ἐμῶι: Eur. Hel. 1193
(Helen to Theoclymenus) ὦ δέσποτ᾽ ----ἤδη yap τόδ᾽ ὀνομάζω σ᾽ ἔπος--- ὄλωλα,
Ar. Vesp. 1297 (with Starkie’s note), Ach. Tat. ν. 17 (in the address of
a letter) Λευκίππη Κλειτοφῶντι τῶι δεσπότηι μου-- τοῦτο yap σε δεῖ καλεῖν.
Aristaenetus ll. 5 σὺ τοίνυν “Apredovy (πρὸς σὲ γὰρ ἐξεπίτηδες ὡς ἔχω
πάθους ἀπήγγειλα τὴν ὑπόπικρον τῶν βελῶν ἡδονήν).

1227 ff. οὐκ οἶδεν οἷα.. τεύξεται. The text, which is correct except
that we must read λέξασα κἀκτείνασα (Plat. Prot. 329 A ὥσπερ τὰ χαλκία
πληγέντα μακρὸν ἠχεῖ καὶ ἀποτείνει), has suffered grievous treatment at
the hand of many critics. οἷα is understood with λέξασα as well as
with τεύξεται as though it were ota λέξασα οἷα τεύξεται. ‘The general
meaning is :—‘He little dreams what accursed act all her protracted
words of smiling blandishment are but the treacherous cloak and
prelude to.’ In the speech which opens at v. 846 we have had a
sample of her treacherous speech, and Agamemnon feels the hollow-
ness enough to make the significant answer (v. 905) ἀπουσίαι μὲν εἶπας
εἰκότως ἐμῆι pakpav yap ἐξέτεινας. In the Lwmenides Apollo describes
her (634 ff.):—amd στρατείας yap νιν, ἠμποληκότα | τὰ πλεῖστ᾽ ἄμεινον,
εὔφροσιν δεδεγμένη | «τὰ πρῶτα μύθοις, ἡ κατάπτυστος, γυνὴ | παρίστατ᾽
αὐτῶι θέρμ᾽ ἐν ἀργυρηλάτωι-- | δροίτηι περῶντι λουτρά, Kari τέρματι | φᾶρος
περεσκήνωσεν, ἐν δ᾽ atéppove| κόπτει πεδήσασ᾽ ἄνδρα δαιδάλωι πέπλωι.
‘After receiving him with kindly words of welcome, she stood by while
he was performing his ablutions in the bath, and at the conclusion
trammelled him in a cunning robe and hewed him down.’ γλῶσσα is
of course the false-speaking tongue, as in the proverbial warning against
‘the smyler with the knyf under the cloke’ attributed to Solon
({|.- 242):

πεφυλαγμένος ἄνδρα ἕκαστον ὅρα

μὴ κρυπτὸν ἔχων ἔγχος κραδίαι

φαιδρῶι σε προσεννέπηι προσώπωι

γλώσσα δέ οἱ διχόμυθος ἐκ μελαίνας φρενὸς γεγωνῆι.
And φαιδρόνους means ‘ with smiling cheerfulness’ in her greeting (v. 525
φαιδροῖσι τοισίδ᾽ ὄμμασιν δέξασθε, Cho. 563 φαιδρᾶι φρενὶ δέξαιτ᾽ ἀν) ;
here, like φιλόφρων in ers. οὗ (a passage to be quoted presently),
merely describing the appearance worn by simulated cheerfulness.

To flatter with such sinister intention was to behave like a κύων
λαίθαργος, which treacherously fawns and bites at the same time; a
proverbial verse said σαίνουσα δάκνεις καὶ κύων λαίθαργος εἶ (Soph. fr. 800
Nauck). This must be part of the suggestion in κυνός here, though the
epithet μισητῆς introduces another quality.

And like the treachery of a κύων λαίθαργος is the deceitfulness

NOTES 243

of “Ary: with smiling blandishment she lures men into her nets:
Pers. 94

δολόμητιν δ᾽ ἀπάταν θεοῦ

τίς ἀνὴρ θνατὸς ἀλύξει;

τίς ὁ κραιπνῶι ποδὶ πηδή-

ματος εὐπετέος ἀνάσσων;

φιλόφρων “γὰρ σαίνου-

σα τὸ πρῶτον παράγει

βροτὸν εἰς ἄρκυας ἄτας".

And Soph. fr. 519 illustrates the same connexion of thought: 7 δ᾽ ap’
ἐν σκότωι λήθουσά pe | ἔσαιν᾽ ᾿Βρινὺς ἡδοναῖς ἐψευσμένον. In Pind. /. ii.
83 σαίνων ἅταν διαπλέκει the metaphor is applied to a treacherous
person. And Helen too, as we have seen in the n. on 724ff., is a
minister of "Az, just as the Lion-cub that typifies her is called ἱερεύς τις
“Aras. In the corresponding line of the previous strophe he had been
described as φαιδρωπός, ποτὶ χεῖρα σαίνων τε Or φαιδρωπὸν ποτὶ χεῖρα
σαίνοντα : that implies fawning with the fatal blandishment of Ate, δίκην
"Atys Aabpaiov.

1233. οἰκοῦσαν ἐν πέτραισι corresponds to Homer’s Σκύλλην πετραίην
( 231).

1234. θύουσαν “Αιδου μητέρα is not ‘ Mother of Hell’ or ‘Dam of
Death, but ‘raging, infernal, hellish mother,’ exactly as Eur. Cyel. 396
τῶι θεοστυγεῖ “Αἰδου μαγείρωι, Aristias Trag. fr. 3 μαζαγρέτας “Αιδου
τραπεζεύς, ‘damned, ‘devilish’ The genitive is equivalent to an
adjective such as these, or ‘deadly, ‘fatal’: Eur. Or. 1399 ξίφεσιν
σιδαρέοισιν “Aida, Andr. 1046 σταλάσσων “Avda φόνον. “Epwiwv, ᾿Βρινύος
are used just in the same way: Ach. Tat. v. 5 ἐδείπνησεν ὁ Τηρεὺς
δεῖπνον “Epwiwv ‘ of retribution, ‘avenging.’ Both genitives serve as
limiting epithets to a metaphor: δίκτυόν te” Avdov Ag. 1103 = 1580= 1611,
Soph. Zrach. 1051, explained by Az. 1034: Theb, 853, Ag. 650, 980,
Eur. Supp. 773 = Cho. 151, Eur. Ad. 424: βάκχαις “Avdov Eur. Hee.
1077, 47. δὲ 1119, Hipp. 550 (Musgrave): /. 7. 286 “Atdov dpaxaway,
fTec, 483 "Avda θαλάμους Εὐρώπας θεραπνᾶν. See also Lobeck on Soph.
Ai. 802, Blaydes on Ar. Thesm. 1041.

1251. παρεκόπης, in answer to the question ‘by what maz’s hand.’
Quite failing to see that τοῖς δ᾽ in v. 1249 may refer to a woman, the
chorus assume that a man is meant (as in Soph. Av. 248 Creon, never
dreaming that the culprit is Antigone, asks: τί φής; τίς ἀνδρῶν ἣν ὃ
τολμήσας τάδε:). Cassandra’s reply refers to the confession ἐκ δρόμου
πεσὼν τρέχω In v. 1244, which corresponds to her request at v. 1183
καὶ μαρτυρεῖτε συνδρόμως ἴχνος κακῶν ῥινηλατούσηι. ἀποκοπῆναι τῶν ἰχνῶν

1 els ἀρκύστατα MSS.

16—2

244 NOTES

was used in the same way of hounds being thrown off the trail: Bekk.
Anecd. 428. 25 ἀποκοπῆναι τῶν ἰχνῶν τὴν κύνα λέγουσιν ὅταν μηκέτι
εὑρίσκηι τὰ ἴχνη. Hesych. ἀποκοπῆναι : ἐπὶ τῶν ἰχνευόντων λέγεται ὅταν μὴ
εὕρωσιν. The true reading is doubtful, but it is possible that the scribes
have tampered with the order of the words, putting apa too soon, and
that we should restore ἢ κάρτα χρησμῶν apa παρεκόπης ἐμῶν. Similarly
in Soph. O. C. 534 cai τ᾽ εἴσ᾽ ap ἀπόγονοί te καὶ (Jebb) has become
σαί T ap εἰσὶν or σαί τ᾽ ap εἴσ᾽ ἀπόγονοί τε Kal.

1254. τὰ πυθόκραντα : scz/. “EAAnv ἐπίσταται φάτιν. Cf. Eur. Λ A.
640f. ΙΦ. ὦ πάτερ, ἐσεῖδόν σ᾽ ἀσμένη πολλῶι χρόνωι. AT. καὶ γὰρ πατὴρ σέ.
For the confusion of δυσπαθῆ and δυσμαθῆ see Cobet, Misc. Crit. p. 432.

1256. ΔΛύκει, in his character of Destroyer, as ‘ Wolf-slayer.’

1259 ff. ὡς δὲ «re. The construction of this sentence is uncertain.
ἐπεύχεται ἀντιτείσασθαι would be ‘prays to...,’ ἐπεύχεται ἀντιτείσεσθαι
‘vows that she will....’ κότων should not be changed although it is figured
as ποτόν. [The translation suggests the acceptance of the Triclinian
evOnoew, With ἀντιτείσασθαι explaining μισθόν. But no final solution was
approved. |

1266. Seecr.n. If the reading is τῶιδ᾽ ἀμείψομαι or πεσόντα Θ᾽ ὧδ᾽
ἀμείψομαι, the meaning is ‘thus Ill requite you.’

1269 ff. ἐποπτεύσας... μάτην, ‘having regarded me even in_ this
raiment laughed to scorn by foes and friends alike without distinction.’
The form of phrase, which from its unfamiliarity has occasioned a good
deal of doubt and alteration, may be illustrated by the proverbial
sayings ἐρρέτω φίλος σὺν ἐχθρῶι (Plut. Mor. 50 F, Macar. iv. 12),
σφάλλειν σὺν ἐχθροῖς Kat φίλους κέρδος φέρει and ἀπόλοιτο καὶ φίλος σὺν
ἐχθροῖς (Macar. vii. 95). Bergk’s reading in Pind. P. vill. 74 πολλοῖς
σοφοῖς (for σοφὸς) δοκεῖ red ἀφρόνων βίον κορυσσέμεν ὀρθοβούλοισι
μαχαναῖς would be just such another phrase, ‘is thought not only by
fools but by many wise men also.’ If the original had been καταγελω-
μένην μάτην φίλων ὕπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν οὐ διχορρόπως μέτα, to take this for ὑπ᾽
ἐχθρῶν would have been a natural error, and to transpose μέτα and
μάτην a ready expedient for making a construction ; but the MS., which
throws the stress on ἐχθρῶν, has a very obvious meaning, ‘laughed at
now in Argos as before at Troy.’ That would have been as well
expressed by φίλων per, ἐχθρῶν οὐ διχορρόπως ὕπο.

1272. Cf. Dio Chrys. xiii. p. 422 R., οἱ δὲ ἐντυγχάνοντες ἄνθρωποι
ὁρῶντες οἱ μὲν ἀλήτην οἱ δὲ πτωχὸν ἐκάλουν, οἱ δέ τινες Kal φιλόσοφον.
Phrynichus fr. 33 (i. 379 K.) ὦ κάπραινα καὶ περίπολις καὶ δρομάς.
Menander fr. 546 (iil. 166 K.) τὸ δ᾽ ἐπιδιώκειν εἴς τε τὴν ὁδὸν τρέχειν ἔτι
λοιδορουμένην κυνός ἐστ᾽ ἔργον, ἱΡόδη.

1274. ἐκπράξας -- ἀνύσας (704): poslguam reddidit me uatem.

