λόγος … ἀνθρώπων , as Archil. fr. 86 α<*>νός τις ἀνθρώπων ὅδε: Pind. 7. 54 ἀνθρώπων παλαιαὶ ῥήσιες, id. Pind. 9. 6 ἔστι δέ τις λόγος ἀνθρώπων: Soph. 664 ἡ βροτῶν παροιμία. ἀρχαῖος goes adverbially with φανείς , ‘put forth of old’; cp. Soph. 593 f. ἀρχαῖα... | ... πίπτοντ’: and ib. 621 σοφίᾳ γὰρ ἔκ του κλεινὸν ἔπος πέφανται (n.). L's accentuation, ἔστ’ , is right: ἐστὶ φανείς as=πέφανται would be weak here. For the order of the words (ἀνθρώπων separating ἀρχαῖος from φανείς), cp. Soph. 944 f. As to the γνώμη itself, see Soph. 1529 n.

Boissonade (, 1), replying to the criticism that this γνώμη passed as Solon's, quotes a remark of Balzac's to this effect: ‘though Deianeira was older than Solon, she was younger than proverbial philosophy.’ So Ajax cites a maxim ascribed to Bias ( Soph. 679).

θάνῃ . The v. l. θάνοι would be possible only if ἄν were absent. Cp. 164 cr. n.

οὔτ’ εἴ τῳ : for τῳ in the second clause, cp. 257 n.

ἐγὼ δὲ τὸν ἐμόν κ.τ.λ.: for the tribrach, cp. 1232 n.—She can dispute the old saying, because she forebodes that her life will be bitter to the end. The pathos here depends less on retrospect than on presentiment: cp. 37, 46.— This passage illustrates Aristotle's remark that a person who speaks with strong feeling (παθητικῶς) may effectively impugn the truth of popular maxims (τὰ δεδημοσιευμένα): 2. 21§ 13.

πατρὸς μὲν κ.τ.λ. No δέ answers to this μέν. The antithesis is between her woes before and after marriage; of the latter she begins to speak at v. 27.

ναίουσ’ <ἔτ’> ἐν Πλευρῶνι . This insertion of ἔτ’ is the best remedy. The word is forcible, as marking that her sorrows began while she was still a young maiden. Cp. 23, where, as here, the text of L has lost ἔτ’ before a word beginning with ε.

To A's reading, ναίουσ’ ἐνὶ Πλευρῶνι, there are two objections. (a) While ἔνι (=ἔνεστι) is frequent, there is no instance of ἐνί for ἐν in tragic iambics; though Eur. admits it in lyrics. (b) There is no example in tragic iambics of a short vowel thus lengthened before πλ at the beginning of the next word; though such lengthening would have been legitimate in the epic hexameter. Cp. W. Christ, § 18 (2nd ed.).—Paley reads ναίουσα δ’ (with B): but the δέ would be weak here.

Πλευρῶνι . The ancient Pleuron stood in a fertile plain of Aetolia, near the mountain called Κούριον, a few miles W.N.W. of Calydon. About 230 B.C. that site was deserted, and a new Pleuron was founded more to the S.W., not far from the modern Mesolonghi. (Strabo 10. 451 : Leake, I. 115 ff.) In the Pleuron figures among the chief Aetolian towns (2. 639, with four others: 13. 217, with Calydon only).

Calydon was usually represented as the seat of Oeneus ( 9. 529 ff.: Apollod.2. 7. 5: Diod.4. 34); and Ovid calls Deianeira Calydonida ( Ov. 9. 112). It is not known whether Sophocles was following some earlier poet in preferring Pleuron. But it is noteworthy that a tragedy of Phrynichus, dealing with the death of Meleager, was called Πλευρώνιαι (Paus. 10. 31 § 4); and the Chorus would naturally belong to the home of Althaea (the wife of Oeneus).

ὄκνον . The v. l. ὄτλον (‘trouble,’ rt ταλ) is a less fitting word here: the point is the anguish of her dreadful suspense (15, 24). Though ὀτλεῖν is not rare, the noun occurs only in Aesch. 18 παιδείας ὄτλον.

<*>λγιστον . The positive would be more usual, since εἴ τις follows; but the superl. is not redundant, if taken as absolute (‘very grievous’), and not relative (‘the most grievous’). Cp. 1006 εἴ τις γῆ θεοὺς ἐπίσταται | τιμαῖς σεβίζειν, ἥδε τῷδ’ ὑπερφέρει: and Eur. 6 νῦν δ’, εἴ τις ἄλλη, δυστυχεστάτη γυνή. Soph. has εἴπερ τις ἄλλος in Soph. 1118, but more often εἰ or εἴπερ τις simply (as Soph. 1664, Soph. 488); and so Aesch. 934.

ἔσχον , not εἶχον , because she thinks of the ordeal, not as a process, but as a past moment of life; cp. 225 πολλὰς γὰρ ἔσχον φροντίδων ἐπιστάσεις. This is better than to give ἔσχον its commoner sense, ‘came to have’ ( 1229, 1420).

μνηστὴρ : this legend had already been treated by Archilochus (c. 670 B.C.), and by Pindar: see Introd.

Ἀχελῷον . The Acheloüs rises at the centre of Pindus, in Mount Lacmon, the great watershed of northern Greece, and, after a course of some 130 miles from N. to S. , flows into the Ionian Sea. Its lower waters formed the boundary between Acarnania on the west and Aetolia on the east. The modern name, ‘White River’ (Aspropotamo), is due to the yellowish colour which the stream derives from a clayed bed.

To the Greeks, Acheloüs was the king of rivers ( 21. 194 κρείων Ἀχελώϊος). He was the ‘eldest son of Oceanus and Tethys’: Acusilaüs fr. 11 a (Müller I. 101) Ὠκεανὸς δὲ γαμεῖ Τηθὺν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφήν· τῶν δὲ γίγνονται τρισχίλιοι ποταμοί· Ἀχελῷος<*> δὲ αὐτῶν πρεσβύτατος καὶ τετίμηται μάλιστα. The oracle at Dodona,—which was not far west of the river's sources,—‘enjoined sacrifice to Acheloüs in all its responses’ (schol. 21. 194). In Acarnania ἀγῶνες were held in his honour (schol. 24. 616). The cult of this river-god was, however, not merely local, but Panhellenic. Such pre-eminence is enough to explain how he became a type of πηγαῖον ὕδωρ generally, without assuming the more than doubtful kinship of ἀχ with aqua. For Greek, it should rather be ἀπ, as in Μεσσάπιοι.

ἐν τρισὶν μορφαῖσιν . The power of self-transformation, which Greek fancy gave especially to deities of water, was a lively symbol of the unstable element. Proteus exerts that power against Menelaus ( 4. 456), Nereus against Heracles ( Apollod.2. 5. 11), Thetis against Peleus (schol. Pind. 3. 55, Soph. fr. 155 and 556). Each is desperate, and must try every resource. And so, here, self-change expresses passionate importunity. Mythology found a reflex in daily speech when Greeks said, παντοῖος γίγνεται δεόμενος.

ἐναργὴς , in visible form, before the eyes of Oeneus: cp. 224. The word suggests that sense of awe which came to a Greek at the thought of a δαίμων actually appearing to a mortal: 20. 131 χαλεποὶ δὲ θεοὶ φαίνεσθαι ἐναργεῖς: ‘'tis perilous when a god is seen face to face.’ 16. 161 οὐ γάρ πω πάντεσσι θεοὶ φαίνονται ἐναργεῖς: ib. 3. 420 (Athena) ἥ μοι ἐναργὴς ἦλθε. Verg. 4. 358 ipse deum manifesto in lumine vidi.

Acheloüs occurs in works of art under each of the three forms which he takes here.

(1) ταῦρος . This regular embodiment of a river-god symbolised both the roar of the torrent, and, as Strabo adds, the twistings of the stream (καμπαί), ἃς καλοῦσι κέρατα (10. 458). Coins of Acarnania (after 300 B.C.) show Acheloüs as a bull with human head; and Soph. may have had this type in mind, for it appears on coins of Magna Graecia as early as 500 B.C.

(2) αἰόλος δράκων ἑλικτός . The image is peculiarly appropriate, since the Acheloüs, in parts of its course, is so tortuous. For αἰόλος, ‘gleaming,’ cp. n. on 1157.A vase-painting shows the Acheloüs, in combat with Heracles, as a serpent with the head and arms of a man, and an ox's horns (Gerhard, , vol. 2, no. 115).

(3) ἀνδρείῳ κύτει βούπρῳρος κ.τ.λ. A human figure, with human face, and a shaggy beard, but with the forehead, horns, and ears of an ox. The Acheloüs appears thus on an archaic coin of Meta pontum in Lucania (Millingen, , pl. 1, no. 21). The words ἐκ δὲ δασκίου γενειάδος, κ.τ.λ., coupled with such evidence, make it clear that βούπρῳρος means, ‘with front’ (not, ‘head’) of ox. In this sense, it is fitter than βούκρανος : and Strabo 's reading (cr. n.) is thus confirmed.

κύτει . The word κύτος (rt κυ) means ‘a cavity,’ then ‘a vessel’: hence, fig., the human body as encasing the vital organs: Plat. 74 A ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς διὰ παντὸς τοῦ κύτους . See Appendix.

διερραίνοντο , ‘were sprinkled abroad’: a word applied by Arist. to the ‘diffusion’ of fire by rapid movement, I. 3 (p. 341 a 30) τὸ...πῦρ...διαρραίνεσθαιτῇ κινήσει.—κρηναίου ποτοῦ , the water as it flowed from the κρήνη, fount, of the river. This phrase recurs in 21, and (plur.) in fr. 559. Hesiod 340 calls the Acheloüs ἀργυροδίνην .

προσδεδεγμένη , ‘expecting’ such a suitor; i.e., looking forward to his becoming her husband (525). Cp. the usage of the epic aor. partic., 10. 123 ἐμὴν ποτιδέγμενος ὁρμήν. The normal Attic sense, ‘having received,’ is inadmissible. She could not yet be doomed to the visits of a wooer who had not even gained her father's consent.

τῆσδε κοίτης . Though the compound ἐμπελάζειν elsewhere (as in 748) takes a dat., it can also take a gen., like the simple verb ( 1327 πελασθεὶς φύλακος). So a gen., instead of the more usual dat., stands with συντυχών ( 320), ἐντυχών (ib. 1333), ὑπαντήσας ( ib. 719).

μέν … δέ : not, indeed, soon enough to prevent the anguish of which she has spoken (v. 16), yet to her joy.

ἀσμένῃ … μοι : 1356 n.

ἐκλύεται , here simply=ἐκλύει (cp. 1112 n., and 1003), rather than ‘delivers for himself,’ i.e., to be his bride.

διείποιμ’ , tell clearly: 854 n. The place of the first ἂν serves to emphasise τρόπον ( 339 n.).

πόνων , of warfare, 248 n.

τῆς θέας : for the gen., cp. 885 Δίκας ἀφόβητος.— ὅδ’ , after ὅστις , as in 463 f. The drawback to ὁ δ’ here is that it would be unduly emphatic: see 87, Appendix.

24 f. These two verses are plainly genuine. It is idle to condemn them merely because they are not indispensable. Nauck, who spares v. 24, rejects v. 25 because Deianeira ought to speak of her fate as depending ‘on the issue of the combat, not on her beauty.’ As if her beauty was not the cause of the combat. It might as well be objected to v. 465, τὸ κάλλος αὐτῆς τὸν βίον διώλεσεν, that Iolè was the victim of war.

ἐξεύροι : cp. 287 γαστρὶ μὲν τὰ σύμφορα | τόξον τόδ’ ἐξηύρισκε.

Ζεὺς ἀγώνιος , the supreme arbiter in all trials of strength,—as at Argos he was σθένιος (Paus. 2. 32 § 7). So Hermes is ἀγώνιος ( Pind. 1. 60 etc.), as patron of the palaestra. The ἀγώνιοι θεοί of Aesch. 189, besides these two, are Apollo and Poseidon,—who presided respectively over the Pythian and Isthmian ἀγῶνες, as Zeus over the Olympian and Nemean: see ib. 182—194, and Prof. Tucker's note on v. 163 (=189 Dind.).

27 f. The tone of εἰ δὴ is sceptical, as that of εἴπερ is usu. confident: cp. Eur. 17(quoted by Schneidewin), ὁ κλεινός, εἰ δὴ κλεινός, Ἀγαμέμνων. The pause after the second foot suits the pensive stress on εἰ δὴ καλῶς: cp. Soph. 658 ἀλλὰ κτενῶ. πρὸς ταῦτ’ ἐφυμνείτω Δία, etc.— λέχος , nom., in the sense of ‘bride’ (cp. 360, and 211). The accus. in 491, τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον (‘came into thy bed’), is warranted by the verb of motion, as in Soph. 817 , ἡ δὲ σύναιμον λέχος ἦλθεν. But λέχος ξυστᾶσά τινι could not well mean ‘joined to him in marriage’ (as though λέχος were a kind of cognate acc.).

κριτὸν , chosen by himself (cp. 245), is also best suited to λέχος as= ‘bride.’ For ξυστᾶσ’ cp. Isocr. 4 § 8, ἐπειδὴ ξυνέστηκέ μοι (‘since he has been associated with me’).

προκηραίνουσα (κῆρ), feeling anxiety about him, μεριμνῶσα κατὰ τὸ κέαρ (schol.). The compound occurs only here: Eur. has the simple κηραίνω as = ‘to be anxious’ ( Eur. 223, Eur. 518). Distinguish the other κηραίνω, from κήρ, ‘to harm’ ( Aesch. 128, δρακαίνης ἐξεκήραναν μένος).

νὺξ γὰρ εἰσάγει κ.τ.λ.: ‘for one night ushers in a trouble, and another, in succession (to the former night), expels it,’ —to make room for some fresh anxiety. This is a poetical amplification of ἀεί τιν’ ἐκ φόβου φόβον τρέφω. Each night torments her, as she lies awake, with some new surmise as to her husband's fate.— πόνον is governed by both verbs.

διαδεδεγμένη is used absolutely: its object, if expressed, would have been τὴν προτέραν νύκτα: cp. Her.8. 142 ὡς δὲ ἐπαύσατο λέγων Ἀλέξανδρος, δια δεξάμενοι (‘in their turn’) ἔλεγον οἱ ἀπὸ Σπάρτης ἄγγελοι. Thus διαδεδεγμένη serves at once (a) to show that the words νὺξ εἰσάγει καὶ νὺξ ἀπωθεῖ refer to different nights; and (b) to suggest the new πόνος—not expressly mentioned—which the second night brings; since the task in which it is διάδοχος to the first is that of harassing the sufferer's mind. See Appendix.

οὓς κεῖνός ποτε κ.τ.λ. The point of the comparison, which has been prompted by the word σπείρων, is merely the rarity of the visits. ποτέ =‘at some time or other’ (cp. ὀψέ ποτε, χρόνῳ ποτέ), or perhaps ‘formerly’—while the labours for Eurystheus were going on: it could not, by itself, mean ‘only now and then.’ The sentence begins as if ποτέ were to be followed by some such general phrase as διὰ χρόνου:—οὓς κεῖνός ποτε...διὰ χρόνου προσεῖδε, ‘whom he saw only at uncertain intervals.’ The interposed simile, however, leads the poet to employ a phrase adapted to the special case of the γῄτης,—viz., σπείρων μόνον κἀξαμῶν ἅπαξ . The γῄτης sees his distant field only twice a year. But it is not meant that Heracles visits his home just twice a year. Nor has ἐξαμῶν any figurative application to him, such as ‘reaping the joy’ of seeing his children. It is an irrelevant detail. This is quite Homeric. See, e.g., 13. 62 ff., where Poseidon, soaring into the air, is likened to a bird which soars διώκειν ὄρνεον ἄλλο: though the sea-god is pursuing no one.

ἅπαξ seems best taken with ἐξαμῶν only.

αἰὼν , fortune in life; 179.— εἰς δόμους τε κἀκ δόμων : this order of words is the most forcible: no sooner did he regain his home, than he had to leave it again. The reversed order (which Brunck prefers) would give greater prominence to his moments of rest.

τῳ : Eurystheus (1049), whose name she shrinks from uttering.

ἄθλων τῶνδ’ , the labours for Eurystheus.

ὑπερτελὴς , rising clear of them: Eur. 1549 οἴκων...ὑπερτελής (appearing above it): Aesch. 359 ὑπερτελέσαι | μέγα δουλείας | γάγγαμον ἄτης.—ἔφυ seems to be here no more than ἐγένετο (as in Soph. 236, and often). Some, however, understand, ‘now that his inborn force has prevailed,’ etc.— ταρβήσασ’ ἔχω =τετάρβηκα. The periphrasis is somewhat rare when the verb is intrans.; but cp. Soph. 731 οὐδέ π<*> λήξαντ’ ἔχει .

ἔκτα , the only Sophoclean example of this form (on which see Monro, § 13), though we have συγ κατακτάς in 230.Both Aesch. ( Aesch. 460) and Eur. ( Eur. 1290, etc.) use κατέκταν in dialogue, but not ἔκταν.— Ἰφίτου βίαν : for the periphrasis, cp. Soph. 314.

ἐν Τραχῖνι . Heracles was dwelling at Tiryns when he slew Iphitus, as related in vv. 270 ff. Then, with Deianeira and his children, he removed from Tiryns to Trachis, and soon afterwards Zeus sent him forth into servitude (276).— ἀνάστατοι ( 429 n.) alludes to compulsion used by Eurystheus: the word would not suit a voluntary migration. This had happened fifteen months ago.

ξένῳ παρ’ ἀνδρὶ : Ceÿx, king of Trachis, who is not named in this play. 353 (Heracles speaks) Τρηχῖνα δέ τοι παρελαύνω | ἐς Κήϋκα ἄνακτα· ὁ γὰρ δυνάμει τε καὶ αἰδοῖ | Τρηχῖνος προβέβηκε. The Hesiodic Κήϋκος γάμος described a marriage-feast given by that king, at which Heracles was a guest. Apollodorus (2. 7 § 7) and Diodorus (4. 36 § 57) mention Ceÿx.

ὅπου , not ὅποι, since βέβηκεν implies, ‘is now’: cp. 52.

πλὴν· cp. 1643 ἀλλ’ ἕρπεθ’ ὡς τάχιστα· πλὴν <*> κύριος | Θησε<*> παρέστω.—ὠδῖνας : cp. <*>25.

αὑτοῦ , <*>ctive gen.: cp. 858 πατρὸς...ο<*>κτο<*> (about him): 1039 κέντρον...ἐμοῦ. <*>οῦ is clearly right: the h<*>shness of αὐτ<*> may be measured by supposing that, <*>stead of it, we had Ἡρακλέους or τἀνδρος .

δέκα … πρὸς ἄλλοις <*>έντε . Twelve years before this time, the <*>acle at Dodona had told Heracles th<*>. at the end of twelve years (824), he <*>ould have rest. Fifteen months befo<*> this time, Heracles had given Deian<*> the δέλτος on which h<*> had written <*>own that oracle (1167). <*>e had then to<*> her that, if he did not return at the <*> of fifteen months, she might assume th<*> he was dead (164 ff.)<*>

ἀκήρυκτος . No herald has come, either to announ<*> his approach, or to give any tidings of <*>im.

46 The emphasis is on κἄστιν , not on δεινόν. When she ponders the <*>cle, her grave misgiving (43) becomes <*>rtitude.

τοιαύτην , giving the ground for a statement: 747 n.

τὴν , a rare instance of the art. used as relat. pron. in dial gue without metrical necessity: see 747 n. The motive here may have been a wish to avoid four consecutive endings in ν .

πημονῆς ἄτερ . If the δέλτος should prove to have foretold the death of Heracles, then she would have received it σὺν πημονῇ: it would have been a harbinger of woe.—As to Wunder's rejection of vv<*> 44—48, see Appendix.

πολλὰ μὲν … νῦν δ’ : the thought is, ‘though hitherto I have been silent, now I must speak.’ γοωμένην takes πολλὰ … πανδάκρυτ’ ὀδύρματα as ‘inner’ (or ‘cognate’) accus., and τὴν Ἡρ. ἔξοδον as object: Schneidewin cp. Eur. 205 ἄχεα μογερὰ βοᾷ | τὸν ἐν λέχει προδόταν.

φρενοῦν , pres., since the act may be conceived as continuing or re peated; but φράσαι , aor., with ref. to the particular utterance: cp. 95 ἐξαμαρτεῖν...νικᾶν : ib. 667 f. θιγγάνειν... δοῦναι .

κἀμὲ κ.τ.λ. Two constructions are possible: I prefer the first. (1) καί = ‘and,’ depending on εἰ , and the apodosis begins with the direct question, πῶς κ.τ.λ. (2) καί =‘even’ (cp. 719 n., κἀπ’ ἐμοῦ), and the apodosis begins with κἀμὲ χρή. But the first is more deferential; and the very abruptness of πῶς κ.τ.λ. is natural here.

φράσαι τὸ σόν , ‘to prescribe thy part’ ( 625 n.), i.e., to say what it becomes thee to do. There is only a verbal resemblance to 1167 (compared by Schneid.), ἢ )μὲ χρὴ λέγειν τὰ σά ; ‘am I to make thine answer for thee?’—The v. l. τόσον is weaker, whether taken to mean ‘so bold a speech,’ or (with the schol.) ‘just thus much.’ And the form itself is rare in Sophocles ( 277 δὶς τόσ’: ib. 185 lyr. τόσσον).

τοσοῖσδε . Besides Hyllus, the eldest child of Deianeira, legend gave her three other sons, and one daughter (Apoilod. 2. 7 § 8: Diod.4. 37: Paus. 1. 32 § 5). Cp. vv. 1153 ff. For the parataxis (πληθύεις μέν, ἀτὰρ οὐ πέμπεις), cp. 419 n.

κατὰ ζήτησιν : Isocr. or. 17 § 4 χρήματα δοὺς ἐξέπεμψεν ἅμα κατ’ ἐμπορίαν καὶ κατὰ θεωρίαν .

εἰ πατρὸς νέμοι τιν’ ὤραν τοῦ … δοκεῖν : instead of εἰ νέμοι τιν’ ὤραν τοῦ τὸν πατέρα...δοκεῖν. The gen. πατρὸς , placed at the beginning of the clause, illustrates the normal Greek tendency to announce the subject of the statement at the outset (as in τοῦτον οἶσθ’ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ, 444 n.). The second gen., τοῦ … δοκεῖν , is ‘epexegetic,’ as defining the ὤραν. But it is not in apposition with πατρός (‘care for his father,—that is, care for his being deemed,’ etc.). Rather the two genitives are linked to ὤραν with slightly different shades of meaning;— ‘care, on his father's account, for his being deemed.’ Instead of τοῦ … δοκεῖν , we might have had a relative clause, ὅπως ἂν...δοκῇ. But, since ὤραν could take a gen., that constr. was preferred as more compact. Cp. Dem. or. 2 § 4 τούτων οὐχὶ νῦν ὁρῶ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ λέγειν (the speaking-time for these things). Id. or. 5 § 22 λαβεῖν ἐβούλετο τὴν δόξαν τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ δοκεῖν δἰ αὑτὸν κρίσιν εἰληφέναι .

δοκεῖν here=‘be believed to be’: cp. Thuc.6. 17 ἕως...ὁ Νικίας εὐτυχὴς δοκεῖ ε<*>ναι, ‘while he has the reputation of being successful’ (not ‘seems’: he really was so). The meaning is, ‘Hyllus ought to go in search of news, if he cared to dispel our painful anxiety.’ The τροφός chooses words which avoid any suggestion of disaster to Heracles, and say only that his welfare has yet to be ascertained.

νέμοι is better attested than νέμει , and also fitter, as implying the deferential εἰκὸς ἂν εἴη, not the blunt εἰκός ἐστιν. See Appendix.

ἀρτίπους , with opportune foot (ἀρτίως καὶ ἡρμοσμένως τῷ καιρῷ πορεύεται, schol.). Cp. the similar phrases for a timely arrival; O. T.78 εἰς καλόν : 386 ἐς δέον περᾷ: 387 ποίᾳ ξύμμετρος προὔβην τύχῃ ; Ai.1168 ἐς αὐτὸν καιρόν: Aesch. 373 εἰς ἀρτίκολλον ἀγγέλου λόγου μαθεῖν. Elsewhere ἀρτίπους =‘with sound foot’ (ἅρτιος, well-compacted), as 9. 505.And so some take it here, as if it were meant to suggest his fitness for the mission: but this seems frigid. The poet was perhaps thinking of ἄρτι rather than of ἄρτιος: and ἄρτι certainly occurs in composition, not only with verbs (as ἀρτιθανής), but also with nouns, as ἀρτίδακρυς ( Eur. 903), ἀρτίπλουτος ( Aesch. 742). Still, ἀρτίπους, as used here, could be taken from ἄρτιος, in the sense of ‘fitted’ to the occasion, καίριος.—θρῴσκει δόμους : Soph. 643 δόμους στείχειν ἐμούς. He is hastening to tell his mother the news which he has just heard (67).

πρὸς καιρὸν : cp. 325 n.

τοῖς τ’ is clearly right: Deianeira can at once act on the counsel by sending Hyllus. With τοῖς simply, or τοῖς γ’ , the sense would be much weaker: ‘Hyllus can do as I suggest.’

ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ , an affectionate form of address, as in 260, Eur. 172, etc.

ἀγεννή<*>ων , prop. ‘not begotten’ ( 973), then, ‘of no birth,’ ‘low-born,’ like ἀγεννής and ἀγενής.— καλῶς πίπτουσιν , fall happily,—a metaphor from dice: Soph. 1100 τὰ μὲν γὰρ εὖ, | τὰ δ’ οὐ καλῶς πίπτοντα δέρκομαι βροτῶν.— ἐλεύθερον =ἐλευθέριον: cp. Eur. fr. 828 πολλοῖσι δούλοις τοὔνομ’ αἰσχρόν, ἡ δὲ φρὴν | τῶν οὐχὶ δούλων ἔστ’ ἐλευθερωτέρα.

διδακτά : for the plur., cp. 524(αἰσχρά), and 554 n. The sing. occurs below O. C., 671.

σὲ … τὸ μὴ πυθέσθαι : for the place of σέ, cp. 710 ἀλλ’ ἄνδρα, κεἴ τις ᾖ σοφός, τὸ μανθάνειν | πόλλ’ αἰσχρὸν οὐδέν. It is needless to conjecture <*>.— ἐξενωμένου : cp. 865 ξένος...κέκευθεν (‘he has been buried in a foreign land’). Shaksp. 2. 2. 129 Kept him a foreign man (=kept him out of England).

ποῦ )στιν : for this mode of writing, cp. 16 n.

φέρειν is a certain correction of φέρει : in answer to his question, she is quoting the slave's speech.

μύθοις , L's reading, is as good as μύθοις γ’ , though no better. L has lost γε in some other places (as 648 Ant., 1241): but, on the whole, it seems best not to assume such a loss here.

ἱδρῦσθαι . The length of his absence prompts her conjecture that he has fixed his abode somewhere: cp. 101 κλιθείς .

μὲν here is not answered by ἀλλ’ in 72.

ἄροτον , ploughing-season ( Hes. 448), hence, ‘year’: cp. 825. So πόα=‘summer,’ Rhianus ap. Paus. 4. 17 § 6 χείματά τε ποίας τε δύω.—ἐν μήκει χρόνου , ‘at the full length of that period,’ i.e., from beginning to end of the year.

Λυδῇ : Omphalè: see on 252.

εἰ καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔτλη : ‘if he indeed bore this.’ καί here emphasises τοῦτ’ ἔτλη: cp. 1127 δεινόν γ’ εἶπας, εἰ καὶ ζῇς θανών: and 305 n. If καί were taken with τοῦτο only (‘even this’), it would imply former disgraces. Cp. 1218 n.

ἀλλά , like ‘well,’ here refers to D. 's bitter comment: that disgrace, at any rate, is past.

ἢ θανὼν : a fine touch. She is prepared to hear anything now; even that he is dead. And ἐξαφεῖται was ambiguous.

Εὐβοῖδα (as in Aesch. fr. 29), contr. for Εὐβοΐδα, acc. of Εὐβοΐς. In Soph. 442 the MSS. give Εὐβοΐδας, for which Seidler wrote Εὐβοῖδας. For the nom., the longer form Εὐβοιΐς is used below (237Soph. El., 401).

πόλιν is in appos. with Εὐβοῖδα χώραν . Oechalia in Euboea was the seat of Eurytus, but it is in accor<*>nce with epic precedent to regard him as reigning over the whole island,— like Chalcodon in the (489 n.), and Elephenor in the (2. 536 ff.).— ἢ μέλλειν ἔτι , sc. ἐπιστρατεύσειν: 1074 ἔρδουσ’ ἢ μέλλουσιν ;

ἔλειπε seems to differ from ἔλιπε here only as being somewhat more vivid, —i.e., as serving to suggest the moment when he was doing the act (cp. 47 δέλτον λιπὼν ἔστειχε). See Appendix.

τῆσδε τῆς χώρας πέρι . There is no reason to suspect χώρας. The oracle said that, at this time, he was to go through his last labour. The Euboean war, she infers, is that labour.

ἀγνοῶ . As Heracles had long spared Deianeira a knowledge of the prophecy (158), so she had hitherto spared her son.

τελευτὴν … τελεῖν : cp. Theognis 1166 εὖτ’ ἂν ὁδοῦ τελέῃς τέρματ’ ἐπ’ ἐμπορίην.

ἄρας , having taken up, as a burden to be borne. The midd. would be usual in this sense ( Eur. 199 αἰρόμενος πόνους): but the act. is also admissible, just as in Soph. 706 οὐ φορβὰν...αἴρων (n.). So in 23. 736 we have the act. ἀέθλια δ’ ἶσ’ ἀνελόντες (‘having won like prizes’), but ib. 823 the midd., ἀέθλια ἶσ’ ἀνελέσθαι.

εἰς τό γ’ ὕστερον , Reiske's simple correction of εἰς τὸν ὕστερον , is much the best. τὸν ὕστερον cannot be defended by understanding χρόνον: the two passages in which τὸν ἀεί has been explained as τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον are both corrupt ( 1584, 1075).—The redundancy of τὸν λοιπὸν ἤδη after εἰς τό γ’ ὕστερον is not greater than that in 1103 ff. ὃς ἤδη μετ’ οὐδενὸς ὕστερον | ἀνδρῶν εἰσοπίσω τάλας...ὀλοῦμαι: where the text is certain. For other conjectures, see Appendix.— βίοτον εὐαίων’ : cp. 518 βίου...τοῦ μακραίωνος.

ἐν οὖν ῥοπῇ … κειμένῳ : cp. 1510 ἐν τῷ δὲ κεῖσαι τοῦ μόρου τεκμηρίῳ ; (‘what sign of thy fate holds thee in suspense?’)—answering the words, ῥοπὴ βίου μοι. Alcaeus ap. 1235 ἀντρέψεις ἔτι τὰν πόλιν· ἁ δ’ ἔχεται ῥοπᾶς (‘its fate hangs in the trembling scale’). For ῥοπή cp. also 961 n.

83—

ἡνίκ’ ἢ σεσώσμεθα … οἰχόμεσθ’ ἅμα . Verses 83 and 85 are probably right as they stand, while v. 84 is spurious. The original form of the interpolation was, however, I think, καὶ πίπτομεν σοῦ πατρὸς ἐξολωλότος, intended to follow οἰχόμεσθ’ ἅμα, in order to supply the condition opposed to κείνου βίον σώσαντος. Then it struck a reviser that the passage would be more forcible if καὶ πίπτομεν were changed to ἢ πίπτομεν, and v. 85 were omitted.

This view of the original text may be supported by a consideration which does not seem to have been noticed. The very circumstance which prompted the interpolation—viz., the absence of the condition for οἰχόμεσθ’ ἅμα—is an admirable dramatic touch. For, while Deianeira and her hearers would understand ἅμα as meaning, ἅμα οἰχομένῳ, her death is really to be linked with his victory.

For a similar piece of textual history, cp. Eur. 6, where the true text is νῦν δ’, εἴτις ἄλλη, δυστυχεστάτη γυνή: but there was another reading, which made two verses of it:—νῦν δ’ οὔτις (or νῦν δὴ τίς) ἄλλη δυστυχεστέρα γυνὴ | ἐμοῦ πέφυκεν ἢ γενήσεταί ποτε. Of the second v., the schol. there says, οἱ ὑποκριταὶ τὸν ἴαμβον προσέθηκαν. See Appendix.

The synizesis in ἢ οἰχόμεσθ’ cannot be strictly paralleled: but cp. 535 τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι. I had thought of ἢ κείμεσθ’ , which derives some support from the fact that ἢ κ ( sic) οἰχόμεσθ’ occurs as a variant (cr. n.): but οἰχόμεσθ’ is better, and is probably sound.

