Agamemnon by Jerzy Iwanow

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AIIXYAOY

ATAMEMNQN.

THE 'AGAMEMNON OF

AESCHYLUS.

AI5XYA0Y

AfAMEMNQN.

THE 'AGAMEMNON' OF

AESCHYLUS WITH AN

INTRODUCTION, COMMENTARY, AND

TRANSLATION

VERRALL,

Litt.D.

FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

Uontion

MACMILLAN AND

CO.

AND NEW YORK. 1889 \^The Rii^ht of Translation is rcsnynf.]

PRINTED BY

CLAY, M.A.

AT THE UNIVERSITY

AND

PRESS.

SONS,

THIS BOOK IN

OFFERED

TOKEN OF

FRIENDSHIP RESPECT AND WELCOME

RICHARD CLAVERHOUSE

JEBB,

Litt.D.,

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

PREFACE.

THIS

edition of the Aganicvinon

the second instahncnt

of that edition of Aeschylus which

hope to complete

The present volume has occupied me for many having been commenced long before my edition of the

course of time. years,

Septein^

and frequently

re-written, as

gained more knowledge

of the poet.

No himself in

one competent to undertake such a work can

much upon

the

little

comparison with the desirable

long as there

any

edition of Aeschylus.

flatter

that he can possibly have achieved ideal.

It is

not likely that, as

spirit of progress, there will ever

Certainly

be a

final

enough from such a

are far

consummation at present. But with all the defects which I see, and the many which doubtless I do not see, I trust that this book is not unworthy of the place in which it has been written and of the great living scholars by whose teaching and encouragement

for the

has been inspired.

Where my

version merely follows tradition, the

most part

silent or brief;

say that the bulk of

indeed

have the

the bulk of

it is

The English have been by

Dr Wecklein's

and

the product of

less hesitation

commentary

in this sense

my own

saying

so,

only

work. I

may But

fear that

not a merit.

Kennedy and Mr A. Sidgwick

editions of Paley,

throughout; Enger's

interesting

with notes (1889) appeared

and

useful

when

this

have consulted

edition

was

of the the press.

often.

Orcstca

This

PREFACE.

viii

will,

may seem

hope, explain anything that

such a case.

satisfactorily with

'Wecklein's Appendix' reference

know

All will

of the two.

relations

the

critical questions,

text with apparatus

to the edition of the

the

should explain that where

referred to

obscure

the difficulty of dealing

criticiis

only (1885).

Since the appearance of

and

Davies have died, honoured and regretted, as

by me

scarcely say, particular, I

shall

former volume Kennedy, Paley,

whatever

all

may have been

him and

to see the

But few men have done more

weak sent

feel

that

was easy to

spread of learning and

a few days before he

died a vigorous letter of adverse criticism. I

points of his scholarship.

for the

country.

literature in this

need

Paley in

said or thought of his defects,

always profess myself deeply indebted.

disagree with

students of literature.

Most mournfully do

shall never receive another.

Beyond the

editions of the play

(my

relations to

which

general will

appear from the several references) the writings

most useful

me have been

the editions of Sophocles

Professor Jebb (who has permitted tion

and gratitude by the dedication of

Grammar

It is

assisted

on the Agamemnon by

article

in Vol. XVI.

of the jfonrnal of Philology.

not easy to enumerate accurately the friends

admira-

volume), the Homeric

D. B. Monro, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford,

and an excellent

Housman

to express

this

at various times

for particular suggestions

who have

by conversation and otherwise.

thanks are due to

But

R. A. Neil,

who was kind enough to revise the whole of the Introduction, to Dr W. Leaf, Mr J. G. Frazer, Mr E. S. Thompson, Mr Wyse,

Duff,

and

Mr H.

particular hints from

Smith.

have

also

taken some

Professor Mahaffy's books on

the

geo-

graphy and customs of Greece and from a dissertation on the Parados of the Seven against Thebes recently published by

Fennell.

Continual

unimportant

Other references

appear

will

study strengthens point

relation

in their places.

conviction

one not

Aeschylus, the substantial

PREFACE. integrity of t he text

The

greater part of what are called errors

of the MS. are merely normal variations of spelling, not affecting the authority of the

tradition

the

The

degree.

slightest

errors properly so called are often such that their reproduction

through

from the time when by their nature

long periods,

they must have originated, bears speaking testimony to the conservative

MSS. than I

care

whom

was handed

text

the

adheres more

edition

this

closely

predecessors in modern times,

its

to revise

those by

Although

down.

the

revision,

were

now, would tend rather to closer adhesion than

the other way.

Indeed long

defects

men who

the

night

They were

In old words, old forms, and the like

For the poet they did not

they were keenly interested.

the

Agamemnon

the simple

fact.

reader

And no wonder at

literature,

who wished

could be so essential

The Byzantine

the matter. of

personae

thought a that their

trouble

and the

the

fool.