ἡ

NOTES 245

1276. βωμοῦ πατρώιου, the altar of Ζεὺς “Epxevos at which Priam was
slain.—avr’: so long as a preposition can follow its case, there is no
objection to its elision or even to a pause after it. Examples in iambic
verse are Eur. Bacch. 732 θηρώμεθ᾽ ἀνδρῶν τῶνδ᾽ im: ἀλλ᾽ ἕπεσθέ μοι,
Tro. 1021 Kai προσκυνεῖσθαι βαρβάρων ὕπ᾽ ἤθελες, Ar. Lys. 1146 (tragic
style) χώραν ἧς ὕπ᾽ εὖ πεπόνθατε, Eur. 7. A. 967 ὧν μέτ᾽ ἐστρατευόμην,
Aesch. Supp. 260 αἷαν ἧς 80 ἁγνὸς ἔρχεται (rightly corrected for αἴδνης
διάλγος). Here ἀντί follows its case as in Lycophr. 94 ὀστρίμων μὲν
ἀντί, 365 ἑνὸς δὲ λώβης ἀντί, but does not suffer anastrophe.

1277- Seecr.n. ‘The construction cannot be κοπείσης (or κοπεῖσαν
or κοπείση!) θερμῶι φοινίωι προσφάγματι ‘ butchered with a hot bloody
stroke,’ for two reasons; even if it were possible to speak of a of
stroke, πρόσφαγμα does not mean (as some have wished it to mean), a
blow or stroke; and μένει pe κοπεῖσαν or κοπείσηι could not mean
‘awaits me, about to be beheaded, κοφθησομένην ; it could only mean
‘awaits me after 7 have been beheaded.’

The construction, therefore, must in part be προσφάγματι Koreans
‘the sacrifice’ or ‘slaughtered body of me butchered.’ The dative,
then, if θερμῶι κοπείσης φοινίωι is sound, depends on μένει, ‘a block is
in store for the slaughter of me butchered’; more probably, as is
generally thought, it depends either on θερμόν (Schuetz’ conjecture), ‘a
block is in store for me hot with the bloody slaughter of me butchered’;
or on φοίνιον (Haupt), ‘a block is in store for me, bloody with the hot
slaughter of me butchered.’

Vhe difficulty is in κοπείσης. Cassandra, as a prophetess, might of
course visualise a block streaming with the slaughter of herself, fore-
seeing the future as though it had already happened, as she does in
ro80-111g9. But μένει is not the language of visualisation; it is the
language merely of prediction; and my feeling is that in conjunction
with μένει we ought to have, not κοπείσης, but κοφθησομένης. Consider
now two passages: Plut. Mor. 597 F τὸν Λεοντίδην ἐπέσφαξε θερμῶι
τῶι Κηφισοδύτωι ‘slew Leontides while the body of Cephisodotus was yet
warm.’ Philostratus Kacavépa, /mag. το, describing a picture of these
very murders; after slaying Agamemnon, ἡ Κλυταιμνήστρα τὴν τοῦ
Πριάμου κύρην ἀποκτείνει θερμῶι τῶι πελέκει ‘ with her axe yet warm.’
And then consider whether you would not like to read κοπέντος : either
θερμὸν κοπέντος φοινίωι προσφάγματι ‘there waits for me a block, hot
with the bloody sacrifice of a butchered man, or θερμῶι κοπέντος φοίνιον
προσφάγματι ‘bloody with the still warm slaughter of a butchered man.’
See now how well the plurals follow, τεθνήξομεν and ἡμῶν.

IT have little doubt about the answer,—if only it could be shown how
κοπέντος came to be altered to κοπείσης. Well, it was a deliberate

246 NOTES

alteration made by a half-intelligent corrector, who took the participle
as referring to Cassandra, and therefore made it feminine. In this same
play there are at least two other passages which have been subjected to
precisely the same treatment: in v. 275, κλύοιμ᾽ ἂν εὔφρων" οὐδὲ σιγώσηι
φθόνος, f and ἢ give σιγῶντι ; and again in 283, εὖ yap φρονοῦντος ὄμμα
σου κατηγορεῖ, they give φρονούσης.

1286 ff. ἐπε τὸ πρῶτον κτέ, Now that the capture (εῖλον : cr. n.) of
Troy is avenged, I go gladly to meet death. Cassandra’s speech in
Eur. 770. 353—405 is in effect an expansion of this passage, if read in
connexion with 20. 455—461.

In Sen. Agam. 1005—1ort Cassandra speaks to Clytaemnestra:
‘You need not drag me to my death; 1 willingly—nay, gladly follow.’

Perferre prima nuntium Phrygibus mets
propero ; repletum ratibus euersis mare ;
captas Mycenas ; mille ductorem ducum,

ut parta fata Troticis lueret malts,

perisse dono feminae, stupro, dolo.

nthil moramur: rapite. quin grates ago:
tam, tam tuuat uixisse post Trotam, tuuat.

But πράξω in v. 1289 is doubtful.

1200. προσεννέπω: see ἢ. On 365.

1303. εὐκλεῶς. Honour is a medicine even against death: Pind.
P. iv. 187 ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ καὶ θανάτωι φάρμακον κάλλιστον ἑᾶς ἀρετᾶς ἅἁλιξιν
εὑρέσθαι σὺν ἄλλοις. Theb, 670 εἴπερ κακὸν φέροι τις, αἰσχύνης ἄτερ ἔστω"
μόνον γὰρ κέρδος ἐν τεθνηκόσιν. See Class. Rev. xvii. 290.

1304. ἰὼ πάτερ σοῦ σῶν τε γενναίων τέκνων iS a fine answer to their
empty consolations. There is a stroke remarkably like this in Marlowe’s
Tragedy of Dido, i. 2, where the queen is endeavouring to cheer
Aeneas, son of Priam and Hecuba:

Dido. Be merry, man:
Here’s to thy better fortune and good stars | Drinks.
Aen. In all humility, I thank your grace.
Dido. Remember who thou art; speak like thyself:
Humility belongs to common grooms.
Aen. And who so miserable as Aeneas is?
Dido. Lies it in Dido’s hands to make thee blest?
Then be assur’d thou art not miserable.
Aen. O Priamus, O Troy, O Hecuba!

When Antigone is doomed to death, the Chorus attempt to console
her with somewhat similar praise (Soph. “412, 817 ff.); but she rejects
the mockery of their words, and appeals to Thebes and Dirce (7d. 839 ff.).

1311. οὐ Σύριον must be taken closely together, κατ᾽ εἰρωνείαν.

NOTES 247

Cf. Ar. Ran. 1150 πίνεις οἶνον οὐκ ἀνθοσμίαν, Put. 703 οὐ λιβανωτὸν yap
βδέω, Soph. fr. 140 κατάγνυται τὸ τεῦχος οὐ μύρου πνέον. Similarly Soph.
El. 1500 ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πατρώιαν τὴν τέχνην ἐκόμπασας, Eur. Alc. 814 ὅδ᾽ οὐ
θυραίων πημάτων ἄρχει λόγος, Plat, Phaedr. 242 B οὐ πόλεμόν γε ἀγγέλλεις.

1323 f. See cr. n. ‘I pray...that to my champions my enemies
may pay for the slaying of a murdered slave.’ This is on the whole the
best remedy, although φόνευσιν is a strange word for tragedy to use.
[See Housman in Journ. Phil. xvi. p. 210.] An alternative would be
TOL ἐμοῖς τιμαόροις ἐχθροὺς φανεῖσιν τοὺς ἐμοὺς até. Cf. Plut. Dio εὐ Brut,
comp. 5 καὶ Δίωνος μὲν τιμωρὸς οὐδεὶς ἐφάνη πεσόντος.

1325. For the loosely-added genitive, cf. Eur. £7. 1195 τίς ξένος...
ἐμὸν κάρα προσόψεται μητέρα κτανόντος; Cycl. 244 πλήσουσι νηδὺν τὴν
ἐμὴν ἀπ᾽ ἄνθρακος θερμὴν ἔδοντος δαῖτα τῶι κρεανόμωι.

1326 ff. These lines contain an Aeschylean figure developed out
of the phrase σκιὰ τὰ θνητῶν (Nauck 2: 7. G., p. 783, Eur. Med. 1224,
Soph. Az. 125, Ar. Aw. 683 etc.), ‘Ad? ts Vanity,’ empty and unsub-
stantial, and not real or solid: ‘ every man at his best state is altogether
vanity,’ Psalms 39. 5, Soph. O.Z. 1186 ff. ἰὼ γενεαὶ βροτῶν, ὡς ὑμᾶς ἴσα
καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ζώσας ἐναριθμῶς Aeschylus makes his ‘shadow’ that of
σκιαγραφία, as Iamblichus, Protrept. 8 εἰ θεωρήσειεν ὑπ᾽ αὐγὰς τὸν
ἀνθρώπινον βίον: εὑρήσει γὰρ τὰ δοκοῦντα εἶναι μεγάλα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις
πάντα ὄντα σκιαγραφίαν KTé. πρέψειεν implies that life, when seeming
most vivid, is only a pencilled sketch: cf. v. 253 πρέπουσα θ᾽ ὡς ἐν γραφαῖς.
I formerly preferred τέρψειεν, which was proposed by an anonymous
critic: pleasure of this life (τὸ τερπνόν) is short-lived and faint like a
deceptive imitation: Xen. Symp. 4. 22 ἡ μὲν αὐτοῦ ὄψις εὐφραίνειν
δύναται, ἡ δὲ τοῦ εἰδώλου τέρψιν μὲν οὐ παρέχει πόθον δὲ ἐμποιεῖ. CF. Ar.
Poet. 6. 1450b 1 παραπλήσιον γάρ ἐστιν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γραφικῆς" εἰ γάρ τις
ἐναλείψειε τοῖς καλλίστοις φαρμάκοις χύδην, οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως εὐφράνειεν καὶ
λευκογραφήσας εἰκόνα. Stob. Flor. 14. 24 (Socrates) ἔοικεν 7 κολακεία
γραπτῆι πανοπλίαι. διὸ τέρψιν μὲν ἔχει, χρείαν δὲ οὐδέμιαν παρέχεται This
train of thought led Greeks to the conclusion μὴ φῦναι ἄριστον, and the
chorus in Soph. O. C. 1211 ff. is only a versification of an ancient and
familiar commonplace. ‘Thus we have τὰ τέρποντα δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἴδοις ὅπου,
and in Pind. P. viii. 88 ἐπάμεροι" τί δέ τις, τί δ᾽ οὔ τις; σκιᾶς ὄναρ
ἄνθρωπος (an hyperbole like εἴδωλον σκιᾶς, καπνοῦ σκιά) is led up to by
the reflection ἐν δ᾽ ὀλίγωι τὸ τερπνὸν αὔξεται, οὕτω δὲ Kai πίτνει χαμαί.
Pleasure is like the grass that withereth and the flower that fadeth;
τοῖς ἴκελοι πήχυιον ἐπὶ χρόνον ἄνθεσιν ἥβης τερπόμεθα, Mimnermus
(fr. 2) says.