νῦν δ’ ὁ ξυνήθης κ.τ.λ. The νῦν here, and the νῦν in v. 90, are both right: only here we must read εἴα for ἐᾷ, with Vauvilliers. The repetition of νῦν is excused by the change of sense: in v. 88 it means, ‘as it was’: in v. 90, simply ‘now.’ Cp. 1334 ff. (‘if I had not taken care, ye would have been lost,’) νῦν δ’ εὐλάβειαν τῶνδε προὐθέμην ἐγώ. | καὶ νῦν ἀπαλλαχθέντε κ.τ.λ.: where the senses of νῦν change just as here. It is well to note that repetitions of common words, which would otherwise be awkward, are often justified by such variations of meaning; see, e.g., the double ἀλλὰ in 524 ff., and ib. 645 ff.; and the fourfold δῆτα ib. 757 ff.

For other instances of νῦν with a past tense, cp. 273, 445 Ai., 1060.

τὸ μὴ : it is unnecessary to write τὸ μὴ οὐ : cp. 742: 1387 f. οὐκ ἂν ἐσχόμην | τὸ μὴ )ποκλῇσαι (n.): 443 οὐκ ἀπαρνοῦμαι τὸ μή: 348 ff.

καὶ γὰρ ὑστέρῳ =καὶ (‘even’) ὑστέρῳ γάρ. This use of καὶ γάρ,—where καί affects a following adj.,—is somewhat rare; but cp. fr. 86. 9 καὶ γὰρ δυσειδὲς σῶμα καὶ δυσώνυμον | γλώσσῃ σοφὸν τίθησιν etc.: 334 καὶ γὰρ ἂν πέτρου etc.: 669 καὶ γὰρ τὰ δεινὰ etc. More often, in such cases, γάρ follows that which καί affects, as 1268 καὶ τὰ πρὶν γάρ .

τό γ’ εὖ | πράσσειν : for the place of the art., cp. 265 n. ‘Even to one who is late, good fortune, if he should ever hear of it, brings gain.’ The general sentiment, ‘better late than never,’ is adapted to the particular case. Hyllus is going in search of tidings; and even now, if he hears good tidings, he will have his reward. The words ἐπεὶ πύθοιτο make it clear (I think) that τὸ εὖ πράσσειν has here its ordinary sense, ‘faring well,’—not the much rarer sense, ‘acting aright’ (like πράσσοντα καλῶς, 1764 n.). The optat. gives abstract generality, which suits a γνώμη ( 666 n.).

ἐμπολᾷ . Any profitable action may be said, by a metaphor from trading, to ‘bring in’ gain. The bold phrase here is qualified by the fact that τὸ εὖ πράσσειν is followed by ἐπεὶ πύθοιτο. It is not, strictly, the thing ascertained, but the act of ascertaining it, that ἐμπολᾷ κέρδος.— Distinguish the phrase in 303 ἐξεμπολήσει κέρδος (‘sell off wares at a profit’).

αἰόλα , ‘gleaming’ with stars: cp. 11: Eur. fr. 596 περὶ δ’ ὀρφναία | νὺξ αἰολόχρως, ἄκριτός τ’ ἄστρων | ὄχλος.— ἐναριζομένα might be merely ‘slain,’ but seems here to have its proper sense, ‘slain and despoiled.’ One point which favours this view has not been noticed. The inverted order of the words (‘chiasmus’) has its usual effect for the ear,—viz., to indi cate that φλογιζόμενον balances ἐναριζομένα , as κατευνάζει balances τίκτει . And this is so, if ἐναριζο<*>ένα implies, not only ‘slain,’ but ‘despoiled,’—thus serving, with αἰόλα, to suggest that bright panoply which Night is still wearing when the Dawn comes to vanquish her,—ere the Sun-god has yet issued from her womb. Cp. Aesch. 279 τῆς νῦν τεκούσης φῶς τόδ’ εὐφρόνης.

The text has been much suspected (see cr. n.), but without reason. The imagery, indeed, does not form a consistent whole: Night is slain, and then overcomes. But this is merely one of many instances in which the poet's language wavers between the figurative and the literal.

κατευνάζει τε φλογιζόμενον . The passage is marred by placing the comma, as some do, after τε, and taking the partic. with αἰτῶ. Cp. Byron, , canto III.: ‘Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run, | Along Morea's hills the setting sun; | Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright, | But one unclouded blaze of living light.’

τοῦτο is in appos. with τον Ἀλκμήνας πόθι … ναίει . The objection to taking καρῦξαι as governing a double acc. (like λέγειν τινά τι) is, here, that the emphasis on τοῦτο would then be unsuitable; since, under the circumstances, the knowledge which they desire about Heracles can be only, πόθι ναίει.

πόθι μοι πόθι παῖς . In the MS. reading, πόθι μοι πόθι μοι παῖς, either the second μοι, or παῖς, must be omitted: the antistrophic words are βλεφάρων πόθον, ἀλλ’ (107). The strong reason for retaining πα<*>ς is that, as the constr. would have been so clear without it, it is very unlikely to have been inserted; while the repetition of μοι would have been a most easy error. For τὸν Ἀλκμ. , followed by παῖς in the relat. clause, Schneidewin cp. Eur. 840 γνῷ μὲν τὸν Ἥρας οἷός ἐστ’ αὐτῷ χόλος, and id. fr. 1039. 3 ὁρᾷς τὸν εὐτράπεζον ὡς ἡδὺς βίος .

Porson is cited by Wunder and other editors as the authority for omitting παῖς. But Porson (on 1030) said only that it is possible to omit παῖς,—adding that it is better to retain it (omitting the second μοι):—‘potes ejicere παῖς et legere πόθι μοι πόθι μοι. Sed alterum melius.’

ὦ … φλεγέθων : for this direct invocation (continued in 102), following Ἅλιον αἰτῶ, cp. 164 προφάνητέ μοι (after Ἄρτεμιν and Φοῖβον).

στεροπᾷ , usu. ‘lightning,’ here, ‘flashing light’; so the word is used of flashing armour ( 11. 83, etc.).

ἢ ποντίας … κλιθείς . The general sense is simply, ‘where is he on sea or land?’ ποντίας , rather than ποντίους (see cr. n.), is probably right. According to Athenaeus (p. 189 D), αὐλών is masc. in Attic prose, but fem. in poetry: he quotes Soph. (fr. 503) ἐπακτίας αὐλῶνας, and Carcînus (fr. 1) βαθεῖαν εἰς αὐλῶνα. Although, then, πόντιος could be used as an adj. of two terminations, Soph. may have preferred the distinctively fem. form here. In Aesch. 731, however, the word is masc., αὐλῶν’ ἐκπερᾶν Μαιωτικόν (of the Cimmerian Bosporus).

The constr. is, πόθι (= που ) ναίει ἢ ποντίας αὐλῶνας ἢ δισς. ἀπείροις κλιθείς ; lit., ‘where he is situated, either on the sea-straits, or in a resting-place on one of the two continents.’ ναίει thus governs an acc. in the first clause, while in the second it stands intransitively with a partic. For a similar difference in form between the clauses after ἢ

ἤ , cp. Thuc.4. 5 ἐν ὀλιγωρίᾳ ἐποιοῦντο (τοὺς Ἀθηναίους), ὡς...ἢ οὐχ ὑπομενοῦντας σφᾶς, ἢ ῥᾳδίως ληψόμενοι βίᾳ: where the acc. ὑπομενοῦντας (governing σφᾶς) is better taken as depending on the verb than as absol. For ναίειν as=merely ‘to be in a place,’ cp. Soph. 117, ποῦ ναίει, said, as here, of a wanderer.

δισς. ἀπείροις κλιθείς , lit., ‘resting upon’ them, as on a support; i.e., having found an abode on land, instead of roaming over sea. The phrase was suggested by the epic use of κέκλιμαι, as said (a) of land which slopes down to the water's edge,—thus, as it were, ‘resting on’ the water; 13. 234 ἀκτὴ | κεῖθ’ ἁλὶ κεκλιμένη: (b) of a person who dwells on the edge of water; 5. 709 λίμνῃ κεκλιμένος Κηφισίδι (where see Leaf): ib. 15. 740 π)όντῳ κεκλιμένοι (the Greeks ‘leaning on’ the sea): ib. 16. 67 ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης | κεκλίαται . So in Pind. 1. 92 the buried Pelops is described as Ἀλφεοῦ πόρῳ κλιθείς, ‘resting by’ (lit. ‘upon’) ‘the stream of the Alpheus.’ Here, however, Soph. has modified the usage,—the dat. denoting land, not water; and the sense is not, dwelling ‘on the shore of’ either continent, but simply, anywhere within their limits.

This use of δισσαῖσιν is possible only because πόθι precedes. We could not say (e.g.), δισσαῖς ἠπείροις οἰκεῖ, meaning ‘he dwells in one of the two continents.’ But it is correct to say, ποῦ δισσαῖς ἠπείροις οἰκεῖ ; meaning, ‘where in (either of) the two continents is his home?’

‘The two continents’ (Europe and Asia, Africa being included in the latter) mean, ‘the habitable world.’ Isocr. or. 4 § 179 τῆς γὰρ γῆς ἁπάσης τῆς ὑπὸ τῷ κόσμῳ κειμένης δίχα τετμημένης, καὶ τῆς μὲν Ἀσίας τῆς δ’ Εὐρώπης καλουμένης . Varro 4 Ut omnis natura in caelum et terram divisa est, sic caelum in regiones, terra in Asiam et Europam. (Sallust, however, remarks that the division into three continents had been more usual: 17.)

ποντίας αὐλῶνας is merely a general expression for the sea. The phrase was suggested by the Aegaean, with its interfusa nitentes | … aequora Cycladas (Hor. 1. 14. 19) . Paley understands:—‘Is he near home, in the Euripus (αὐλῶνας), or midway between both continents, i.e., in the Hellespont?’ Mr Whitelaw, too, thinks that the Hellespont is meant, and that δισς. ἀπείροις=‘on a slope looking towards both continents,’—the sea being regarded as an eminence.

κρατιστεύων κατ’ ὄμμα : cp. 3. 277 Ἠέλιός θ’, ὃς πάντ’ ἐφορᾷς καὶ πάντ’ ἐπακούεις. For κατά , cp. 379; 1087 κατὰ γνώμαν ἴδρις, n.

ποθουμένᾳ = ποθούσῃ, a midd. found only here, yet not suspicious, since the context excludes the pass. sense. The ‘longing mind’ is clearly Deianeira's; ποθουμένᾳ could not well denote the ‘anxious’ or ‘tender’ feeling of the Chorus. As πυνθάνομαι is devoid of emphasis,—like a parenthetic ‘so I hear,’—the order of the words is not too bold.

τὰν ἀμφινεικῆ : cp. 527: Aesch. 686 τὰν δορίγαμβρον ἀμφινεικῆ θ’ Ἑλέναν. Not, ‘with two suitors’ (Paley).— ἀεί belonged, in the poet's thought, to τρύχεσθαι , but is cut off from it by the adversative form in which the sentence is worked out (οὔποτ’ εὐνάζειν..., ἀλλ’, instead of οὔποτ’ εὐνάζουσαν). It could not well be taken with ποθουμένᾳ: still less with πυνθάνομαι.

ὄρνιν . The nightingale may be meant (cp. 963, 148 ἃ Ἴτυν αἰὲν Ἴτυν ὀλοφύρεται); but it is also possible that the image is general, as in 423 ff.

ἀδακρύτων proleptic: cp. 1200 ὀργὰς εὐμενεῖς κατασχεθεῖν, and ib. 791 n.

βλεφάρων πόθον : cp. fr. 729 ὀμμάτειος πόθος.

108 It is simplest to construe εὔμναστον δεῖμα ὁδοῦ ἀνδρὸς , though the adj. might go with ἀνδρός, and δεῖμα with ὁδοῦ only. Casaubon's emendation τρέφουσαν (cp. 28) has been generally received. But the MS. φέρουσαν must not be lightly rejected. If right, it means ‘bearing’ as a burden; cp. 93 τῶνδε γὰρ πλέον φέρω | τὸ πένθος. The word is, however, much more suitable to πένθος than to δεῖμα. And we cannot compare passages in which φέρειν is said of the temper or mood which a person ‘carries’ within him, as Eur. 118 σπλάγχνον ἔντονον φέρων (cp. Soph. 705 n., and ib. 1090). A scribe might easily have written φέρουσαν for τρέφουσαν by a mere slip,— as the true ἔβαλ’ became ἔλαβ’ in Soph. 680, or as in Soph. 180 the true φόβου seems to have been made in L from σοφου: cp. also the variant μένειν for νέμοι below, in 163. On the whole, I believe that τρέφουσαν is right.

ἐνθυμίοις εὐναῖς ἀνανδρώτοισι τρύχεσθαι , lit., is afflicted by that desolateness of her bed which is always in her thoughts,=ἐνθυμουμένην εὐνὰς ἀνανδρώτους τρύχεσθαι. This may be freely rendered, ‘pines on her anxious, widowed couch.’ But the dat. is really causal, not locative; and the schol.'s explanation of ἐνθυμίοις by μεριμνητικαῖς (‘full of care’) assumes a sense which seems neither necessary nor tenable. Everywhere else ἐνθύμιος means ‘dwelling in the mind,’ and is said of that which lies heavy on the soul, as a cause of misgiving or anxiety. So 739 τί δ’ ἐστί σοι τοῦτ’, Οἰδίπους, ἐνθύμιον;—ἐλπίζουσαν , of evil foreboding, as ἐλπίζει in 799.

δύστανον , Deianeira.

πολλὰ γὰρ … ἴδοι . For κύματα ἢ νότου ἢ βορέα (waves belonging to, i.e. raised by, them), cp. 2. 396 τὸν δ’ (sc. σκόπελον) οὔ ποτε κύματα λείπει | παντοίων ἀνέμων, ὅτ’ ἂν ἔνθ’ ἢ ἔνθα γένωνται. Note the last clause as parallel with the mention of two opposite winds here,—showing that Sophocles had that passage in mind.— κύματ’ ἂν … ἴδοι is clearly right: εὐρέϊ πόντῳ is a locative dat. of a common kind, like 174 μέγας οὐρανῷ | Ζεύς.

Three other views claim notice. (1) <*>ν , not ἂν , should be inserted after κύματ’, and ἴδοι taken as a potential opt., ‘might see.’ But in Attic poetry the opt. is so used only where there is some stress on the notion of the possible or conceivable; as in 605 τίς...κατάσχοι ; (n.): see , Append. on 170, p. 275 (2d ed.). (2) ἐν is to be inserted, but ἴδοι changed to ἴδῃ , an epic subjunct. of comparison, as in 2. 474 f. ὥστε...διακρίνωσιν. But there is no Attic example of this; for in Eur. 1026 the ἐκπέσῃ of the MSS. should be ἐκπεσεῖ. (3) The objection to Zippmann's compromise—κύματ’ ἐν...βάντ’ ἐπιόντ’ ἂν —is the harsh asyndeton, which is foreign to the poet's manner.

βάντ’ ἐπιόντα τ’ , lit., ‘having passed by, and coming on.’ The spectator sees wave after wave go by.—Others understand, ‘driven back, and then coming on again’ (Blaydes, ‘ebbing and flowing’). This gives a forced sense to βάντ’ .

οὕτω δὲ : cp. 25 ff. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἵππος...ὡσαύτως δὲ σύ.—τὸν Καδμογενῆ (cp. 1, n.), not merely because he was born at Thebes (Θηβαγενής, Hes. 530); but because, though Alcmena and Amphitryon were Argive Perseidae, the youthful Heracles had been adopted into the ‘Cadmean’ nobility of Thebes. This was symbolised by the tripod dedicated on the boy's behalf in the Ismenion, after he had served as δαφναφόρος of the Ismenian Apollo. ( Paus.9. 10. 4.)

Construe:

βιότου πολύπονον ( πέλαγος). ὥσπερ πέλαγος Κρήσιον , (τὸ μὲν) στρέφει τὸ δ’ αὔξει τὸν Καδμογενῆ . With Κρήσιον cp. 1. 26. 1 ff. The image is that of a strong swimmer buffeting a rough sea. One wave twists him aside ( στρέφει ) from his course: the next sweeps him onward, lifting him on its crest. It is characteristic of Sophocles that, in the second clause, he has preferred αὔξει to αἴρει, through thinking of that which the uplifting wave figures,— viz., the honour won by the hero. For the omission of τὸ μέν (implied by τὸ δ’ ) before στρέφει, cp. 22 157 τῇ ῥα παραδραμέτην, φεύγων, ὁ δ’ ὄπισθε διώκων. Remark that βιότου πολύπονον could not stand for τὸ βιότου πολύπονον: and the τὸ δ’ before αὔξει in 1.0 way alters this fact. It is therefore necessary, as it is easy, to supply πέλαγος from what follows.

Among those who receive στρέφει (due to Reiske) are Dindorf, Nauck, Wecklein, Hartung. The last-named, however, takes it as = ‘overturns,’ referring it to the swimmer being plunged down into the trough of the sea. For this sense of στρέφειν, see on 1453 f. But here the idea of ‘turning aside or back’ better suits the image of reverses alternating with triumphs. στρέφειν was said of the wrestler who ‘twists back’ his foe (Pollux 3. 155: cp. ἀποστρέψας in Ar. 264).

As to the MS. τρέφει , we may observe:—(1) Eur. 367 ὦ πόνοι τρέφοντες βροτούς may fairly be quoted to show that the sense here might be, ‘troubles make up the life of Heracles.’ (2) But the context seems to show that, instead of this, we require a word (a) which shall convey the idea of vexing, and (b) which can be opposed to αὔξει. For other views of the passage, see Appendix.

ἀλλά : (though he is harassed), yet he is not suffered to perish (cp. 88). Since the words τὸ δ’ αὔξει may be regarded as parenthetical, the idea of trouble remains the dominant one in the sentence before ἀλλά: hence the antithesis is logical.

ἀναμπλάκητον , ‘unerring,’ in the sense, ‘not stumbling or failing,’ ἄπταιστον (schol.), ἀσφαλῆ. Cp. 472 Κῆρες αναπλάκητοι. As to the forms with and without μ, see n. there.— ἐρύκει , a somewhat strange phrase (though θάνατον ἐρύκειν τινός would be natural), since it might suggest that he wished to reach Hades: cp. 18. 126 μηδέ μ’ ἔρυκε μάχης.

ὧν , causal gen.: 1. 65 εὐχωλῆς ἐπιμέμφεται: Thuc.8. 109 μέμψηται...τῶν ...γεγενημένων. The pron. refers back to vv. 103—111, which spoke of Deianeira's laments. There is no real obscurity in this, since her grief is the main theme of the ode, and the second strophe (112— 121) referred to the fate of Heracles as the cause of that grief.

Hense (whom Nauck follows) thinks that this second antistrophe (122—131) requires to be transposed, so as to become the second strophe, immediately following v. 111. But this change is worse than unnecessary. It is liable to the fatal objection that vv. 132 ff. (μένει γὰρ etc.) are then severed from the thought which they develope (vv. 129—131 ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ πῆμα καὶ χαρὰ etc.). They are brought into a context which does not suit them (vv. 119— 121 ἀλλά τις θεῶν etc.).

αἰδοῖα , Musgrave's correction of ἁδεῖα , is certain. In L the ἁ of ἁδεῖα is at the end of a v., and the loss of ι after it would have been peculiarly easy (see Autotype Facsimile, p. 66 A). The difficulty of ἁδεῖα is not the construction, which, if somewhat harsh, is quite possible: ‘I will counsel in a pleasant vein’ (the adj. used adverbially), ‘though the counsel is adverse.’ The objection is the sense. ‘In a pleasant vein’ must mean, ‘suggesting thoughts of comfort’: as in 82 ἡδύς, ‘pleasant,’ = ‘bringing good news.’ But, since ἀντία expresses remonstrance against her despair, there is then no proper antithesis with ἁδεῖα . Further, the word required by the context is clearly one which shall temper opposition with deference: as αἰδοῖα does.

οἴσω , proferam, ‘bring forward,’ ‘suggest’: cp. 166 λόγον εἴ τιν’ οἴσεις | πρὸς ἐμὰν λέσχαν . Isocr. or. 7 § 6 τούτων ἐνεγκεῖν ἔχω παραδείγματα . Not, ‘give an adverse judgment,’ like ψῆφον φέρειν .

γὰρ , prefacing the statement ( 277 n.).

ἀποτρύειν , ‘fret away.’ The midd. occurs in 339 γᾶν...ἀποτρύεται. (Cp. Tac. 2. 76 si quid... ferociae habuit,...commissationibus deteritur. )

ἐλπίδα τὰν ἀγαθὰν , that brighter forecast which the case permits: cp. 606 κακὰν ἐλπίδ’ ἔχων .

ἀνάλγητα , a lot with no pain in it; for the absol. neut. pl., cp. 8. 413 θεοὶ δέ τοι ὄλβια δοῖεν. Elsewhere ἀνάλγητος=‘insensible to pain,’ or ‘un feeling.’

οὐδ’ ὁ πάντα κρ. κ.τ.λ.: ‘a painless lot not even Zeus hath appointed,’ i.e., ‘Zeus himself hath not appointed.’ It is the will of Zeus himself that mortals should have pain along with joy. For this use of οὐδέ, emphasising a person, cp. 280: 590(n. on οὐδὲ σοὶ). In 5. 22 οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδέ κεν αὐτὸς ὑπέκφυγε (as in 8. 32, a like case), it is the second οὐδέ, belonging to αὐτός, that is parallel with οὐδ’ here.

ἐπέβαλε : since the reference is to an eternal law, it seems best to take the aor. as=a perfect, rather than as gnomic (‘usually imposes’). For the sense, cp. Eur. 1112 πῶς οὖν λύει... | τήνδ’ ἔτι λύπην... | θνητοῖσι θεοὺς ἐπιβάλλειν ; Il.6. 357 οἷσιν ἐπὶ Ζεὺς θῆκε κακὸν μόρον.

ἐπὶ … κυκλοῦσιν = ἐπικυκλοῦσι, by tmesis: ‘come round in turn’ to all. Others prefer to join ἐπὶ πᾶσι , ‘over the heads of all,’ thinking that this suits the imagery (from stars) better; but the first view seems more in accord with idiom. There is no other sound instance of an intrans. κυκλεῖν in a writer of the 5th cent. B.C.; for in 1365 κυκλοῦνται is certainly right; it was so written by the first hand in L, and then altered by another to κυκλοῦσι. But Arist. uses ἀνακυκλεῖν intransitively: 2. 11 (p. 338 a 4) ἀνάγκη (τὴν γένεσιν ) ἀνακυκλεῖν καὶ ἀνακάμπτειν: and so again in 1. 3 (p. 339 b 28). In later Greek, too, this usage was current, as appears from Plut. 160F (δελφῖνες...κυκλοῦντες) There is no reason, then, for doubting that Soph. admitted the use here; cp. the intrans. ἐπινωμᾶν and προσενώμα in Soph. 168 Soph. Ph., 717.Nauck, holding with Herm. that κυκλοῦσιν must be transitive, adopts his χαρὰν for χαρὰ , and further changes οἷον to αἰὲν , thus destroying the beautiful simile, and reducing ἄρκτου...κέλευθοι to an equivalent for περιτελλόμεναι ὧραι.

ἄρκτου στροφάδες κέλευθοι . As the Great Bear moves ever round the pole, so joy and sorrow come round in unceasing rotation. The peculiar fitness of the comparison is in the fact that the Bear never disappears below the horizon: 18. 487 ἄρκτον τ’...ἥ τ’ αὐτοῦ στρέφεται, ‘that revolves in its place,’—‘having no share in the baths of Ocean.’ Ov. 13. 293 immunemque aequoris arcton. Cf. Soph. fr. 399 ἄρκτου στροφάς τε καὶ κυνὸς ψυχρὰν δύσιν.

οὔτ’ αἰόλα (94) νὺξ κ.τ.λ., the ‘paratactic’ form, instead of, ‘as night does not abide, so neither does woe,’ etc.

κῆρες , here merely ‘calamities,’ συμφοραί, a sense recognised by Hesych. s. v. κῆρες. The sing. oft. has this meaning (cp. 454): but the plur. usu. denotes either (a) ‘the Fates,’ as in 472, or at least ‘death-dooms,’ as in 12. 326.

ἀλλ’ ἄφαρ βέβακε : the subject is each of the preceding nouns, the verb agreeing in number with the nearest ( 8 n.): ‘but (each) is suddenly gone (from one), while joy, and the loss of it, come to another man in his turn.’

τῷδ’ is opposed to the τῷ μὲν implied in the preceding clause. It is true that the main point is the changing experience of the individual, rather than the transference of joy or woe to his neighbour. But these two notions are closely linked here by the image of joy and woe coming round, as the Bear revolves about the pole. Cp. Her.1. 207(Croesus to Cyrus), ἐκεῖνο πρῶτον μάθε, ὡς κύκλος τῶν ἀνθρωπηίων ἐστὶ πρηγμάτων, περιφερόμενος δὲ οὐκ ἐᾷ αἰεὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς εὐτυχέειν.—For χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι as nomin. (without art.) to ἐπέρχεται , cp. Aesch. 181 παρ’ ἄκοντας ἦλθε σωφρονεῖν.

Other views are as follows. (1) The constr. is, ἀλλὰ χαίρειν τε καὶ στέρεσθαι ἄφαρ βέβακε (τῷ μέν), τῷ δ’ ἐπέρχεται. This is less simple. (2) τῷ δ’=simply ‘and to him,’—i.e., to the person from whom woe or joy ‘has gone.’ But: (a) τῷ δ’ surely implies an antithesis. (b) The clause τῷ δ’ ἐπέρχεται κ.τ.λ. would thus mean merely,—‘and then his experiences begin over again.’

ἃ , ‘as to which things,’ ‘wherefore’: Isocr. or. 8 § 122 ἃ καὶ πάντων μάλιστ’ ἄν τις θαυμάσειεν ὅτι προχειρίζεσθε δημαγωγούς. So the sing. ὅ, Thuc.2. 40 ὃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀμαθία μὲν θράσος λογισμὸς δὲ ὄκνον φέρει.

Others suppose that ἃ is governed by ἴσχειν , and that τάδ’ is pleonastic. But this view is not proved by the alleged examples. They are:—(1) Eur. 1115 ὧν Κλυταιμνήστρας τόκος | εἷς ἦν, ἁπάντων τῶνδε μηχανορράφος. Here, however, ὧν is masc., referring to the λόχος mentioned just before, and a comma should follow ἦν. (2) 155 σφραγῖδα φύλας<*> <*>ν ἐπὶ δέλτῳ | τήνδε κομίζεις. Here the v. l. τῇδε is clearly right.

For λέγω as=‘command,’ with acc. and inf., cp. 101 n.

ἐλπίσιν ἴσχειν : ἐν would usu. be added to the dat.: cp. 897 ἐν ἐλπίσιν τρέφω. So Thuc.2. 8 ὀργῇ εἶχον...τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, instead of the regular ἐν ὀργῇ (id. 2. 18 etc.). Cp. too Soph. 1678, ἐν [MSS. εἰ] πόθῳ λάβοις, with Plut. 18 ὀργῇ δ’ ἅμα καὶ φόβῳ τὸ γεγονὸς λαμβάνοντες.—τὰν ἄνασσαν , wife of the son of Zeus, and so having the better reason to hope. — ἄβουλον , having no πρόνοια for them: cp. Soph. 546 ἀβούλου...πατρός (alluding to Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter). Racine has an unconscious echo of this verse, , acte 2, sc. 7, ‘Dieu laissat-il jamais ses enfants au besoin?’

ἀπεικάσαι : cp. Eur. 1298 Ἑλένης τὸ κώκυμ’ ἐστίν, ὡς ἀπεικάσαι. These are isolated examples of ἀπεικάζω so used: for in Soph. 16(where see n.) we must read ὡς σάφ’ εἰκάσαι. Elsewhere ἀπεικάζειν τι is ‘to express the likeness of a thing,’ either in art, or (as in Soph. fr. 154. 2) by a comparison. Hence Herm. wished to read here the usual word ἐπεικάσαι (cp. 1220). He dismissed the example in the by saying that there ὡς ἀπεικάσαι means, ‘to compare the voice heard with Helen's voice’: but that is obviously a forced explanation. ἐπεικάζω is <*> to ‘enter upon’ conjecture, ἐπί giving the notion of advance, as in ἐπινοῶ: <*> ἀπεικάζω, when used as here, is rath<*> throw off,’ or ‘hazard,’ a guess,—ἀπ<*> <*>ing used as in ἀποκινδυνεύω.

θυμοφ<*> , from the epic θυμοφθόρος, occurs only here: for the form cp. ψυχορραγῶ.

μήτ’ <*>θοις … νῦν δ’ ἄπειρος εἶ : i.e., ‘mayest <*> remain ignorant,—as thou now art <*> the combination of a wish with a fact <*> 582 ff., 686 n.— νῦν δ’ has <*> authority than νῦν τ’ . Greek express<*> had a pervading bent towards antith<*> and this tendency sometimes asserted <*> after a sentence had begun in the <*>actic’ form. Thus here, νῦν δ’ sprang <*> the thought, ‘you may, indeed, know <*> the future,—though I trust that you will not,—but now, at least, you do <*>’ I therefore keep νῦν δ’. Each trad<*>nal instance of τε … δέ should be care<*> weighed before changing δέ to τε. <*> 285 f. Ant., 333 f. Ant., 1151 ff.: 1096, <<<< << < 421 f.

τ<*> νεάζον κ.τ.λ. The young life grows in ‘regions of its own,’— sheltered, like some tender plant, from scorching heat, from violent rain, and from rough winds. τοιοῖσδε refers to the preceding words, νῦν δ’ ἄπειρος εἶ: i.e., ‘such’=‘thus untroubled.’ For this retrospective τοιόσδε, cp. 148. βόσκεται : cp. 558 τέως δὲ κούφοις πνεύμασιν βόσκου, νέαν | ψυχὴν ἀτάλλων. χώροισιν αὑτοῦ : schol. τοῖς ἰδίοις αὑτοῦ τόποις. He notices the other reading αὐτοῦ , which Paley supports by the Homeric αὐτοῦ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ ( 2. 237), etc.: but here it would be both weak and obscure. For the image of the sheltered plant, cp. 18. 56(Thetis of Achilles), ὁ δ’ ἀνέδραμεν ἔρνεϊ ἶσος, | τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ θρέψασα, φυτὸν ὣς γουνῷ ἀλωῆς κ.τ.λ. —

θάλπος … ὄμβρος … πνευμάτων : Schneid. cp. 5. 478(of θάμνοι ) τοὺς μὲν ἄρ’ οὔτ’ ἀνέμων διάη μένος ὑγρὸν ἀέντων, | οὔτε ποτ’ ἠέλιος φαέθων ἀκτῖσιν ἔβαλλεν, | οὔτ’ ὄμβρος περάασκε διαμπερές.

The text is as clearly sound as the passage itself is beautiful. But numerous changes have been proposed: for these, see Appendix. Here I will only remark that the genuineness of the words καί νιν —which most of the conjectures assume to be corrupt—is confirmed by a fragment of the orator Antiphon (no. XXVIII. 10 in Sauppe, vol. II. p. 151), where he speaks of education as a permanent influence:—ἐν νέῳ σώματι ὅταν τις τὴν παίδευσιν γενναίαν ἐναρόσῃ, ζῇ τοῦτο καὶ θάλλει διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου, καὶ αὐτὸ οὔτε ὄμβρος οὔτε ἀνομβρία ἀφαιρεῖται. The last sentence is manifestly a reminiscence of καί νιν οὐ θάλπος θεοῦ | οὔτ’ ὄμβρος κ.τ.λ.

ἡδοναῖς , a dat. of attendant circumstance, ‘amid’ them.

ἐξαίρει βίον , ‘uplifts its life’; a phrase suggested by the image of the plant shooting up (cp. 18. 56 ἀνέδραμεν , 6. 163 ἔρνος ἀνερχόμενον), but also implying, ‘exults in its life’: cp. 1066 μηδὲν δεινὸν ἐξάρῃς μένος.—ἕως without ἄν, as 764, 77, 555: but ἕως ἄν in 1000, 834, 114, fr. 736. 5.

ἐν νυκτὶ , though virtually equiv. to ἐννυχίων, belongs by constr. to λάβῃ : in the (sleepless) night she receives her portion of those cares which haunt a wife. Cp. 29 f.: Ar. 1290 ἐννυχίαισι | φροντίσι.—Not: ‘on the marriage-night.’

ἤτοι … ἢ , as 1182, Aesch. 662, Eur. 431: but ἢ... ἤτοι ( Pind. 4. 5) does not occur in

πρὸς ἀνδρὸς … φοβουμένη , lit., ‘feeling a fear from the quarter of her husband’; i.e., ‘fearing on his account.’ Cp. 783 νῦν δ’ ἀπηλλάγην φόβου | πρὸς τῆσδ’, where the last three words cohere. It is needless to take the partic. as pass. (‘alarmed by him’).

αὑτοῦ , the masc., because, though thinking of a wife, she puts her thought in an abstract form: cp. 771 οὐδὲ γὰρ κακῶς | πάσχοντι μῖσος ὧν τέκῃ προσγίγνεται: 463(ὅστις).

κακοῖσιν οἷς =κακὰ οἷς. The antecedent, when attracted into the case of the relat. pron., usu. follows it ( 56), unless it stands at the beginning of the sentence, in acc. (as below O. C., 283 n.), or, more rarely, in nom. ( 1150). But the peculiar form found here can be paralleled. Plat. 96 A ἔχεις οὖν εἰπεῖν ἄλλου ὁτουοῦν πράγματος οὗ οἱ μὲν φάσκοντες διδάσκαλοι εἷναι...ὁμολογοῦνται κ.τ.λ. Dem. or. 2 § 2 μὴ μόνον πόλεων καὶ τόπων ὧν ἦμέν ποτε κύριοι φαίνεσθαι προϊεμένους . [προΐεσθαι never takes a gen., like μεθίεσθαι.]—It is also possible to take κακοῖσιν οἷς as=οἵοις κακοῖς: for this use of ὅς, see on 1171, and cp. Dem. or. 18 § 16 ἑτέρῳ δ’ ὅτῳ κακόν τι δώσομεν ζητεῖν. But I prefer the other view.

μὲν οὖν δὴ : the only Sophoclean instance of this formula, which was always rarer than either μὲν οὖν alone, or μὲν δή (627). δή here really=ἤδη: cp. 823 ἤκουσα δή .

ἦμος : cp. 1134 n.

τὴν τελευταίαν : when he left home (for Lydia), fifteen months before: cp. 39 n.

δέλτον : the tablet mentioned in 47, recording the oracle given to Heracles at Dodona.

ἐγγεγραμμένην ξυνθήμαθ’ , ‘inscribed with tokens,’ i.e., the writing in which Heracles had taken down the oracle (1167). The acc. with the pass. partic. denotes the object of the act. verb (ἐγγράφω ξυνθήματα δέλτῳ): cp. Her.7. 69 λεοντέας ἐναμμένοι: Xen. 5. 4. 32 ἐστιγμένους ἀνθέμια: Verg. 3. 106 inscripti nomina. The word ξυνθήματα recalls the Homeric σήματα λυγρά ( 6. 168),—now generally held to denote some kind of alphabetic or syllabic writing (, p. 112, n. 1). In later Greek συνθήματα meant a preconcerted cipher: Polyb. 8. 17. 9 συνθ. λαβὼν καὶ πίστεις (‘a letter in cipher, and credentials’): cp. id. 8. 18. 9 συνθηματικὰ γράμματα. There is possibly a touch of designed archaism in the poet's phrase; he may have felt that it suited the heroic age to speak of writing as a mystery. This is more likely than that he thought of Heracles as using secret symbols.

ἀγῶνας ἐξιών : cp. 290 ἀφορμᾷς πεῖραν : Thuc.1. 15 στρατείας...οὐκ ἐξῄεσαν: Dem. or. 19 § 163 ὅτε...τὴν προτέραν ἀπῄρομεν πρεσβείαν.—οὔπω , after οὐ , the compound negative after the simple, is normal (like οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδέν, etc.); not an irregular repetition, like that in 1014 (n.).

ἔτλη , brought himself to do it: cp. 1070.

ὥς τι δράσων : for δρᾶν τι (to do something notable), cp. 732 n.: for the place of τι, ib. 280 n.

ἔτ’ οὐκ ὤν : cp. 1217 ἔτ’ οὐδέν εἰμι: and, for the place of ἔτ’, also 24 n.

εἶπε μὲν … εἶπε δ’ : epanaphora: 610 n. The δέλτος (157) contained the oracle only. Heracles first expounded this (hence the aor. part. προτάξας in 164): then he gave his testamentary directions,—not in writing, but merely by word of mouth.

εἶπε … ὅ τι χρείη μ’ ἑλέσθαι λέχους κτῆσιν , ‘he said what I was to take for myself as marriage-property,’ i.e., ‘as my property in right of our marriage.’ This means, in accordance with the Attic usage of the poet's age, that she was to take as her own the dowry ( προῖξ) which she had brought to her husband, together with any gifts that he might have made to her. Thus a widow is described as ἀπολιποῦσα τὸν οἶκον καὶ κομιο αμένη τὴν προῖκα, [Dem. ] or. 40 § 7. The bride's father (or other representative before the law, κύριος) kept a record of the προῖξ, with a view to its recovery at the husband's death, or in the event of a divorce: Isaeus or. 3 § 35 ἐὰν ἀπολίπῃ ἡ γυνὴ τὸν ἄνδρα, ἢ ἐὰν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐκπέμψῃ τὴν γυναῖκα, οὐκ ἔξεστι πράξασθαι τῷ δόντι [i.e. the father, or κύριος] ὃ μὴ ἐν προικὶ τιμήσας ἔδωκεν: ‘which, when he gave it, he did not record at a certain value, as part of the dower.’ Thus in [Dem. ] or. 47 § 57 a widow claims some pieces of property on the ground ὅτι αὑτῆς εἴη ἐν τῇ προικὶ τετιμημένα.

ἣν τέκνοις … νέμοι : ‘what share of their father's land he assigned by division to his sons,’ i.e., ‘assigned to them severally.’

διαιρετὸν : for the verbal adj. of two terminations, cp. 384 n.

The constr. is:

χρόνον προτάξας , having first prescribed the time [for the division of the property],

ὡς (saying) that,

ἡνίκα χώρας ἀπείη βεβώς τρίμ. χρόνον κἀνιαύς ., when he should have been absent from the country, after his departure, for fifteen months,

τότε χρείη σφε ἢ θανεῖν τῷδε τῷ χρ., ἢ … ζῆν κ.τ.λ. The words χρόνον προτάξας refer to his having expounded the oracle to her before he gave the directions as to his property: ὡς depends on the notion of ‘saying’ contained in προτάξας: and the sentence, ὡς, ἡνίκα...ἀπείη, χρείη, explains χρόνον προτάξας.

I leave the MS. τρίμηνον … κἀνιαύσιος unaltered, because it is conceivable that, while τρίμηνον was prompted by the χρόνον before it, κἀνιαύσιος should have been adapted to βεβώς. Cp. the personal constr. with χρόνιος ( 441 n.), χθιζός, παννύχιος, etc. But I should prefer κἀνιαύσιον .—The repetition χρόνον … χρόνῳ … χρόνου does not warrant a suspicion (cp. 554 n.): it expresses her anxiety to be precise as to the all-important point.

ὑπεκδραμόντα is lit., ‘having run out from beneath,’ having ‘eluded’ the imminent danger: 1086 τῶν σὺ θάλπος οὐχ ὑπεκδραμεῖ. Her.1. 156 ἢν τὸ παρεὸν ὑπεκδράμωσι. As the χρόνου τέλος is here a perilous crisis, ὑπεκδρ . is more forcible than the conjecture ὑπερδραμόντα , which would mean simply, ‘having passed.’

The arguments which have been brought against vv. 166—168 are examined in the Appendix.

τοιαῦτ’ ἔφραζε … πόνων . Among the various explanations of the gen. τῶν Ἡρακλείων πόνων , two seem better than the rest; and I prefer that which I place first.

(1) It is a gen. of connection, equiv. to the gen. with περί, and going with the whole phrase εἱμαρμένα ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι rather than with either word alone. ‘He said that such things were destined to be accomplished in regard to the toils of Heracles.’ This is only a rarer and bolder form of the gen. used in poetry after verbs of ‘speaking about’ ( 317 τοῦ κασιγνήτου τί φής ;), ‘asking about’ ( 439 φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι), ‘hearing about’ ( 307 κλύων σοῦ). And there is another passage of Sophocles which shows a similarly bold use of it, viz., 355(μαντεῖα ) ἃ τοῦδ’ ἐχρήσθη σώματος, ‘the oracles that had been given concerning me’: an example which (to my mind) strongly confirms this view.

(2) It is also possible, though less probable, that the gen. should be taken as partitive with ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι : destined to be accomplished as part of (in the number of) his toils. For this we might compare such uses of the partitive gen. as πλεῖν τοῦ πρώτου στόλου ( 73), ἐξετάζεσθαι τῶν συγχαιρόντων ( Dem. or. 21 § 202), ἀριθμεῖσθαι τῶν μακάρων, etc.

(3) πόνων depends on πρὸς θεῶν εἱμαρμένα as if it were a subst. εἱμαρμένην:— ‘he said that such a doom for the toils of H. was to be fulfilled.’

(4) πόνων depends on ἐκτελευτᾶσθαι as equiv. to τελευτὴν γίγνεσθαι: ‘he said that such events were to be accomplished as the end of his toils.’ I do not think that the Greek words will bear either of the two latter versions.

ὡς τὴν παλαιὰν φηγὸν κ.τ.λ. A note on the Oracle at Dodona, illustrative of this passage and of vv. 1166—1168, will be found in the Appendix. The signs were taken from the movement and rustling of the oak's leaves; and these signs were interpreted by the priestesses called Πελειάδες. Cp. fr. 414 τὰς θεσπιῳδοὺς ἱερίας Δωδωνίδας. Euripides spoke of three such priestesses; but Pindar, like Sophocles, gave the number as two (schol. here). In saying that the oak ‘spake’ (αὐδῆσαι) by their mouths, he follows the established mode of expression with regard to it. See, e.g., Lucian 31 ἡ ἐν Δωδώνῃ φηγὸς...ἱερὰν ἀπορρήξασα φωνήν. Constantine Porphyr. 2. 55 Δωδώνη, ἐφ’ ἧς ἡ δρῦς ἡ φθεγγομένη τὰ τῶν δαιμόνων μυστήρια.

Others understand:—(1) ‘by the agency of two doves’: i.e., the signs from the oak were somehow combined with, or explained by, signs derived from birds. (2) ‘The oak spake from between two doves’; i.e. a symbolical dove, of stone or metal, stood on either side of the tree. The Appendix will show what can be said for or against each of these theories. Here it may be noted that neither seems to accord so well with the phrase αὐδῆσαι ἐκ . It was through the inspired lips that the utterance of the oak became a ‘voice.’

Δωδῶνι , as in frr. 413, 415: so fr. 412 Δωδῶνος. The nom. Δωδών is not extant; unless it should be restored to a verse which Byz.Steph. , s.v. Δωδώνη, quotes from Simmias of Rhodes (c. 320 B.C.?), Ζηνὸς ἕδος Κρονίδαο μάκαιρ’ ὑπεδέξατο Δωδώ. For the locative dat., cp. Soph. 900 τὸν Ἀβαῖσι ναόν.

ναμέρτεια : for the Doric form, see on 715 n. Cp. Aesch. 246(dial.) ναμερτῆ λόγον (so Porson for νημερτῆ).

τῶνδε =the predictions (of the alternative issues, prosperity or death): ναμέρτεια =‘precision,’ i.e. the precise term of fifteen months. συμβαίνει =‘comes right,’ ‘tallies’ (cp. 1174; and with dat., 1164). Thus the sense is:—‘The precise term foretold by these prophecies tallies [with the period which has actually elapsed] at the present time,’ ὡς (=ὥστε ) τελεσθῆναι χρεών , ‘so that they must be fulfilled.’ (With χρεών we may understand either ἐστί or εἶναι: the former is simpler: for the ellipse, cp. 668 ἄρχοντές εἰσιν, ὥσθ’ ὑπεικτέον.) In other words, ‘This is precisely the time when the fulfilment of these predictions falls due.’ The schol. saw that ὡς is for ὥστε (ὥστε ὁπότερον πραχθῆναι). The change to ᾧ is needless, and worse.

Others understand:—(1) ‘The true fulfilment of these words as (ὡς) they are to be accomplished’; or (2) ‘the truth of the prediction that (ὡς) these things are to be accomplished.’

This is one of those passages in which the manner of Sophocles recalls that of Vergil. The general meaning is simple and clear<*> but a verbal analysis demands the nicest care.

ἡδέως has been variously altered, from a feeling that it is out of harmony with the tone of 29 f. and 149; but the word is well fitted to express that even a sound sleep, when it came to her, was apt to be suddenly broken.

φόβῳ goes with ταρβοῦσαν , which it strengthens: cp. 65 ὕπνῳ γ’ εὕδοντα (n.): 427 γόοισιν ἐξῴμωξεν. ( 1625 and 225 are not similar.)

εὐφημίαν refers to the ominous ἐστερημένην: cp. 361 f. ΑΙ....ἀλλά με συνδάϊξον. | ΧΟ. εὔφημα φώνει.— καταστεφῆ , with a wreath of laurel: cp. 83 n.

πρὸς χαρὰν λόγων refers to καταστεφῆ: ‘in view of (suitably to) joyous news.’ Brunck's reading, πρὸς χάριν λόγων, would be weaker (‘on account of his tidings’).

πρῶτος ἀγγέλων , forestalling Lichas: the words mark his eagerness to assert his claim on her gratitude (190 f.).

γὰρ as in 155.

κρατοῦντα , the pres. (=‘is victorious’), as oft. νικῶν: cp. n. on 437.

ἀπαρχὰς refers more especially to the train of αἰχμαλωτίδες which the Messenger had seen with Lichas, but can also include the spoils which were to come later with Heracles. For ἀπαρχή said of human beings, cp. Arist. fr. 443 (p. 1550 b 39) ap. Plut. 16 Κρῆτας...ἀνθρώπων ἀπαρχὴν εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀποστέλλειν. So in Soph. 202 the captive Φοίνισσαι describe themselves as ἀκροθίνια Λοξίᾳ.—θεοῖσι (for the synizesis, 964 n.) τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις , esp. Zeus Οἰταῖος (200), Apollo, and Artemis Ortygia (210 ff.). Cp. 245 (of the captives) αὑτῷ κτῆμα καὶ θεοῖς κριτόν.

τίνα … τόνδε : 68 n., 441.The Messenger has been explicit; but she is bewildered with joy. So in Aesch. 268 the Chorus makes the κῆρυξ repeat his tidings. Cp. belowAesch. Ag., 876f .

πολύζηλον , in this context, is best taken as=‘exciting much ζῆλος,’ ‘admired by all’: though it could also mean merely, ‘very prosperous.’ In 381(n.) it means, ‘full of emulation.’

φανέντα adds vividness to the thought of the joy that awaits her: cp. 199 ἐμφανῆ, 224 ἐναργῆ.— σὺν of attendant circumstance ( 17).

κράτει νικηφόρῳ : κράτος is the superior strength, the mastery ( 594 n.), which vίκην φέρεται: cp. 497: 1088 σθένει )πινικείῳ (‘triumphant might’).

ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων , i.e. ‘from whom in the world?’ Cp. 975 τίς γάρ ποτ’ ἀστῶν ἢ ξένων. So far as the ξένοι are definitely conceived here, they may be supposed to arrive from Euboea.

βουθερεῖ : only here. Hesychius gives the right sense,—ἐν ᾧ βόες θέρους ὥρᾳ νέμονται. A poet might feel that a simple compound of βοῦς and θέρος would suffice for a picturesque epithet of λειμών: i.e., ‘the meadow of the oxen's summer’ would readily suggest ‘the meadow which is the summer pasture of oxen.’ Those who object to such a compound seem to try it by the standard of prose.—Hesychius adds to his explanation of βουθερεῖ: καὶ βουθόρῳ τὸ αὐτό. Wecklein adopts this, as=‘in which oxen jump about’: but surely they must be οἰστροπλῆγες to behave so. The word occurs only in Aesch. 301 βουθόρῳ ταύρῳ (=qui vaccam salit).—The λειμών was in the plain of Malis, between Trachis and the Malian Gulf: cp. 194 n.

τοι implies that the motive was a natural one, which she will readily comprehend: cp. the frankness of the messenger in 1005, and of the ἔμπορος in 552.

εἴπερ εὐτυχεῖ : if he comes with good news, and may therefore expect a cordial welcome (cp. 229).

193 (ἄπεστιν), οὐκ εὐμ. χρώμενος , because he does not enjoy much facility (for moving forward). For the partic. in a reply, cp. 1228.

Μηλιεὺς : for the Ionic form, cp. 4 n. Trachis was on a rocky spur under the heights (‘Trachinian Rocks’) which bound the plain of Malis on s. and W.; the distance from the (ancient) coastline of the Malian Gulf was about six miles.

ἅπας : not only the Τραχίνιοι (the highlanders of Malis), but the Παράλιοι also. As to Malis, cp. Introd. p. ix.

κρίνει =ἀνακρίνει : cp. 314, 388, 399.

παραστάς : a crowd has gathered round him ( κύκλῳ ); and the eager people keep pressing close up to him, to put their questions. So this partic. is used of one who comes close up to a person, in a threatening way: 992 εἴ τίς σε... | κτείνοι παραστάς: 295 βοᾷ παραστᾶσ’. Thus, while the conjecture περιστάς would merely supplement κύκλῳ, παραστάς really adds a new touch.

βῆναι , aor. set forward from the place where he is halting: stronger than βαίνειν, keep moving on. Cp. βῆναι said of death, 1226.

τὸ γὰρ ποθοῦν κ.τ.λ. I leave τὸ … ποθοῦν in the text, not feeling certain that it is corrupt; though I am disposed to read, with ThomasE. , τὰ γὰρ ποθείν’ . A discussion of other views will be found in the Appendix. Here I note these points.

(1) If τὸ … ποθοῦν is sound, it means, ‘the feeling of desire’ in the questioner's mind. It cannot mean ‘his desire’ in the sense of ‘that which is desired by him’ (τὸ ποθούμενον schol.). This, at least, is the inference from all the evidence available: see nn. on 267 O. C., 1604.

(2) τὸ ποθοῦν ἐκμαθεῖν cannot mean, then, ‘to learn what is desired.’ ἐκμαθεῖν , if it is to govern τὸ ποθοῦν , must be explained as having a pregnant sense, ἐκπλῆσαι μαθών, ‘to satisfy the desire by learning.’ Some analogies might be quoted ( 399): but the phrase seems impossibly harsh.

(3) It remains, then, to take τὸ ποθοῦν as an acc. of reference: ‘with regard to his curiosity, wishing to be fully informed.’ This is awkward; but it is not inconceivable.

οὐχ ἑκών, ἑκοῦσι δὲ : the omission of μέν is like that in 971 οὐκ εἶ κακὸς σύ, πρὸς κακῶν δ’ ἀνδρῶν μαθὼν κ.τ.λ. Cp. 276(the φύλαξ ) πάρειμι δ’ ἄκων οὐχ ἑκοῦσιν. Here, too, perhaps, the conceit is meant to be a trait of homely humour.

τὸν Οἴτης ἄτομον … λειμῶν’ . The uplands of Oeta were sacred to Zeus (1191). Lands dedicated to gods might be cultivated for the profit of the temples (238 n.). Sometimes, however, they were left idle, or served merely for ornament. It was in such cases more especially that they were said to be ἀνειμένα. Cp. Plato 761 C εἴ τί που ἄλσος ἢ τέμενος περὶ ταῦτα ἀνειμένον ᾖ, τὰ ῥεύματα ἀφιέντες εἰς αὐτὰ τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἱερὰ κοσμῆσαι . Athen. p. 503 C τοὺς ἀλσώδεις καὶ συσκίους τόπους τοὺς τοῖς θεοῖς ἀνειμένους. So Demeter reproves the wood-cutter in her grove: Callim. 47 τέκνον, ὅτις τὰ θεοῖσιν ἀνειμένα δένδρεα κόπτεις, | τέκνον, ἐλίνυσον . The exquisite verses of Eur. ( Eur. 75 ff.) describe an inviolable meadow of Artemis: ἔνθ’ οὔτε ποιμὴν ἀξιοῖ φέρβειν βοτά, | οὔτ’ ἦλθέ πω σίδηρος, ἀλλ’ ἀκήρατον | μέλισσα λειμῶν’ ἠρινὸν διέρχεται. In a Cretan precinct of the Dictaean Zeus, it was forbidden to keep flocks or sheepfolds, to sow, or to cut timber ( II. p. 1003). With ἄτομον cp. Hesych. ἀδρέπανον· ἄδρεπτον· θεοῖς ἀνακείμενον. Σοφοκλῆς .

ἀλλὰ , ‘at least’; 320, 1276 n.: σὺν χρόνῳ , 306 ἔμφρων μόλις πως σὺν χρόνῳ καθίσταται: 1653.

εἴσω =ἔνδον, as 867, and oft.; but it properly implies motion (336, 492, 693, 900). The form εἴσω is here used, as in 18, without metrical necessity; and it has been held that the form ἔσω (which does not occur in Ar. ) was admitted in Tragedy only when metre required it: Soph. 491 is, however, an exception.

στέγης … αὐλῆς : the second word here is a mere synonym for the first; hence Kvíčala conjectures αὐτῆς: but see n. on 1501.Those ‘within’ are her handmaidens; those ‘without,’ the Chorus.

ὄμμα φήμης τῆσδε, ἄελπτον ἐμοὶ ἀνασχόν : for the fig. sense of ὄμμα, cp. 987 n. As said of sunrise, etc., <*>σχω is more usual than ἀνέχω: yet cp. Bekk. p. 400. 4 ἀνέχειν· τὸ ἀνατέλλειν τὸν ἥλιον ἢ τὴν σελήνην.

The wording here, ὡς … ἀνασχόν , is so suggestive of an acc. abs. ( 380 n.), that it had occurred to me, as to Mr Blaydes, to ask whether τῆσδε ought not to be τῆσδ’ ὃ : but the answer, I think, is that this would practically make ἄελπτον too prominent; the surprise would be more emphasised than the joy.

This lively ‘dance-song’ (ὑπόρχημα) is the direct response of the Chorus to Deianeira's appeal (202 φωνήσατ’),—expressing their delight at the good news. As Dr. W. Christ, who calls it ‘a paean to Artemis and Apollo,’ justly remarks ( § 443), its contents clearly point to a distribution of the verses between different singers. (1) The first part, down to v. 215 (Νύμφας), is an invitation to song and dance; this would be given either by the coryphaeus, or by the leader of one semichorus. (2) The second part, vv. 216—220 (ἀείρομ’...ἅμιλλαν), is the response, delivered by the leader of the other semichorus. (3) Then, at v. 221, the whole Chorus joins in with the refrain of the paean, ἰὼ ἰὼ Παιάν. (4) The coryphaeus then gives the last three verses, which introduce the next scene.—For the metres, see Metrical Analysis.

ἀνολολυξάτω has been recognised by almost all recent critics and metrists as a certain correction of ἀνολολύξετε (L) or ‐ατε. But I should keep the MS. δόμοις , merely reading ἁ for ὁ with Erfurdt. The clue to a right interpretation here depends on two points in the context. (1) Deianeira has called for a joyous cry from the women in the house, and from those outside of it (203 f.). The first words of the Chorus accordingly appeal to the women in the house,—as is marked, not only by δόμοις , but by ἐφεστίοις , adding that the men of the household are to join in. Then, at v. 210, ὁμοῦ δὲ...παιᾶν’...ὦ παρθένοι, the maidens of the Chorus are invited to raise the paean. (2) The words ἐν δὲ κοινὸς ἀρσένων κ.τ.λ. could not have been used unless a reference to women had preceded; it is not enough that it should follow, in ὦ παρθένοι, at v. 210.

Hence we have to choose between these views, of which I prefer the first. (1) ἁ μελλόνυμφος , ‘she whose nuptials are soon to come,’ is a poetical phrase for virgo nubilis, and denotes the maidens of the household generally. Nauck, reading δόμοις...ὁ μελλόνυμφος, gives this sense to it, but admits that the masc. (‘quisquis nubilis est’) is awkward: rather it is impossible. (2) ἁ μελλόνυμφος =‘she who is soon to be (re-)united to a husband,’ i.e. Deianeira. This is a forcing of the Greek word which can easily be smoothed over in an English paraphrase, but which would probably have seemed very strange to a Greek. (3) Reading δόμος … ὁ μελλόνυμφος , ‘the household of maidens,’ i.e. ‘the maidens of the household.’ This seems an untenable usage: moreover the metre condemns δόμος.—Another version of this reading, ‘the house which is soon to receive the husband,’ not only strains μελλόνυμφος, but fails to supply the necessary antithesis to ἀρσένων.

ἀνολολυξάτω : the ὀλολυγή or ὀλολυγμός was a cry to the gods, usually expressive of joy or hope, in prayer or sacrifice: and it is especially said of women (e.g. Il.6. 301, 3. 450: Aesch. 268 etc.). But this verb denotes a cry of horror in Soph. 750.

δόμοις , rather ‘for the house’ (dat. of interest) than merely ‘in it’; cp. Aesch. 27 δόμοις | ὀλολυγμὸν εὐφημοῦντα τῇδε λαμπάδι | ἐπορθιάζειν.— ἀλαλαγαῖς , probably due to Triclinius, has been received instead of ἀλαλαῖς by many recent edd., in order that the first foot of the verse may be a tribrach (see Analysis Metr.). ἀλαλή was the more frequent form; but the other occurs as a v. l. in Eur. 335, as ἀλαλαλαί is a v. l. for ἀλαλαί in Ar. 1761: and a loss of αλ or αγ would of course have been easy. The ἀλαλή was a cry of triumph ( Soph. 133 n.).

κοινὸς , fem.: cp. 751 n. —The acc. τὸν εὐφ. Ἀπ . depends on ἴτω κλαγγὰ as=ὑμνείτω: cp. 123 τάκεις ...οἰμωγὰν | ...Ἀγαμέμνονα: ib. 556 εἰ δέ μ’ ὦδ’ ἀεὶ λόγους | ἐξῆρχες.—Ἀπόλλω , the shorter form of the acc., as in 1091(lyr.): like Ποσειδῶ, it was used chiefly after νὴ τὸν, μὰ τὸν.—προστάταν : cp. 637 Φοῖβε προστατήριε,—with reference to his image being placed in front of houses. Paus. (1. 44. 2) saw at Megara a hieron of Apollo Προστατήριος. C. O. Müller ( bk II. ch. 2 § 6) points out that the title προστάτης was given to Apollo in the Ionian colonies of Miletus, on the shores of Pontus. So, as protector of roads, he is ἀγυιεύς. Artemis, too, is called προστατηρία, Aesch. 449.

ἀνάγετ’ : cp. Soph. 125 ἴθι τὸν αὐτὸν ἔγειρε γόον, | ἄναγε πολύδακρυν ἁδονάν: id. Soph. 1350 ἀνάγετ’ ἀνάγετε κωκυτόν.

Ἄρτεμιν Ὀρτυγίαν . The epithet was usu. understood as meaning ‘born in Ortygia.’ That name, like Nysa, was associated with various places (as Syracuse; Aetolia, schol. Apoll. Rh. 1. 419; Ephesus, Strabo 14. 639); but most frequently with Delos, as a name either for that island itself, or for some islet near it (Rheneia?): cp. 16, which describes Artemis and Apollo as born, τὴν μὲν ἐν Ὀρτυγίῃ, τὸν δὲ κραναῇ ἐνὶ Δήλῳ. The epithet is parodied by Ar. 870 Λητοῖ ὀρτυγομήτρᾳ (‘Quail mother’) Asteria, Leto's sister, was said to have escaped from Zeus by taking the form of a quail (ὄρτυξ): Apollod.1. 2§ 2. One theory explains the name Ortygia as simply ‘abounding with quails’; another (Preller vol. I. p. 238) supposes that the ὄρτυξ was taken as the type of a good mother; but the question remains uncertain.

Artemis was worshipped on the coasts near Malis (637 n.), but we have no proof that the name Ὀρτυγία was specially given to her there. Perhaps the poet uses it here merely as one of her standing epithets.

ἐλαφαβόλον (like θαναταφόρα, 180): see on 1092 f.

ἀμφίπυρον : with a torch in each hand: see on 207.

Νύμφας : the Μαλιάδες νύμφαι ( 724 ff., n.) of Malian hills. woods, and streams.

ἀείρομ’ . Homeric verse admits the elision of αι in the verbal endings ‐μαι, ‐σαι (except in the infin.), ‐ται, ‐σθαι. There is no other example of it in Tragedy; but it does not seem impossible that Sophocles should have used the familiar epic licence in a lyric passage. If we read ἀείρομαι οὐδ’ ἀπώσομαι, a cyclic dactyl is substituted for a trochee; which does not seem very likely in this metrical context. (Cp. H. H. SchmidtJ. , p. cxlii., and W. Christ, p. 378.) In the lemma of the schol. we certainly find ἀείρομαι οὐδ’ ἀπώσομαι: but that proves nothing.—For the sense (μετεωρίζομαι ἐν τῷ χορεύειν schol.), cp. Ar. 1179 αἴρεσθ’ ἄνω, ἰαὶ εὐαί .

τὸν αὐλόν , the instrument associated with religious enthusiasm, and more esp. with the Dionysiac worship. In Attic Tragedy the lyre seems to have been the older instrument (cp. Ar. 1304 Ar. Ran., 1285): but after the time of Aeschylus, at least, the αὐλός was the regular one. Cp. MA. üller, p. 192 n. 3.— ὦ τύραννε clearly refers to the αὐλός (for the change to the voc., cp. 99)—not to Apollo or Dionysus.—The words τᾶς ἐμᾶς φρενός bring out the spiritual sense of τύραννε, and express the compelling influence of the flute.

ἰδού μ’ : this μ’ must depend on ἰδού: that after εὐοῖ depends on ἀναταράσσει , the shriek being here literally an ‘interjection.’

ὁ κισσός : the ivy was sacred to Dionysus, who is styled κισσεύς (Paus. 1. 31 § 6), κισσοφόρος, κισσοχαίτης, etc.: cp. Ovid 3. 767 hedera est gratissima Baccho. It was worn by bacchanals ( Eur. 81); though there seems to be no proof that it was worn, at least ordinarily, by tragic choreutae. Here, however, the Trachinian maidens imagine themselves to be bacchanals; the music of the αὐλός suggests the spell of the κισσός: and they speak as if the ivy on their brows was sending its mystic power through their whole frames, stirring them to the dance. Just so the laurel was the symbol of poetical inspiration.

βακχίαν … ἅμιλλαν , the Bacchic competition of eager dancers, i.e., the swift dance itself. ἅμιλλα is oft. thus associated with eager speed: cp. 1062 ῥιμφαρμάτοις ἁμίλλαις: 861 χαλαργοῖς ἐν ἁμίλλαις: 1065 τρόχους ἁμιλλητῆρας.—ὑποστρέφων , lit., ‘whirling a little’ (cp. ὑποκινεῖν): i.e., just beginning to set the dance in movement. Not, ‘bringing back.’

ἰὼ ἰὼ Παιάν : the refrain (ἐφύμνιον) of the paean: the whole Chorus would strike in here (cp. n. on 205—224). Dindorf adds a second Παιάν, on the assumption that the verse is an iambic dimeter, comparing Ar. 1212, where the MSS. have ἰὼ ἰὼ Παιὰν Παιάν ( 1. etc., p. 119). But the MS. reading is kept by most critics, including W. Christ (, § 443).

ἵδ’ . The MSS. have ἴδε ἴδ’ . The hiatus would be justified by the slight pause after ἴδε: cp. 832 ἴθι ἴθι μοι παιών (n.). But most edd. agree with Dindorf in omitting ἴδε: and they are probably right, since it disturbs the otherwise regular metre of vv. 221—224.

τάδ’ : the good tidings (180 ff.) of which their minds are full.

ἐναργῆ (cp. 11 n.) is strengthened by ἀντίπρῳρα .

οὐδέ μ’ ὄμματος φρουρὰν παρῇλθε : the acc. of the part (=φρουροῦν ὄμμα) follows the pers. pron.; cp. 1301 μέθες με...χεῖρα. The subject to παρῆλθε (‘this sight’) is easily supplied from τάδ’ in 223. For the phrase, cp. 151 φρουρεῖν ὄμμ’ (‘that the eye should watch’). The MS. φρουρὰ is possible: the sense would then be, ‘nor has the task of watching with the eye escaped my care.’ But the phrase appears somewhat less natural; and the nom. φρουρὰ may have been generated by παρῆλθε.— μὴ λεύσσειν : it is unnecessary to insert οὐ: cp. 90 n.