εὐτυχοῦντα μέν applies to Agamemnon’s fortunes, εἰ δὲ δυστυχοῖ to
Cassandra’s: κυριώτερα δ᾽ ἐν οἴκτωι τὰ τῆς Κασάνδρας, says Philostratus,

248 NOTES

Zmag. Kacavdpa, and that is what Aeschylus takes care to stress. But
it is hardly for Cassandra to pronounce that her own case is far more
pitiable than Agamemnon’s; and I think with Weil that this final
comment is as usual by the Chorus: ‘vaticinatur Cassandra, non
philosophatur.’ For the opposition of the μέν- and d¢-clauses, expressing
the contrast of the bad to the worse, cf. Zhed. 172 κρατοῦσα μὲν yap οὐχ
ὁμιλητὸν θράσος, δείσασα δ᾽ οἴκωι καὶ πόλει πλέον κακόν. Achill. Tat. i. 7
πονηρὸν μὲν γὰρ γυνή, κἂν εὔμορῴφος ἦι: ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἀμορφίαν δυστυχῆι,
διπλοῦν τὸ κακόν. Lucian ili. 232 ποθεινὴ μὲν οὖν καὶ νέοις πατρίς" τοῖς
δὲ ἤδη γεγηρακόσι πλείων ἐγγίνεται ὃ πόθος. Cho. 740 ὥς μοι τὰ μὲν
παλαιὰ... ἤλγυνεν ἐν στέρνοις φρένα, ἀλλ᾽ οὔτι πω τοιόνδε πῆμ᾽ ἀνεσχόμην.
For the pity which is due to Cassandra cf. Antiphanes ap. Stob. 4».
97. 1 καλῶς πένεσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ πλουτεῖν KaKds: TO μὲν yap ἔλεον TO δ᾽
ἐπιτίμησιν φέρει.

1330. ἀκόρεστον. So it is said of Wealth in Ar. Plut. 188 ὥστ᾽
οὐδὲ μεστὸς σοῦ γέγον᾽ οὐδεὶς πώποτε. τῶν μὲν yap ἄλλων ἐστὶ πάντων
πλησμονή κτέ.

1331. δακτυλοδείκτων, that is, ‘admired and gorgeous palaces,’ show
places.

1333. μηκέτ᾽ ἐσέλθηις. The ensvance of Wealth into men’s houses is
described in Ar. Plut. 234—244.

1339. ἐπικρανεῖ; so the MSS., and the future is the natural tense
here, but it is hardly credible that it could be scanned ἐπικρᾶνεῖ, and a
paroemiac at this point is unusual. Perhaps ἐπικράνειεν ‘should he
complete....’

1340. τίς ἂν --οὐκ-- εὔξαιτο Canter, but the sense required is ‘ who
can boast that his lot is free from harm?’ (cf. Menand. 355 οὐδ᾽ ἔστιν
εἰπεῖν ζῶντα “ ταῦτ᾽ οὐ πείσομαι᾽). τίς av <ovv> Porson, but οὖν cannot
stand so tz apodost. τίς τἂν Weil, τίς -ποτ᾽- ἂν E. A. Ahrens, τίς
«- τίν᾽ -. ἂν Verrall, ait alia, all but Schneidewin retaining εὔξαιτο. This
cannot be. τίς ἂν εὔξαιτο; has only one meaning in Greek, ‘who would
wish?’ (eg. Antiphon 6. 1 εὐχόμενος av tis ταῦτα εὔξαιτο, Dem. in
Hermog. Rhet. p. 179 εἶτα ἃ Φίλιππος εὔξαιτ᾽ ἂν τοῖς θεοῖς, ταῦτα ὑμῶν
ἐνθάδε ποιοῦσιν). In ordinary language it is very common, e.g. Isocr.
3. τό καίτοι τίς οὐκ ἂν εὔξαιτο τῶν εὖ φρονούντων τοιαύτης πολιτείας
μετέχειν...; (where G has δέξαιτο which is equally common, but means
‘be content to’), Ar. Ran. 283 ἐγὼ δέ γ᾽ εὐξαίμην ἂν... and occurs also
in Soph. fr. 327 οὔτε yap γάμον, ὦ φίλαι, οὔτ᾽ av ὄλβον ἔκμετρον ἔνδον
εὐξαίμαν ἔχειν: φθονεραὶ γὰρ ὁδοί. I thought once of τίς ἂν αὐχήσειε,
but though Hesych. gives αὐχέω : εὔχομαι, that is the only place I have
ever found it so explained, and probably the true reading is Schneidewin’s

rejected ἐξεύξαιτο.

dale. αὐ τῳ,

;
'

NOTES 240

1346. εὖ πως: seecr.n. Cf. Eur. Phoen. 1466 εὖ δέ πως προμηθίαι
καθῆστο Κάδμου λαὸς ἀσπίδων ἔπι. The converse error occurred in v. 557.

1355. Μελλοῦς. The word should be written so, not μελλοῦς, to
indicate that it is a personification or idealisation of a quality. These
were formed in Greek as easily by a termination in ὦ as in English by
a capital letter. Tryphon (Mus. Crit. i. 49), quoting this word as an
example of ὀνοματοποιΐα κατὰ παρονομασίαν, gives ...τῆς Μελλοῦς χάριν
no doubt by defect of memory. ‘The phrase τῆς Μελλοῦς κλέος gives
me the impression that it refers to some proverbial commendation of
Deliberation, and in this I am supported by an epigram of Antiphilus
A. P. xvi. 136 “᾿Αρκεῖ δ᾽ ἃ μέλλησις (/ntention) ἔφα σοφός. ‘This may
have been the very proverb, from an early gnomic poet. ‘They, the
speaker ironically remarks, are paying singularly little respect to
‘that same lauded name’? Delay. Cf. Eur. 7 7: 905 ὅπως τὸ κλεινὸν
ὄνομα τῆς σωτηρίας λαβόντες κτὲ., Ov. Trist i. 8. 15 elud amicttiae
sanctum et uenerabile nomen | re tibi pro uili est sub pedibusque tacet.

1373 f. φίλοις δοκοῦσιν εἶναι, ‘passing as beloved,’ and therefore to
be treated with dissimulation.—See cr. nn. The corrections assume
that the scribe took ἀρκυσταταν to be an adjective and altered πημονῆς
accordingly.

1379. I formerly punctuated after τάδε (C. RX. xil. 247), joining it
with ἔπραξα : but there is no need for the pronoun to be emphatic

1382. πλοῦτον εἵματος κακόν is taken to be merely a fine phrase for
abundance of material; surely it implies that the silver-purchased
raiment which he trampled in his pride of wealth has now itself, as it
were, become the instrument of his undoing, changed into the net of
Ate. See vv. 383, 940, 951, 1580.

1385 f. τρίτην ἐπενδίδωμι xré. The third libation was offered to
Ζεὺς Σωτήρ: Aesch. fr. 55 τρίτον Διὸς Σωτῆρος εὐκταίαν λίβα. See also
note on ν. 257 τριτόσπονδον παιᾶνα and cf. 650 παιᾶνα τόνδ᾽ ᾿Βρινύων.
‘My third blow was added as a prayer-offering to the subterranean
Zeus’—as Hades may be called, for in the Underworld his position
corresponds to that of Zeus among the Olympian powers above; and
so in Supp. 160 ff. the Danaids from Egypt say, ‘If Zeus Petitionary
will not hear our prayer, our swarthy company will perish by the noose
and make their supplication to the dark Zeus of the Earth, that Zeus
most Hospitable—to all that seek rest from their labours with him,
who grants entertainment freely to the dead,’ τὸν yaioy, τὸν πολυξενώτατον
Ζῆνα τῶν κεκμηκότων, where the schol. has τὸν καταχθόνιον “Αιδην.

There is something of the same irony in the words σωιζέσθω κάτω in
Soph. £7 438 and σωιζόντων κάτω Az. 660: and there is a precisely
similar implication in the mention of a third libation in Cho. 576

250 NOTES

φόνου δ᾽ ᾿Βρινὺς οὐχ ὑπεσπανισμένη ἄκρατον αἷμα πίεται τρίτην πόσιν,
Ze. ‘as her third and crowning draught.’

1390 f. recall Hom. W 597 τοῖο δὲ θυμὸς | ἰάνθη, ws εἴ τε περὶ
σταχύεσσιν ἐέρσηι | ληίου ἀλδήσκοντος, ὅτε φρίσσουσιν ἄρουραι, ‘His
heart was gladdened as the heart of growing corn is gladdened with the
dew upon the ears when the fields are bristling’ (Leaf).

1394 ff. πρεπόντων was formerly taken as a partitive genitive with
ἦν (as though=€y τῶν 7.) ‘had it been among things: fitting,’ and
Wecklein still takes it so. But Wellauer and Blomfield truly observed
that in such phrases the article is used; we must have had τῶν π.
Dr Verrall accordingly takes it as a genitive absolute ‘under fit
circumstances, with good cause,’ interpreting ‘ Could there be a fit case
for a libation over the dead, justly and more than justly this would be
that case.’ ‘The natural construction, as van Heusde saw, is πρεπόντων
ἐπισπένδειν, ‘to pour a libation of what is fit,’ σπένδειν being often used
with a genitive, e.g. Longus ii. 31 ἐπισπείσαντες οἴνου, 22, iii. 12.
Philostr. Afoll. v. 15, Epist. 39 οὐκ οἴνου σπένδοντες αὐτῶι ἀλλὰ δακρύων.
Heliod. vil. 15 ἀποσπένδω τῶν ἐμαυτῆς δακρύων, iv. 16. Plut. Mor. 655 E
Herodian v. 5. 12. In the sense ‘it is possible to,’ ἔστιν wate is
common enough: sup. 389 ἔστω δ᾽ ἀπήμαντον wor ἀπαρκεῖν εὖ πρα-
πίδων λαχόντα, Soph. Phil. 656, Eur. Hipp. 701 ἀλλ᾽ ἔστι κἀκ τῶνδ᾽ ὥστε
σωθῆναι. ἐπισπένδειν is properly used of pouring ἃ libation upon a
sacrifice: Hdt. i. 39 ἔπειτα δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ (the altar) οἶνον κατὰ τοῦ ἱρηίου
ἐπισπ., AS ἵν. 62 ἐπεὰν γὰρ οἶνον ἐπισπείσωσι κατὰ τῶν κεφαλέων, iv. 60,
vil. 167. Nicand. Thyat. (Ath. 486 a), Plut. Rom. 4, Xen. Ephes. i. 5.
Here the whole point lies in πρεπόντων, for of course, to pour libations
on a corpse was to give him the due rite of burial: Axth. Append.
Cougny 11. 485, Nicet. Eugen. ix. 4 τὸ σῶμα συγκαίουσιν, Ελλήνων νόμωι,
χοὰς ἐπισπείσαντες. By τάδε, which is explained by rocdvée...épacwv in
the following lines, Clytaemnestra means that the proper libations for
Agamemnon would be taken from the dpata κακά (that is, βλαβερά) that
he has himself inflicted on his own house. Such metaphors from
libations are common in later Greek and Latin; e.g. in Achilles Tatius,

16, a lover about to cut his throat upon his mistress’ grave says λαβὲ
οὖν, Λευκίππη, τὰς πρεπούσας σοι χοὰς παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ.

1400. πειρᾶσθε κτέ. may be a reminiscence of Hector’s words to
Ajax in Hom. H 235 μήτι pev, ἠΐτε παιδὸς ἀφαυροῦ πειρήτιζε | ἠὲ
γυναικός, ἢ οὐκ oldev πολεμήϊα ἔργα᾽ | αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ εὖ οἶδα μάχας τ᾽
ἀνδροκτασίας τε.

1406 f. τί κακὸν... .χθονοτρεφὲς ἐδανὸν ἢ ποτὸν... .ῥυτᾶς ἐξ ἁλὸς ὄρμενον ;
‘what φάρμακον, solid or liquid?’ Hom. A 741 ἣ τόσα φάρμακα ἤδη
ὅσα τρέφει εὐρεῖα χθών. Apoll. Rhod. ii. 530 φάρμαχ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἠπειρός τε

NOTES 251

φύει καὶ νήχυτον ὕδωρ. Longus il. 7 οὐδὲν φάρμακον, ov πινόμενον, οὐκ
ἐσθιόμενον, οὐκ ἐν ὠιδαῖς λαλούμενον. P. V. 495 οὐκ ἦν ἀλέξημ᾽ οὐδὲν οὔτε
βρώσιμον, οὐ χριστὸν οὐδὲ πιστόν. Eur. Supp. 1110 βρωτοῖσι καὶ ποτοῖσι.
Ov. Fast. v. 243 omnia temptabo latis medicamina terris et freta Tartareos
excutiamgue sinus.