προὐννέπω , primum iubeo, with acc. and inf., like λέγω in 137 (n.), and ἐννέπω in 350.

φέρεις : for the change to direct address, cp. 1353 f. (τοῦδ’ followed by ὦ κάκιστε). For καὶ emphasizing the verb, cp. 851 εἰ δ’ οὖν τι κἀκτρέποιτο.

ἀλλ’ replies to the doubt implied in χαρτὸν εἴ τι καὶ φέρεις. Hence the two co-ordinated clauses are here equally important: this is not a case in which the main stress is on the clause with δέ (as in 1536, 503).

κατ’ ἔργου κτῆσιν . As νίκη can be called a κτῆμα ( 81), and as ἔργον itself often=‘a notable deed’ ( 730 n.), so κεκτῆσθαι ἔργον might well mean, ‘to have made an achievement one's own.’ The phrase in the text, then, seems sound, as meaning, ‘the achievement of the deed’ (=‘the deed achieved’). We cannot understand, ‘the acquisition (booty) made by the deed.’

ἄνδρα γὰρ κ.τ.λ. : γάρ refers to κατ’ ἔργου κτῆσιν: the welcome befits the deed, for the deed has prospered.

καλῶς πράσσοντ’ κ.τ.λ.: the sensitive Greek was quick to see his good or bad fortune mirrored in the behaviour of his neighbours: cp. n. on 1353.We must not, then, alter καλῶς to καλά ,—a change which Nauck thinks ‘necessary.’

ἃ πρῶτα βούλομαι , sc. διδάσκεσθαι. For the plur., cp. 64.— Ἡρακλέα, ¯˘˘¯: it is needless to assume synizesis, since a proper name excuses an anapaest in any foot except the 6th. Another choriambic name (Ἀντιγόνη) holds the same place in 507.Below, in v. 476—the only other place where Soph. has the acc. of Ἡρακλῆς—most editors write Ἡρακλῆ (L having ἡρακλεῖ), since Ἡρακλέα, at the end of a verse, must be a trisyllable, and the synizesis of ‐εα , in that position, would be awkward. So, too, in Ar. 26, where the Ravenna MS. has Ἡρακλέα at the end of the v., Dind. writes Ἡρακλῆ. In Attic inscriptions the acc. of proper names in ‐κλῆς is regularly ‐κλέα down to c. 300 B.C.; later it is ‐κλῆν: while ‐κλῆ does not occur. The ‐κλῆ form is frequent, however, in nonAttic inscr. (as those of Delos, Delphi, Sparta), though not before 228 B.C. (Meisterhans, p. 58).

ἔγωγέ τοι : for γέ τοι, cp. 1324.

ἔλειπον : 76 n.—In the sequel, Deianeira dies before Heracles is brought home. The answer of Lichas is unconsciously evasive; it is also undesignedly suggestive of a contrast between the hero's present state, and that in which he is to arrive, νόσῳ βαρύς.—ἰσχύοντά τε καὶ ζῶντα . The word ζῶντα was prompted by the form of D. 's question; and the double copula, τε καί , links ἰσχύοντα with it more closely than the following words are linked by the simple καί . Hence the whole phrase, ‘strong as well as alive,’=‘not only alive, but strong.’— θάλλοντα is more than ἰσχύοντα, as implying radiant health: cp. Soph. 952 βίῳ | θάλλοντ’: 1223 ff. ἆρά σ’ ... ὄψομαι | ζῶσάν τε καὶ θάλλουσαν;—κοὐ νόσῳ βαρύν : cp. 58 γνωτὰ κοὐκ ἄγνωτα (n.).

ποῦ γῆς (ἔλειπες), (εἴτε) πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου (ἔλειπες); where did you leave him,—whether it was in Greece or abroad that you left him? εἴτε , either doubled or single, is thus used, with ellipse of the verb, when a statement or a question is to include two alternative suppositions: cp. 844 D ὃς ἂν ἀγροίκου ὀπώρας γεύσηται, βοτρύων εἵτε καὶ σύκων [sc. ἐγεύσατο ],...εἴτ’ ἐν τοῖς αὑτοῦ χωρίοις εἴτε καὶ ἐν ἄλλων,...πεντήκοντα ὀφειλέτω δραχμάς. So, with a single εἴτε, 517: with doubled εἴτε, ib. 194 O. T., 1049.In such sentences εἴτε becomes practically equivalent to ἤ. But it cannot, of course, replace ἤ in a direct statement or question: i.e., ‘This is either good or bad,’ could not be rendered, τοῦτο εἴτ’ ἀγαθὸν εἴτε κακόν ἐστι. Hence the following punctuation, adopted by Dindorf, is impossible:

ποῦ γῆς; πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου; λέγε . This would require ἢ instead of εἴτε. (Paley, who follows Dindorf, seems to have felt a misgiving; ‘The use of εἴτε for ἢ,’ he says, ‘is remarkable.’)—Ellendt prefers a third way of pointing, which L (see cr. n.) also suggests:

ποῦ γῆς; πατρῴας εἴτε βαρβάρου, λέγε (‘say whether...’). The objection to this is that it throws too much emphasis on the distinction between Greek and foreign soil.

πατρῴας (γῆς )=πατρίδος (as in 1292 etc.), i.e. Hellas, as the land of his ancestors (not as ‘the land of his father Zeus’). Cp. 1060 οὔθ’ Ἑλλὰς οὔτ’ ἄγλωσσος. The rumours reported by Hyllus spoke of Heracles as freed from Omphalè, but left it doubtful whether he was yet in Euboea (69—75).

Εὐβοίς : 74 n. The northwestern extremity of Euboea is a small peninsula, which runs out westward just opposite the mouth of the Malian Gulf. It ends in the promontory once called Κήναιον, and now Cape Litháda. Zeus Κήναιος was worshipped on the neighbouring hill-tops (upwards of 2800 ft. in height), as on so many other summits (cp. 1040 n.): Aesch. fr. 29 Εὐβοῖδα κάμπτων ἀμφὶ Κηναίου Διὸς | ἀκτήν. The legendary Oechalia, which Heracles sacked, was not near Cenaeum, but some 50 miles S. E. of it, in the territory of Eretria (Hecataeus ap. Paus.4. 2. 3: Strabo 10 p. 448). Sophocles shows his knowledge of this tradition by his reference to the hero's march from Oechalia to Cenaeum (750 εἷρπε ).

ὁρίζεται βωμοὺς : the verb denotes properly the act of tracing the temenos in which the altars were to stand. Cp. Her.3. 142 Διὸς...βωμὸν ἱδρύσατο καὶ τέμενος περὶ αὐτὸν οὔρισε. In v. 754 the act. ὁρίζει is used: the midd. occurs in Xen. 7. 5. 13 στήλας ὁρισάμενοι. The plur. βωμοὺς (as in 754 , 993) might be used of a single altar (cp. 1006), but here prob. denotes several,—the sacrifice being on so great a scale (760 ff. ).

τέλη τ’ ἔγκαρπα , tributes (or dues) of fruits; i.e., the revenues derived from a temenos containing fruit-trees or capable of yielding crops. The poet can say, ὁ ρίζεται τέλη ἔγκαρπα, because he is thinking of the temenos itself (cp. 754). Such lands were sometimes cultivated under the direct control of the priests; sometimes they were let to tenants: cp. Plat. 759 E ταμίας...καὶ τεμενῶν καὶ καρπ<*> τούτων καὶ μισθώσεων κυρίους . 4474 (a κώμη is attached to a shrine of Zeus), ὅπως ἡ ἀπὸ ταύτης πρόσοδος ἀναλ<*> σκηται εἰς τὰς κατὰ μῆνας συντελουμέν<*> θυσίας καὶ τἄλλα τὰ πρὸς αὔξησιν τοῦ ἱεροί συντείνοντα κ.τ.λ.

εὐκταῖα … ἢ )πὸ μαντείας : <*> may have vowed them before the event: or, after it, an oracle may have demanded them. Thus, after the battle of Salamis, the Delphian Apollo claimed a thank-offering from the Aeginetans (Her. 8.122).

φαίνων , presenting them, in fulfillment of the promise. This is a rare sense of the verb, but somewhat like that in 721 νῦν σὸν τὰ λαμπρὰ ταῦτα δὴ φαίνειν ἔπη (n.), ‘to make those bright praise<*> seen in deeds.’

εὐχαῖς , causal dat.: cp. 1127<*> 332 f.

ἀνάστατον , proleptic: cp. 106 ἀδακρύτων .

ὧν : for the attract., cp. 35<*>

ἐν ὄμμασιν : 764 ἐν <*> ὁρῶν (n.).

τοῦ ποτ’ εἰσὶ : schol. <*> εἰσὶ δεσπότου. Their appearance in charge of the herald shows that they are captives, and consequently slaves (302): she asks, then, who is their captor. Hence a slight emphasis falls on ἐκεῖνος (244).

οἰκτραὶ γάρ : ‘(I ask this,) for they deserve pity, unless their present plight deceives me,’—i.e., unless it excites greater pity than I should feel if I knew more.

ξυμφοραὶ is much better than the v.l. ξυμφορᾷ , which would easily arise from a wish to have the same subject in both clauses. When a common word for fraud, such as κλέπτειν, is used in the figurative sense, ‘to produce an illusion,’ it is evidently fitter that the subject to the verb should not be a human being. Cp. 681 εἰ μὴ τῷ χρόνῳ κεκλέμμεθα: ib. 1218 θεοῖσι κλέπτομαι.

ἐξείλεθ’ : the midd. here suits αὑτῷ : but in ref. to θεοῖς the act. ἐξεῖλεν would have been more usual, cp. 1431 n.: [Eur. ] 470 θεοῖσί τ’ ἀκροθίνἰ ἐξέλῃς: Thuc.3. 50 κλήρους ... τῆς γῆς ... τοῖς θεοῖς ἱεροὺς ἐξεῖλον.—κριτόν : so in Soph. 1302Hesionè is the ἔκκριτον δώρημα given to Telamon as a prize of valour. Prisoners of war often became ἱερόδουλοι in temples (cp. Her.6. 134 : Paus.3. 18. 3).

ἦ κἀπὶ : for ἦ καί in a question, cp. 368.

ἄσκοπον , ‘not to be looked for,’ i.e., here, longer than could possibly have been expected. Cp. 864 ἄσκοπος ἁ λώβα : 1111n.

ἡμερῶν goes with ἀνήριθμον , not with χρόνον : ‘without number of days,’=‘extending to countless days.’ Cp. 601 f. μηνῶν | ἀνήριθμος: 677 n.

The form ἀνήριθμος is of a frequent type. When the second part of a compound adj. has a disyllabic stem (usu. a verbal stem), beginning with a short vowel, this vowel may be lengthened. Such forms were oft. convenient in poetry (as ἀνήροτος, εὐήνεμος, φιλήρετμος), but many of them were equally current in good prose (as ἀνήκεστος, ἀνήνυτος, ἀνηλεῶς, εὐώνυμος). The restriction of ἀνήριθμος to classical poetry and late prose (as Athen. p. 253 F) is not due to 1ts form, but to the fact that classical prose preferred ἀναρίθμητος. Tragedy uses ἀνάριθμος (α^) where it suits the metre (as in 225). In Theocr. 15. 45 ἀνάριθμοι (α—) is Doric for ἀνήριθμοι.

τὸν μὲν πλεῖστον … χρόνον : i.e., twelve of the fifteen months (44).— ὡς φήσ’ αὐτός : cp. 253 ὡς αὐτὸς λέγει. It would have seemed incredible without such testimony.

ἐμποληθείς may be freely rendered, ‘sold into bondage,’ but its literal sense is rather, ‘made merchandise of,’ or, ‘bought.’ Hesychius, indeed, explains ἠμπόλησεν by ἀπέδοτο: but, though ἐξεμπολᾶν=‘to sell off,’ ἐμπολᾶν as=‘to sell’ lacks classical evidence. (Cp. 417 ἐμπολητός, ‘bought.’) πραθῆναι (252), πεπρᾶσθαι were the proper terms for ‘to be sold’ (as a slave).

τοῦ λόγου … φθόνον , dislike (felt by the hearer for the narrator) on account of the telling.

προσεῖναι , abs., to be an attendant circumstance ( 1252 n.),—to attend upon the act (of telling).

ὅτου , neut.: (in the case of anything) of which Zeus is seen to be the doer. Cp. Thuc.6. 14 τὸ καλῶς ἄρξαι τοῦτ’ εἶναι, ὃς ἂν τὴν πατρίδα ὠφελήσῃ. We cannot make ὅτου masc. (relat. to τοῦ λόγου ), because ὁ λόγος here denotes, not the reported deed, but the (mere) act of reporting it, as contrasted with the causing of it.

πράκτωρ φανῇ : cp. 862: for ὅτου without ἄν, cp. 1231 n. The agency of Zeus is explained below O. T., 274 ff.

The meaning is:—‘You may think that the humiliation of Heracles ought not to be related by his servant to his wife. But this humiliation was imposed by Zeus himself, and can therefore be related without reflecting upon Heracles.’

κεῖνος δὲ : δὲ resumes the story after the parenthetic apology (τοῦ λόγου... φανῇ): cp. κεῖνοι δ’ in 281. Wunder rejects these two verses, (1) because they repeat the substance of vv. 248—250, and (2) because Lichas ought not to pain his mistress by mentioning Omphalè. But (1) these vv. explain ἐν Λυδοῖς , and define χρόνον : (2) the herald's motive for silence concerning Iolè does not apply to the case of Omphalè. Hyllus had already mentioned ‘the Lydian woman’ to his mother (70).

πραθεὶς … Ὀμφάλῃ . Hermes, by command of Zeus, took Heracles to Lydia, and sold him in the slave-market to Omphalè: the price was paid to Eurytus, as a ποινή for the murder of Iphitus ( Apollod.2. 6. 2 ).

Two tragic poets of the fifth century B.C., Ionof Chios and Achaeus, had written an Ὀμφάλη σατυρική. Two poets of the Middle Comedy, Antiphanes (Athen. 112 C) and Cratinus jun. (id. 669 B) wrote an Ὀμφάλη, picturing Heracles abandoned to sensuous pleasures. Itis the more noteworthy how Sophocles, in lightly touching on this episode, has guarded his hero's dignity. For he speaks only of servile labours for the Lydian taskmistress (70 It, 356); and marks how the bondsman felt his disgrace (254).

ἐνιαυτὸν . The popular version spoke of three years. This was the term assigned by the mythographer Herodorus ( c. 430 B.C.?), acc. to the schol.; as it is by Apollodorus (2. 6. 2). If this change was due to Sophocles, we can see the artistic motive. Three months or so, after the bondage, were required for the war in Euboea. If the poet had made Heracles go to Lydia 39, instead of 15, months before his death, there would have been less room for those hopes which contend with fears in the opening scene of the

λαβὼν , having incurred: cp. fr. 742 ζημίαν | λαβεῖν: ( 1494 ὀνείδη λαμβάνων is not exactly similar:) Thuc.2. 18 αἰτίαν...ἔλαβεν.

ὅρκον αὑτῷ προσβαλὼν : cp. Her.1. 146 σφίσι αὐτῇσι ὅρκους ἐπήλασαν: id. 6. 74 ὅρκους προσάγων σφι ἦ μὲν ἕψεσθαι κ.τ.λ.—διώμοσεν . With the exception of the perf. ( Lycurg. § 127), the act. voice is rarer than the midd. (378, Soph. 1233).

ἦ μὴν : 593.

τὸν ἀγχιστῆρα τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους , the man who had brought this calamity near to him,—brought it upon him: since Eurytus, by insulting him, had provoked him to slay Iphitus,—the crime for which this πάθος was the penalty. ἀγχιστήρ, in this sense, presupposes a trans. ἀγχίζειν. That verb does not occur, but would be analogous to ἐγγίζειν: and the latter, though usu. intrans., is trans. in Polyb. 8. 6 ἐγγίσαντες τῇ γῇ τὰς ναῦς. Compare, too, the phrases of converse form: 5. 766 ἥ ἑ μάλιστ’ εἴωθε κακῇς ὀδύνῃσι πελάζειν: Aesch. 155 δεσμοῖς...πελάσας (με).—Others understand :—‘the man most nearly concerned in this calamity.’ This is the general sense intended by the schol.: τὸν αἴτιον καὶ σχεδὸν αὐτὸν ποιησαντα τοῦ πάθους (where the words καὶ... ποιήσαντα are parenthetical): i.e., ‘the (ultimate) cause, and almost the actual author, of the calamity.’ But, though ἀγχιστήρ might naturally mean, ‘nearest kinsman’ (= ἀγχιστεύς), it would be strange to say, ἀγχιστὴρ τοῦ πάθους, as= ‘the person who had most to do with’ that πάθος .

No emendation is probable. Nauck's αὐτόχειρα would be possible only if Eurytus had himself sent Heracles into slavery.

ξὺν παιδὶ καὶ γυναικὶ , i.e., with his whole family. Eurytus had several children (266), but the prosaic conjecture παισὶ would only weaken the phrase. Schneidewin cp. 9. 199 οὕνεκά μιν σὺν παιδὶ περισχόμεθ’ ἠδὲ γυναικί : where παισὶ is a v.l. This may be parallel: there is nothing, however, to show that the sing. cannot there be taken literally. For the collective sing., cp. Aesch. 197 ἀνὴρ γυνή τε χὥ τι τῶν μεταίχμιον.— δουλώσειν : the prose word, in ref. to prisoners of war, was not δουλοῦν, but ἀνδραποδίζειν: hence Thuc.8. 28 τὰ ἀνδράποδα πάντα καὶ δοῦλα καὶ ἐλεύθερα (referring to their previous condition).

ἔτι , as oft. in threats: 66: Aesch. 908 ἦ μὴν ἔτι Ζεύς, καίπερ αὐθάδη φρονῶν, | ταπεινὸς ἔσται.

κοὐχ ἡλίωσε τοὔπος : modelled on the Homeric οὐδ’ ἁλίωσε βέλος ( 16. 737), with a reminiscence also of οὐδ’ ἅλιον ἔπος ἔσσεται (ib. 24. 92).

ὅθ’ ἁγνὸς ἦν . The Homeric poems know nothing of a ritual for purification from homicide: the blood-shedder either flies into exile ( 24. 480 ff.), or prevails on the kinsfolk of the slain to accept a ποινή (ib. 9. 632 ff.), and stays at home. Here the schol. supposes that, by ἁγνός , Sophocles alludes simply to the year of exile having expired. This may be so; but it is more probable that Heracles is conceived as also undergoing a formal κάθαρσις. According to other writers, he received this from Deiphobus at Amyclae, after vainly seeking it from Neleus at Pylos ( Apollod.2. 6. 2: Diod.4. 31). So Aesch. makes the exile Orestes receive the καθαρμοὶ χοιροκτόνοι ( Aesch. 283 Aesch. Eum., 449). The homicide who withdrew into banishment was said ἀπενιαυτίζειν (or ἀπενιαυτεῖν),—a word not always restricted to one year: 868 D ἐνιαυτοὺς τρεῖς ἀπενιαυτεῖν. Cp. ib. E καθαίρεσθαι μὲν τοὺς αὐτοὺς καθαρμούς, τριετεῖς δὲ ἀπενιαυτήσεις διατελεῖν. The rites of κάθαρσις for homicide are fully described by Apoll. Rhod., 4. 693—717.

στρατὸν … ἐπακτὸν : the adj. here merely=ξένον, ‘alien,’ i.e., not belonging to his own home. ἐπακτός is prop. said of allies, or mercenaries, whom a foreign state calls in (ἐπάγεται) to its aid: cp. 1525 n. But here it denotes the allies of an exile,—just as Polyneices is said to bring a στράτευμ’ ἐπακτὸν against his country ( Aesch. 583).— Apollod.2. 7. 7 describes this army as composed of Arcadians, Malians, and Epicnemidian Lo crians: but those who cite him here have not observed that he supposes Heracles to make the war from Trachis.

ἔρχεται with acc. of place: 89, 893.

πόλιν τὴν Εὐρυτείάν : cp. 267 τῷ Λαβδακείῳ παιδὶ (n.): ib. 450 φόνον | τὸν Λαΐειον.—τόνδε , as if τὴν Εὐρύτου had gone before: so in 5. 640 ὅς refers to βίην Ἡρακληείην: in 942 αὐτοὺς to πόλιν in 939: in 1364 οἵ γε to Τροίαν in 1363: in 963 τῶνδε to ἄλεκτρα ἀνυμέναιά τε.—μεταίτιον : Zeus was primarily αἴτιος, but Eurytus was the only mortal who had a part in it.

ἐφέστιον , added to ἐς δόμους , marks how the hospitality of the hearth had been violated. Cp. Eur. 713 δέξαι δὲ χώρᾳ καὶ δόμοις ἐφέστιον. The stranger who had been received as an inmate was under the protection of Ζεύς, both Ξένιος and Ἐφέστιος ( Soph. 492). For the phrase ἐλθόντ’ … ἐφέστιον , cp. Hom. 23. 55 ἦλθε μὲν αὐτὸς ζωὸς ἐφέστιος.

ξένον παλαιὸν ὄντα : Eurytus was said to have taught Heracles the use of the bow (Theocr. 24. 106 f.).

ἐπερρόθησε . This verb can denote the blended sound of many voices ( Aesch. 458); esp., the responsive shout of a crowd ( Eur. 553, Eur. 901). Here it refers to loud and vehement railing: cp. Soph. 259 λόγοι...ἐρρόθουν κακοί (n.), and ib. 413 ἐπιρρόθοις | κακοῖσιν.

From ἐπερρόθησε a verb of more general sense, such as ὕβρισε, is to be supplied with ἀτηρᾷ φρενί . (For the sense of ἀτηρᾷ, cp. 1272: Paley wrongly takes it as= ‘deluded.’) This is the easier, since the antithesis between γόγοις and φρενί at once suggests a distinction between affronts expressed in speech and those which showed the malicious intention in another way, viz., by acts: two examples of the verbal insults are given, and then one of the other kind ( δείπνοις δ’ κ.τ.λ.). Instances of zeugma quite as bold occur elsewhere in poetry; for the Greek mind was quick to seize the hint of a contrast, and did not always require full expression of it: e.g., 15. 374 ἐκ δ’ ἄρα δεσποίνης οὐ μείλιχον ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι | οὔτ’ ἔπος οὔτε τι ἔργον (sc. παθεῖν ): ib. 20. 312 f. μήλων σφαζομένων οἴνοιό τε πινομένοιο | καὶ σίτου ( sc. ἐσθιομένου). In these examples, just as here, the antithesis of nouns supersedes an explicit antithesis of verbs.

Others understand :—‘railed against him both with (rude) words and with evil intent.’ To this there are two objections. (1) Since all the supposed affronts are then verbal, the antithesis would require an epithet for λόγοις (such as αἰσχροῖς), to balance ἀτηρᾷ . (2) The formula πολλὰ μὲν … πολλὰ δέ would be out of place, unless two classes of verbal taunts were distinguished by the presence or absence of a spiteful intent; but the context excludes such a distinction.

The text is clearly (I think) sound. It is unwarrantable, as it is undesirable, to strike out πολλὰ δ’ … χεροῖν μὲν (see cr. n.). Again, it is improbable that a verse has been lost after v. 264.

λέγων χεροῖν μὲν : metre has influenced the place of μέν, which answers to δὲ in 267, and ought to come next after λέγων : cp. 919 σῶσαι κακοῦ μὲν πρῶτα τοῦδ’, ἔπειτα δὲ | ...πορθῆσαι.—ἄφυκτα … βέλη , those which Heracles had received from Apollo, and which he bequeathed to Philoctetes ( 198 n.: ib. 105).

τῶν ὧν τέκνων : the sons were four in number, acc. to Hesiod (fr. 70, ap. schol. here),— Δηίων, Κλύτιος, Τοξεύς, Ἴφιτος. An ancient vase from Caere, which depicts the reception of Heracles by Eurytus and his family, gives the names of three sons as Κλύτιος, Τόξος, Διδαίvων (Preller II. 226 n. 3). Creophylus, the author of the Οἰχαλίας ἅλωσις, named only two sons (schol.).

λείποιτο : cp. Thuc.6. 72 ἀνὴρ καὶ ἐς τἄλλα ξύνεσιν οὐδενὸς λειπόμενος.—πρὸς τόξου κρίσιν : for the prep., cp. Soph. 1306 κακοὺς | ...πρὸς αἰχμήν: Her.1. 99 (οὐκ) ἐς ἀνδραγαθίην λειπόμενοι. By τόξου κρίσις is meant a trial (of the competitors) which the bow decides. κρίσις thus almost = ἀγών: cp. Soph. 1050 n. There was a legend that Eurytus offered the hand of his daughter Iolè as a prize for the man who should surpass him and his sons in archery. Heracles conquered, but Eurytus broke his promise (schol.: Apoll. 2. 6. 1).—Eurytus, like his father Melaneus, was a great archer. In Hom. 8. 226 ff. he challenges Apollo, and is slain by him. The bow of Eurytus, inherited by Iphitus, was given by the latter to Odysseus (ib. 21. 31 ff.).

φωνεῖ δὲ , instead of φωνῶν δὲ (answering to λέγων...μὲν): cp. 190 οἰκονομῶ θαλάμους πατρός, ὧδε μὲν | ἀεικεῖ σὺν στολᾷ, | κεναῖς δ’ ἀμφίσταμαι τραπέζαις (instead of ἀμφισταμένη): 351 n. This very trait confirms the soundness of the MS. text. For the historic pres., standing between ἐπερρόθησε and ἔρριψεν, cp. 269 λέγει, between ἦν (268) and προὔτρεψεν (270). The optat. ῥαίοιτο is admissible (instead of ῥαίεται), because the historic present counts as a secondary tense: cp. Her.1. 63 βουλὴν... ἐπιτεχνᾶται, ὅκως μήτε ἁλισθεῖεν κ.τ.λ.: Lys. or. 12 § 12 ἐρωτῶσιν ὅπῃ βαδίζοιμεν· ὁ δ’ ἔφασκεν κ.τ.λ.

ἀνδρὸς … ἐλευθέρου with δοῦλος (not with ῥαίοιτο, as gen. of agent, like πληγεὶς θυγατρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς, Eur. 497): ἐλευθέρου serves merely to emphasise δοῦλος by contrast.

ῥαίοιτο : 6. 325 ἐπεὶ πάρος οὔ ποτ’ ἄκουσας | ῥαιομένου, ὅτε μ’ ἔρραιεν κλυτὸς ἐννοσίγαιος.

The conject. φανεὶς δὲ δοῦλος ἀνδρος ἀντ’ ἐλευθέρου (cr. n.) has been received by several edd., who cite 1020 δοῦλος λόγοισιν ἀντ’ ἐλευθέρου φανείς. There, however, the force of φανείς depends on λόγοισιν: ‘represented,’ ‘made out,’ in his taunting words, to be a slave. Here φανείς would mean simply, ‘found to be.’

δείπνοις , dat. of the occasion: cp. Plat. 174 A τοῖς ἐπινικίοις : for the plur., cp. 779, 203.

ᾠνωμένος , Heracles. Cp. Eur. 756(of Heracles) ποτῆρα δ’ ἐν χείρεσσι κίσσινον λαβὼν | πίνει μελαίνης μητρὸς εὔζωρον μέθυ, | ἕως ἐθέρμην’ αὐτὸν ἀμφιβᾶσα φλὸξ | οἴνου· στέφει δὲ κρᾶτα μυρσίνης κλάδοις | ἄμουσ’ ὑλακτῶν. The ἀτηρὰ φρήν (264) of Eurytus seized this opportunity of inflicting an insult.

ἔρριψεν ἐκτὸς αὐτόν . A Greek vase, found in Sicily, quaintly illustrates some such incident. The inebriated Heracles is lying on his back outside a closed door, from above which an old woman is pouring cold water upon him. Satyrs and maenads appear at each side of the group. (Benndorf, pl. 44.) I am indebted for this reference to Mr MurrayS. , of the British Museum.

ὧν ἔχων χόλον : for the causal gen. cp. 327 n.

αὖθις , at a later time: 1204 n.

Τιρυνθίαν … κλιτύν . We cannot be sure that Sophocles had any clear picture of the place before his mind; but his phrase, at least, is not unsuitable. κλιτύς, ‘slope,’ does not necessarily imply great elevation. The site of Tiryns is a ridge of limestone rock on the Argolic Gulf (cp. 1151), in which, at some prehistoric time, it formed an island. The length of this ridge, from N. to S. , is about 328 yards: its width about 109. The upper citadel of Tiryns was at the southern end, where the rock attains a height of about 72 feet above sea-level, and of 59 feet above the present surface of the plain. North of this was the lower citadel; and the whole was surrounded by those massive ‘Cyclopean’ walls from which Tiryns derived its Homeric epithet ( 2. 559), τειχιόεσσα. See Schliemann's , p. 177. Such a site, though not steep or lofty, might correctly be described as the Τιρυνθία κλιτύς.—For the υ^ in κλιτύν , cp. 1144 n., and ib. 1127 λιγνύς: so νηδύς ( Eur. 356 etc.).

ἵππους νομάδας : acc. to 21. 22, Iphitus came, ἵππους διζήμενος, αἵ οἱ ὄλοντο | δώδεκα θήλειαι, ὑπὸ δ’ ἡμίονοι ταλαεργοί: but Apollod.2. 6. 2 says, κλαπεισῶν ἐξ Εὐβοίας ὑπὸ Αὐτολύκου βοῶν. For νομάδας , ‘wandering,’ cp. 1350 n.

ἄλλοσ’ … ὄμμα, θατέρᾳ δὲ νοῦν ἔχοντ’ : he was gazing forth from the high place, in the hope of descrying his horses; and, as he could not see them, his thought was wandering to other places where they might perhaps be. Cp. Diod. Sic. 4. 31: Heracles commands Iphitus, ἀφορᾶν, μή που νεμόμεναι τυγχάνουσιν· οὐ δυναμένου δὲ κατανοῆσαι τοῦ Ἰφίτου κ.τ.λ. Thus θατέρᾳ does not merely repeat ἄλλοσε , but is opposed to it: as in Her.1. 32 ἄλλο μὲν ἔχει to ἑτέρου δὲ ἐπιδέεται. Cp. 129 C βουλόμενός με λαθεῖν ἀνέστη,...ἐπιτηρήσας ἄλλοσε τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντα.

πυργώδους πλακός . The current version spoke of Heracles as hurling Iphitus from a wall or tower. Pherecydes the logographer (5th cent. B.C.) is quoted to this effect (schol. 21. 23): τὸν δὲ Ἡρακλέα μηχανῇ τινι καὶ στρατηγίᾳ συνεφελκυσάμενον αὐτὸν ἄγειν εἰς ἐπίκρημνον τεῖχος. Apollod.2. 6. 2 μανεὶς δὲ αὖθις (Heracles) ἀπὸ τῶν Τιρυνθίων ἔρριψεν αὐτὸν τειχῶν. Diod. Sic. 4. 31 τοῦτον μὲν ἀναβιβάσας ὁ Ἡρακλῆς ἐπί τινα πύργον ὑψηλὸν ἐκέλευσεν ἀφορᾶν. The word πύργος oft.=a city-wall with its towers ( 56 n.). Thus it would satisfy all these statements to suppose that Iphitus was thrown from some high part of the walls which encompassed Tiryns τειχιόεσσα. And by πυργώδης πλάξ Sophocles may well have meant ‘the summit of a tower-like building.’ Modern critics have usually held that he meant ‘the top of a towering rock or cliff’: and so the schol. here explains, ὑψηλοῦ ὄρους. We need not press the argument that it is not well-suited to the locality. But it may be doubted whether a Greek poet would have compared a rock or cliff to a πύργος merely because it was high and steep. On the other hand, where πυργοειδής occurs elsewhere, it refers to a building. Josephus 5. 5. 8 (the Ἀντωνία, or citadel of Jerusalem) πυργοειδὴς...οὖσα τὸ πᾶν σχῆμα. Dion Cassius 74. 5 πυρὰ πυργοειδής. And it is consonant with the style of Tragedy that, in regard to such a detail, the vaguer phrase πυργώδης πλάξ should be preferred to πλὰξ πύργου.

ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων κ.τ.λ. The emphasis of this verse is designed (like the comment in 250 f.) to bring out the higher and more soothing aspect of the doom suffered by Heracles.—For the strengthening art. with ἁπάντων, cp. Aesch. 483 τὰς ἁπάσας...νόσους.—πατὴρ Ὀλύμπιος , not οὑλύμπιος (cr. n.), since the words form a single notion ( Soph. 1199 n.).

πρατόν νιν ἐξέπεμψεν , sent him out of the country to be sold (cp. 252 n.): the adj. is proleptic (106 n.).— οὐδ’ ἠνέσχετο , ‘and did not tolerate’ (his deed): the verb is really absol. (as in 75 οὐ σῖγ’ ἀνέξει ;), though it is easy to supply an acc.: ὁθούνεκ’ =‘because,’ as in 571.—Others understand, ‘brooked not that (cp. 813) he had slain him.’— μοῦνον : 1418 n.

ἠμύνατο , avenged himself: 873 ἔργοις πεπονθὼς ῥήμασίν σ’ ἀμύνομαι. The ὕβρις of Eurytus would have justified Heracles in challenging Iphitus to open combat.

χειρουμένῳ τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ τὸν Ἴφιτον: for this midd., cp. 1109 : 950, 1009: 92.Of the pass., Sophocles has only χειρωθείς (below Ph., 1057, and 903).

οὐδὲ δαίμονες , i.e., they like it as little as mortals do: for the adverbial οὐδέ after οὐ, cp. 287, 595, 1242.

κεῖνοι δ’ : for the resumptive δέ, cp. 252 .

ὑπερχλίοντες : this form, attested by the first hand in L and by the schol. (cr. n.), is confirmed by the fact that Aesch. twice uses χλίειν with ref. to insolent triumph. Aesch. 137 ἐν τοῖσι σοῖς πόνοισι χλίουσιν μέγα : Aesch. 914 κάρβανος ὢν δ’ Ἕλλησιν ἐγχλίεις ἄγαν. The compound with ὑπέρ does not occur elsewhere.

ἐκ γλώσσης κακῆς : here ἐκ is virtually ‘with’: cp. 875: 528 ἐξ ὀμμάτων ὀρθῶν κ.τ.λ. (n.): 486 ἐξ εὐμενῶν | στέρνων δέχεσθαι. This is better than to take ἐκ as=‘in consequence of.’

282 For αὐτοὶ μὲν after κεῖνοι and before πόλις δὲ , cp. 1008 κλέψας... ἐμὲ | αὐτόν τ’ ἐχειροῦ τὰς κόρας τ’ οἴχει λαβών: and ib. 462 (n.).

οἰκήτορες : 1161: 517 Ἅιδου θανασίμους οἰκήτορας.

τάσδε , instead of αἵδε, by attract. to ἅσπερ : see on 449.— ἐξ ὀλβίων : 454 τυφλὸς...ἐκ δεδορκότος: so below O. T., 619 O. T., 1075.

χωροῦσι πρὸς σέ . The accentuation πρὸς σέ, which is L's, seems right, as implying, ‘to thee, their new mistress.’ If we wrote πρός σε, the emphasis would fall wholly on v. 284: ‘these, who are coming to thee, are now slaves.’

πόσις τε … ἐγὼ δὲ : the antithesis between ἐφεῖτο and τελῶ seems to warrant us in keeping δέ here (instead of changing it to τε): cp. 143 n.

ἁγνὰ θύματα : cp. 21. 258 ἑορτὴ τοῖο θεοῖο | ἁγνή: Eur. 243 ἁγνὰ Λοξίου χρηστήρια.—πατρῴῳ Ζηνὶ , Zeus as the god of his fathers, the protector of his race, rather than with ref. to the personal relationship: so again in 753.— τῆς ἁλώσεως , for it, causal gen. (here akin to the gen. of price), with the whole phrase θύματα ῥέξῃ: cp. 47 ὡς σὲ νῦν μὲν ἥδε γῆ | σωτῆρα κλῄζει τῆς πάρος προθυμίας.

φρόνει νιν ὡς ἥξοντα : for the redundant νιν (after αὐτὸν δ’ ἐκεῖνον), cp. 248(n.). For ὡς prefixed to the partic., after an imperative verb of thinking or knowing, 253, 848.

καλῶς λεχθέντος, ‘auspiciously,’ ‘happily,’ told; since the news is good. καλῶς λέγειν more usually means to speak (1) sensibly, or (2) speciously, 1047.

νῦν σοι τέρψις ἐμφανὴς κυρεῖ , now thy joy is manifest, i.e., is assured beyond all doubt (cp. 223 f.).

τῶν μὲν , the herald and the captives: τὰ δὲ , the news that Heracles will soon return. For the gen. absol. co-ordinated with a partic. in another case, cp. 737 n.

πανδίκῳ φρενί , ‘with a thoroughly justified feeling’ (not, ‘with my whole heart’): cp. 611 n. The adj. occurs only here.

τῇδε , sc. τῇ πράξει: τοῦτο , sc. τὸ <*> χαίρειν.— συντρέχειν , coincide with, be combined with: for this sense of the zerb, cp. n. on 158 ff.—Not (as <*>ood), ‘Such joy must needs accompany [the event] in this way (τῇδε).’

The rejection of this verse (see cr. n.) would be deplorable. Deianeira rejoices, but <*>ls a certain sadness, and knows that she cannot help showing it; all the more she wishes to assure them how real her joy is.

τοῖσιν εὖ σκοπουμένοις , absol., for those who take just views,—who prudently consider human affairs. For the midd., cp. 964: it was common also in good prose.

ταρβεῖν τὸν εὖ πράσσοντα , instead of ταρβεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ εὖ πράσσοντος (Plat. 387 C ὑπὲρ τῶν φυλάκων φοβούμεθα, μὴ...γένωνται etc.). Cp. 493 ὃν δὴ παλαιὸν ἐξότου δέδοικ’ <*>γὼ | μή μοι βεβήκῃ .

This shadow which flits across Deianeira's joy is the more dramatically impressive for the spectators, because it arises so naturally out of her tender sympathy for the captives. It is a touch worthy of the greatest master.

ἐμοὶ … εἰσέβη : for the dat., cp. 372 n.

δεινὸς , of strong feeling: cp. 476.

ἀπάτορας , since their fathers are supposed to be dead; for, when a city is sacked, ἄνδρας μὲν κτείνουσι, πόλιν δέ τε πῦρ ἀμαθύνει, | τέκνα δέ τ’ ἄλλοι ἄγουσι βαθυζώνους τε γυναῖκας ( 9. 593). Cp. 1506 πτωχὰς ἀνάνδρους ἐγγενεῖς ἀλωμένας.

301 f. For ἴσως in a like conjecture, cp. 180 οὗτος πρωτογόνων ἴσως | οἴκων οὐδενὸς ὕστερος.—πρὶν μὲν ἦσαν , not εἰσίν, because ἐξ ἐλευθέρων ἀνδρῶν implies ἐλεύθεραι. The word ἀνδρῶν (which some would change to οἴκων) has been suggested by ἀπάτορας (300).—Nauck's grounds for rejecting these two vv. are: (1) that ἴσως is out of place, since they must have been free-born; but cp. Thuc.8. 28, quoted on v. 257: (2) that πρὶν μὲν ἦσαν is wrong, because their origin remains the same.

ὦ Ζεῦ τροπαῖε . Zeus who turns foemen to flight: see on 143.He is fitly invoked by her, since it was he who had brought the captives to this plight. Not, ‘Averter of evil,’ for τροπαῖος is not a classical equiv. for ἀποτρόπαιος. Plutarch indeed, supplies an in stance in later Greek, p. 149 D τὸν καθαρμὸν...κινεῖν διανοεῖ καὶ παρέχειν πράγματα τοῖς τροπαίοις (alluding to the exclamation Ἀλεξίκακε just before); unless ἀποτροπαίοις should be read there.

τοὐμὸν σπέρμα , though it is the mother who speaks (so Aesch. 275 σπέρματ’ εὐτέκνου βοός, and oft.).

χωρήσαντα . The notion of hostile advance was associated with this verb in such phrases as ὁμόσε χωρεῖν. But when it is followed by εἰς, ἐπί, or πρός τινα, the poetical usage varies somewhat from that of good prose. (1) The sense of χωρεῖν εἴς τινα is usu. friendly in prose, as Thuc.5. 40; more rarely hostile, as id. 4. 95, and Soph. 396. (2) χωρεῖν ἐπί τινα is hostile in prose, as Thuc.1. 62, but friendly in Pind. 10. 73.(3) χωρεῖν πρός τινα is friendly in prose, as Thuc.5. 43, and aboveThuc., v. 285; but hostile here. Sophocles would possibly have preferred εἰς to πρὸς here, if v. 303 had not ended with σε .—The aor. part., not the pres., because she thinks of the onset in its ruinous result: cp. Soph. 1113 ἰδοίμαν δέ νιν... | ἐμὰς λαχόντ’ ἀνίας.—ποι , in any direction,—i.e., in any of their homes, or in any point of their fortunes. The conject. που seems unnecessary.

μηδ’, εἴ τι δράσεις , sc. δράσειας: cp. 1434 νῦν, τὰ πρὶν εὖ θέμενοι, τάδ’ ὡς πάλιν (sc. εὖ θῆσθε). Remark, as evidence that this suspected verse is genuine, the thoroughly idiomatic use of the fut. indic. with εἰ , in connection with the prayer: ‘if thou must do it, at least do it thus.’ So 166 λόγον εἴ τιν’ οἴσεις | πρὸς ἐμὰν λέσχαν, ἀβάτων ἀποβὰς | ...φώνει.—ἔτι after ζώσης is here almost pleonastic: cp. 3(n.).

This verse is a development of μή ποτ’ εἰσίδοιμι : ‘may I never see it; nay, if it is ever to happen, may it not happen while I live.’ Her words unconsciously foreshadow the troubles which, after her death, were brought upon her children by Eurystheus ( Eur. ). Such an allusion is quite in the poet's manner (cp. n. on Soph. 1080 ff.).

The objection to the verse as illogical assumes that the δέ in μηδέ means ‘or,’ and that, therefore, the wish ‘not to see’ the woe is distinguished from a wish which it includes,—viz., that the woe may not come while she lives. The answer is simply that the δέ in μηδέ means ‘and.’

τεκνοῦσσα : schol. τέκνα ἔχουσα ὅπερ Καλλίμαχός φησι παιδοῦσα [ παιδοῦσσα: though Schneider fr. 431 defends τεκνοῦσα and παιδοῦσα]. No part of τεκνόεις or παιδόεις occurs elsewhere. But the adj. is decidedly fitter here than τεκοῦσα (esp. in view of v. 311): nor is there sufficient ground for the assumption that τεκνοῦσσα would imply several children.

πρὸς … φύσιν , judging by it: cp. 885 n.: φύσις of physical aspect, as 740: but otherwise below O. T., 379.— πάντων … τῶνδε , schol. τῶν ἐκ τοῦ γάμου προσγινομένων. The different surmise in 536 agrees better with 1225 f.

γενναία =εὐγενής ( 76 etc.).

ὁ φιτύσας πατήρ : the same phrase in 1296: cp. 793 O. T., 1482.

ᾤκτισα : for the aor., referring to the recent moment at which the feeling began, cp. 464, 1044, 1307 n.

ὅσῳπερ is used as if πλεῖστον, instead of μόνη , followed: see 743 n.

φρονεῖν οἶδεν , like σωφρονεῖν ἐπίσταται ( 589). Iolè (whose actual relation to Heracles appears from 1225 f.) is feeling not only bitter grief (326), but the new shame and embarrassment caused by the presence in which she stands. While the other captives are comparatively callous, she appears to Deianeira as one whose sense of the calamity is such as might be looked for in a maiden of noble birth and spirit. φρονεῖν here denotes that fine intelligence which is formed by gentle breeding, and which contributes to delicate propriety of behaviour. So, in 1250, it is conjectured of Eurydicè that, in her grief, she has sought privacy: γνώμης γὰρ οὐκ ἄπειρος, ὥσθ’ ἁμαρτάνειν: and cp. the account of Panthea's ἀρετὴ καὶ εὐσχημοσύνη in Xen. 5. 1§ 5.

314 f. For καὶ emphasising the verb, cp. 490, 600, 772 n.: for κρίνοις , above Ant., 195.

γέννημα τῶν ἐκεῖθεν , an offspring of the folk there (at Oechalia). Others make the gen. partitive (supplying γεννημάτων); but this seems less natural here. For τῶν ἐκεῖθεν as = τῶν ἐκεῖ, cp. 601 ταῖς ἔσωθεν: 1070 τῶν κάτωθεν. (In 632 τἀκεῖθεν in not quite similar.)— οὐκ ἐν ὑστάτοις goes with γέννημα, not with τῶν ἐκ., as the schol. saw: οὐκ ἐν ταῖς ἀπερριμμέναις καὶ εὐτελέσι τεταγμένη ἀλλὰ δῆλον ὅτι προὔχουσα ἐν εὐγενείᾳ. For the litotes cp. 15. 11 ἐπεὶ οὔ νιν ἀφαυρότατος βάλ’ Ἀχαιῶν.

μὴ τῶν τυράννων ; sc. γέννημα ἦν: for the interrogative μή, cp. 1502.The plur. (like βασιλέων in 1172) denotes ‘the royal house’: so, in 851, Creon calls himself τύραννος, though Eteocles is reigning.

Εὐρύτου σπορά τις ἦν ; The only natural sense is, ‘had Eurytus any issue?’ She had heard that he had sons (266). But we may suppose, either that she forgets this, or, better, that her question is qualified by its context, meaning, ‘had Eurytus any daughter?’ The other version, ‘was she a child of Eurytus?’ would make τις strangely weak. Further, in a mere surmise, such as this, the less direct inquiry seems the fitter.

ἀνιστόρουν : cp. 253 ὡς μηδὲν εἰδότ’ ἴσθι μ’ ὧν ἀνιστορεῖς: the simple ἱστορεῖν below Ph., 382 Ph., 397 Ph., 404.

μακράν : 220 οὐ γὰρ ἂν μακρὰν | ἴχνευον.

ξυνεμπόρων : schol. ξυναιχμαλωτίδων.

ἔχεις , compertum habes: 9 (n.).

ἤνυτον : 231 n.

ἀλλ’ ἡμὶν , ‘to me at least’: since Lichas has not questioned thee. Cp. 1276 πειράσατ’ ἀλλ’ ὑμεῖς γε: and ib. 241 ἀλλ’ ἐμέ.—ἐκ σαυτῆς , here=‘from thine own mouth’ (since Lichas cannot tell me), rather than, ‘of thine own accord.’ In 343, ἅπαντα γάρ σοι τἀμὰ νουθετήματα <*>κείνης διδακτά, κοὐδὲν ἐκ σαυτῆς λέγεις, the sense is, ‘from thine own mind.’

καὶ closely with ξυμφορά , a very misfortune. Deianeira is deeply interested by the captive, and feels drawn towards her. She is anxious to know the stranger's story, in order to offer her personal sympathy. These words express the pain and regret which she would feel at not being able to do so. The subtle art of the poet's language here depends on the different shades of meaning possible for ξυμφορά. When Deianeira at last learns all, that knowledge is to her a ξυμφορά in the gravest sense: she knows that, in Iolè, she has received a πημονὴν ὑπόστεγον (376). But here she is courteously using ξυμφορά in the milder sense which it could also bear,—‘a matter of deep regret.’ Cp. Her.1. 216 συμφορὴν ποιεύμενοι ὅτι οὐκ ἵκετο ἐς τὸ τυθῆναι.

οὔ τἄρα κ.τ.λ.: lit., ‘It will be in a manner very unlike the past that she will utter a word’: i.e., if she does speak, it will be very unlike her conduct hitherto. οὐδὲν ἐξ ἴσου must be taken together: for τῷ γε πρόσθεν χρόνῳ depending on ἐξ ἴσου , cp. Eur. 302 ἴσον δ’ ἄπεσμεν τῷ πρίν. διήσει is a certain correction of διοίσει : γλῶσσαν here is fig., ‘speech,’ precisely as in fr. 844. 3 πολλὴν γλῶσσαν ἐκχέας μάτην, and Soph. 596 ἣ πᾶσαν ἵης γλῶσσαν: for ἱέναι γλῶσσαν could not mean, ‘to unloose’ the tongue: it means ‘to send forth’ an utterance, being a poetical equiv. for ἱέναι φωνήν: cp. 890 D πᾶσαν, τὸ λεγόμενον, φωνὴν ἱέντα. The use of διιέναι, as meaning to send speech through the lips, is thus the same here as in 963(φόνους μοι...) τοῦ σοῦ διῆκας στόματος. The attempted interpretations of διοίσει , and some other conjectures, will be found in the Appendix.

ἤτις , causal ( 1184), justifying v. 322.

οὐδαμὰ , adv.: 1104 n.

οὔτε μείζον’ οὔτ’ ἐλάσσονα : 1245 πρὶν εἰπεῖν ἐσθλὸν ἢ κακὸν λόγον: 10. 93 οὐ μὲν γάρ ποτ’ ἀέξετο κῦμά γ’ ἐν αὐτῷ, | οὔτε μέγ’ οὔτ’ ὀλίγον: Her.3. 62 οὐκ ἔστι...ὅκως τι...νεῖκός τοι ἔσται ἢ μέγα ἢ σμικρόν.

ὠδίνουσα … βάρος (cognate acc.): cp. 790 πρᾶξιν ἣν ἤλγησ’ ἐγώ: Eur. 990 Ἥρα με κάμνειν τήνδ’ ἔθηκε τὴν νόσον.

διήνεμον simply = ἠνεμόεσσαν: so Oechalia is called ὑψίπυργος (354) and αἰπεινή (858). The word does not occur elsewhere in classical Greek, but Hermann quotes it from Philo Byzant. 1, where it means ‘fanned by breezes.’ Hermann prefers the first of the two explanations (ἔρημον, ὑψηλήν) given by the schol.: thinking that the epithet describes the ruins of Oechalia as patulum ventis iter praebentes. This seems very far-fetched; the more so, as the noun is πάτραν .

ἡ … τὐχη , not the doom of captivity, but rather her present condition of mute and inconsolable grief.

αὐτῇ γ’ is emphatic; sad for her, but to be condoned by us: γ’ is therefore in place.

συγγνώμην ἔχει : Thuc.3. 44 ἔχοντάς τι ξυγγνώμης (some claim to it).

ἡ δ’ οὖν : cp. 669 ὁ δ’ οὖν ἴτω : 961 οἱ δ’ οὖν γελώντων : Ar. 186 οἱ δ’ οὖν βοώντων. Idiom thus favours ἡ δ’ ; and ἥδ’ would here be too emphatic.

οὕτως ὅπως ἥδιστα : i.e., in silence.

331 Among the attempts to amend λύπην...λύπην (cr. n.), the two best, I think, are, (1) ἄλλην … λύπην , Triclinius: and (2) λύπην … διπλῆν , F. W. Schmidt. In favour of (2), it might perhaps be said that the second λύπην is more likely to be corrupt than the first. But it is also conceivable that the error should have arisen through the transcriber glancing forward. And, in close connection with πρὸς κακοῖς τοῖς οὖσιν, ἄλλην seems the fittest word. διπλῆν would be less clear (meaning the former κακά plus a new λύπη): it would also be too emphatic for this context.

Almost all edd. retain the optat. λάβοι , which is possible (‘Heaven forbid that she should receive...!’). But, as this clause is linked with ἐάσθω καὶ πορευέσθω,—being, in fact, merely a repetition of the command in a negative form,—I feel sure that Blaydes is right in reading λάβῃ .

οἷ θέλεις σπεύδῃς , back to Cenaeum, so as to be in time for the sacrifice (287): cp. 599.

ἐγὼ δὲ , after σύ θ’ , is warranted by the antithesis, as in 143 (n.), 286.

ἐξαρκῆ τιθῶ , make them such as they ought to be,—set them in satisfactory order. The word is used in Aesch. 237(πλοῦτος ἐξαρκής).

The ἄγγελος (180), who has listened in silence, now places himself between Deianeira and the door through which she is about to follow Lichas and the captives.

αὐτοῦ γε πρῶτον βαιὸν ἀμμείνας’ , sc. χώρει (from χωρῶμεν in 333). Where γε is thus used in reply, without an expressed verb, the verb can usu. be supplied directly from what immediately precedes (as in 399 νεμῶ from νεμεῖς). Here we may compare 678 ΧΟ....τί μέλλεις κομίζειν δόμων τόνδ’ ἔσω ; | ΙΟ. μαθοῦσά γ’ ἥτις ἡ τύχη (sc. κομιῶ).

ἀμμείνας’ : Sophocles has the form ἀμμένειν in four lyric passages (527, 648, 1389 El., 1397); but there is no other instance of it in tragic iambics. The apocopè of ἀνά, so frequent in tragic lyrics, is comparatively rare in dialogue; the examples in iambics are chiefly nouns, as ἀμβάτης, προσάμβασις, ἀμβολή, ἀμπνοή, ἀμπτυχή: more rarely verbs; though cp. 396 (n.); Eur. 1263 ἀμβήσει. In Eur. 1277 ἀμπνέουσ’ is only a v. l. for ἐμπνέουσ’, as in Eur. 1410 ἀμφέρει for ἀναφέρει. An example in Attic prose is Xen. 7. 5. 12 ἀμβολάδος γῆς.

ἄνευ here = χωρίς, as in 1464 ἄνευ τοῦδ’ ἀνδρός.—οὕστινάς τ’ : the τ’ is placed as if μάθῃς were to serve for both clauses: but, in the form which the sentence actually takes, this τε properly belongs to μάθῃς , and the second τε to ἐκμάθῃς . (Cp. 1415 τὰ Διός τε φράσων βουλεύματά σοι, | κατερητύσων θ’ ὁδὸν ἣν στέλλει.) For the simple verb followed by the compound, cp. 566 f. ἔσχετε —παρέσχομεν: 249 f. οἶσθα—κάτοιδ’. —The masc. plur. οὕστινας alludes to Iolè: cp. 366 σὺν τοῖς φιλτάτοις (Iocasta).

ὧν τ’ οὐδὲν εἰσήκουσας : her relations with Heracles. The first clause corresponds with the information which the speaker gives in vv. 379 ff.; the second, with that which he gives in vv. 351 ff.

πάντ’ , adv., ‘in all respects’; to be taken, not with ἐπιστήμην alone (as if =‘complete knowledge’), but with ἔχω ἐπιστήμην.—Nauck, who pronounces the text corrupt, contends that we can say, (1) τούτων ἐπιστήμην ἔχω, or (2) πάντα ἐπιστήμην ἔχω: but that we cannot ‘combine τούτων πάντα.’ He compares πάντα ἐπιστήμην ἔχω with 583 τὰ δ’ ἐν μέσῳ | ἢ λῆστιν ἴσχεις κ.τ.λ., where τὰ δ’ ἐν μέσῳ depends on λῆστιν ἴσχεις as = ἐπιλανθάνει. Hence it appears that he takes πάντα for an acc. depending on ἐπιστήμην ἔχω as= ἐπίσταμαι. But πάντα in our verse is an adverb. This adverb is used by Sophocles, not only ‘to strengthen adjectives’ (Nauck on 721), as in ὁ πάντ’ ἄναλκις ( 301), but also with verbs and participles: as 640 γνώμης πατρῴας πάντ’ ὄπισθεν ἑστάναι: 99 πάνθ’ ἡγουμένην. The adverbial use of πάντα with ἐπιστήμην ἔχω is none the less correct because a gen., τούτων, happens to be joined with ἐπιστήμην. In 721, φῦναι τὸν ἄνδρα πάντ’ ἐπιστήμης πλέων, the adverb certainly goes with ἐπιστήμης πλέων: but that proves nothing against the phrase used here.

τί δ’ ἔστι ; Cp. 1144 τί δ’ ἔστι ; πρὸς τί τοῦτο τοὔπος ἱστορεῖς ; (n.). Here, as there, a mark of interrogation must follow ἔστι, since τίς can stand for ὅστις only in an indirect question.

τοῦ , causal gen.; so τίνος 327(n.).

ἐφίστασαί με , makest me to <*>lt, τήνδε βάσιν (acc. of respect), in this movement (towards the house). For the second acc., cp. 1242 τίς ἔσται μ’ οὑπικωλύσων τάδε ; (n.): ib. 1301 μέθες με...χεῖρα. Schol.: τίνος ἕνεκεν τὴν πορείαν καὶ τὴν εἴσοδον ἱστᾷς καὶ κωλύεις ;

The midd. ἐφίσταμαι does not elsewhere occur in a causal sense (except in the aor., as Xen. 8. 2. 19 φρουροὺς ἐπεστησά μην). But the causal use of καθίσταμαι ( Aesch. 706 φρούρημα γῆς καθίσταμαι , Thuc.2. 6 τά τ’ ἐν τῇ πόλει καθίσταντο) appears to warrant a like use of ἐφίσταμαι, where, as here, the context helps to explain it. Cp. also Plat. 63 C γεώδη γένη διϊστάμενοι , ‘separating.’ [But we cannot properly compare 916 παρίστασαι, ‘you bring to your own side,’ ‘subjugate’: nor Plat. 565C ἕνα τινὰ...δῆμος εἴωθε...προΐστασθαι ἑαυτοῦ: where there is a special reason for using the midd.] The midd. προσορωμένα in Soph. 244 is similarly unique, and has a like justification.

A fact which confirms this view is that ἐφιστάναι, ἐφίστασθαι were regularly used with ref. to a halt. Xen. 2. 4. 26 ἐπορεύετο δὲ ἄλλοτε καὶ ἄλλοτε ἐφιστάμενος. ὅσον δὲ χρόνον τὸ ἡγούμενον τοῦ στρατεύματος ἐπιστήσειε, τοσοῦτον ἦν ἀνάγκη χρόνον δἰ ὅλου τοῦ στρατεύματος γίγνεσθαι τὴν ἐπίστασιν. (For ἐπίστασις, ‘a halt,’ cp. Soph. 225 n.) Polyb. 16. 34. 2 ἐπιστήσαντες...τὴν ὁρμήν. Diod.17. 112 τὴν ὁδὸν...ἐπιστήσας. Plut. 1 ἐπιστήσας...τὴν πορείαν. Arrian 5. 16. 1 ἐπέστησε τοὺς ἱππέας τοῦ πρόσω.

Another explanation is: τοῦ με ἐφίστασαι , ‘why hast thou come close up to me, τήνδε βάσιν (cogn. acc.), with this (hurried) step?’ But: (1) instead of με , we should then expect μοι : which Madvig, indeed ( 1. 227), proposed, though with the further (and needless) change of τοῦ to ἐφ’ οὗ . Cp. 776 πρίν μοι τύχη | τοιάδ’ ἐπέστη. The acc. με is not adequately defended by fr. 155, τίς γάρ με μόχθος οὐκ ἐπεστάτει ; where the acc. is like that which can follow ἐπιβαίνειν as = ‘to assail’ ( 138 σὲ δ’ ὅταν πληγὴ Διὸς... | ...ἐπιβῇ): ‘what trouble was not ever coming upon me?’ (2) τήνδε... βάσιν here refers more naturally to the movement in which Deianeira is stopped than to a movement which the ἄγγελος makes towards her.

οὐδὲ τὸν πάρος … οὐδὲ νῦν . The double οὐδὲ here must not be confused with a double οὔτε : this is not a case of parataxis,—‘ as my first story was worth hearing, so will this one be.’ The first οὐδὲ=‘not even,’ and the second, ‘no, nor...’: cp. 1402 τοιοῦτον οἷον οὐδὲ φωνῆσαί τινι | ἔξεσθ’ ἑταίρων, οὐδ’ ἀποστρέψαι πάλιν.—τὸν πάρος μῦθον : vv. 180—199.

μάτην : not ψευδῶς, as the schol. explains (a sense which must refer to the speaker, not to the hearer), but simply, ‘in vain.’ His promise of good news proved true.

δοκῶ , sc. μάτην σε ἀκούσεσθαι.

ἐκείνους , Lichas and the captives: who are moving away into the house, but have not yet disappeared. Their movement, which would begin at v. 335, ends only at 345. As the space to be traversed by them would not be great, we may suppose that Lichas, though he does not overhear the words of the ἄγγελος, has paused near the door of exit, in uncertainty, on seeing Deianeira stop, and is finally dismissed by a gesture of hers, after the words τούτους δ’ ἔα (344). Here she forgets the ἄνευ τῶνδ’ of v. 336.

ἢ )μοὶ ταῖσδέ τ’ (the Chorus) —i.e. μόναις: an addition which the emphasis on the pronouns renders needless.

σοὶ ταῖσδέ τ’ οὐδὲν εἴργεται : the verb is clearly passive: the midd. εἴργομαι occurs only as=‘to keep oneself off’ from something ( 890 n.). And it is simpler to take οὐδὲν as nom. than as adv. with an impers. verb. σοὶ ταῖσδέ τ’ might be a dat. of interest: ‘for thee and these, nothing is excluded’: but it is truer (I think) to carry on ἐξειπεῖν. Thus the strict sense is:—‘for the purpose of telling to thee and these, nothing is excluded.’ The ordinary οὐδὲν εἴργει occurs at 1257.

καὶ δὴ : 31 n.

χὡ λόγος σημαινέτω . Blaydes writes ὅ τι λέγεις σήμαινέ μοι: Nauck too (cr. n.) thinks the text corrupt, chiefly because σός is absent. But cp. Eur. 341 f. ΦΑ. τρίτη δ’ ἐγὼ δύστηνος ὡς ἀπόλλυμαι. | ΤΡ. ἔκ τοι πέπληγμαι· ποῖ προβήσεται λόγος ; For the verb, cp. 598 σήμαινε. Apitz cites Plat. 511 B ὡς ὁ λόγος σημαίνει : but the sense there is different (‘as our argument indicates’).

δίκης ἐς ὀρθόν , conformably with the straight rule of honesty: cp. 853 δικαίως ὀρθόν, truly right (for the prophecy). For the implied metaphor, cp. Eur. 602 ο<*>δεν τό γ’ α<*>σχρὸν κανόνι τοῦ καλοῦ μαθών: for εἰς, fr. 555 εἰς ὀρθὸν φρονεῖν (=καλῶς φρονεῖν): Thuc.6. 82 ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς εἰπεῖν (so the MSS.: ὡς Krüger). The gen. δίκης can be joined to ὀρθόν (though without art.), since the latter is felt as a subst.: cp. Soph. 1144 ἐν κακῷ | χειμῶνος .

ἢ νῦν … ἢ πρόσθεν … παρῆν : since νῦν can mean ‘just now,’ it is not necessary to supply πάρεστιν: but it is easy to do so: cp. Xen. 3. 3. 2 ἐγὼ...καὶ Κύρῳ πιστὸς ἦν,...καὶ νῦν ὑμῖν εὔνους (εἰμί).— κακός here=ἄπιστος, as at 468 it is opposed to ἀψευδεῖν.—οὐ δίκαιος is merely a synonym for κακός (cp. 457), ‘not honest’: cp. 411: 671 δίκαιον κἀγαθὸν παραστάτην. The antithesis, which is only between νῦν and πρόσθεν, is thus somewhat blurred.

ἃ μὲν γὰρ ἐξείρηκας , standing where it does, is most simply taken as an acc. of respect; though τούτων might be supplied.

ἀγνοία : for the α—, see on 129 ἀγνοία προσῇ .

μαρτύρων : cp. 188.

Εὔρυτόν θ’ ἕλοι τήν θ’ ὑψίπ. Οἰχαλίαν : i.e., slew him, and took the town. Just so in 11. 328 ἑλέτην δίφρον τε καὶ ἀνέρε (the men are slain). This is usu. called a case of ‘zeugma’: but it is not really of the same kind as (e.g.) Her.4. 106 ἐσθῆτά τε φορέουσι τῇ Σκυθικῇ ὁμοίην, γλῶσσαν δὲ ἰδίην: where the verb properly suits the first clause only, and ἔχουσι would naturally have been added to the second clause. The poetical use of ἑλεῖν, in regard to contests, included the senses, (1) ‘to overcome,’ often connoting ‘to slay’; and (2) ‘to gain by overcoming.’ Cp. Pind. 1. 88 ἕλεν δ’ Οἰνομάου βίαν, παρθένον τε σύνευνον ( overcame the father in a race, and won the daughter). So we can say, ‘they conquered their oppressors,’ and ‘they conquered freedom.’ The difference is that we should not say, in one sentence, ‘they conquered their oppressors, and freedom.’ Schneidewin compares Pind. 10. 25 ἐκράτησε...στρατὸν... | καὶ... στέφανον, Μοίσαισί τ’ ἔδωκ’ ἀρόσαι. But there is much probability in Heyne's correction of the MS. Μοίσαισί τ’ to Μοίσαισιν (with no comma after στέφανον).

τὴν ὑψίπυργον : cp. 327 n.

Οἰχαλίαν : for the anapaest, excused by the proper name, cp. 233.

μόνος θεῶν : whereas Lichas had represented Zeus as πράκτωρ of all (251).