1409. τόδ᾽ ἐπέθου Bios δημοθρόους τ᾽ ἀράς; I take this to mean τόδε
λεύσιμον θῦμα (ν. 1107). Other views are that θύος here means ‘frenzy,’
either ‘this maddened rage of thine’ or ‘this fury of the clamouring
people.’

1418. See cr. ἢ. Perhaps we should read Θρηικίων γ᾽ ἀημάτων:
but τε may have been merely a metrical addition, after the corruption
of A to A.

1423. ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων, ‘conditions equal.’ So Plat. Phaedr. 243 D
συμβουλεύω δὲ καὶ Λυσίαι ὅτι τάχιστα γράψαι ws χρὴ ἐραστῆι μᾶλλον ἢ μὴ
ἐρῶντι ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων χαρίζεσθαι, where the phrase is equivalent to ceferts
paribus.

1429. λίπος ἐπ᾽ ὀμμάτων αἵματος εὖ πρέπειν : the eye shows the heart
(see nn. on 283, 784 ff., 1 Samuel 16. 7 But the Lord said unto Samuel,
Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature). Therefore
bloody heart should have a bloody eye to match. The blood will
come from public stoning.

1432. καὶ τήνδ᾽ ἀκούεις ὁρκίων ἐμῶν θέμιν can hardly be correct, for
ἀκούεις would mean ‘you hear,’ ‘you have heard now’: it is after the
law has been recited that the orator says ἀκούεις τὸν νόμον, and the
same is the case invariably with ἀκούεις or κλύεις. Greek would be καὶ
τήνδ᾽ ἄκουσον (Casaubon), as Cho. 498, or ἀκουέ γ᾽ (Herwerden), or as
I suggest ἀκούσηι γ᾽, Hum. 306, Soph. Az. 1141.

1435. οὔ μοι Φόβου μέλαθρον ᾿Εἰλπὶς ἐμπατεῖ, ‘my confident spirit sets
no foot within the house of Fear.’ For the metaphor cf. Ecclesiastes
7. 4 ‘The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart
of fools is in the house of mirth.’ [Quint. xiv. 168 ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν που
πάντα μέλας δόμος ἐντὸς ἐέργει λήθης.) μέλαθρον is used in the singular
of the cave οἵ Philoctetes (Soph. PAz?/. 1453), and of the temple of
Artemis (Eur. 7. 7; 1216). For the combination of φόβος and ἐλπίς
see Thuc. vil. 61 οἱ τοῖς πρώτοις ἀγῶσι σφαλέντες ἔπειτα διὰ παντὸς τὴν
ἐλπίδα τοῦ φόβου ὁμοίαν ταῖς ξυμφοραῖς ἔχουσιν.

1437. εὖ φρονῶν ἐμοί: ‘sympathetic’ is the nearest equivalent, as
in other places, 4.9. sup. 283, Cho. 770.

1439 ff. This is the scene that Cassandra foretells in Lycophron,
1108:

ἐγὼ δὲ δροίτης ἄγχι κείσομαι πέδωι
Χαλυβδικῶι κνώδοντι συντεθραυσμένη"

to
tS

NOTES

, x Ν
ἐπεί με, πεύκης πρέμνον ἢ στύπος δρυὸς
¢ ’
ὅπως τις ὑλοκουρὸς ἐργάτης ὀρεύς,
$e ,
ῥήξει πλατὺν τένοντα Kal μετάφρενον

᾿ a ’ 2 93 A κ᾿ ΄
καὶ πᾶν λακίζουσ᾽ ἐν φοναῖς ψυχρὸν δέμας
ἊΝ , a >
δράκαινα διψάς, κἀπιβᾶσ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐχένος
f ἢ χέρος,

, , Ν » ’ ~

πλήσει γέμοντα θυμὸν ἀγρίας χολῆς,
« , > ‘J , ,
ws κλεψίνυμφον Kov δορίκτητον γέρας
δ. > ΄, ,
δύσζηλος ἀστέμβακτα τιμωρουμένη.

κεῖται in this sense often begins a sentence: Hom. E 467, Π 541, 558,
Σ 20 κεῖται Πάτροκλος. Theb. 779 πέπτωκεν ἀνδρῶν ὀβρίμων κομπάσματα.

A. P. xii. 48 κεῖμαι: λὰξ ἐπίβαινε κατ᾽ αὐχένος.

1445 ff. ἣ δέ τοι...
κεῖται, φιλήτωρ todd’: ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπήγαγεν,
εὐνῆς παροψώνημα τῆς ἐμῆς, χλιδήν.

The antithetical sentence (shaped in the figure called Chiasmus) puts
in a brief and telling way the relations of Cassandra to Agamemnon
and to Clytaemnestra, and the results of them in each case: ‘she was
the lover of /zm,—and is laid low by his side; she dared to trespass on
the rights of marriage that were mze,—and all that she has thereby
brought to me is the delight of triumph.’

By the words φιλήτωρ τοῦδε she implies at least two things: that
Cassandra had chosen to side with Agamemnon against herself; and
that she now lies, as a lover should, beside him. Hereafter she herself
and Aegisthus are to fall, as Cassandra had foretold, woman for woman,
man for man (v. 1317); and in Cho. 893 Orestes says to her φιλεῖς τὸν
ἄνδρα; τοιγὰρ ἐν ταὐτῶι τάφωι κείση. Perhaps by the active word she
wishes to imply that the woman was the seducer ; in Sen. Agam. 1oo1
she says:

at Τρία poenas capite persoluet suo,
captiua coniunx, regit paelex tort.
trahite, ut seqguatur contugem ereptum mihi,

‘that she may follow the husband she has stolen from me.’ The
associations of the word are likely to have lent a special sting to it; the
Cretans, says Strabo 484, τὸν μὲν ἐρώμενον καλοῦσι κλεινόν, τὸν δ᾽ ἐραστὴν
φιλήτορα. Hesych. gives φιλήτωρ: ἐραστής, and Nonnus uses it as an
adjective, ‘loving’: Dion. xxi. 27 φιλήτορι κόλπωι, Joan. xviil. 55
᾿Ιησοῦς δ᾽ ἀνέκοψε φιλήτορι Πέτρον ἰωῆι. ---παροψίς or παροψώνημα mean a
trivial extra morsel, Pollux x. 87 τὰς δὲ παροψίδας...ἐπὶ μάζης ἢ ζωμοῦ
τινος ἢ ἐδέσματος εὐτελοῦς ὃ ἔστι παροψήσασθαι, V1. 56 παροψίδα- ἔστι δὲ
καὶ τοῦτο ζωμοῦ τι εἶδος, ἢ ὡς τινές, μάζης, ἢ παρενθήκη τις ὄψου, ὃ οἱ νῦν
ἂν εἴποιεν παροψημάτιον. And when used metaphorically they were a

en nS, NN

NOTES 253

synonym for a πάρεργον, as opposed to an ἔργον or σπούδασμα (Galen
i. 227 ἔργον δ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐστὶ καὶ σπούδασμα.... Plat. Euthydem. 273 D
“Οὔτοι ἔτι ταῦτα σπουδάζομεν, ἀλλὰ παρέργοις αὐτοῖς χρώμεθα..."
“Καλὸν ἄν τι τό γ᾽ ἔργον ὑμῶν εἴη, εἰ τηλικαῦτα πράγματα πάρεργα ὑμῖν
τυγχάνει ὄντα: Sotades (Ath. 568 4) παροψὶς εἶναι φαίνομαι τῶι
Κρωβύλωι: τοῦτον μασᾶται, παρακατεσθίει δ᾽ ἐμέ. Magnes (2). 367 f) καὶ
ταῦτα μέν μοι τῶν κακῶν παροψίδες. Philostr. Heroic. 284 -- 662 φυτεύω
δὲ αὐτὰ (these other fruits) οἷον παροψήματα τῶν ἀμπέλων. Clem. Alex.
695 καὶ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ἐφάπτεται φιλοσοφίας οἷα τρωγάλιόν τι ἐπὶ τῶι
δείπνωι παροψώμενος. Himerius Or. xiv. 24 τοὺς δὲ Πύρρωνος τρόπους καὶ
τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἔριν οὐχ ὡς μέγα σπούδασμα οἷον δέ τι παρόψημα τῆς ἄλλης
φιλοσοφίας.

Metaphorically, therefore, these words mean a mere slight toy or by-
play beside the serious business or main action; and thus παροψίς is
applied in Aristophanes Aad. fr. 236 to a married woman’s lover:
πάσαις γυναιξὶν ἐξ ἑνός γέ Tov τρόπου ὥσπερ παροψὶς μοιχὸς ἐσκευασμένος.
It is in precisely the same way that εὐνῆς παροψώνημα τῆς ἐμῆς is applied
by Clytaemnestra to her husband’s paramour.

The metaphorical meaning of these words has not been grasped ;
παροψώνημα here has hitherto been taken as though it were ἥδυσμα, a
seasoning to enhance the appetite, εὐνῆς παροψώνημα something that
gives a zest and gusto to the pleasures of the bed; and the usual
interpretation has represented Clytaemnestra as proclaiming to the
public, ‘Cassandra by her death has added a relish to the enjoyment
of my commerce with Aegisthus.’ How that would be possible is not
easy to imagine; still less easy to imagine any woman making such a
profession. ἐπάγειν is used by Pindar thus, like ἐπιδοῦναι : P. vill. 64 to
Apollo, τὸ μὲν μέγιστον τόθι χαρμάτων ὦπασας, οἴκοι δὲ πρόσθεν ἁρπαλέαν
δόσιν... ἐπάγαγες : cf. O. ii. 10, 41, Soph. Az 1189. The phrase εὐνῆς
παροψώνημα τῆς ἐμῆς is not the accusative and object to ἐπήγαγεν, but
the nominative and subject of it—or better, perhaps, it is in apposition
to the previous nominative 7 δέ τοι. It follows that the object must be
χλιδήν: 566 cr. ἢ. The schol. has τὴν ἐκ περιουσίας τρυφήν, which
Blomfield took to be an explanation of παροψώνημα merely. It must
have included χλιδῆς, for of that word τρυφή is the grammarians’ regular
equivalent (see Ruhnken Zim. 276 = 230, Moeris 408 = 370): thus (to
quote passages some of which will at the same time illustrate the sense
of luxuriating triumph) Aesch. Supp. 925 Ἕλλησιν ἐγχλίεις, 242 χλίοντα,
schol. τρυφώντα, Cho. 137 év...7dvoit χλίουσιν, schol. τρυφῶσιν. Hesych.
ἐγχλίει : ἐντρυφᾶι. χλίει: θρύπτει, P. V. 1003 χλιδᾶν ἔοικας τοῖς παροῦσι
πράγμασι, schol. τρυφᾶν, ἀνίεσθαι. Soph. Trach. 281 ὑπερχλίοντες, schol.
ὑπερεντρυφήσαντες.

1451. φέρουσ᾽ ὁμιλεῖν (see cr. n.) is exactly like Soph. Az. 1201

254 NOTES

νεῖμεν ἐμοὶ τέρψιν ὁμιλεῖν: cf. Pind. MV. x. 72 χαλεπὰ δ᾽ ἔρις ἀνθρώποις
ὁμιλεῖν. κρεσσόνων, 7. il. 37 αἰδοῖος μὲν ἦν ἀστοῖς ὁμιλεῖν.

1456. παράνους. Cf. Eur. Orv. 79 (Helen speaks) ἔπλευσα θεομανεῖ
πότμωι, Theb. 640 ὦ θεομανές... Οἰδίπου γένος, ib. 741 παράνοια συνᾶγε
νυμφίους φρενώλεις.

1461. εἴ τις ἦν mor’: see cr.n. This use of εἴ τις is not so well
recognised as it should be; it means ‘aay that there may be, ‘some or
other, and is declinable, as in the other well-known use πλούτωι
σθένοντος εἴ twos. I believe it should be read with Elmsley in Soph.
At. 179 ἢ χαλκοθώραξ εἴ tw’ ᾿Πνυάλιος μομφὰν ἔχων ‘some complaint or
other, ‘possibly, ‘perchance, for ἤ tw’, and in Aesch. Cho. 752 with
Buttmann (Grech. Sprachl. i. 142) εἰ λιμὸς ἢ δίψ᾽ εἴ τις ἢ λιψουρία ἔχει
‘or thirst, may be’ (like ἢν τύχηι, εἰ τύχοι, τυχόν, si forte Munro on
Lucr. v. 720) for δίψη τις. Exactly similar is the use of εἴ ποθι in
At. 885 εἴ ποθι πλαζόμενον λεύσσων, and of εἴ ποθεν in Philoct. 1204
ξίφος εἴ ποθεν ἢ γένυν ἢ βελέων τι προπέμψατε. It should be considered
whether 770. 705 ἵν᾿ εἴ ποτε ἐκ σοῦ γενόμενοι παῖδες Ἴλιον πόλιν κατοι-
κίσειαν May not be explained in the same way.

1463 ff. ἐπεύχονυ.... ἐκτρέψηις : for the change from present to aorist in
prohibitions cf. szp. gog ff. For the distinction in meaning see C. 2.
RIX. | P4130:

1465. ἐκτρέψηις : for illustrations of this word see Ox editing
Aeschylus, p. 100.

1468. ἀξύστατον ἄλγος, wulnus tncompositum, ‘a hurt unhealable’ ;
referring to their description of Helen as ἐν δόμοις ἔρις ἐρίδματος.

1471 f. κράτος τ᾽ ἰσόψυχον ἐκ γυναικῶν κρατύνεις : Helen and Cly-
taemnestra are both instruments to execute the purpose of the haunting
Spirit. Schol. Κλυταιμνήστραν καὶ Ῥλένην λέγει, αἱ κατὰ φαυλότητα ἴσας
τὰς ψυχὰς ἔχουσι. ‘The infatuation of the daughters of Tyndareus was
an old tradition: see Hom. A 436—9, Eur. £7. 1062 τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἶδος
αἶνον ἄξιον φέρει | “EAévys τε καὶ σοῦ, δύο δ᾽ ἔφυτε συγγόνω, | ἄμφω ματαίω
Κάστορός 7 οὐκ ἀξίω. | ἣ μὲν γὰρ ἁρπασθεῖσ᾽ ἑκοῦσ᾽ ἀπώιχετο, | σὺ δ᾽ ἀνδρ᾽
ἄριστον Ἑλλάδος διώλεσας. Similarly in Ovest. 249 ἐπίσημον ἔτεκε
Τυνδάρεως εἰς τὸν ψόγον γένος θυγατέρων δυσκλεές τ᾽ ἀν᾽ ᾿λλάδα, where
we learn from the scholiast that Hesiod (fr. 117) had said that both she
and Helen (and Timandra, a third sister,) had received from Aphrodite
the gift of beauty but the curse of ill-fame with it; all deserted their
husbands: τῆισιν δὲ φιλομμειδὴς ᾿Α φροδίτη | ἠγάσθη προσιδοῦσα, κακὴν δέ
σφιν ἔμβαλε φήμην, Τιμάνδρη μὲν ἐπειτ᾽ “Exenov προλιποῦσ᾽ ἐβεβήκει, |
ἵκετο δ᾽ ἐς Φυλῆα, φίλον μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν: ὡς δὲ Κλυταιμνήστρη προ-
λιποῦσ’ ᾿Αγαμέμνονα δῖον | Αἰγίσθωι παρέλεκτο καὶ εἵλετο χείρον᾽ ἀκοίτην" |
ὡς δ᾽ Ἑλένη ἤισχυνε λέχος ξανθοῦ Μενελάου. This was followed by
Stesichorus (fr. 26) who assigned a reason for the curse:

NO 7: γῶ "ἡ

N

οὕνεκα Τυνδάρεως ῥέζων ποτὲ πᾶσι θεοῖς
/ ‘ > > ΔΑ.
μούνας λάθετ᾽ ἠπιοδώρω
;
Κύπριδος κείνα δὲ Τυνδάρεω κόραις
, , ,ὔ
χολωσαμένα διγάμους τε καὶ τριγάμους τίθησιν
καὶ λιπεσάνορας.

Nicolaus in Walz, Pet. i. 385 makes Agamemnon, when struck down,
exclaim: ws ἐπὶ δυστυχίαι τῶν ᾿Ατρειδῶν κατέστη πατὴρ ὃ Tivdapos
ἑκατέραις γοναῖς ταῖς ᾿Ατρέως ἐπὶ συμφοραῖς. καὶ πλεῖ μὲν δι ἱθλένην
Μενέλαος, ἐγὼ δὲ διὰ Κλυταιμνήστραν ἀνήιρημαι: Μενέλαος μὲν ᾿ϑλένην τῆς
“Βλλάδος ἀλλοτριοῖ, Κλυταιμνήστρα δὲ τοῦ βιώναι (τῶν βίων MS.) ἐμέ" καὶ
κακοπραγοῦμεν δι ἑκατέρας ἀμφότεροι.

1474f. The ending of these two lines is doubtful: see cr.n. But,
if the two words required are ἐκνόμοις and νόμοις (like νόμον ἄνομον 1137),
it is plain how easily νόμοις might be omitted; and the omission would
lead naturally to writing ἐκνόμως.

1476. νῦν in the sense of ‘now at last,’ and not viv δ᾽ (see cr. n.),
is required. Cf. Ar. Hel. 204 νῦν καλῶς ἐπήινεσας, Plat. Gorg. 452 E
νῦν μοι δοκεῖς δηλῶσαι xré. Similarly in Theocr. 1. 132 νῦν ta μὲν φορέοιτε
βάτοι several copies have viv δ᾽.

1480. νειριτροφεῖτα. The MSS. reading may be, I think, a
corruption of a compound νειριτροφεῖται, like σκιατροφεῖσθαι: cf.
νυκτηγορεῖσθαι Theb. 29. ‘To write it as we find it would be the natural
tendency of a copyist; thus we get in MSS. ἄγει κνήμων schol. Pind.
p. 312 (fr. 82) for ἀγχίκρημνον, ὀνήσει πόλιν Simonides in Plat. Prot.
346 c for ὀνησίπολιν, κάμψει δίαυλον ‘Telestes in Ath. 637 ἃ for
καμψιδίαυλον ; while for the strengthened form of the verb they tend to
write the simple form ; thus (to take a case in which this often happens)
in Eur. fr. 1063. 5 for ἀναστρωφωμένη (Gesner) the MSS. of Stobaeus
and Choricius vary between ἀναστροφωμένη and ἀναστρεφομένη.

The form might also be νειριτραφεῖται, as σκιατραφεῖται. ‘This word
too supplies an example of the tendency to break up compounds: in
Stob. Mor. 97. 17 (Eur. fr. 546. 8) there is a v.2, σκιᾶ τροφούμενος.

1481. νέος txap ‘fresh in appetite’ (τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν). ἶχαρ is to
ixavaw as phxap to pyxavaw, Adpap to λωφάω, μῶμαρ to μωμάομαι,
λῦμαρ to λυμαίνομαι. There is no such word as tyap (Dind. Lex. Aesch.);
Supp. 863 is corrupt. The intestine murders in the House that follow
in such swift succession are conceived as wounds made by a devouring
monster, whose thirst for blood revives again before the last wound has
had time to heal. ἰχώρ of the MSS. is taken to mean ‘gore, bloodshed’—
a sense incredible. Its proper sense is a humour, lymph, serum ; never
blood, that it should be extended (like αἷμα) to mean a deed of blood.
And the phrase should naturally be a further account of ἔρως.

256 NOTES

1482. τοῖσδε is probably a gloss: cf. 1657. Perhaps we should
read ἢ μέγαν <7) μέγαν: οἴκοις with Weil: see on 1506.

1488. ἄνευ Διὸς : Soph. Zrach. 1278 κοὐδὲν τούτων 6 τι μὴ Leds.

1506. The addition of σὺ after εἶ for metrical reasons was first
suggested by Schuetz. Perhaps ἦσθα or αὐτὰ should take the place of
i: see on 1482.

1508. πῶ πῶ; is Doric. Cf. πώμαλα, not at all. [See Shilleto
cr. ἢ. to Dem. & Z. ὃ 56.] πόθεν and ποῦ are used with the same
force—‘ go to!’

1510 ff. βιάζεται δ᾽... The blood of the slain children of Thyestes
lies congealed upon the earth (μελαμπαγὲς αἷμα φοίνιον Theb. 724),
demanding vengeance (ritas φόνος πέπηγεν οὐ διαρρύδαν Cho. 65), and is
not to be washed away until sufficient blood of kindred has been shed
by murder to atone for it: φόνωι φόνον λύειν is the principle. Soph.
El. 1384 ἴδεθ᾽ ὅπου προνέμεται | τὸ δυσέριστον αἷμα φυσῶν "Ἄρης. Eur.

ε

Or. 811 πάλαι παλαιᾶς ἀπὸ συμφορᾶς δόμων | ὁπότε χρυσέας | ἔρις ἀρνὸς
ἤλυθε Τανταλίδαις, οἰκτρότατα θοινάματα καὶ | σφάγια γενναίων τεκέων" |
ὅθεν φόνωι φόνος ἐξαμείβων | δι᾿ αἵματος οὐ προλείπει | δισσοῖσιν ᾿Ατρείδαις.
Ἄρης πάχναι κουροβόρωι (φόνου) δίκας παρέχων, feud-murder serving as
the price for bloodshed, is just like ἀρὴ ἀτολμήτων ἐκτίνουσα in ν. 385,
havoc and destruction paying the penalty for sin.

1524. She takes up their words δολίων μόρωι with the retort οὐδὲ
γὰρ οὗτος δολίαν ἄτην οἴκοισιν ἔθηκ᾽; An ellipse such as is implied here
by yap was often explained by scholiasts, see e.g. scholia on P. V. 1015,
Pers. 237, Eur. Or. 794, Ar. ub. 1366: and the explanation was
liable to be incorporated in the text, as οὐκέτι in Rhesus 17. Cobet,
Misc. Crit. p. 323, condemns Hom. « 190 on similar grounds. So here
the lines which precede οὐδὲ γάρ were a scholiast’s explanation, οὔτ᾽
ἀνελεύθερον οἶμαι θάνατον τῶιδε γενέσθαι.

1527. Porson on A/ed. 822 (826) restored πολυκλαύτην on the
ground that the less common form of the feminine is liable to corruption,
and that τ᾿ was a subsequent addition. Meineke rejected τὴν, which
he thought to have been inserted with the object of avoiding a
paroemiac. Errors due to the last-named cause will also be found in
87, 783 (προσεφικνεῖται h), and 791.

1528. ἄξια δράσας ἄξια πάσχων corresponds to ἀξ ἀξίων, digna
dignis, a common use. [Eur. Supp. 813 σφαγέντας οὐκ ἀξ οὐκ ὑπ᾽
ἀξίων, Lon 735 ἀξι᾿ ἀξίων γεννητόρων ἤθη φυλάσσεις.