θέλξειεν , with irony; that gentle spell produced these exploits. Cp. 1142 τοιῷδε φίλτρῳ.—αἰχμάσαι τάδε (cogn. acc.), to do these warlike deeds. The verb has here a general sense, as in Aesch. 756 ἔνδον αἰχμάζειν, to play the warrior at home: cp. Soph. 97.In 4. 324 αἰχμὰς δ’ αἰχμάσσουσι means, ‘shall wield spears’: whence Ellendt understands here, ‘intorquere hoc excidium.’

οὐ τἀπὶ Λυδοῖς . Here ἐπὶ Λυδοῖς=‘in their country’ (248 ἐν Λυδοῖς ): cp. 1100 γῆς ἐπ’ ἐσχάτοις τόποις: Her.5. 77 ἐπὶ...τῇ χώρῃ.—*ὑπ’ Ὀμφάλῃ : in subjection to her,—a common sense of ὑπό with dat. (as Thuc.1. 32 εἰ ἐσόμεθα ὑπ’ αὐτοῖς). ὑπ’ is an almost certain correction of the MS. ἐπ’ (see cr. n.), which τἀπὶ may have generated. If ἐπ’ were retained, it could mean only ‘in the power of’: for, in reference to one person, ἐπὶ could not possibly mean merely ‘with.’ After ἐπὶ Λυδοῖς, however, the repetition of ἐπί in a different sense would here be awkward.

πόνων λατρεύματ’ , service consisting in toils (defining gen.): cp. 505 ἄεθλ’ ἀγώνων. ( 105 μόχθοις λατρεύων, ‘thrall to woes,’ is not parallel.)

ὁ ῥιπτὸς … μόρος : cp. 36 φόνον... δημόλευστον. A sarcastic allusion to the vivid detail with which Lichas had told the story (270 ff.).

Heracles had really killed Iphitus. The denial here refers only to the place which the murder held in the story told by Lichas. Heracles was instigated, not by the Lydian servitude which punished his crime, or by those affronts (262 ff.) which Lichas represented as having moved him to the crime, but, in reality, by the refusal of Eurytus to give him Iolè.

ὃν refers, not to μόρος, but back to Ἔρως (354), verses 356 f. being parenthetical; just as in 997 ἣν refers to κρηπὶς in 992, and not to λώβαν in 996. The conjecture ὃ would enfeeble the passage. ὃν … παρώσας expresses that the divine agent, who should have been placed in the foreground of the story (cp. 862), has been thrust out of sight. Cp. Eur. 29 Ἑρμιόνην γαμεῖ, | τοὐμὸν παρώσας δεσπότης δοῦλον λέχος.—ἔμπαλιν λέγει , speaks in a contrary sense. Her.1. 207 ἔχω γνώμην(...τὰ ἔμπαλιν ἢ οὗτοι. 9. 56 οὐδὲ πάλιν ἐρέει (‘gainsay’).

ἀλλ’ ἡνίκ’ : here ἀλλά merely serves to resume the story, after the parenthesis: cp. δέ in 252, 281. Others make it strictly adversative: ‘(It was not on account of his enslavement); rather it was when he could not persuade,’ etc.— οὐκ ἔπειθε : the imperf. is regularly used with ref. to such failure ( e.g., Thuc.3. 3 ἐπειδὴ...οὐκ ἔπειθον: id. 4. 4 ὡς οὐκ ἔπειθεν).

τὸν φυτοσπόρον : not yet identified with Eurytus. That disclosure forms the climax, at 380.

κρύφιον ὡς ἔχοι λέχος : cp. Her.3. 1 οὐκ ὡς γυναῖκά μιν ἔμελλε... ἕξειν, ἀλλ’ ὡς παλλακήν.—ἔγκλημα is properly the matter of the complaint: αἰτίαν , the imputation of blame for it. For αἰτία in this sense, cp. Soph. 656 , Soph. 28.

ἑτοιμάσας : cp. Isae. or. 11 § 14 ἀγῶνας παρασκευάζειν (‘to get up’ lawsuits against one).

362—

ἐπιστρατεύει … ἄνακτα πατέρα . I keep the traditional text, only with τόνδ’ (B) instead of τῶνδ’ (L) in 363: in the poet's time either would have been written ΤΟΝΔ. If the text be sound, it means:—‘he makes war upon her country, that in which (Lichas) said that this Eurytus was master of the throne.’ But there are three difficulties:

(1) It was needless to say that the girl's πατρίς was also the realm of Eurytus: cp. 244 f.: 283 ff.: 315. The excuse must be that the Messenger himself had not yet said so; he is wordy, and anxious, in his own fashion, to be lucid. The reading τόνδ’ , it may be noted, suits this view of him. And τῶνδ’ (θρόνων) would be very awkward.

(2) Heracles is subject to ἐπιστρατεύει and κτείνει : but Lichas to εἶπε . (Heracles cannot be the subject to εἶπε: he needed not to tell his warriors that Eurytus reigned there; and, on the other hand, δεσπόζειν could not mean, ‘usurped.’) Such a change of subject is very harsh: still, it is not impossible; and, as the narrative of Lichas has been the foremost topic so far, εἶπε would at once suggest him. An example almost as bold occurs in Thuc.2. 3: οἱ δὲ Πλαταιῆς... λόγους δεξάμενοι ἡσύχαζον, ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐς οὐδένα οὐδὲν ἐνεωτέριζον. πράσσοντες δέ πως ταῦτα κατενόησαν κ.τ.λ.: where the Plataeans are the subject of ἡσύχαζον and κατενόησαν, but the Thebans of ἐνεωτέριζον.

(3) At v. 377 Deianeira asks, ἆρ’ ἀνώνυμος | πέφυκεν ; i.e., ‘is she of obscure birth?’—and then, for the first time, learns that the girl's father is So she must have understood ἄνακτα in 364 to mean, not ‘the king,’ but some (minor) ‘prince’ or ‘chief.’ Yet, even so, her question at v. 377 is strange. (At v. 342 we saw that she ignored a hint given in v. 336: but on this question—the girl's birth—we should have expected her to be attentive.)

The only course which removes all these three difficulties is Hartung's,—who brackets the words τὴν ταύτης … πατέρα , so that three verses shrink into one,— ἐπιστρατεύει πατρίδα τῆσδε, καὶ πόλιν κ.τ.λ. This would certainly improve the passage. And it is conceivable that the interpolation should have been due to actors.

Others read τῶν Εὐρύτου τόνδ’ , rendering: ‘in which (Lichas) said that Heracles ( τόνδ’) holds’ [or ‘wishes to hold’] the throne of Eurytus.’ But Heracles simply laid Oechalia waste; there was no question of his reigning there.—Wecklein ingeniously reads τὸν ἐργάτην (for Εὔρυτον) τῶνδ’ : ‘where Heracles said (to his warriors) that the author of these wrongs was king.’

For the change of tenses, cp. 406 n.

ἥκει , Heracles: he is not, indeed, yet at Trachis (and the words δόμους ὡς τούσδε go with πέμπων); but, after his distant wanderings, he may be said to ‘have arrived,’ since in his march from Oechalia he has already reached the point of Euboea nearest to his home (237). Heracles being the subject to ἔπερσε and to ἐντεθέρμανται (368), there would be an exceptional harshness in making Lichas the subject to ἥκει : nor would this suit the sense so well.

δόμους ὡς τούσδε : see n. on 1481 ὡς τὰς ἀδελφὰς τάσδε τὰς ἐμὰς χέρας. The case for reading ἐς is stronger here than there. Yet I refrain from altering, since the house so easily suggests the household.

οὐδ’ εἰκός : οὐδέ here=‘nor,’ rather than, ‘not even.’

ἐντεθέρμανται . This compound is not found elsewhere, while ἐκθερμαίνω is frequent. But ἔνθερμος was common, and is applied by Arist. to a ‘fervid’ temperament ( 2, p. 806 b 26: διάνοιαν...ἔνθερμον: 3 p. 808 a 37 εὐφυεῖς καὶ ἔνθερμοι). Here ἐν‐ , suggesting the inward, hidden flame, seems better than the more prosaic ἐκ‐ . In fr. 430. 3 the corrupt εἶθ’ ἅλλεται is corrected by Valckenaer (after Ruhnken) to ἐνθάλπεται, but by Ellendt to ἐκθάλπεται: and the latter is confirmed by Bekker p. 40. 20.

πρὸς μέσῃ Τραχινίων ἀγορᾷ : μέσῃ here implies, ‘open,’ ‘public,’ as in ἔδειξ’...ἐς μέσον ( 609 n.): πρός, lit. ‘close to’; the ἄγγελος had been one of those who stood in the outer part of the crowd, while inner circles were thronging round Lichas; he had thus been able to get away quickly (188—195). In 423 the prep. is the vaguer ἐν .

ἀγορᾷ , not ‘market-place,’ but ‘gathering’ (the place was a λειμών, 188); a sense not rare even in Attic prose: cp. Xen. 5. 7. 3 συναγαγεῖν αὐτῶν ἀγοράν: Aeschin. or. 3 § 27 ἀγορὰν ποιῆσαι τῶν φυλῶν .

Join ὡσαύτως ἐμοί : cp. Her.2. 67 ὣς δὲ αὕτως τῇσι κυσὶ οἱ ἰχνευταὶ θάπτονται.

τὸ δ’ ὀρθὸν : cp. the words of the messenger to Eurydicè in 1194 f. τί γάρ σε μαλθάσσοιμ’ ἂν ὦν ἐς ὕστερον | ψεῦσται φανούμεθ); ὀρθὸν ἁλήθεἰ ἀεί.

ποῦ … πράγματος ; Ai.102 ποῦ σοι τύχης ἕστηκεν : ib. 314 ἐν τῷ πράγματος.

ὑπόστεγον with εἰσδέδεγμαι: cp. 1386 βεβᾶσιν ἄρτι δωμάτων ὑπόστεγοι.

ὦ δὐστηνος , sc. ἐγώ: cp. 1143, 1243. 744 δύστηνος, ὦ τάλας ἐγώ.— ἀνώνυμος : ἄσημος καὶ δυσγενής (schol.). The reference to origin is brought out by πέφυκεν .

This question seems strange after the words κτείνει τ’ ἄνακτα πατέρα τῆσδε in 364,—which Deianeira can hardly be supposed to have forgotten. (See n. on 362 ff.) If those words be genuine, we might perhaps regard the question here as merely continuing her own bitter thought,— not as really asking for information:— ‘Wretched that I am! Is this the nameless maiden of whom he spoke?’ (Cp. the bitter self-communing of Oedipus, 822: ἆρ’ ἔφυν κακός ; | ἆρ’ οὐχὶ πᾶς ἄναγνος ;) It is not decisive against this view that the matter-of-fact ἄγγελος takes the question literally.

διώμνυτο (cp. 255 n.): Lichas had merely declared that he knew nothing (314—319).

ἦ κάρτα : these words begin the reply to a question in 312, Aesch. 452: they are the first words of a speaker also in Soph. 1359, Soph. 1279.

The conject. ὄνομα for ὄμμα not only removes a difficulty, but is made almost certain by the question, ἆρ’ ἀνώνυμος πέφυκεν ; The words were easily confused: thus in 447 ὄμμα has been made in L from ὄνομα. By ὄνομα , as dist. from φύσιν , is meant partly the nobleness of the name itself (akin to Iolaüs, etc.), partly her personal renown for beauty. On the other hand, κατ’ ὄμμα , ‘in regard to her appearance,’ is a phrase for which there is no real parallel: it cannot be justified by the use of ὄψις ( 24. 632) in that sense. In 1004 δυσθέατον ὄμμα is not similar.

φύσιν birth, as 1301 φύσει μὲν ἦν | βασίλεια (and ib. 1259).

In some ancient texts this verse was given to Deianeira. Among recent editors, Paley shares that view. But: (1) If Deianeira has already answered her own question, the Messenger's speech opens weakly with v. 380. (2) It agrees best with the practice of Sophocles to suppose that ἦ κάρτα are a speaker's first words. —Some, indeed, of the MSS. (as B, K, T), which give v. 379 to Deianeira, have ἢ instead of ἦ , with the mark of interrogation after φύσιν , and only a comma after διώμνυτο . Thus D. asks, ‘Is she obscure, or illustrious?’ But this is weak.

πατρὸς μὲν οὖσα κ.τ.λ. The simplest account of the μέν is that Ἰόλη δὲ καλουμένη ought to have followed, but, owing to the fact that her name is primarily in question, the second clause be came Ἰόλη )καλεῖτο . The ποτέ belongs in sense to )καλεῖτο , not to οὖσα : the imperf. refers to her former condition in her own home: cp. 301 ἦσαν.

Ἰόλη : vιόλα on the vase from Caere mentioned above (265 f. n.). Cp. Hes. fr. 45 ( ap. schol. on 266 above), τοὺς δὲ μεθ’ ὁπλοτάτην τέκετο ξανθὴν Ἰόλειαν | Ἀντιόχη. Curtius ( § 590) accepts the connection with ἴον. Some mythologists regard Iolè as ‘the violet dawn,’ who is wedded to the rising sun (Hyllus) after his precursor (Heracles) has passed away in fiery glory (Paley, , p. 204). The poet, at least, is innocent of such symbolism.

τῆς : 47 n.

βλάστας : the plur., as 717, 972.

οὐδὲν ἱστορῶν , compared with the words of Lichas himself (317 οὐδ’ ἀνιστόρουν μακράν), seems better taken as=‘because he had not been inquiring’ (ὅτι οὐδὲν ἱστόρει), than, ‘because he did not know’ (cp. 1484 f.).

Many editors place a comma after ἐφώνει . This implies that δῆθεν could stand as the first word of a sentence or a clause. Now there are certainly instances in which the special point of the irony conveyed by δῆθεν lies in words which follow it: yet, even then, δῆθεν is also retrospective. Aesch. 986 ἐκερτόμησας δῆθεν ὡς παῖδ’ ὄντα με: here ὡς παῖδ’ ὄντα is the point: but that is no reason why δῆθεν should not refer to the whole sentence: i.e., ‘thou hast mocked me, forsooth, as though I were a child,’ represents the sense no less well than, ‘thou hast mocked me as if, forsooth, I were a child.’ The same remark applies to Thuc.1. 127 τοῦτο δὴ τὸ ἄγος οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐκέλευον ἐλαύνειν δῆθεν τοῖς θεοῖς πρῶτον τιμωροῦντες. Id. 4. 99 οὐδ’ αὖ ἐσπένδοντο δῆθεν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐκείνων. This last example would really show δῆθεν as the first word of a clause, if it were necessary to take it exclusively with ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐκείνων: ‘nor, again, were they (the Boeotians) going to make a truce about ground which, forsooth, was Athenian.’ But the sense is rather: ‘nor, again, were they going to make a truce, forsooth, [i.e., as the Athenian proposal implied,] about ground which was Athenian.’ And so, here also, the irony of δῆθεν affects the whole sentence, and not only the words οὐδὲν ἱστορῶν .

ὄλοιντο κ.τ.λ.: a forcible way of saying, ‘Any kind of misdoing might be pardoned sooner than treachery of the kind which we see here.’ Cp. 468 f., σοὶ δ’ ἐγὼ φράζω κακὸν | πρὸς ἄλλον εἶναι κ.τ.λ.

The comment is aimed at Lichas in the first instance; but its vague form seems purposed, so that the hearers may extend it, if they please, to Heracles. Deianeira herself is in doubt whether the dissimulation practised by Lichas was prompted by her lord (449): Lichas explains that it was not so (479 f.). The schol.'s paraphrase shows that he wished to punctuate thus: ὄλοιντο, μή τι πάντες, οἱ κακοί, etc.: ‘perish, not all men, but the evil; and (especially) he,’ etc.

τὰ δὲ : for the place of the art., cp. 92 n.: for δὲ as=ἀλλά, 85 n.

μὴ (generic) πρέπονθ’ αὑτῷ : the treachery is aggravated by the fact of the high trust reposed in those from whom it proceeds. 1227 ἔπραξας ἔργον ποῖον ὧν οὔ σοι πρέπον ;

ποεῖν : for the spelling, cp. 120 n., and ib. p. 234.

πεύθου : Nauck writes πυθοῦ . But the change is as needless here as in 604.Where the sense is, ‘inquire,’ the pres. is right: cp. 993 πότερα πυνθάνοἰ ἂν εἰ | πατήρ σ’ ὁ καίνων: ib. 1155 ὡς μὴ εἰδότ’ αὐτὸν μηδὲν ὧν σὺ πυνθάνει. On the other hand in 332 f. τί ταῦτ’ | ἄλλως ἐλέγχεις; οὐ γὰρ ἂν πύθοιό μου, the aor. is required, as the sense is, ‘learn.’ Cp. above O. T., 66 O. T., 91; and below O. T., 458.

σαφῆ =ἀληθῆ: 1223 ἔκμαθ’ εἰ σαφῆ λέγω.—πρὸς βίαν , i.e., with stringent questioning (such as the ἄγγελος himself applies El., 402 ff.). The phrase is rare, except where physical force is meant; cp., however, 1185 οὐ γάρ σε, θάρσει, πρὸς βίαν παρασπάσει | γνώμης.— κρίνειν =ἀνακρίνειν: 195 n.

οὐκ ἀπὸ γνώμης , not away from good judgment,—not otherwise than it prescribes: οὐκ ἄνευ συνέσεως (schol.). Cp. οὐκ ἀπὸ καιροῦ, οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου (n. on 900): Plat. p. 179 C οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ εἴρηκεν. Others understand, ‘not contrary to my own judgment’ (τοῦτο κἀμοὶ ἀρέσκει, schol.). 10. 324 σοὶ δ’ ἐγὼ οὐχ ἅλιος σκοπὸς ἔσσομαι, οὐδ’ ἀπὸ δόξης (‘belying thy hope’): ib. 1. 561 ἀπὸ θυμοῦ | μᾶλλον ἐμοὶ ἔσεαι. But here γνώμης seems better taken generally. Distinguish the sense in 674 ἀπὸ γνώμης φέρειν | ψῆφον (in accordance with one's opinion).

The accent in L here, ἄπο γνώμης, represents the theory that this prep. should be paroxytone when it means ‘at a distance from,’ as in the phrases cited above, and in ἀπὸ τείχεος ( 9. 353), ἀπὸ σεῖο (ib. 437), etc. But this was merely a refinement due to comparatively late grammarians: see Ellendt, p. 79 a: Matthiae § 572 n. b.

οὐκ ἐμῶν ὑπ’ ἀγγέλων : though it would be easy to supply κληθείς from αὐτόκλητος ( 289 ἄκλητος οὐδ’ ὑπ’ ἀγγέλων | κληθείς), it is needless to do so: cp. Eur. 561 οὐ γὰρ μιᾶς σε κληδόνος προθυμίᾳ | μετῆλθον, ἀλλὰ μυρίων ὑπ’ ἀγγέλων.

ὡς ὁρᾷς . I receive this slight and easy correction of εἰσορᾷς , holding that the latter does not admit of any sound defence. Various explanations of it have been attempted. (1) Seidler: εἰσορᾷς governs the gen. No one would now maintain this: the alleged instances are irrelevant ( Ar. 815 παρίδῃ with a gen. absol. : 1. 1. 11 οὐδεὶς δὲ τώποτε Σωκράτους οὐδὲν ἀσεβὲς...οὔτε πράττοντος εἶδεν, etc., where the verb governs the acc., and the gen. is possessive). (2) Hermann: the constr. is, ὡς (‘since’), ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ, εἰσορᾷς (τοῦτο, ἕρποντά με). But ὡς must go with the gen. absol. (3) Nauck: ὡς ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ , (οὕτως) εἰσορᾷς (ἐμὲ ἕρποντα). But (a) this implies a harsh asyndeton (δίδαξον —εἰσορᾷς): and (b) the constr. is not justified by 281 ὡς ὧδ’ ἐχόντων τῶνδ’ ἐπίστασθαί σε χρή (cp. 1179 n.). (4) Matthiae: there is a confusion between εἰσορᾷς ὡς ἕρποντος ἐμοῦ , and ὡς (since) εἰσορᾷς ἕρποντα εμέ. (5) Dindorf: εἰσορᾷς is parenthetic. This is the best plea: but it does not suit the idiom of tragedy. The parenthetic ὁρᾷς (interrogative) does not support it.

As regards ὡς ὁρᾷς , Blaydes well points out that a double ὡς occurs elsewhere: 1241 τάχ’, ὡς ἔοικας, ὡς νοσεῖς φράσεις: 735 ὁρᾷς τάδ’ ὡς εἴρηκας ὡς ἄγαν νέος ; El.1341 ἤγγειλας, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὡς τεθνηκότα: and cp. the double ὥστε in 729.

ἐκ ταχείας : cp. 727, and n. on 994.

σὺν χρόνῳ … βραδεῖ : 1602 ταχεῖ...σὺν χρόνῳ (n.).

πρὶν ἡμᾶς κἀννεώσασθαι λόγους . The compound verb is confirmed, as against the καὶ νεώσασθαι of the MSS. (cr. n.), by the schol.'s paraphrase, ἀνακαινίσασθαι [this schol. has no lemma]; and more esp. by Eustath., p. 811, 20 (on νειοῖο βαθείης, 10. 353), νεᾶν, οὗ χρῆσις παρ’ Ἡσιόδῳ ἐν τῷ, θέρεος δὲ νεωμένη οὐκ ἀπατήσει ( 462), ἐξ οὗ καὶ παρὰ Σοφοκλεῖ ἀνανεώσασθαι λόγους, τὸ ἀνακινῆσαι. On the other hand, the MS. καί is clearly sound: πρὶν καί here =‘before even’; see on 280.For the apocopè of the prep. in κἀννεώσασθαι, see on 335 ἀμμείνασ’. The synizesis of εω, assumed by those who write κἀνανεώσασθαι, would be very harsh. I doubt whether Eustathius was right in his theory —suggested by νεᾶν—that ἀνανεοῦσθαι λόγους was a metaphor from ploughing. Had it been so, it ought to have implied, ‘going again over old ground,’ like ἀναπολεῖν ἔπη ( 1238 n.). Here the sense is simply, ‘to renew converse.’ Cp. Polyb. 5. 36 ἀεὶ τὸν λόγον ἀνενεοῦτο.

ἦ καὶ : 246.

τὸ πιστὸν τῆς ἀλη‐ θείας , the faithfulness of the truth,= the honest truth.

νεμεῖς , as in νέμειν μοῖράν τινι, because she claims a true account as due to her: 436 f. μὴ...ἐκκλέψῃς λόγον. Cp. the pass. in Her.9. 7 τὸ μὲν ἀπ’ ἡμέων οὕτω ἀκίβδηλον νέμεται ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας: so honestly do we discharge our duty towards the Greeks.

Even without the hint in the schol. (cr. n.), it would have been clear that νεμεῖς must be read here. νέμεις has been explained as follows:—(1) Wunder: ‘Do you give the pledge of veracity?’— i.e., ‘Are you prepared to swear that you will speak the truth?’ (2) Linwood, ‘colis, observas’: i.e., ‘Do you respect fidelity to the truth?’ (3) Campbell takes νέμεις as ‘possess,’ ‘wield,’ ‘use’; rendering, ‘And dost thou maintain the faithful spirit of truth?’

As to Nauck's change in the order of these verses (cr. n.), it is enough to observe that (1) Lichas could not reply to the question of his δέσποινα with such a rebuff as σὺ δ’ εἰς τί δή με κ.τ.λ. (2) It is out of accord with Deianeira's courteous dignity that she should address Lichas with such words as τόλμησον εἰπεῖν, εἰ φρονεῖς κ.τ.λ.

οὗτος, βλέφ’ ὧδε : the ἄγγελος roughly bespeaks attention for his own question; ὧδε= δεῦρο ( 7 n.). Cp. 1121 οὗτος σύ, πρέσβυ, δεῦρό μοι φώνει βλέπων: 1047 οὗτος, σὲ φωνῶ .

σὺ δ’ : a reproof of the meddling stranger. Cp. Isae. or. 8 § 24 σὺ δὲ τίς εἶ; σοὶ δὲ τί προσήκει θάπτειν; οὐ γιγνώσκω σε.

τόλμησον , an ironical rejoinder: ‘bring yourself to do it,’—‘have the goodness to do it.’ (Not, ‘dare.’) Cp. 184, 82 Ph., 481.

εἰ φρονεῖς , ‘if thou comprehendest’ (the question). Not, ‘if thou art sane’—which would be too strong here.

ἱστορῶ with double acc., like ἐρωτῶ: Soph. 621 τί μ’ ἱστορεῖς τόδε ;

406 f. If δάμαρτα were not followed by δεσπότιν , the change of θ’ to δ’ made by Blaydes would be probable: cp. 1217 n. But, where three relationships of the same persons are mentioned, there is no reason for preferring δέ … δέ to τε … τε. — λεύσσων μάταια (adv., cp. 883 n.), suffering a delusion of the eyes. Cp. 863: 3. 27. 39 (an me) |

δίκαια : for the plur., cp. 64.— The division of the verse between two speakers (ἀντιλαβή) gives vivacity: cp. 418, 876.

δίκαιος : cp. 348.

ποικίλας (ι— ): cp. 1121: for ποικίλος with ref. to subtlety, see on 130 ἡ ποικιλῳδὸς Σφίγξ.

ἱστορούμενος = ἐρωτώμενος, a comparatively rare use of this passive; so Her.1. 24 κληθέντας ἱστορέεσθαι εἴ τι λέγοιεν.—οὐ σιγηλὸς εἶ : as Creon calls the φύλαξ a λάλημα, 320.Possibly an echo of Aesch. 567 λέγ’, εἴ τι βούλει· καὶ γὰρ οὐ σιγηλὸς εἶ: where the phrase alludes to the rhetoric of the herald Copreus.

κάτοισθα : i.e., thou knowest whom I mean: 1048 ὅστις κάτοιδε τὸν βοτῆρ’ ὂν ἐννέπει. The conject., κάτοισθα δῆτ’ ;—οὔ φημί, assumed that κάτοισθα=γιγνώσκεις (‘knowest who she is’).

ἣν ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας ὁρᾷς . If these words are sound, they mean, ‘on whom you look with (affected) ignorance.’ There is little force in the objection that Iolè is not actually present: the Messenger is calling up the recent scene (314—319), which is so fresh in their minds. The real question is,—could ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας be thus used,—as=‘with’ (not ‘from’) ‘ignorance’? Elsewhere ὑπό denotes some external accompaniment of action, as (1) sound, ὑπὸ συρίγγων: or silence, ὑπ’ εὐφήμου βοῆς ( 630): (2) light, ὑπὸ λαμπάδων.: (3) a pressure from without, as ὑπὸ μαστίγων. There is perhaps no instance in which it refers distinctly to the mental or moral circumstances (as distinct from motives) of the agent. In Eur. 1299 ὑπ’ εὐκλείας θάνῃ means, ‘amid men's praises’: even in Eur. 351 , ἐθρέφθην ἐλπίδων καλῶν ὕπο, Polyxena alludes not merely to the hopes in her own breast, but to the fair auguries of those who watched her youth. Possibly the use of ὑπ’ ἀγνοίας in this verse may have been felt to convey a certain irony which excused it; as if it implied, ‘with a look of ignorance assumed for the occasion,’—the deceiver's outward equipment for his part.

On the whole, I do not feel sure that there is a corruption. If there is, it probably lies deep. Some conjectures are noticed in the Appendix.

τίς πόθεν μολὼν : 1. 170 τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν ; Soph. 779 τίνες | πόθεν πορεύεσθ);—πάρα is much better here than παρών, a corruption which may have been induced by μολὼν above. In 431, on the other hand, the emphasis of παρὼν is fitting.

πολλοῖσιν ἀστῶν answers ποίοις ἐν ἀνθρώποισι ; The conject. πολλοῖς ἐν ἀστῶν is admissible ( 178 n.), but unnecessary.

ἀγορᾷ : 372 n.

ταῦτά γ’ : Iolè's name and birth: γε hints that more is in reserve.

425 If the MS. ναί be genuine here, it stands, of course, exira metrum, as in 742 ναί. | πείσω σφε κ.τ.λ. There, too, it has good MS. authority, but is omitted by Dindorf. Here, perhaps, it might indicate a moment of embarrassment on the part of the herald, who now sees that he is detected. The γε after κλύειν makes ναί unnecessary, but proves nothing against it.

ταὐτὸ : other places where tragic metre proves this form are 734; fr. 771 οὐ γάρ τι βουλῆς ταὐτὸ καὶ δρόμου τέλος: Eur. 564 ἐς ταὐτὸ θείην. But metre proves ταὐτόν in five places of Soph. ( 325: 612, 1419: 546 Ph., 1256), as in Aesch. 625, Eur. 1280, etc. Aristophanes uses both forms ( 663 ταὐτό, 319 ταὐτόν, etc.).

426 The antithesis is between the whole phrases, δόκησιν being the important word in the first, and ἐξακριβῶσαι in the second. ἐξακρ. λόγον means here, ‘to render a statement precise,’ by bringing definite evidence in support of it.

ποίαν δόκησιν ; This idiom, so common in colloquial Attic ( Ar. 61 f., etc.), is alien from tragedy; but Schneidewin and others quote 566 ΕΛ. ὦ χρόνιος ἐ<*>θὼν σῆς δάμαρτος ἐς χέρας. | ΜΕ. ποίας δάμαρτος ; (‘how? “wife”?’).

ἐγὼ δάμαρτα ; Another colloquialism: cp. Ar. 529 f. ἐπανορθώσαιμεν ἂν ὑμᾶς. | —ὑμεῖς ἡμᾶς; δεινόν γε λέγεις κοὐ τλητὸν ἔμοιγε.—τόνδε τίς κ.τ.λ.: Soph. 444 τοῦτον οἶσθ’ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ ;

431 The emphatic σοῦ seems better here than σου . It may be noted that, instead of ἤκουσεν , we should usu. have ἤκουσα : see on 6.Shilleto (ap. Pretor here) was disposed, on this ground, to think that vv. 431—433 should be given to Deianeira: but they are not in her spirit.

ἡ Λυδία (sc. γυνή)=ἡ Λυδή (70), Omphalè. The adj. Λύδιος (frequent in poetry) is used by Soph. in fr. 728 Λυδία λίθος. And as in fr. 49 he has Λυδῆς (for Λυδίας) κερκίδος, so here he admits the converse licence. Bothe and others take ἡ Λυδία as ‘Lydia,’—a bold equiv. for τἀφὶ Λυδοῖς λατρεύματα (356). This is tenable, but seems less natural.— ὁ τῆσδ’ ἔρως φανείς , the love for her, as it was manifested,—φανείς implying that this manifestation was sudden and violent,—like a fire blazing forth: cp. Aesch. 353 ἦρξεν μέν, ὦ δέσποινα, τοῦ παντὸς κακοῦ | φανεὶς ἀλάστωρ ἢ κακὸς δαίμων ποθέν.—For this third clause, reiterating the sense of the first ( ὡς ταύτης πόθῳ κ.τ.λ.), see on Soph. 465—468.

ἀποστήτω : cp. 912 τῆσδ’ ἀποστῆναι στέγης: Thuc.7. 28 ἀποστῆναι ἐκ Σικελίας. Here a prose-write<*> would have said rather μεταστήτω.—νοσοῦντι ληρεῖν : the dat. is bold, but does not warrant suspicion; it follows the analogy, partly of διαλέγεσθαί τινι, but more especially of φιλονεικεῖν τινι (Plat. 731 A), στασιάζειν τινί ( id. 556 E): the notion is, ‘to hold a silly controversy with a madman.’ Cp. the schol., οὐ γὰρ φιλονεικήσω πρὸς αὐτόν. (For other examples of bold datives, cp. 1232 n.)

πρός σε τοῦ … Διός : 250 n.

νάπος : the ὔψιστος πάγος of Oeta (1191), as conceived in this play, is well-wooded (1195 f.). It was sacred to Zeus (200 n.). In an oracle of the Clarian Apollo, ap. Euseb. 5. 214, it symbolises the blest place which is reached by the rugged path of virtue: ἔστιν ἐν Τρηχῖνος αἴῃ κῆπος Ἡρακλήϊος, | πάντ’ ἔχων θάλλοντα, πᾶσι δρεπόμενος πανημαδόν, | οὐδ’ ὀλιζοῦται, βέβριθε δ’ ὑδάτεσιν διηνεκές.— καταστράπτοντος : cp. 729 θείῳ πυρὶ παμφαής, Οἴτας ὑπὲρ ὄχθων (n.).

ἐκκλέψῃς λόγον , ‘steal the story away,’ i.e., ‘keep back from me that which ought to be told.’ Cp. Plat. 449 C δοκεῖς...εἶδος ὅλον οὐ τὸ ἐλάχιστον ἐκκλέπτειν τοῦ λόγου, ἵνα μὴ διέλθῃς : ‘you seem to be cheating us out of a whole chapter which is a very important part of the story’ (Jowett).—Not, ‘falsify your story.’—Distinguish the use of ἐκκλέπτειν as=ἐξαπατᾶν in 55.