1531. ἔρξεν, ‘what he wrought’ (see cr. n.), is equally possible.
Hom. TP 351 Ζεῦ ava, δὸς τείσασθαι 6 με πρότερος κάκ᾽ ἔοργεν.

1532 ff. ‘The construction is εὐπάλαμον φροντίδος μέριμναν στερηθείς,
ἀμηχανῶ drat τράπωμαι. So Soph. O. 7. 170 οὐδ᾽ ἔνι φροντίδος ἔγχος ὧι

NOTES 257

τις ἀλέξεται, Opp. Hal. iil. 571 οὐδέ οἱ ὅπλον ἐνὶ φρεσὶν οἷον ἄρηρεν ἐκ
γενύων. “1 find in thought no ready weapon to my hand and know not
where to turn.’

1536. ψεκὰς δὲ λήγει: ‘it is no longer early drizzle.’ The phrase is
based upon the word ἀσταγές or ἀστακτί ‘in torrents’: ἀψεκαστί might
have been used in the same sense.

1537 f. ‘Yet there are other whetstones whereon destined hurt is
being whetted for the hand of Justice to another end.’ In Cho. 643
Δίκας δ᾽ ἐρείδεται πυθμήν, προχαλκεύει δ᾽ Αἶσα φασγανουργός Destiny is
the armourer who forges the weapon for Justice to employ, and here,
with language very similar, we expect to find the same image. It
seems probable, therefore, that Triclinius was correct in writing δίκαι,
which will mean ‘for the hand of Justice.’ In face of Atoa it would be
rash to alter μοῖρα; otherwise, modifying a suggestion by Prof.
Robinson Ellis, we might perhaps read θήγεται... θηγάναισιν aipa :—
supposing that could mean a chopping instrument requiring to be
sharpened. It is usually explained by σφῦρα, and in a fragment of
Callimachus, the only place where it occurs in literature, aipawy ἔργα
stands for ‘blacksmith’s work.’ Hesychius, however, and Bekk. Anecd.
359. 19 give aipa: σφῦρα. ἀξίνη: and might not pay-aypa mean
originally a da¢t/e-axe? But one of the sign-posts to the sentence is the
genitive βλάβης, which according to my ear should be dependent
neither on πρᾶγμα nor on θηγάναις but on the final substantive, θήγεται
βλάβης μοῖρα, as you have θανάτου μοῖρα (Pers. 910, sup. 1463). The
only other possibility I see is that βλάβης is an error for an accusative,
θηγάνει βλάβας or βλάβην. The θηγάναι are the incentives urging
Orestes to revenge.

1546. ἀδίκως, dishonestly, like δίκην παράβαντες in v. 780. Cf.
Schol. on Soph. ZZ. 270 σπένδοντα λοιβάς: τὸ τῆς ἀσεβείας Αἰγίσθου
κατηγόρημα, εἰ σπένδει θεοῖς, ὅπου ἄδικος φόνος εἴργασται.

1547. τίς δ᾽ ἐπιτύμβιος κτὲ.: 2.6. and if you do, what praise of yours
could be genuine? ἰάπτων is intransitive, as in Supp. 556 ἰάπτει δ᾽
᾿Ασίδος δι᾿ αἴας. --ἀνδρὶ θείωι : Cratinus, fr. 1 (i. p. 11 K.), of Cimon, σὺν
ἀνδρὶ θείωι καὶ φιλοξενωτάτωι καὶ πάντ᾽ ἀρίστωι τῶν Πανελλήνων.

1557. πόρθμευμ᾽ ἀχέων. Schuetz was the first to quote in illustration
of this phrase Stob. Zc/. i. 49. 50 (p. 418 Wachs.), containing an
extract from Apollodorus περὶ τῶν θεῶν (2 HG. i. p. 429) ἐκ yap
τοιούτων ὁρμώμενοι πιθανῶς Kal τοὺς ἐν “Aidov νομιζομένους ποταμοὺς
κατωνομάκασιν. ᾿Αχέροντα μὲν διὰ τὰ ἄχη, ὡς καὶ Μελανιππίδης ἐν
Περσεφόνηι (fr. 3)

καλεῖται δ᾽ -- εἵνεκ᾽» ἐν κόλποισι γαίας
aXe εἶσιν προχέων, ᾿Αχέρων,

NOTES

ioe)

25
ἐπεὶ καὶ Λικύμνιός φησι (fr. 1)"
, A , > / ,
μυρίαις παγαῖς δακρύων ἀχέων τε βρύει
καὶ πάλιν (fr. 2) "
᾿Αχέρων ἄχεα πορθμεύει βροτοῖσιν.

1568. Πλεισθενιδῶν. It is difficult to find a place for Pleisthenes
in the genealogy Zeus, Tantalus, Pelops, Atreus, Agamemnon. Later
writers, to meet the difficulty, assert that Pleisthenes was son of Atreus
and father of Agamemnon, but died young, so that Agamemnon was
commonly called the son of Atreus (Schol. Eur. Ov. 4). There is no
warrant for this in Homer, but some faint indication that Aeschylus had
heard of it: see vv. 775, 1602.

1574. πανεπαρκὲς ἔμοιγ᾽ is assumed to have been the original text
which with ἀπόχρη superscript ultimately produced the MSS. reading.
The first step was πᾶν ἀπόχρη ‘nou’: but since πᾶν ἀπόχρη cannot be
construed together, πᾶν was taken to be a predicate; and that necessi-
tated a connecting particle in the following clause: and so we get
κτεάνων τε μέρος βαιὸν ἐχούσηι πᾶν, ἀπόχρη μοι d.... The rhythm alone
is enough to show that this cannot be genuine; but to confirm my view
that such was supposed to be the construction, cod. f has actually that
punctuation, a comma after wav. I had long looked with suspicion
upon ἀπόχρη, for it is a prose word, not a poetical, and neither in Epic,
Lyric, nor Tragedy is ever used at all. Thus it would be a natural
synonym for explanatory purposes: Moeris p. 262 οὐκ ἀπήρκει ἀντὶ τοῦ
οὐκ ἀπέχρη, ᾿Αριστοφάνης IloAvidwr. But poetry uses ἀρκώ and com-
pounds, verbs and adjectives, as v. 390 ἀπήμαντον ὥστ᾽ ἀπαρκεῖν,
Pers. 240 πλοῦτος ἐξαρκής, A. P. x. 76 πλοῦτον ἔχειν ἐθέλω τὸν ἐπάρκιον,
Anon. ap. Suid. Παλαμήδης: εἴη μοι βίοτος πανεπάρκιος. See also
Cho. 68 παναρκέτας νόσου βρύειν. Aeschylus has also παναρκεῖς Theb. 152.
The copyist, after the habit of such with unexpected compounds, made
two words of it. In Iambl. Vet, Pyth. § 147 Cobet (Coll. Crit. p. 378)
for τὸ λεγόμενον πᾶν ἀληθές restored παναληθές, and the tendency is seen
in Zheb. 709 where πανἀληθεῖ was the first attempt at TANAAH@H.
ἔμοιγε 1S quite suitable: Plat. Prot. 346c ἐγώ, ὦ Πιττακέ, οὐ διὰ ταῦτά
σε ψέγω ὅτι εἰμὶ φιλόψογος, ἐπεὶ ἔμοιγε ἐξαρκεῖ ὃς... Pherecrat. Τὴν Τῇ
ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἔμοιγε χοὗτος ἦν ἀποχρῶν avnp.—For the general sense cf. the
words of Menelaus in Hom. ὃ 97 ὧν ὄφελον τριτάτην περ ἔχων ἐν δώμασι
μοῖραν ναίειν, οἱ δ᾽ ἄνδρες σόοι ἔμμεναι.

1579. ἄγη: ‘This shows you are above, | You justicers, that these
our nether crimes | So speedily can venge,’ King Lear iv. 2. 79. Cf.
Diogen. vi. 88 viv θεοὶ μάκαρες : ἐπὶ τῶν ἀξίως τιμωρουμένων ἐφ᾽ οἷς
ἔπραξαν,

NOTES 259

I5Q1I. προθύμως μᾶλλον ἢ φίλως : he plays bitterly on two words
commonly applied to welcome, προθύμως δέχεσθαι, eager, zealous, hearty,
and φιλοφρόνως or φίλως, kind. Effusive rather than sincere this
welcome was.

1594 f. ‘This passage is mutilated and corrupt, but there can be
little doubt what happened (see Prof. Platt’s article in Class. Rev. xi.
Ρ- 96), because the story is told elsewhere not only of Thyestes but of
Tereus and of Clymenus and in Hdt. 1. rrg of Harpagus, and when the
details are described they are the same. ‘The toes and fingers (and the
head), which would have been recognised as human, were concealed
apart (Senec. Zhyest. 764, Hdt. Z¢., Achill. Tat. v. 3 and 5) and after-
wards displayed in proof (Zenob. 11. 234, Senec. 1038, Hygin. fad. 88,
Hdt., Ach. Tat., Ov. AZez. vi. 658); the rest, including the ἔντερα and
σπλάγχνα (sup. 1220), was broken small (Senec. Zhyest. 1059) and
served as meat. The separate table made it easy for the fated guest
alone to have the special mess (Hdt., cf. Ov. AZez. vi. 648—50). The
general shape of the sentence therefore would appear to have been
something like this:

τὰ μὲν ποδήρη καὶ χερῶν ἄκρους κτένας

ἔκρυπτ᾽ ἄνευθεν, τάλλα 8...

ἔνθρυπτ᾽ ἄνωθεν ἀνδρακὰς καθήμενος.
Cf. Ov. Met. vi. 656 2256 sedens solio Tereus sublimis auito. ‘The kicking
over of the table is also told of Tereus by Ovid in 661.

1597. ἄσωτον, spendthrift, prodigal; usually meaning one who
wastes his substance in riotous living, and applied with bitter irony to
the banquet of Thyestes.

1601 f. ξυνδίκως is either simply ‘ /ointly, together with, for which
sense Pind. P. τ. 1 χρυσέα φόρμιγξ, ᾿Απόλλωνος καὶ ἰοσπλοκάμων σύνδικον
Μοισᾶν κτέανον is quoted; or else “ὧι support of’—so that the act is
symbolic. In the latter sense it has been suggested to read σύνδικον
(Karsten), as in Pind. OQ. ix. 98 σύνδικος δ᾽ αὐτῶι ᾿Ιολάου τύμβος εἰναλία
τ᾽ 'EXevais ἀγλαΐαισιν.--- οὕτως is part of the curse: ‘go perish... !’

1605. τρίτον yap ὄντα μ᾽ ἐπὶ δέκ᾽ of the MSS. is ridiculous. ἐπὶ δύ᾽
‘in addition to two others’ would make sense and may be right; but
I suspect the original was τρίτην γὰρ ὄντα μ᾽ ἐλπίδ᾽ “1 who was my
father’s third last hope.’ Cf. Cho. 235, 695, 772, Aeschines 1]. 179,
A. P. viii. 389, Epigr. Kaibel 116, Thue. iii. 57, Pers. 11. 35.

1610. See on 544. Aristid. i. 7og Λακεδαιμόνιοι δ᾽ ἥδιστ᾽ ἂν
τεθναῖεν ἅπαντες, εἰ λήψονται δίκην παρὰ OnBaiwy: οὕτω de ὀργῆς αὐτοὺς
ἔχουσι.

1613. Cf. Eur. 770. 427 σὺ τὴν ἐμὴν φὴς μητέρ᾽ εἰς ᾽Οδυσσέως ἥξειν
μέλαθρα;

260 NOTES

1618. ἐπὶ ζυγῶι, ‘When on the main thwart sits authority.’ [ζυγόν
denotes here a bench at the stern: see Torr, Ancient Ships, p. 57, ἢ. 131,
and cf. Eur. 7071 595, Phoen. 74.|

1619 f. Cf. sup. 1425 γνώσηι διδαχθεὶς ὀψὲ γοῦν τὸ σωφρονεῖν.

1625 ff. γύναι, σὺ.. ἀνδρὶ στρατηγῶι is addressed to Aegisthus. There
is the same contrast in Cho. 624 γυναικοβούλους τε μήτιδας φρενῶν ἐπ᾽
ἀνδρὶ τευχεσφόρωι, which is so framed that it might include Aegisthus.
See also Zum. 628—4o0. For οἰκουρὸς cf. Eur. Heracl. 700 αἰσχρὸν yap
οἰκούρημα γίγνεται τόδε, τοὺς μὲν μάχεσθαι τοὺς δὲ δειλίαι μένειν. Enger
points out that Cassandra had already so described Aegisthus: sz.
1224.

1630 ff. Orpheus tamed (ἡμέρου) the savage breast with persuasive
charm (πειθοῖ): you shall find your own savagery tamed by com-
pulsion (βίαι): "Epwros θεσμόν, ὧι πεισθεὶς ἐγώ, οὔπω κρατηθείς Aristarchus
fr. 2 (2: 7: G. p: 728). Cf. ΘΟ. Chrys. xxxii. 6x ΠΡ. 85. [Ὁ ΠῈῸ wee
andrians, speaking of their degenerate popular musicians: τούτων μὲν
yap ἐστιν οὐδεὶς ᾿Αμφίων οὐδὲ Ὀρφεύς: ὃ μὲν yap vids ἦν Μούσης, ot δὲ
ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αμουσίας αὐτῆς γεγόνασι...τοιγαροῦν οὐκ ἀπὸ κύκνων οὐδὲ ἀηδόνων
ὦ ζῆλος αὐτῶν ὠνόμασται παρ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἔοικε, κνυζηθμοῖς καὶ
ὑλαγμοῖς εἰκάζετε....«καὶ μὴν ὅ γε ᾿Ορφεὺς τὰ θηρία ἡμέρου καὶ μουσικὰ
ἐποίει διὰ τῆς ὠιδῆς- οὗτοι δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀνθρώπους ὄντας, ἀγρίους πεποιήκασι
καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους.

1638. ἐκ τῶν δὲ τοῦδε χρημάτων... He leaves that awkward topic
hastily and cuts the matter short: Zeb. 1052 ἀλλὰ φοβοῦμαι κἀποτρέ-
πομαι δεῖμα πολιτῶν (the Chorus with reference to the burial of
Polynices).—For the sense cf. Eur. £7. 939, where Electra is addressing
the corpse of Aegisthus: ηὔχεις τις εἶναι τοῖσι χρήμασι σθένων.

1640. οὔτι μὴ σειραφόρον κριθῶντα πῶλον. The ¢racer (σειραφόρος or
δεξιόσειρος) had light work, as compared with the horses running under
the yoke. κριθῶντα expresses the effect of his generous diet. He was
called upon to make a special effort at the corners of the race-course,
when he was thrown wide to the off (Soph. #2 721), and had to pull
the chariot round on the pivot of the near wheel. Hence the meta-
phorical use of σειραφόρος and δεξιόσειρος of one who gives assistance in
the time of need (sw. 833, Soph. Ant. 140).

1641 f. Cf. Eur. Supp. 1104 οὐχ ws τάχιστα δῆτα μὴ ager és
δόμους, σκότωι δὲ δώσετ᾽, VF ἀσιτίαις ἐμὸν δέμας γεραιὸν συντακεὶς
ἀποφθερῶ;

1645. μίασμα. Cf. Cho. 1026 (of Clytaemnestra) πατροκτόνον
μίασμα καὶ θεῶν στύγος.

1650. λοχῖται. Aegisthus is attended by λοχῖται or δορυφόροι
(Cho. 764 f., Eur. ZZ. 616), the characteristic retinue of a τύραννος.

NOTES 261

1652. ἀλλὰ κἀγὼ piv. Porson substituted ἀλλὰ μὴν κἀγὼ and has
been generally followed, but the change is unnecessary; for (1) a
similar rhythm is found elsewhere: Eur. 7. 4. 908 ἀλλ᾽ ἐκλήθης γοῦν
ταλαίνης, Jon 557 τῶι θεῶι γοῦν οὐκ ἀπιστεῖν, and (2) the order of the
words, z.e. the occurrence of μήν after the pronoun, is not uncommon:
κἀγὼ μὰν κνίζω Theocr. v. 22, καὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ μήν Plat. Lege. 644 D, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽
ἐγὼ μήν Eur. Hee. 401, Or. 1117, Andr. 256, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἐγὼ μέντοι πεσών
γε κείσομαι Ar. Vub. 126, μὰ AC οὐδ᾽ ἐγὼ γάρ Lys. 130.

1656. μηδὲν ἡιματωμένοις. See cr. n.: most editors read μηδὲν
αἱματώμεθα, ‘tet us not spill any of our blood.’

1657 f. See cr. nn. The true reading of these obscure lines I
believe to be that printed in the text, or something closely resembling
it. τούσδε, given by the MSS. at the end of v. 1657, was a marginal
note, just as on Eur. Hipp. 1152 πρὸς δόμους ὁρμώμενον there is a schol.
τούσδε, and on Andr. 141 ἔμολες οἴκους, though δεσποτῶν ἐμῶν follows, a
schol. eis τοὺς ἐμοὺς οἴκους δηλονότι. καιρόν was a gloss On ὧραι Or ὧραν,
as was first pointed out by Prof. Housman in Journ. Phil. xvi. p. 289.
If ὥραν is right, it is used as καιρόν Soph. Az. 34, 1316, ἀωρίαν Ar.
Ach, 23.—For πρὶν παθεῖν cf. Hom. P 30 ἀλλὰ σ᾽ ἐγώ γ᾽ ἀναχωρήσαντα
κελεύω ἐς πληθὺν ἰέναι, ...πρίν τι κακὸν παθέειν, Y 196, Apollonius ap. Stob.
Flor. 58. 12 καλὸν πρὶν παθεῖν διδαχθῆναι πηλίκον ἐστὶν ἡσυχία, Eur.
Med. 289 ταῦτ᾽ οὖν πρὶν παθεῖν φυλάξομαι, Xen. Anad. ii. 5. 5 οἱ
φοβηθέντες ἀλλήλους, φθάσαι βουλόμενοι πρὶν παθεῖν κτὲ.---Τ is Cly-
taemnestra’s plea that she was the executor of Doom, 1434, 1471 ff,
1498 ff., Cho.. 909 ἡ Μοῖρα τούτων, ὦ τέκνον, παραιτίαᾳ. The MSS.
reading, πρὸς δόμους πεπρωμένους ‘to your predestined houses,’ is absurd.
Thus χρῆν τάδ᾽ ὡς ἐπράξαμεν is ‘it was fated we should act herein as we
have acted.’ Cf. Ter. Eun. 95 me crucia te, obsecro, anime mt, mt
Phaedria. | non pol quo quemquam plus amem aut plus diligam | eo fect :
sed ita erat res; factundum fuit. Eur. H. δὲ 311 ὃ χρὴ yap οὐδεὶς μὴ
χρεὼν θήσει ποτές Ar. Ach. 540 ἐρεῖ τις, οὐ χρῆν: ἀλλὰ τί ἐχρῆν εἴπατε.
Quint. ix. 493 (Agamemnon says to Philoctetes) μηδ᾽ ἡμῖν χόλον αἰνὸν
ἐνὶ φρεσὶ σῆισι βαλέσθαι, οὐ yap ἄνευ μακάρων τάδ᾽ ἐρέξαμεν.

1660. δαίμονος: cf. 1568 f. The metaphor has nothing to do with
the spur (πλῆκτρον) of a fighting-cock: the phrase βαρὺς δαίμων (βαρυ-
δαιμονία) or βαρεῖα τύχη was developed into the conception of a bird
of prey that souses down, or swoops down, heavily: e.g. sup. 1174, 1469,
Pers. 518, Soph. Ant. 1272, 1346, Ὁ.7: 263, 1300, 1311. The same
figure is made out of βαρὺς κότος Ζηνός in Supp. 654.

1662. ἀλλὰ... ἀπανθίσαι is like the exclamatory use of the inf. with
d€in Dem. 21. 209 (quoted on v. 348). Cobet, Misc. Crit. p. 147.

1663. ϑαίμονος πειρωμένους here and in C/o. 511 means more than

View 3

262 NOTES

‘trying one’s luck’; it means ‘putting one’s predestined fortune to the
touch. ἐξιστορῆσαι μοῖραν τύχης in Thed. 493 is the same thing.

1664. σώφρονος γνώμης θ᾽ ἁμαρτεῖν τὸν κρατοῦντ᾽ dpvoupévous, dominum
recusantes (Ov. Met. viii. 848): γνώμης ἁμαρτεῖν is ‘to be ill-advised,’
‘mistaken’ (Hdt. i. 207, γνώμης χρηστῆς 1x. 79, τῆς ἀρίστης 11]. 81) ;
τεύξεται φρενῶν in 185 is the opposite, ‘shall be well-advised.’ ‘To be
well-advised or ill-advised in doing so and so’ is expressed by a
participle, as 183 κλαάζων τεύξεται φρενῶν, 793 οὐδ᾽ εὖ πραπίδων οἴακα
νέμων..«κομίζων, Eur. Bacch. 329 τιμῶν τε Βρόμιον σωφρονεῖς, Hdt. vii. 15
οὐκ ἐφρόνεον εἴπας, i. 116 οὐκ εὖ βουλεύεσθαί pw ἔφη ἐπιθυμέοντα.... To
be metrical here, the participle must be deponent, and I know no other
which will give the sense required except ἀρνουμένους : for which see
Heliod. iii. 3 7 ἵππος τὸν χαλινόν, ὅσα μὲν δεσπότην, ἠρνεῖτο. To deny
their master is exactly what the Elders have been doing, 1633 etc., and
that was proverbially impolitic: Walz, Rhet. Gr. i. 281, Soph. £7.
394—7, 340, 1014, 1465; Eur. fr. 337,93, 604; Hec. 404. ‘This leads to
their retort, which is the same as in Soph. £2. 397 ov ταῦτα θώπευ᾽- οὐκ
ἐμοὺς τρόπους λέγεις, P.V. 969 σέβου, προσεύχου, θῶπτε τὸν κρατοῦντ᾽ ἀεί.

1669. Cf. Soph. Z/. 794 ὕβριζε, νῦν γὰρ εὐτυχοῦσα τυγχάνεις, Cho. 57
φοβεῖται δέ τις" τὸ δ᾽ εὐτυχεῖν, τόδ᾽ ἐν βροτοῖσι θεός τε καὶ θεοῦ πλέον,
i.e. ‘they (Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra) may hold their reign of terror
while their luck endures !’

1670. χρόνωι: see cr. ἢ. The usual idiom is διδόναι ἄποινα followed
by the genitive without the addition of χάριν. For the corruption
Ge S16:

INDEXES.