Deianeira argues:—(1) 438 —448: he need not fear that she will feel rancour against Heracles or Iolè: (2) 449—454: falsehood would be disgraceful for him,—and, if his motive were kind, useless: (3) 455 f.: detection would be certain: (4) 457 ff.: he need not be afraid of paining her. (5) In vv. 461— 467 she returns to the first topic.

κακῇ , here opp. to χρηστῇ: one who is capable of rancour. (Not, ‘cowardly.’)

τἀνθρώπων : human nature generally; not τἀνδρῶν: the latter would be at once less delicate and less pathetic.

πέφυκεν : Nauck's πεφύκας’ is neither better nor worse than the vulgate. If πεφύκας had been traditional, doubtless some one would have conjectured πέφυκεν.—χαίρειν … τοῖς αὐτοῖς , to delight in the same things: μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ.— Wunder and others understand: ‘joy is not always given by nature to the same persons.’

Ἔρωτι μέν νυν , like 31 θεοῖσι μέν νυν: so in Ionic prose, as Her.4. 145 οὗτος μέν νυν ταῦτα ἔπρησσε.— ἀντανίσταται : like the athlete who rises, when called by the herald, and presents himself for the contest: Her.8. 59 ἐν τοῖσι ἀγῶσι οἱ προεξανιστάμενοι (i.e., before they are thus summoned) ῥαπίζονται. So Plut. 7(with ref. to a contest for the consulship) ἀντανίστατο δ’ αὐτῷ Μάριος.—ἐς χεῖρας , with ἀντανίσταται: a terse way of saying, ‘so as to come to close quarters’: Soph. 835 τάχ’ εἰς βάσανον εἶ χερῶν (n.); ib. 975 ἐς χεῖρας ἦλθον. Plut. 5 ἀγχέμαχοι καὶ μάλιστα δὴ πάντων εἰς χεῖρας ὠθεῖσθαι (to push forward to close quarters) τοῖς ἐναντίοις μεμαθηκότες.

πύκτης ὅπως . No one can parry the adroit and rapid blows of Erôs. His antagonist fares like the barbarian opposed to the skilled pugilist (Dem. or. 4 § 40),—ὁ πληγεὶς ἀεὶ τῆς πληγῆς ἔχεται, κἂν ἑτέρωσε πατάξῃς, ἐκεῖσέ εἰσιν αἱ χεῖρες· προβάλλεσθαι δ’ η— βλέπειν ἐναντίον οὔτ οἶδεν οὔτ’ ἐθέλει. Schneidewin cp. Anacreon fr. 63. 3 στεφάνους ἔνεικον, ὡς δὴ | πρὸς Ἔρωτα πυκταλίζω: but the resemblance is only verbal; the reveller does not wish to resist Love, but to make trial of his might.

οὐ καλῶς φρονεῖ : cp. Eur. fr. 271 Ἔρωτα δ’ ὅστις μὴ θεὸν κρίνει μέγαν | καὶ τῶν ἁπάντων δαιμόνων ὑπέρτατον, | ἢ σκαιός ἐστιν, ἢ καλῶν ἄπειρος ὢν | οὐκ οἶδε τὸν μέγιστον ἀνθρώποις θεόν.

ἄρχει καὶ θεῶν : so of Κύπρις, fr. 856. 13 τίν οὐ παλαίουσ’ ἐς τρὶς ἐκβάλλει θεῶν ; ib. 15 Διὸς τυραννεῖ πλευμόνων.

κἀμοῦ γε : instead of saying καὶ βροτῶν, she touchingly refers to her own experience: she, certainly, ( γε ,) can attest the Love-god's power.

πῶς δ’ οὐ clearly goes with what follows; it would be weak as a parenthesis (πῶς δ’ οὔ ;).

οἵας γ’ ἐμοῦ , by assimilation to ἑτέρας, instead of οἵα γ’ ἐγώ: Thuc.7. 21 πρὸς ἄνδρας τολμηροὺς οἵους καὶ Ἀθηναίους. The γε means, ‘a poor mortal like myself.’ It should not be transposed and placed after χἁτέρας (‘and another too’).

Wunder and Nauck reject this beautiful verse, because: (1) by κἀμοῦ γε Deianeira implies that she is stronger than the gods; and also that she has been untrue to her husband: (2) she cannot assume that Iolè returns the passion of Heracles; nor does Iolè's feeling come into account here.

τὠμῷ τ’ ἀνδρὶ : for τε irregularly followed by ἢ (447), cp. Plat. 535 D ὃς ἂν...κλαίῃ τ’ ἐν θυσίαις καὶ ἑορταῖς, μηδὲν ἀπολωλεκὼς τούτων, ἢ φοβῆται.

τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ , the violent passion of love: cp. 544: this was prob. the sense in fr. 615 (from the ), νόσους δ’ ἀνάγκη τὰς θεηλάτους φέρειν. But in 491 the meaning is different.

μεμπτός : for the active sense, cp. 969 n.

τοῦ μηδὲν αἰσχροῦ , that which is in no way of a shameful kind (generic μή): cp. 494 τῶν μηδὲν ὀρθῶς... τεχνωμένων: 409 μηδὲν δίκαιον (n.).— μηδ’ ἐμοὶ κακοῦ τινος . As we could say, τὸ μὴ ἐμοὶ κακόν τι (‘what is not any ill to me’), so here it seems simplest to carry on the τοῦ : though it is not necessary to do so.

This is a remarkable passage, and it is of some moment to understand it rightly. The meaning is not merely that Iolè's relation to Heracles was excused by the omnipotence of Erôs. Concubinage ( παλλακία) was not merely tolerated by Athenian opinion, but, in some measure, protected by law (see e.g. , Lys. or. 1 § 31: Isae. or. 8 § 39). Its relation to the life of the family is illustrated by the of Euripides; for though Andromachè is Trojan, and Hermionè Spartan, the sentiments are Athenian. A wife (γαμετὴ γυνή) who tolerates a παλλακή is there represented as proving her goodness of heart (ἀρετή, 226), and her wise moderation (938—942); she ought to be consoled by her higher place, and by the advantage which her children will have over the νόθοι.

But is Deianeira in earnest here; or is she feigning acquiescence, to reassure Lichas? Presently she tells the Chorus that she cannot endure to share her home with Iolè (539—546). Probably Sophocles meant her to be sincere in both places. The faith in her own power to bear the trial is natural at this moment of excitement and suspense. Not less so is the reaction, when she knows the worst, and has had time to think.

οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτ)· ἀλλ’ κ.τ.λ.: i.e., ‘it is impossible that I should have bitter feelings towards Heracles or Iolè (and so the danger which you may fear is imaginary); but you, on the other hand, if you are withholding the truth, are doing wrong.’ For οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα , finally dismissing a supposition, cp. 470: ταῦτα is sometimes omitted, as in 709 below, 289, 448.

μαθὼν … ἐκμανθάνεις : cp. 336 f.

αὑτὸν =σεαυτόν : 929 αἰσχύνεις πόλιν | τὴν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ.—ὅταν θέλῃς κ.τ.λ.: the form is general, but the reference is to this particular case: when you wish to prove kind (by sparing pain), you will be found the reverse (cp. 458). —For ὀφθήσει , cp. 709.

κὴρ , a deadly thing ( 42 Ph., 1166 ): πρόσεστιν , said of a quality or a repute which attaches to a man: 1079 δέος γὰρ ᾧ πρόσεστιν αἰσχύνη θ’ ὁμοῦ: cp. ib. 521.

ὅπως δὲ λήσεις κ.τ.λ.: and as for the hope of your escaping detection, not even that comes to pass (as a result of reticence). Cp. 1058 οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τοῦθ’, ὅπως... | ...οὐ φανῶ τοὐμὸν γένος. Instead of saying, οὐδ’ αὖ τοῦτο γίγνεται, ὅπως λήσεις, the speaker puts ὅπως δὲ λήσεις first, to mark the fresh hypothesis.

δέδοικας … ταρβεῖς : for the substituted synonym, cp. 347 f.: 54 ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἄρξεις τῆσδε γῆς, ὥσπερ κρατεῖς (n.).

τοῦτο , emphatic: cp. 912 n.

πλείστας ἀνὴρ εἷς : cp. 563 n.

ἔγημε does not necessarily denote wedlock: Eur. 44(of Cassandra) γαμεῖ βιαίως σκότιον Ἀγαμέμνων λέχος.— δή =ἤδη: Soph. 968 n.

The legendary loves of Heracles were as numerous as the local myths which claimed Heracleid <*>escent for clans or houses. Thus his bride Megara connected him with Thebes; Astydameia, with Thessaly; Astyochè, with Epeirus; Epicastè, with Elis; Parthenopè, with Arcadia; Chalciopè, with Cos; the Thespiades, with Sardinia; and so forth. The number of his sons finally grew to about seventy, whose mothers are enumerated by Apollodorus (2. 7. 8).

ἠνέγκατ’ : so 762 A (quoted by Campbell) ταῖς μὲν θωπείαις ὑπείκοντες ὀνείδη φερέσθωσαν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ πόλει: i.e., ‘have reproaches for their reward.’ (For the normal use, cp. 245 B φερέσθω τὰ νικητήρια .) The irony of φέρεσθαι ὀνείδη is less open than in such phrases as πένθη καρποῦσθαι or δάκρυα κερδαίνειν: we might rather compare our own phrase, ‘to come off secondbest’ (instead of ‘victorious’). For ἠνέγκατο...ἐκ, cp. 968 f.

ἥδε τε, οὐδ’ εἰ … ἐντακείῃ , (ἐνέγκαιτ’) ἂν (ὄνειδος). For the ellipse of the optat., cp. 364 τῆς σῆς δ’ οὐκ ἐρῶ τιμῆς τυχεῖν, | οὔτ’ ἂν σύ, σώφρων γ’ οὖσα (sc. ἐρῴης): 115 n. Though οὐδ’ (‘not even’) goes closely with εἰ , yet ἂν is placed between them: cp. 272 οὐδ’ ἂν ὧδ’ ἐγιγνόμην κακός.

ἐντακείη τῷ φιλεῖν ; the subject to the verb is surely Iolè. To make Heracles the subject is not impossible (Greek could be bold in such transitions),— but it would be excessively harsh. Deianeira has already implied that she believed Iolè to be enamoured of Heracles (444). Such a belief would mitigate, rather than increase, the wife's pain. The opposite supposition would be still more humiliating; for it would imply more persistent ardour on the part of Heracles. And it is pathetically natural that Deianeira should assume Iolè's passion as a matter of course.

ἐντακείη admits of two explanations: I prefer the first. (1) ‘Though she be utterly absorbed in her love’: lit., melted into it,—with her whole soul irrevocably steeped in it. The metaphor is from pouring molten wax or metal into a mould, to which it cleaves. Extant examples of ἐντήκεσθαι show only the converse way of speaking, as if here we had τὸ φιλεῖν ἐντακείη αὐτῇ: 1311 μῖσός τε γὰρ παλαιὸν ἐντέτηκέ μοι: fr. 856. 7 ἐντήκεται γὰρ (ἔρως) πλευμόνων ὅσοις ἔνι | ψυχή. But cp. 1311 συγκέκραμαι δύᾳ : Aesch. 1029 γαμέτας | ...συντηχθεὶς ἀλόχῳ (‘husband made one with wife’): Plut. p. 342 C ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἤδη...ἐμπεφυκώς (‘absorbed in’ his hopes). (2) The other possible sense is, ‘be melted,’ ‘languish,’ with love; τῷ φιλεῖν being then instrum. dat. This is, however, a weaker meaning, and less appropriate. For: (a) it would imply an unsatisfied longing; and (b) Deianeira's thought is rather this:—‘I will not be harsh to her, even though she be resolved never to renounce his love.’

The conject. ἐκτακείη is no improvement: it would mean ‘waste away’: Eur. 860 ἐξετηκόμην γόοις. In Lycophron 498 (θρήνοισιν) ἐκτακεῖσα is a v. l. for ἐντακεῖσα.

ᾤκτιρα : for the spelling, cp. 13n. δὴ here emphasises the whole phrase ᾤκτιρα...μάλιστα: we cannot hold (with Blaydes) that δὴ μάλιστα is for μάλιστα δή, any more than that δὴ πόλλ’ (153) is for πολλὰ δή.

ῥείτω κατ’ οὖρον , go down the stream before the wind. Nothing is gained by changing ῥείτω to ἴτω ( Aesch. 690 f. ἴτω κατ’ οὖρον ... | ... πᾶν τὸ Λαΐου γένος). For οὖρον , cp. 815. She means, ‘it is idle to dwell upon what cannot be undone.’

κακὸν = ἄπιστον, ψευδῆ (347).

πρὸς ἄλλον κ.τ.λ. : i.e., ‘if thou must use deceit, use it towards anyone rather than me’: cp. 1119 στυγερὰν ἔχε | δύσποτμον ἀρὰν ἐπ’ ἄλλοις (n.). The parataxis makes the precept κακὸν | πρὸς ἄλλον εἶναι absolute in form, though it is only relative in sense: cp. 383 f.: Isocr. or. 6 § 54 πῶς οὐκ αἰσχρὸν,...τὴν μὲν Εὐρώπην...μεστὴν πεποιηκέναι τροπαίων,...ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς πατρίδος...μηδὲ μίαν μάχην φαίνεσθαι μεμαχημένους ;

πιθοῦ λεγούσῃ : cp. 1207 πιθοῦ λέγοντι, κοὐχ ἁμαρτήσει ποτέ. The aor. imper.=‘obey her,’—‘do the thing which she urges’: while πείθου would mean rather, ‘be persuaded’: cp. 1181 n. Here the context seems slightly in favour of πιθοῦ , though the pres. is also quite admissible. γυναικὶ τῇδε : this simple dat. of the pers. with μέμφομαι, though not very rare, is less frequent than either (1) μέμφομαί τινα, 383 f., or (2) μέμφομαί τινί τι.

ἀλλ’ , ‘Nay, then’: 524.— θνητὴν φρονοῦσαν θνητὰ : Eur. fr. 796 ὥσπερ δὲ θνητὸν καὶ τὸ σῶμ’ ἡμῶν ἔφυ, | οὕτω προσήκει μηδὲ τὴν ὀργὴν ἔχειν | ἀθάνατον, ὅστις σωφρονεῖν ἐπίσταται. Arist. 2. 21§ 6 quotes from an unknown poet, ἀθάνατον ὀργὴν μὴ φύλασσε θνητὸς ὤν: also (perh. from Epicharmus, as Bentley thought), θνατὰ χρὴ τὸν θνατόν, οὐκ ἀθάνατα τὸν θνατὸν φρονεῖν. Cp. 10. 7 § 8 οὐ χρὴ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς παραινοῦντας ἀνθρώπινα φρονεῖν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα οὐδὲ θνητὰ τὸν θνητόν, ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ ὅσον ἐνδέχεται ἀθανατίζειν.—ἀγνώμονα seems best taken as acc. neut. plur. It is true that ἀγνώμων is usu. said of persons: but (a) analogous compounds are often neut., as 1236 κέκραγας... ὑπέρφονα, Aesch. 88 πῶς εὔφρον’ εἴπω ; and (b) in later Greek, at least, we find (e.g.) Lucian 24 ἄγνωμον ποιεῖς : Diod.13. 23 οὐ γὰρ δυνατὸν... πράξαντας δεινὰ παθεῖν εὐγνώμονα (to receive considerate treatment). If ἀγνώμονα were acc. fem. sing., οὖσαν could be understood. For ἀγνώμων, ‘inconsiderate,’ ‘not making fair allowance,’ cp. Soph. 86 n.: and belowSoph. O. C., 1266.

κρύψομαι : midd., ‘keep my knowledge to myself’: but it is not practically different from κρύψω here. A midd. force is better marked in 647 φύει τ’ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται (hides in itself), and ib. 246 κάρα...κρυψάμενον. The only other examples of the simple midd. κρύπτομαι are late, though the midd. ἀποκρύπτομαι and ἐπικρύπτομαι were frequent.

ἔστιν γὰρ οὕτως : this is not the γάρ which merely prefaces a statement ( 277 n.): rather it refers to v. 474: ‘the truth,—for it has still to be told by me.’

ταύτης ὁ δεινὸς ἵμερος : the article is explained by the preceding verse:—‘It is as he says: she inspired that strong passion (of which he has spoken, 431 f.).’ This is a compressed way of making two admissions,—‘love was the real motive, and she was the object of that love.’—Some commentators hold that ὁ δεινὸς here means simply, ‘ very’ (or ‘most’) ‘potent.’ The evidence for this supposed use of the article is examined in the Appendix.

ποθ’ : referring to a time before the death of Iphitus: cp. 359.

διῆλθε : cp. Aesch. 288 κἀμὲ γὰρ διῆλθέ τι (‘a pang shot through my heart also’).— τῆσδ’ after ταύτης : Soph. 296 n.

ἡ πολύφθορος : the adj., though proleptic, takes the art.: cp. 1088 τὸν εὔαγρον τελειῶσαι λόχον (n.).

πατρῷος : a somewhat rare fem., used either (1) for metre's sake, as here, and Eur. 1146 δίκα | πατρῷος: or (2) for euphony, as Aesch. 210 πατρῴους χέρας, Eur. 810 τιμὰς πατρῴους. Cp. 533: 751 n.

καὶ τὸ πρὸς κείνου , what is on his side (in his favour) too: 1434 πρὸς σοῦ γὰρ οὐδ’ ἐμοῦ φράσω (n.).

εἴ τι τήνδ’ ἁμαρτ. , instead of εἴ τι τόδ’ ἁμάρτ.: 88 ταύτην (instead of τοῦτ’) ἔλεξε παῦλαν, n.

νέμεις =νομίζεις , 879 n.

γε μὲν δὴ : as 1243 ὅρα γε μὲν δὴ κ.τ.λ. Blaydes remarks that these particles do not elsewhere follow ἐπεὶ , and therefore alters the text (cr. n.). But their combination with ἐπεί here is quite correct: ‘since, however, you do know all,’ etc. Just so they follow a participle in 1259 διδούς γε μὲν δὴ (i.e., when you do give anything) δυσγενὲς μηδὲν δίδου.—κείνου τε καὶ σὴν κ.τ.λ.: Soph. 762 σοῦ τε τήν τ’ ἐμὴν χάριν .

στέργε : cp. Eur. 213, where Andromachè is giving Hermionè the same kind of advice;—χρὴ γὰρ γυναῖκα, κἂν κακῷ πόσει δοθῇ, | στέργειν, ἅμιλλάν τ’ οὐκ ἔχειν φρονήματος.—λόγους οὓς εἶπας ἐς τήνδ’ , alluding to the assurance given in 462 ff.: for ἐς , ‘with regard to,’ cp. Soph. 1053.The reference is not to Deianeira's reception of Iolè in 310— 334.

ἐμπέδως , unalterably,—i.e., so that the promise shall be kept: cp. 827: 1197 ἴσθι τόδ’ ἔμπεδον. The conjecture ἐμπέδους is plausible, but not necessary.

488 f. Either τἄλλ’ or χεροῖν ought logically to be absent.

καὶ emphasises φρονοῦμεν (‘I do think thus’): cp. 314, 600.

νόσον γ’ ἐπακτὸν ἐξαρούμεθα , lit., ‘take up (the burden of) a trouble which I should bring upon myself,’—viz., the anguish of a vain fight against all-conquering Ἔρως. The schol. rightly explains ἐπακτὸν by αὐθαίρετον: as does the schol. on Soph. 343 γάμων ἐπακτὸν ἄταν. This view is confirmed by the presence of γε , meaning, ‘at any rate I shall not add to my own woes.’ For a parallel use of ἐπάγεσθαι, cp. Lys. or. 4 § 19 πολὺ μείζω συμφορὰν ἐμαυτῷ...ἐπαγαγέσθαι : Dem. or. 19 § 259 αὐθαίρετον αὑτοῖς ἐπάγονται δουλείαν . For ἐξαρούμεθα cp. 10. 84 ἔνθα κ’ ἄϋπνος ἀνὴρ δοιοὺς ἐξήρατο μισθούς (‘take up,’ i.e., ‘win’). The simple αἴρομαι is often so used, with ref. either to ‘winning’ a prize, or ‘taking up’ a burden ( 1225 ἀρεῖσθε πένθος , 907 ἠρόμην πόνον). This αἴρομαι can be replaced by the rarer ἐξαίρομαι just as φέρομαι, in a like sense (462 n.), by the rarer ἐκφέρομαι: 60 κἀξενέγκωμαι κλέος .

Others understand:—(1) ‘I shall not heighten the trouble already brought upon me by others’ (viz., the introduction of Iolè into the house, 376). But this sense for ἐξαρούμεθα is strange: and γε is then weak; hence Nauck read νόσημ’ . (2) ‘I shall not try to shift that trouble from myself’: i.e., ‘I shall not try to put away the grief of these tidings by vain complaints against the gods.’ This last version seems impossible.

θεοῖσι δυσμαχοῦντες : 1106 ἀνάγκῃ δ’ οὐχὶ δυσμαχητέον. The compound means, ‘to wage an up-hill fight’: cp. δυστοκεῖν, δυσθανατεῖν. For the masc. plur., used by a woman with ref. to herself, cp. 399, Eur. 511.

λόγων τ’ : the elision gives a quasi-caesura: cp. 101 n.

λόγων … ἐπιστολὰς =‘mandates consisting in words’ (defining gen.), i.e., her (verbal) messages to Heracles, as distinguished from the δῶρα. Sophocles, like Aesch. , uses ἐπιστολή only in the general sense of ‘mandate’ ( Soph. 1601 , Soph. 781): Eur. uses it also with ref. to a written letter ( 111 etc.).

προσαρμόσαι , lit., ‘adjust’; i.e., ‘give in fitting recompense.’ But Deianeira's choice of the word has been influenced by her secret thought,—already turned towards the philtre which she would apply to Heracles: cp. 687 ἔως νιν ἀρτίχριστον ἁρμόσαιμί που. And at the same time the word is unconsciously ominous (cp. 767 προσπτύσσεται).

This is the first mention of the fateful gift. An unobtrusive significance is given to it by two traits of expression. (1) δῶρα is drawn into the relative clause ( 907 n.), and resumed, with a light emphasis, in καὶ ταῦτ’: cp. 1247 ἅ γ’ ἔλαβες βουλαῖς ἐμαῖς, | πάλιν μεθεῖναι ταῦτα. (2) A pause follows the second foot of the verse ( ἄγῃς). Cp. 27 n.

ἄγῃς is not meant to be in contrast with φέρῃς (493): it is here a mere synonym for it (cp. 457). φέρειν is used with ref. to the robe in 602, 622, 758, 774. Cp. 354 μαντεἶ ἄγουσα πάντα (=φέρουσα). On the other hand in 183 ἄγοντ’ ἀπαρχάς, and 751 ἄγων τροπαῖα κ.τ.λ., an attendant train is implied.— δίκαια : cp. 409.

ὧδε is explained by σὺν π. στόλῳ : it should not be taken with πολλῷ, nor as=δεῦρο ( 7).

μέγα τι σθένος … νίκας =μεγασθενῆ τινα νίκην: the victory which she carries off is the glorious proof of her might. Cp. 1088 σθένει )πινικείῳ.

ἐκφέρεται : see on 491.—Others explain: (1) ‘carries a great strength out of victory’—i.e., wins with much to spare: (2) ‘advances in mighty conquering force’ (cogn. acc.).

θεῶν , a monosyll.: cp. 183.— παρέβαν : for the aor., cp. 1289 ἀπώμοσ’ (n.). It is better not to dwell on stories which ascribe weakness to the gods: Pind. 1. 35 ἔστι δ’ ἀνδρὶ φάμεν ἐοικὸς ἀμφὶ δαιμόνων καλά : ib. 9. 40 ἐπεὶ τό γε λοιδορῆσαι θεοὺς | ἐχθρὰ σοφία.

Κρονίδαν : Zeus is κατ’ ἐξοχήν so called, though his two brothers had the same father. Cp. the Homeric hymn to Aphroditè (4. 38), καί τε τοῦ (Zeus), εὖτε θέλοι, πυκινὰς φρένας ἐξαπαφοῦσα, | ῥηιδίως συνέμιξε καταθνητῇσι γυναιξίν, | Ἥρης ἐκλελαθοῦσα.—οὐ λέγω : implying religious εὐφημία: cp. 1467 εἰ δ’ ἔπεστι νέμεσις, οὐ λέγω.

τὸν ἔννυχον Ἅιδαν : 1559 ἐννυχίων ἄναξ. Cp. 15. 187 τρεῖς γάρ τ’ ἐκ Κρόνου εἰμὲν ἀδελφεοί, οὓς τέκε Ῥείη, | Ζεὺς καὶ ἐγώ, τρίτατος δ’ Ἀΐδης ἐνέροισιν ἀνάσσων. The allusion is to Pluto carrying off Persephonè.

Ποσειδάωνα , the regular Homeric form: L, which has ποσειδῶνα here, conversely gives ποσειδαωνίῳ (where Ποσειδωνίῳ is most probable) in 1494.Poseidon was as little true to Amphitritè as Zeus to Hera: Propert. 2. 26. 46 Thus Tyro (the subject of a play by Sophocles) bore Pelias and Neleus to the sea-god. At Aegina the cult of Poseidon was combined with that of Aphroditè ( 44: Athen. XIII. p. 590 F).

τινάκτορα γαίας =ἐννοσίγαιον, ἐνοσίχθονα: 22. 2 γαίης κινητῆρα καὶ ἀτρυγέτοιο θαλάσσης.

ἐπὶ τάνδ’ … ἄκοιτιν , ‘to win Deianeira as bride’ (predicate): for the prep., cp. 591 ἐπὶ τοῦτον... | ...πλέουσιν: Xen. 1. 2. 9 ὅταν...ἐξίῃ... ἐπὶ θήραν.—ἀμφίγυοι : the prep. expresses the idea, ‘two’; the second part of the compound suggests that of ‘stalwart,’ ‘vigorous.’ Thus the epithet is of the same class as δίστολοι ( Soph. 1055), said of two persons who are travelling. It seems more likely that Sophocles here used ἀμφίγυος with an original boldness, than that he was directly thinking of the Homeric ἔγχεσιν ἀμφιγύοισιν ( 13. 147): where the adj. has been explained as (a) ‘having a γυῖον, a limb (of iron), at each end,’—the λόγχη, and the σαυρωτήρ: or (b) ‘having a λόγχη curved (γυ) on both sides’: but Leaf ad loc. suggests (c) ‘bending to either side,’ ‘elastic.’ The primary notion of γυῖον is, ‘a flexible limb.’

Other explanations of ἀμφίγυοι here are these:—(1) ‘With massive limbs,’— ἀμφί being intensive. (2) ‘Dexterous combatants’: cp. ἀμφιδέξιος. (3) ‘Of dissimilar forms,’— i.e., man and bull.

κατέβαν , in certamen descenderunt. — Xen. 4. 8. 27 ἠγωνίζοντο δὲ παῖδες κ.τ.λ....καὶ καλὴ θέα ἐγένετο· πολλοὶ γὰρ κατέβησαν.—πρὸ γάμων , ‘for it,’ i.e., to win it (=ὑπέρ): not, ‘before it.’ In πρό, just as in ‘for,’ the two notions are closely linked. Cp. Soph. 134 πρὸ τοῦ θανόντος (on his behalf): Soph. 495 πρὸ τῶνδε (on this account).

πάμπληκτα : schol. πληγῶν μεστά: cp. 50 πανδάκρυτ’. (It is overrefining to explain it as referring to the various kinds of blow, 517 f.)

παγκόνιτά τ’ : the dust raised by the comba. is the proverbial symbol of violent effort: neither can win ἀκονιτί. Cp. Ov. 1. 15. 4 Praemia militiae pulverulenta sequi. Ovid may have had παγκόνιτα in mind when he described Heracles and Acheloüs as throwing handfuls of dust at each other ( 9. 35 f.): Ille cavis hausto spargit me pulvere palmis, | Inque vicem fulvae iactu flavescit arenae. For the accumulated compounds of πᾶς, cp. 660 f.

ἐξῆλθον ἄεθλ’ : 159 n.

ἄεθλα (=ἄθλους ) ἀγώνων : cp. 507 δυσοίστων πόνων | ἆθλ’ (n.).

ποταμοῦ σθένος : cp. 38: 13. 248 σθένος Ἰδομενῆος.—τετραόρου = τετρασκελοῦς (schol.): lit., ‘erect upon four legs’: elsewhere always epithet of four horses yoked abreast, or of the chariot drawn by them.

φάσμα ταύρου , a periphrasis expressing his dread aspect: cp. 1568 σῶμά τ’ | ἀνικάτου κυνός: Verg. 6. 289 et forma tricorporis umbrae (Geryon).

Acheloüs fights, then, as the ἐναργὴς ταῦρος,—not merely as the ἀνδρείῳ κύτει βούπρῳρος (12). Sophocles is here following the traditional version. The Homeric Scamander, in conflict with Achilles, roars ‘like a bull’ (μεμυκὼς ἠΰτε ταῦρος, 21. 237). ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμηθέντες (says the schol. there) τὸν Ἀχελῷον ἐταύρωσαν Ἡρακλεῖ ἀγωνιζόμενον. The taurine form was given to Acheloüs, in that combat, by Archilochus (schol. ib.), by Pindar (schol. 21. 194), and by the logographer Pherecydes ( Apollod.2. 6. 5): perhaps, too, by Panyasis, the author of an epic Ἡράκλεια. An engraved gem in the British Museum (King, II. pl. 34, fig. 3) shows Acheloüs as a bull, preparing to butt at Heracles. The gem is older than the time of Sophocles, and may, as Mr. Murray S. thinks, have followed the rendering of this subject on the still more archaic throne of Apollo at Amyclae ( Paus.3. 18. 5). Cp. n. on 520. This fight was a favourite theme in art: for the literature, see Roscher, p. 9.

Ovid ( 9. 1—100) departs from the old Greek version: his Acheloüs begins the fight in quasi-human form,—then turns into a serpent (63),—and then, as a last resource into a bull (80).

ἀπ’ Οἰνιαδᾶν : a town in Acarnania, on the west bank of the Acheloüs. It was about ten miles from the mouth of that river, which is described by (2. 102) as ἐς θάλασσαν .. ἐξιεὶς παρ’ Οἰνιάδας καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτοῖς περιλιμνάζων. Marshes, due partly to the lake Melitè, insulated the hill on which the town stood, and made the site a strong one. The name was familiar to Athenians in the poet's time. Oeniadae was long a centre of anti-Athenian influence in western Greece. It was unsuccessfully besieged by Pericles (Th. 1. 111 , 454 B.C.); but, under pressure from the other Acarnanian towns, was received into the Athenian alliance by Demosthenes in 424 B.C. (Th. 4. 77). The site (now Tricardo) was first identified by Leake.

Oeniadae was some twelve miles W.S.W. of Pleuron. As Heracles arrives from his famous home to the east, so it is fitting that the river-god should come from the western town which was a chief seat of his worship. The head of the Acheloüs appears on coins of Oeniadae.

Βακχίας : 1122 Βακχεῦ, Βακχᾶν | ὁ ματρόπολιν Θήβαν | ναιετῶν (n.). Heracles was born at. Thebes (116 n.).

ἀπὸ : L's accent, ἄπο , represents the doctrine of some grammarians that the accent of the prep. suffered anastrophè when it stood between adj. and subst. (or subst. and adj.): see Ellendt p. 78 b. There is more reason for this when the subst. precedes; e.g., Ξάνθου ἄπο δινήεντος ( 2. 877) is more natural than Βακχίας ἄπο Θήβας. Modern editors differ: nor is their practice always consistent. But in all such cases it seems better to regard adj. and subst. as forming a single expression, and therefore to keep the normal accent.

παλίντονα , ‘back-bent,’ is a general epithet, referring to the shape of the bow; not to its being ‘drawn back’ in shooting, nor to its ‘springing back’ after the shot. It seems properly to have denoted a bow of which the curvature was in a direction contrary to that in which the archer bent the bow when drawing it. See Appendix.

λόγχας , two spears, in Homeric fashion: cp. 3. 17 f., where Paris is armed with κάμπυλα τόξα, ξίφος, and δύο δοῦρε. (Not, ‘pointed arrows,’ as Paley renders.)

ῥόπαλον , the club, made from a wild-olive tree which Heracles had plucked up by the roots on Mount Helicon: cp. Theocr. 25. 206 ff., where he carries this βάκτρον in his right hand, and his bow in the left: Apoll. Rh. 2. 34 καλαύροπά τε τρηχεῖαν | ...ὀρειτρεφέος κοτίνοιο.—τινάσσων would suit λόγχας ( 12. 298 δύο δοῦρε τινάσσων) as well as ῥόπαλον , but not τόξα , for which a word such as ἔχων or νωμῶν must be supplied: cp. n. on 353.—The picture is not distinct; his right hand must wield the club; his left may hold either bow or spears,—the other weapon being slung about him. As to the archer type of Heracles, here partly blended with the hoplite, cp. 727 n.

ἀολλεῖς here simply= ὁμοῦ: Hermann compares Mosch.2. 48 δοιοὶ δ’ ἕστασαν ὑψοῦ ἐπ’ ὀφρύος αἰγιαλοῖο | φῶτες ἀολλήδην.—ἴσαν (epic=ᾐέσαν) ἐς μέσον : so Theocr. 22. 183 (of a fight) ὁ δ’ εἰς μέσον ἤλυθε Λυγκεύς.—λεχέων : the plur., as Soph. 630 ἀπάτας λεχέων, Soph. 821 λέχη...τοῦ θανόντος.

μόνα δ’ : whereas in an ordinary ἀγών there were several ῥαβδοῦχοι. ...εὔλεκτρος : in 795 the epithet of a bride: here, of the goddess who gives fair brides to men.

ἐν μέσῳ here refers to the umpire as an impartial judge between two competitors.

ῥαβδονόμει ( = ἐρραβδονόμει). The officials who maintained order in the contests at the great festivals were called ῥαβδοῦχοι: Thuc.5. 50 ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι ὑπὸ τῶν ῥαβδούχων πληγὰς ἔλαβεν. The term included the notion of ‘umpire’: Plat. 338A πείθεσθέ μοι ῥαβδοῦχον καὶ ἐπιστάτην καὶ πρύτανιν ἑλέσθαι, ὃς ὑμῖν φυλάξει τὸ μέτριον μῆκος τῶν λόγων ἑκατέρου. The verb ῥαβδονομεῖν occurs only here, and ῥαβδονόμος itself is postclassical: but cp. Hesych. (s. v. ῥάβδοι), καὶ ὁ βραβευτὴς ῥαβδονόμος.

Aphroditè is here the only person near the two combatants (ξυνοῦσα ): Deianeira views the fight from afar. But the scene was not always so conceived. Thus the Megarian θησαυρός at Olympia contained a group of figures in gilt cedarwood, of which Paus. (6. 19. 12) says: Ζεὺς δὲ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἡ Δηιάνειρα καὶ Ἀχελῷος καὶ Ἡρ<*>κλῆς ἐστιν Ἄρης τε τῷ Ἀχελῴῳ βοηθῶν.

τότ’ ἦν χερός κ.τ.λ. In this compressed description of the fight, the two combatants figure alternately. (1) Heracles deals blows with his fists ( χερὸς πάταγος ),—then retires a little, and sends a shaft from his twanging bow ( τόξων πάταγος). (2) Acheloüs charges, and the hero's club rattles on his horns ( κεράτων πάταγος). (3) Then Heracles, <*>ning to the wrestler's arts, endeavours to grapple with Acheloüs, to spring upon his back ( ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες ). (4) The tauriform god butts at his adversary ( μετώπων πλήγματα ). And the account fitly closes with the words, στόνος ἀμφοῖν .

For ἦν (μὲν )... ἦν δὲ , cp. 806 n.

ἀνάμιγδα =ἀναμίξ, suggesting the confusion of sounds. The form is a rare one: but Nicander has ἀμμίγδην ( 570, 912). Cp. 839 ἄμμιγα.

κεράτων . A prominent mention is given to the horns, since the story was that Heracles broke off one of them. Cp. Ovid 9. 85 rigidum fera dextera cornu | , infregit, truncaque a fronte revellit. Acheloüs ransomed it by giving his conqueror the horn of Amaltheia, or cornucopia ( Apollod.2. 7. 5). This gift, which Heracles transferred as the bride-price to Oeneus, was explained as a symbol of the increased fertility gained by works which altered the course of the Acheloüs (Strabo 10, p. 458).

ἦν with plur. subj.: the so-called schema Pindaricum: 825 ἦν ἑκατὸν κεφαλαί (cp. ib. 321): Pind. fr. 75. 15 τότε βάλλεται τότ’ ἐπ’ ἀμβρόταν χθόν’ ἐραταὶ | ἴων φόβαι: Eur. 1146 ἐνῆν δ’ ὑφανταὶ γράμμασιν τοιαίδ’ ὑφαί. In this constr., the sing. verb always precedes the plur. subject. ‘As the sing. is the general and the plur. the particular, we have not so much a want of concord as an afterthought’ (Gildersleeve, Introd. to Pindar, p. lxxxviii.). The genuine examples in Pindar are not numerous.

ἀμφίπλεκτοι κλίμακες . Ancient writers mention the κλῖμαξ as a wrestling trick, but do not explain it (Hesych. s. v. κλίμακες: Pollux 3. 155). The schol. here had evidently no clear notion of it: κλίμακες· αἱ ἐπαναβάσεις (a literal paraphrase) παρὰ τὸ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω αὐτοὺς στρέφεσθαι ἐν τῇ μάχῃ. Hermann explains it thus;—the wrestler turns his adversary round, seizes him from behind, and springs on his back, so as to force him down. He relies on Ov. 9. 50—54, where Heracles shakes off the embrace of Acheloüs, and then, with a strong push from his hand, protinus avertit, tergoque onerosus inhaesit. For the view that this is the κλῖμαξ see Appendix. The Acheloüs of Ovid, it should be remembered, is at that moment the horned man, not yet the bull (cp. n. on 507 f.).

At any rate κλιμακίζω was a familiar term in Greek wrestling: cp. Plato comicus Πρέσβεις fr. 2 χαίρεις, οἶμαι, μεταπεττεύσας αὐτὸν διακλιμακίσας τε (explained by Hesych. as διαπαλαίσας). For a like use of wrestling terms, cp. Ar. 262 f. —One of the subjects on the archaic throne of Apollo at Amyclae was ἡ πρὸς Ἀχελῷον Ἡρακλέους πάλη ( Paus.3. 18. 5).

μετώπων … πλήγματα , blows from the forehead; the bull is now butting (κυρίττων) at Heracles,—as shown on the gem mentioned above (507 f., n.). Schol.: οἱ γὰρ ταῦροι τοῖς κέρασι καὶ μετώποις μάχονται.— στόνος , in the strenuous effort. Cp. Cic. 2. 23. 56(quoted by Billerbeck and others) pugiles etiam cum feriunt adversarium in iactandis cestibus ingemiscunt,—not from pain or fear, he adds, but because the very utterance helps to brace up the nerves (omne corpus intenditur ).

τηλαυγεῖ , ‘seen afar,’ ‘distant’: Theog. 550 ἀπὸ τηλαυγέος φαινόμενος σκοπιῆς: 281 τηλεφανεῖς σκοπιάς: cp. τηλωπός (n. on 216).—Others take it actively, ‘seeing (=giving a view) from afar’ (cp. τηλεσκόπος ). Diod.1. 50 has this use: τῆς χώρας αὐτοῖς συνεργούσης πρὸς τὸ τηλαυγέστερον ὁρᾶν. But it seems less probable here.

ὄχθῳ : Nonnus 43. 13 (quoted by Schneidewin) makes Deianeira watch the fight from the bank of a river. Did he, then, take ὄχθῳ here as = ὄχθῃ? (Cp. 1132 n.)

τὸν ὃν , emphatic (cp. 266): the husband who was to be hers.

†ἐγὼ δὲ μάτηρ† μὲν οἷα φράζω . The words ἐγὼ δὲ μάτηρ (if no others) are unquestionably corrupt. They have been explained to mean:—‘I speak as a mother’ (or ‘her mother’) ‘might speak’: i.e., with all a mother's tender sympathy. If anything could increase the strangeness of such language, it would be the fact that the young maidens of Trachis are speaking of one who is old enough to be their mother. Or: (2) ‘I tell the story as her mother told it,’—a way of explaining how they can describe what they had not seen. This needs no refutation.

The true key to this passage depends on observing the sequence of topics. (1) In 517—522, τότ’ ἦν χερός...στόνος ἀμφοῖν, we have a brief picture of the fight. (2) Then vv. 523—525, ἁ δ’ εὐῶπις...ἀκοίταν, mark Deianeira's suspense. (3) Next comes the obscure parenthesis, ἐγὼ δὲ...φράζω. (4) And then we return, at v. 527, to Deianeira's suspense,—not, however, in a form which adds anything new to vv. 523 —525, but in one which merely repeats their substance:—τὸ δ’ ἀμφινείκητον...ἀμμένει.

Now, to justify such a repetition, it is manifest that (2) and (4) should be separated, not by a mere parenthesis, such as (3) now is, but by some further allusion to the fight. This inference is strengthened by the phrase, τὸ δ’ ἀμφινείκητον ὄμμα νύμφας, which gains point if a reference to the νεῖκος has immediately preceded.

I believe that ἐγὼ has come from ἀγὼν , under the influence of φράζω . The sense of the verse was, ‘And the strife goes on raging, as I describe’ (referring to vv. 517—522). ΜΑΤΗΡ may well be a corruption of ΜΑΡΓΑΙ, a loss of Ρ having been followed by a change of Γ to Τ. This may have happened after ἀγὼν had become ἐγὼ, with help, perhaps, from a reminiscence of 233 ἀλλ’ οὖν εὐνοίᾳ γ’ αὐδῶ, | μάτηρ ὡσεί τις πιστά. Cp. Hesychius μαργᾷ· μαργαίνει, ὑβρίζει, ἐνθουσιᾷ, μαίνεται. Eur. 1005 ὅς νιν φόνου μαργῶντος ἔσχε. I would read, then, ἀγὼν δὲ μαργᾷ μέν, οἷα φράζω . The next words, τὸ δ’ ἀμφινείκητον κ.τ.λ., then fiftly turn from the stubborn fight to her continuing suspense.—For other views, see Appendix.

ὄμμα , in periphrasis, is sometimes little more than ‘form,’ ( Eur. 1261 ὦ ταυρόμορφον ὄμμα Κηφισοῦ πατρός:) but here it refers specially to her anxious gaze: cp. Soph. 139 πεφόβημαι | πτηνῆς ὡς ὄμμα πελείας. Since the words ὄμμα νύμφας form one notion, the adj. is in the nom.: Soph. 794.

ἐλεινὸν ἀμμένει : awaits (the result) with a piteous look: cp. 1130 ἦ που ἐλεινὸν ὁρᾷς.

κἀπὸ ματρὸς ἄφαρ βέβακεν . Sophocles does not tell us whether Heracles took his bride away from her father's home immediately after the fight. According to the common account Heracles and Deianeira remained with Oeneus for a considerable time after their marriage, while the hero did various exploits. ( Apollod.2. 7. 6: Diod.4. 36, who speaks of three years.) Then, having accidentally slain a youth in the house of Oeneus, Heracles departed with his wife and infant son (Hyllus) to Trachis.

ἄφαρ is not necessarily inconsistent with that version: it means merely that the result of the fight at once transferred Deianeira from the care of her mother to that of a husband.

ὥστε is preferable to ὥσπερ (cr. n.) in the first foot of the glyconic verse: for this use of it, cp. 112, 367, 537, 699, 703, 768, 1071.

πόρτις ἐρήμα : Schneidewin compares Anacreon fr. 52 οἷά τε νεβρὸν νεοθηλέα | γαλαθηνόν, ὅστ’ ἐν ὕλῃ κεροέσσης | ἀπολειφθεὶς ἀπὸ μητρὸς ἐπτοήθη. The image is especially suitable to one who was destined to have no secure or permanent home.

ἦμος (155 n.): this is the only Attic instance of the epic τῆμος .

ὁ ξένος , merely as a guest from a distance; Lichas was no stranger to her (cp. 232, 310).

θροεῖ seems to imply that their voices could be heard within, and that therefore she felt safe from sudden interruption.

ταῖς αἰχμ. παισὶν : who charge him with messages to their kinsfolk and friends among the Oechalian captives with Heracles: these maidens were ἐξαίρετοι (245).

ὡς ἐπ’ ἐξόδῳ : for ὡς denoting the intention, cp. 58 n.: and for ἐπ’ ἐξόδῳ , cp. 1322.

θυραῖος fem., as 313 θυραῖον οἰχνεῖν : cp. 478 πατρῷος, and 751.

τὰ μὲν (adv.) refers to the recital which begins at v. 555: τὰ δ’ , to vv. 536 ff.

χερσὶν is slightly emphasised by its place (cp. 139 ἐκεῖνον ὁ κτανών); her sense of wrong (οἷα πάσχω) has prompted action.

συγκατοικτιουμένη : some take the midd. as meaning, ‘to seek pity for myself from you.’ Rather it means simply, ‘to bewail (my woes) along with you’ (i.e., in your presence). So Her.2. 121 ἀποκλαύσαντα ἢ κατοικτισάμενον: 3. 156 κατοικτίζετο, φὰς... πεπονθέναι κ.τ.λ. The midd. οἰκτίζομαι is used by Aesch. ( Aesch. 1032), by Eur. ( 486), and even in prose ( Thuc.2. 51).

κόρην , as Theocr. 27. 65 τεκέων τροφός, οὐκέτι κώρα: but it is also said of a young wife ( 6. 247 etc.) where her father is mentioned: in loc. cit. κουράων refers to Πριάμοιο in the preceding line.— ἐζευγμένην : see 1226. Deianeira's first belief (309) has been changed by learning the vehemence of her lord's new passion (359 f.: 488 f.). Cp. 825 γάμοις... | ...ζυγῆναι.

παρεισδέδεγμαι κ.τ.λ. Among the captives whom she has received into her house, there is one who is to be her rival. This suggests the comparison with the master of a trading vessel, who, along with the rest of his cargo, ships some merchandise which is destined to prove his ruin. The parallelism between φόρ‐ τον and λωβητὸν ἐμπόλημα marks that the φόρτος, too, is disastrous: but the way in which it is so is left indefinite. There is no explicit reference to overloading.—For παρεισδέδεγμαι cp. 1 (p. 662 a 9) ἀναγκαῖον ...παρεισδέχεσθαι τὸ ὑγρὸν ἅμα τῇ τροφῇ (=‘to receive incidentally’). So, here, the παρά seems to mean strictly, ‘have received as an incident of receiving the others’ (Iolè having come in among them); cp. παραπολλύναι etc. The objection to taking the prep. as=‘surreptitiously’ (=λαθραῖον in 377) is that Deianeira was the victim, not agent, of the fraud.

λωβητὸν in active sense, as 607 λωβήτ’ ἔπη, words of contumely.

ἐμπόλημα , a thing gained by traffic; here, an ‘acquisition’ (in an ironical sense).

τῆς ἐμῆς φρενός with λωβητὸν : cp. the gen. after λυμαντήριος, ὀλέθριος, etc. It might also depend on the phrase λωβητὸν ἐμπόλημα as= βλάβη. Others understand: ‘a disastrous merchandise, (bought by) my loyalty to Heracles’ (τ<*> ἐμῆς φρενός as gen. of price).

δὔ οὖσαι , both of us: 1505 ὀλώλαμεν δὔ ὄντε (n.).

μιᾶς ὑπὸ χλαίνης : Eur. fr. 606 ὅταν δ’ ὑπ’ ἀνδρὸς χλαῖναν εὐγενοῦς πέσῃς: Theocr. 18. 19 Ζανός τοι θυγάτηρ ὑπὸ τὰν μίαν ᾤχετο χλαῖναν (shared the bed of Menelaus). For ὑπό with gen. in this sense, cp. Soph. 65 n.

ὑπαγκάλισμα : 650 n.

Mr Murray S. has shown me a curious illustration of this passage. A vase of the 6th cent. B.C., now in the British Museum, depicts two women under the same χλαῖνα,—a symbolical representation, perhaps, of a common grief.

ὁ … ἡμῖν καλούμενος =ὃν ἡμεῖς... ἐκαλοῦμεν: though in 8 ὁ πᾶσι κλεινὸς...καλούμενος the dat. goes with the adj.

πιστός κ.τ.λ.: cp. 385 Κρέων ὁ πιστός , 31 τὸν ἀγαθὸν Κρέοντα .

οἰκούρια , sc. δῶρα: τοῦ μακροῦ χρόνου (gen. of price), for the long time during which she has been his true wife. Cp. Eur. 1371(Heracles bewailing Megara) σέ τ’ οὐχ ὁμοίως, ὦ τάλαιν’, ἀπώλεσα, | ὥσπερ σὺ τἀμὰ λέκτρ’ ἔσῳζες ἀσφαλῶς, | μακρὰς διαντλοῦσ’ ἐν δόμοις οἰκουρίας.

οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι , am incapable of it: cp. 582: 686 n.

τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ , a very rare substitute for the cogn. accus. It is justified by the fact that νοσεῖν is a word of such wide meaning; while τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ here signifies, ἔρωτι. So in Aesch. 384, τῇδε τῇ νόσῳ νοσεῖν, the dat. really means, ‘to be distempered in this special way’ (viz., by good sense).

τὸ δ’ αὖ ξυνοικεῖν : the inf. with art., placed at the beginning, gives an indignant tone: ‘but as to living...’ etc. Cp. 78 τὸ δὲ | βίᾳ πολιτῶν δρᾶν ἔφυν ἀμήχανος.

The text of this passage is, I believe, sound, though the diction is bold, and somewhat careless. The one ἥβη (Iolè's) is growing to the perfect flower, while the other (Deianeira's) is declining. (Cp. Ar. 596 τῆς δὲ γυναικὸς σμικρὸς ὁ καιρός.) In what follows, these points may be noted.

(1) ὧν , fem., refers to the two phases of ἥβη just mentioned. The gen. is partitive: ‘of (out of) these ἧβαι, the eye delights in the ἄνθος.’ Here ἄνθος is a shorter way of expressing τὴν ἀνθοῦσαν,—the ἥβη which is in its early bloom. ὧν could not, surely, refer to τὴν μὲν ἕρπουσαν πρόσω only, as if it meant τῶν νέων γυναικῶν (schol.): it must refer to τὴν δὲ φθίνουσαν also. Nor, again, could ὦν stand for ὧν τῆς μέν.

(2) τῶν δ’ ὑπεκτρέπει πόδα . Here τῶν δ’ ought in strictness to have been τῆς δ’, sc. τῆς φθινούσης ἥβης. But, in the poet's thought, τῶν δ’ means, ‘the other kind,’— i.e., the women who represent the φθίνουσα ἥβη. The subject to ὑπεκτρέπει is not ὀφθαλμός, but the man implied by it (ὁ ὁρῶν). The eye, as being here the guide of the choice, might, indeed, be said to ‘turn the foot aside,’ in the sense of causing that movement; but this would be awkward. For the transition of thought from ὀφθαλμός to the person, cp. Eur. 1244(quoted by Wecklein), ἄγ’, ὦ τάλαινα χεὶρ ἐμή, λαβὲ ξίφος, | λάβ’, ἕρπε πρὸς βαλβῖδα λυπηρὰν βίου.

(3) ἀφαρπάζειν , said of the eye, means, to seize eagerly upon the beautiful sight (cp. Hor. 2. 5. 53 Sic tamen ut limis rapias etc.). So we can speak of ‘snatching’ a glance, or of the eyes ‘drinking in’ beauty. There is no allusion to the idea expressed by Aesch. 663 ἥβας δ’ ἄνθος ἄδρεπτον ἔστω .

(4) ὀφθαλμὸς : the swift and ardent glance of the lover is often mentioned in Greek poetry: see esp. fr. 431 τοιάνδ’ ἐν ὄψει λίγγα θηρατηρίαν | ἔρωτος, ἀστραπήν τιν’ ὀμμάτων, ἔχει. Aesch. 1003 καὶ παρθένων χλιδαῖσιν εὐμόρφοις ἔπι | πᾶς τις παρελθὼν <*>μματος θελκτήριον | τόξευμ’ ἔπεμψεν ἱμέρου νικώμενος.

ταῦτ’ οὖν , for this reason, then: the pron. is adverbial: cp. Aesch 159 ταῦτα δὴ λιποῦσ’ ἱκάνω χρυσεοστόλμους δόμους: 1358 ταῦτ’ οὖν περί μου δέδοικε μὴ διαφθαρῶ. This seems better than to govern ταῦτ’ by φοβοῦμαι. —πόσις was in Attic mainly a poetical word; but Arist. uses it, as Arist. 7. 16. 18 ὅταν ᾖ καὶ προσαγορευθῇ πόσις: where, as here, it denotes the recognised or legal status.

καλῆται is right here, because there is a real anxiety: καλεῖται (which would be fut., like καλεῖ in 971) would imply too much certainty. The subjunctive is similarly preferable to the indic. in 30(κυρῇ) and ib. 494 (βεβήκῃ). καλῆται suits πόσις (‘bear the name of husband’); cp. 149: but ἀνήρ, denoting here a clandestine relationship, requires ᾖ to be supplied. Cp. 561.

ἀνήρ : i.e., paramour. Cp. the sarcasm of the comic poet Pherecrates (fr. incert. 5) on Alcibiades:—οὐκ ὢν ἀνὴρ γὰρ [i.e., ἔτι νέος ὤν ] Ἀλκιβιάδης, ὡς δοκεῖ, | ἀνὴρ ἁπασῶν τῶν γυναικῶν ἐστι νῦν.

ἀλλ’ οὐ γάρ : elliptical: 755 n.

553 f. The MSS. have ᾗ δ’ ἔχω | λυτήριον λύπημα . For the adj., cp. 635 λυτηρίους | εὐχὰς...δειμάτων: ib. 1490 τόδ’ ἂν κακῶν μόνον γένοιτο τῶν πάλαι λυτήριον: fr. 687 τὸ μεθύειν πημονῆς λυτήριον. Clearly, then, λυτήριον is sound: and it must mean, as everywhere else, ‘giving deliverance.’ The corrupt word is λύπημα : it has displaced some word of which λυτήριον could be the epithet. I believe that Sophocles wrote λώφημα , ‘a means of relief.’ Hesychius shows that this noun was not only current, but tolerably familiar; for he has λῶφαρ· λώφημα,—using it to explain the rarer form. The corruption into λύπημα probably arose through a marginal gloss, λύπης, on λυτήριον .

Deianeira is here speaking of an expedient which gives her some hope, indeed, but no assured confidence (590 f.). This exactly suits the usage of λωφᾶν and its derivatives, which denote the alleviation of evil,—not its complete removal. Cp. 61 ἐπειδὴ τοῦδ’ ἐλώφησεν πόνου. Thuc.6. 12 ἀπὸ νόσου μεγάλης καὶ πολέμου βραχύ τι λελωφήκα<*>εν. Plat. 854 C ἐὰν μέν σοι δρῶντι ταῦτα λωφᾷ τι τὸ νόσημα . Thuc. uses λώφησις, ‘abatement’ ( 4. 81 τοῦ πολέμου ). Deianeira, in bethinking her of the philtre, has found that which holds out a promise of deliverance, and assuages, though it does not cure, her pain,—a λυτήριον λώφημα.

The attempted versions of λυτήριον λύπημα have been these:—(1) With a comma after τῇδ’: ‘a thing to grieve this girl, for my deliverance’:—a grammatically sound phrase, but wholly unsuited to Deianeira, whose aim is to be more loved than Iolè (584 ff.),—but not to pain her. (2) Taking λυτήριον as=λυτόν: ‘how I find that my pain is remediable.’ This is impossible. (3) Governing λύπημα by λυτήριον: ‘how I have a thing to remedy my pain.’ Also impossible.

Paley, changing ἔχω to ἔχει , renders, ‘in what way my grief has a remedy’— making λυτήριον a subst. This is clearly untenable. He cites Pind. 5. 106 τὸ καλλίνικον λυτήριον δαπανᾶν | μέλος χαρίεν: but there λυτήριον is a second epithet of μέλος. Nor is the case helped by Hesychius, λυτήριον· φυλακτήριον.— τῇδ’ ὑμῖν φράσω : the words mean strictly that the story will follow the course— i.e., will exhibit the line of thought—by which the remedy has been found.

ἦν μοι : the imperf., because she has now used it.

ποτὲ belongs in sense to δῶρον , as though we had ἐδόθη ποτέ. If the comma after θηρός were omitted, and ἦν joined with κεκρυμμένον (as= ἐκέκρυπτο), then ποτὲ would go with the verb: but κεκρυμμένον seems to be an afterthought.

παλαιὸν , because she has had it long; ἀρχαίου , because he lived long ago. This emphasis on the past is natural in one who is looking back sadly to the days of her youth, and speaking to young maidens for whom Nessus is only a legendary name.

θηρός : so 1. 268 φηρσὶν ὀρεσκῴοισι. They are called κένταυροι in 11. 832, as in the (21. 295). Cp. below, 680.

λέβητι : properly a deep basin; also a kind of kettle used in cooking: but the poets can use the word to describe a cinerary urn (as 1401). Here it means some kind of urn or jar.

δασυστέρνου : shagginess is a regular attribute of the Centaurs in Greek poetry and art: cp. 837: 2. 743 φῆρας ...λαχνήεντας: 3. 224 κένταυρον λασιαύχενα. In Ov. 12. 284Cometes is the name of a Centaur.

παρὰ Νέσσου , because it was his δῶρον (555): he invited her to take it, and told her how to use it: ἐκ φονῶν , gathered up from his wounds, as he lay dying. φονῶν, Bergk's correction of φόνων, seems right. The plur. φόνοι elsewhere (1) denotes separate acts of slaughter, 1234: or (2) is a tragic expression for one such act (like θάνατοι): as 11 πατρὸς ἐκ φόνων : ib. 779 φόνους πατρῳους. But here we expect rather a word which shall directly suggest the wounds: cp. 573 σφαγῶν. And φονῶν can do so, since the phrase ἐν φοναῖς so often refers to carnage in battle. The schol. has φόνων in the lemma, but explains by αἵματος, and quotes 10. 521(ἄνδρας τ’ ἀσπαίροντας) ἐν ἀργαλέῃσι φονῇσιν. Cp. 696 ἐν φοναῖς | πεπτῶτ’ (n.). If metre had allowed ἐκ φόνου, there would then have been no reason for change.

The name Νέσσος symbolises the roar of the angry torrent: the Sanskrit is nad, loud sound, whence nadá-s, ‘bellower’ (bull), or river: nad-i, flood: Curtius § 287 b. Hence the Thracian river Νέστος (also Νέσσος, Hes. 341), and the Arcadian Νέδα, described by Strabo as ῥεῦμα λαβρὸν ἐκ τοῦ Λυκαίου κατιόν (8, p. 348). Among the Centaurs whom Heracles met at Mount Pholoè were Δούπων and Ὅμαδος,—names likewise denoting noise; and it is noteworthy that Homados, like Nessus, was a ravisher: ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ τὴν Εὐρυσθέως ἀδελφὴν Ἀλκυόνην βιασάμενος ἀνῃρέθη ( Diod.4. 12).

τὸν βαθύρρουν … Εὔηνον . The Evenus () rises on the high western slopes of Oeta; in its lower course, it passes through Aetolia, and enters the Corinthian Gulf at a point about 12 miles w. of Antirrhion. Calydon was on its w. bank; Pleuron, some 10 or 12 miles to the w. It is ‘one of the fiercest and most treacherous torrents in Greece’ (Tozer, , p. 96). Cp. Ov. 9. 104 Venerat Eveni rapidas Iove natus ad undas. The older name of the river, Λυκόρμας (Strabo7. 327), expressed the ‘wolf-like’ rush of its waters.

The association of Nessus with the Evenus well illustrates the significance of the Centaur as a personification of a ravaging torrent. (Cp. Mr Sidney Colvin in vol. I. p. 160: also Mure, , I. 170.) In Ov. 2. 638 a daughter of the Centaur Cheiron is called Ocyroe (Ὠκυρόη), because born ‘Fluminis in rapidi ripis.’

ποταμὸν … βροτοὺς … )πόρευε : for the double acc., cp. Eur. 442 γυναῖκ’ ἀρίσταν | λίμναν Ἀχεροντίαν πορεύσας ἐλάτᾳ δικώπῳ. Here the second acc. denotes the space traversed; it would more usually denote the place to which, as in Eur. 1085 ἐμὲ...σκάφος | ... πορεύσει | ...Ἄργος.—For the prodelision of the augment in )πόρευε , cp. Soph. 1602 ταχεῖ )πόρευσαν: Soph. 360 ἐπεὶ )δάκρυσα.— μις‐ θοῦ : acc. to Apollodorus (2. 7. 6) Nessus pretended divine authority for levying this toll,—λέγων παρὰ θεῶν τὴν πορθμείαν εἰληφέναι διὰ δικαιοσύνην.—πομπίμοις : cp. 1319 ναῶν... | ...ἐλάταν πομπαίαν.—οὔτε λαίφεσιν νεώς might be an instrum. dat. construed directly with )πόρευε: but it is perhaps truer to say that the notion of πέμπων is evolved from the preceding clause. Cp. 512 (τινάσσων ).

τὸν πατρῷον … στόλον , ‘by my father's sending,’ cogn. acc. to ἑσπόμην : cp. 159 ἀγῶνας ἐξιών (n.). The peculiarity is that στόλος here=πέμψις, corresponding to the sense of the act. στέλλω: whereas it usu. means ‘expedition,’ ‘journey,’ from midd. στέλλομαι. It may be noted, however, that the boldness is softened by the fact that στόλος sometimes meant a journey with ref. to its purpose, ‘a mission’: 358 n. Certainly πατρῷος στόλος would ordinarily mean, ‘a journey of my father<*>s,’ or, ‘an expedition despatched by’ him; yet the sense required here seems possible for poetry. The phrase cannot well mean, (1) ‘the journey prescribed for me by my father’; nor (2) ‘under my father's escort,’—as if Oeneus had accompanied them for some distance.

The soundness of the words is confirmed by their dramatic fitness. There is a tacit contrast in her thoughts between herself and the new paramour; she thinks of the long-past day when her father gave her to her husband, and sent her forth with him. The words also accord with that tone of passivity in which she has already spoken of her marriage (6—27). She welcomed Heracles as a deliverer, and has learned to love him; but she had no voice in the bestowal of her hand.— Cp. fr. 521 (the young girl is happy at home, but the bride is sent forth by her parents to a doubtful fate): αἳ νέαι μὲν ἐν πατρὸς | ἥδιστον, οἶμαι, ζῶμεν ἀνθρώπων βίον· | ... | ὅταν δ’ ἐς ἥβην ἐξικώμεθ’ ἔμφρονες, | ὠθούμεθ’ ἔξω.—See Appendix.

εὖνις =εὐνέτις, as in Eur. 929 etc.

φέρων ἐπ’ ὤμοις . Nessus is here imagined as a Centaur of the older form known to Greek art,—viz., a complete man, with the barrel and hinder parts of a horse attached to the middle of his back. A Centaur on the λάρναξ of Cypselus at Olympia is described by Paus. (5. 19. 7) as οὐ τοὺς πάντας ἵππου πόδας, τοὺς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν ἔχων ἀνδρός. This form may be called the andro-centaur. The more familiar hippo-centaur—a complete horse, only with a human chest and head substituted for the equine neck and head—was of later origin. In I. 130 Mr Sidney Colvin gives a wood-cut of an early gem (in the British Museum), representing an androcentaur carrying off a woman, who is grasped in his right arm. Similar subjects occur on coins of Eastern Macedonia. Violence of this kind was part of the ὕβρις (1096) ascribed to the savage Centaurs, and appears in numerous legends (, l.c., p. 140).

ἦ : cp. 1123 n. The third person, ἦν , would be less fitting: she speaks of her own helplessness at the moment.

μέσῳ πόρῳ : for the dat., cp. 172: 313 νῦν δ’ ἀγροῖσι τυγχάνει.—ματαίαις , implying rash folly ( 1339 n.), here =‘wanton.’ The schol. wrongly took it to mean that the attempt was baffled by Heracles.

ἐκ δ’ ἤϋσ’ ἐγώ : Sophocles has avoided the error of Archilochus, who had described Deianeira as making a prolix appeal to her husband (πρὸς τὸν Ἡρακλέα ῥαψῳδοῦσαν: Dion Chrysost. or. 60).

ἐπιστρέψας , intrans., as in Her.2. 103 ἐπιστρέψας ὀπίσω ἤιε: 422 ἐπίστρεφε | δεῦρο. The poet, though he has called the river βαθύρρουν (559), seems to imagine Heracles as wading across it, in front of Nessus. If Heracles had been carried over first, he would naturally have been facing the river. Ovid makes him swim across, and shoot the Centaur from the bank ( 9. 110 ff.).