I. GREEK.

aya, 975 γάρ wrongly inserted, 790
ἀγάλαξ, 718 ff. ye=yes, 551
ἄγαλμα, 740 — for μέν, 1144
ἄγκυρα, 510 γενναία γυνή, 618 ff.
ἀγώνιοι θεοί, 518
“Αἰδου μήτηρ, 1234 δαίμων, 1660, 1663
αἱροῦντες ἡιρῆσθαι, 352 δέ confused with yap, 565
ἀκασκαῖος, 740 — resumptive, 12 ff.
ἄλγος (τινός), 50 5 — που, 192 ἴ.
ἁμαρτεῖν γνώμης, 1664 δεῖγμα and δεῖμα confused, g67
ἀμαυρός, 469 δῆγμα, 782
ἀνάγκη, 228 ff. διπλῇ μαστιξ, 645 ff.
ἄξι᾽ ἀξίων, 1528 δισσοὶ ᾿Ατρεῖδαι, 125 ἴ.
ἀξύστατον ἄλγος, 1468 δόξαν λαβεῖν, 287
ἀπήνη, 1023 δόξει )( δόξειεν ἄν, 454
ἀπὸ στρατοῦ, 543, 608 δυναστής, + ff.
ἀποστέργω, 504 δυσμαθῆ and δυσπαθῆῇ confused, 1254
ἀπόχρη, 1574 δωματοφθορεῖν. 939
ἄπτερος paris, 288 δῶρον θεοῦ, gi8f.
ἄπυρα, 70
ἀρή, 383 εἴ που, 525
ἀρκῷ, 1574 ἘΠ 7S, 55: γ10, 14 OF
ἀρνεῖσθαι, 1664 εἰπεῖν πάρεστιν, 370
ἄσωτος, 1507 εἴπερ...γε, 925
ἄτερ, 1146 els ἀφάνειαν, 396
ἄτη, 726, 1228 ff. ἐκ θεοῦ, 737
ἀτίτης, 72 ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων, 1453
ἀτλησικάρδιος, 437 ff. éxmpatas, 1274
ἀφημένων, 421 - ἐκτείνειν, 1228 ff.
ἄφθονος, 477 .« ἐκτελής, 106

ἐκτρέπειν, 1465
β and ¢ confused, 435, 762 ἐκφάτως, 707 f.
βάσανος, 415 ἐλπίς, 404, 510, 807f., 1605
βασίλειος, 96 — φανεῖσα, 887 ff.
βλάβας ἔχειν, 880 ἐν μέρει, TIQI
βλαβέντα, ς., gen. 121 ff. évOnpos, 566
βόλος, 1171 ἐπάγειν, 1447
βόσκεσθαι, c. acc., 121 ff. ἐπαντέλλω, 27
βουλή, 872 ff. ἐπεγχύδαν, 1132
βούτας, 718 ff. ἐπιλέγειν, 796

ἐπινέμεσθαι, 487 fi.
γαλήνη, 739 ἐπισπένδειν, 1394 fi.
γάρ corrupted from δέ, 565 Ἐρινύς, 748
— in parenthetic explanation, 1225 ἕρκος, 268 ff.
— position of, 232 ἐσάιξειν, 1180

— with ellipse, 1524 ἐσθλός, 431

264

ἔστιν θάλασσα, 949

εὖ φρονεῖν, 1437
εὐήγορον, 357 it.

εὔθετος, 445 ff.

εὐλογεῖν, 585

εὐμαθεῖν, 589

εὐσεβεῖν, 350

εὔφρων, 797

εὔχομαι, c. fut. inf., 924

Ζεὺς Σωτήρ, 1385 fi.
ZLédupos, 696

ζῆν, 810

ζυγόν, 1055, 1618

7)...Y€; 1103
ἤνυσεν, 702 ff.

θ and o confused, 762
θάρσος (θράσος), 794
θρῆνος, ν. ὑμέναιος
θύος, 1409

θυραῖος, 9o

ἰάπτω, 1547
ἶχαρ and ἰχώρ, 1481

καὶ μὴν τόδ᾽ εἰπέ, 922

καὶ viv corresponds to μέν, 8, 592
καὶ τότε, 194

καιρὸν χάριτος, 777
καλά, epithet of Artemis, 146
κάλλη, 914

κάρανα, 476
καταρράπτειν, 872 ff.
κατηγορεῖν, 283
κατοπτής, 319

κεῖται, 1439

κεναγγής, 197 ff.
κῆδος, 702 ff.

κλάζειν, 48, 165
κομίζειν, 795

Kévis, 500

κόσμοι, 368

κρατεῖν, c. inf., tof.
κριθᾶν, 1640
κροκοβαφής, 1110
κτήνη, 134

κυκώμενον κέαρ, 984 ff.
κῶμος, 1187 ff.

λαμπρός, 1179

λάσκειν, 165, 287, 618 ff.
λέξεται, 180

λεύσιμος, 1107

λόγωι παλαιός, 1196

μανθάνω, 618 ff.
μάστιξ, 645 ff.
μάταν, 175

μέλαθρον Φόβου, 1435

INDEXES

Μελλώ, 1355

μέν, position of, 8 ff., 592
μέν...δέ, after διπλοῦς etc., 645 ff.
μὲν οὕτως, 618 ff.

μέτρον, 380 ff.

μή, in parenthesis, 922

μὴ ov, corrupted, 1170
μῆλον, 718 fi.

μήν, follows pronoun, 1652
μινυρίζειν, τό

μνησιπήμων πόνος, 180 ff.
μογεῖν, 676 fi.

Μοῖρα (μοῖρα), 1007 ff.
μύελος, 76 ᾿"

νειριτροφεῖται, 1480
νῦν = ‘now at last,’ 1476
νῦν ἔτι, 809

ξυνδίκως, τύοι f.

oi, 1144

οἶκος (or οἴκοι) ὑπάρχει, 952
οἰκουρεῖν, 800, 1625 f.
οἷμαι, 800, 1224

οἷον μή, 136 ff.

ὄκνος, 996

ὀλολυγμός, 28

ὄμβρος, 661

ὁμιλίας κάτοπτρον, 830
ὄμφαξ, 961

ὅταν after φυλάσσειν, 4 ff.
ov, negativing single word, 1311
οὐδέ = οὐ καί, 1007 ff.

οὖὗλος, 178

οὖν, 676 ff.

παιάν, 257f.
παιδίον, 1077
παίειν πρός, 994
παλαιστής, 1205
πανεπαρκής, 1574
πάντολμος, 228 ff.
παρὰ γνώμην, 922
παρακοπῆναι, [251
Tapapaw, 975
παρείξεις, 561
πάρος, IO4t
παροψώνημα, 1448
πεπαμένος, 826
WEPLTETHS, 243
πεσσοί, 32f.
πῆγμα ὅρκου, 1197
πῆμα νόσου, 841
πημονά, 999
πιαίνω, 288
πλαγὰν ἔχειν, 379
πλέον φέρειν, 1o12
πρέπειν, 427 ff., 641 ff., 1326 ff,
πρὶν παθεῖν, 1657 f.

πρὸ καρδίας, 1869 ff.

I. GREEK 265

προβατογνώμων, 786 τὸ σόν, 555
προθύμως, τ501 τόδε corrupted to τόγε, 322
πρόπυργοι θυσίαι, 1167 Tot, 374 fi.
προσειπεῖν, 365, 1290 τόλμα, 228 ff.
προσήκων, 1063 τοὐμὸν μὲν οὕτω, 041
πρόσωθεν, 938 τριβή, 471
προτέλεια, 65, 237
προφέρειν, 211, 955 ὑδαρής, 780
προφήτης, 418 ὑμέναιος, changed to θρῆνος, 707 f.
πρῶτόν τε καὶ μάλιστα, 676 fi. ὑπατηλεχής, 50
πρῶτος δραμεῖν, 326 ὕπατοι λεχέων, 50
πύλας ἀνοῖξαι, 609
πῶ πῶ; 1508 ¢ and β confused, 435
πώγων, 318 φαιδρόνους, 1228 ff.
φαίνειν (dyava), tor ff.
σαίνειν, 726, 1228 ff. φάρμακα, 1407 f.
σειραφόρος, 1640 φιλήτωρ, 1447
σεσωμένος, 623 φόνευσις, 1323
σίνος, 398f. φυλακᾶι κατασχεῖν, 246
σκιὰ τὰ θνητῶν, 1326 ff.
σπουδή, 500 χαίρειν καταξιῶ, 577
Στροφίος, 872 χαλκοῦ βαφάς, 617
σὺ δέ, 1045 χάριν ξυναινέσαι, 487 ff.
συμπνέων, 197 ff. χάρις βίαιος, τ80 ff.
σύμφυτος, 159 χελιδών, 1034
συντελής, 537 χλιδή, 1.448
σφενδόνη, 997 χρέος, 464
χωρίς, O17
τὰ πρός, 835 χωρὶς ἣ τιμὴ θεῶν, 641 ff.
τε, in anacoluthon, 99
Te...kal, 189 ff. ψεκάς, 1536
τέλος, 913
ri (‘what of...?’), 79 ὥραν, 1657 f.
τίθεσθαι, 32f. ὥς, O21
τις, omitted, 71 ws, with limiting force, 618 ff.
—, =‘perhaps,’ 55 ws δέ, 348
τλᾶν, 228 ff. ὥστε, after ἔστιν, 1394 ff.

τὸ py, c. inf., 15 — τοξότης, 1193

II. ENGLISH. ‘

accusative, after βόσκεσθαι, 121 ff.

— exclamatory, 1142

Acheron, 1557

Aegisthus, 1625, 1650

Aeschylus, religious ideas, 749 ff., p. 28 ff.
— style, explains metaphor, 4 ff.

— — studied carelessness, 99

— — sustained figure, 49, 445 ff.,
530 ff.

after-thought, in conditional clause, 359,
454

Aias the Locrian, 654
anacoluthon, 970 ff.

anchorage, danger in open, 670
Arachnaeus, 321

Artemis, pitying child-labour, 139
article, force of, 361

Asclepius, 1007

asyndeton, in descriptions, 740

blood-feud of kinsmen, 1510 ff.

compounds, liable to corruption, 50, 552,
1480, 1574

conscience, awakes at night, 1869 ff.

‘coverlet’ of earth, 860

dative, after εὐφημεῖν, 28

— plural, form of, 659

death, prayed for on attainment of de-
sire, 544, 1610

Diagoras of Melos, 381

dual termination, 1206

ellipse of verb (euphemistic), 431
eyes, abode of love, 427
— in physiognomy, 283, 784 ff., 1429

Fate, sacrifices to, 70
forced laughter, 784 ff.

genitive, after ἄλγος, 50

— of participle, after possessive pro-
noun, 1325

— partitive after ὕπατος, 50

Health as a Mean, 990 ff.
Helen, 718 ff., 723, 794

heroes, sorrows of, 1024 f.
hyperbaton, v. parenthesis

infinitive, after κρατεῖν, tof.
— epexegetic, 1451

infinitive, exclamatory, 1662
Ischys, 299

kings, compared to eagles, 49, 121 ff.

lamp, in lovers’ chamber, 88o ff.
lion, of Pelopids, £47, 718 ff., 1223

Menelaus, cowardice of, 125 f.
— leaves Troy, 631
metaphor (from wind), 967 f.

nightingale, 1146

old age, 76ff., 108

optative, in commands, 935

— with ἕως, 331

order of words, 125 f., 357 ff., 1197

— simplified by scribes, 219, 415, 563
Orpheus, 1630 ff.

pain disturbs sleep, 18g ff.

paleness, 1110

parenthesis, or διὰ μέσου construction,
616f.

paroemiac verse, corrupted, 1527

participles, corruption of aorist, 348, 737

Persuasion, 396

Pleiads, setting of, 4 ff.

Pleisthenes, 1568

Poseidon and Athena, 655

preposition following case elided, 1276

prohibitions, tenses in, 1463

proverbs (ἀπὸ θεσφάτων κακόν), 1124

— (πάθει μάθος), 187

provinces of gods distinct, 1007 ff.

sacrilege of Greeks at Troy, 530 ff.
sealing-up of store rooms, 614
shipwreck, safety in, 667 f.

Solon’s adage, 918 f.

third libation, 1385 f.

Thyestes, 1594 f.

Tyndareus, daughters of, 1471 f.
vows made to gods, 924

wealth, power of, 771, 1330
winged dreams, 434

Zeus wrestles with Cronos, 181

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