Medicean

about a thing of so

speech of

beginning his

own

;

little

invention,

later copies,

To this he assigned among

KUT

{v.

for

all

the speeches.

dv8pa

363),

while

it,

no point

entirely

indifferent

adopt the dramatis

justly

commentators unaware

consequence to grammar of

ae/Sl^wu

which follows there was some

but they would not be at any

corrector

^ÂŤco

manuscript, he would the Greek

scheme was dubious

The

were

editor were

Nor were

for the

This

and distribution of the

fixing

scholars

modern

lexicography.

ayyeXo^;

the

;

all.

to understand a

drama, as well as make notes of the words

parts.

care.

the MS. Introduction speaks with a reserve

from disapprobation.

had not read the play, as

editors

their

proved out of their own mouths,

scholars, as can be

of the narrowest type.

barely saved

through the

much by

from tampering with the words.

merits

their

Aeschylus

preserved

were protected

literature

Mediceiis assigned

the {v.

270)

perceiving that difficulty

djyeXo<;, as

to in

finding

certain

the scene

speakers

appears from the

other things the speech yvvai,

Clytaemncstra

he gave

xa;^'

PREFACE.

X ela-ofjbea-Qa

all

[v.

494).

Now

nothing

these speeches are spoken, as

more modern

all

certain

than

that

editors print them,

v. 494 Clytaemnestra is that no one could have read further and not even on the play with any consecutive attention from the beginning to But the Greek editor this point without discovering these facts.

by members of

the Chorus, and that at

the stage,

was looking

for glosses,

rectness of his copy (a

and having once ascertained the cor-

work on which he can be proved

have

spent very great pains), would not interrupt the true labour of scholarship for a question so trivial as the

name

of a particular

speaker.

Consequently, so

far

relates

the

literary

form and

purpose of the drama, the makers of our MSS. bequeathed to their

modern successors no more than the vague

of a problem.

In the Introduction our

with this problem,

its

indication

concern will be

nature and the material for a solution.

Trinity College, Cambridge, 27 September,

first

1889.

CONTENTS PAGE Preface

vii

Introduction

xiii

'Argument' (vnodeais) and 'Dramatis Personae' Text and Notes

Appendix

I.,

Appendix

II.

Translation

Index

in the

Medicean MS.

Ixiv I

Aâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Z .

183 .

223 231 263

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

INTRODUCTION. T/ie Probleffi.

What his work,

the plot of the Agatnenmoti

When

the dramatist began

what was the story which he proposed

the difference of phrase

not unimportant

tell,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which

or rather

he proposed to

illustrate ?

To one it

drama produced under modern conditions, this question should be propounded at

familiar only with

might well seem strange that

all.

Surely,

might be

said, this

ought to be a simple matter, to be

drama does not convey its own story, entire and unmistakable, what does it convey? So we might argue, naturally enough, from the conditions of the theatre as we know them in modern times but so would not argue those who have given much reflexion to the theatre of Athens, and especially of Aeschylus. Every settled at the

first

If a

reading.

one knows, even

of the fact

the full significance

not always

Athens did not tell their conceived by a modern dramatist,

sufficiently estimated, that the tragedians of

story at

all,

as the telling of a story

whose audience, when the curtain goes

up,

know nothing which

not

in the play-bill.

yThe

story of an Athenian tragedy

never completely told

implied, or to repeat the expression used above, selected scene or sceneg.

The

And

the further

we go back

;

illustrated

the truer this

plays of Euripides, with their explanatory prologues, are far

complete

in the

is.

statement of the facts than those of his two great

predecessors; and Sophocles

Such was the natural plication of literature

chief characteristic

century the

by a

process

fills

in his

outUne more than Aeschylus.

result of altered circumstances, of that multi-

and growth of

the

fifth

literary

century.

education which was the Before the close

had so rapidly advanced

that

literature

of the

was a

T^TR OD UCTION.

X V i

common phanes

occupation, and Athens was

says,

tragedies

commencement

of lads writing, as Aristo-

full

by the thousand.'

the other hand, at the

of the century writers were not many, and a literary

public scarcely existed at

One

all.

which took place chiefly

necessary effect of this movement,

the second half of the period, was

multiply enormously the current varieties of the popular tales; until at

last,

see by the practice of Euripides, the Athenian playwright

was brought, with respect

to the fore-knowledge of his story

modern

audience, nearly to the situation of the it

convenient,

the version of

not to it

when

dating from the time

same

city

known

;

were

the whole of

tell

from which he

fairly

still

playwright,

by the and found

mark

in outline

at least to

it,

(But the original practice,

started.

the legends current at one time

and

in the

harmonious, was to presuppose the story as

land as a fact there

perhaps not one play of Aeschylus or of

Sophocles which would not considerably puzzle a reader who should

down

it,

as to a

drama of

to-day, having very

on the subject and expecting everything

little

essential to

sit

or no information

be supplied by the

author.

For a play of Aeschylus then the question, What is the story ?, so far frivolous, is of the first importance and so far from being

from being

;

necessarily easy,

almost certain to offer some

it is

very well prove unanswerable.

which prevailed

Athens

in the

difficulties,

and might

reconstruct stories in the exact form

days of Aeschylus, from the indica-

stories, and from the indirect and ambiguous evidence of such other versions of the same legends as may be more or less perfectly preserved to us, is a task requiring the

tions afforded

by plays presupposing the

greatest care.

It is not likely ever to

success that might be wished,

and

be accomplished with

yet, that in

nothing which relates to the study of the poet

more room

for

improvement.

are

all

the

so far from accomplishment as

now

to enquire

how

there

left

the matter

stands at present with regard to the story of the Aga??ie?}mon.

The

reader

who

gradually becomes familiar with successive com-

mentaries upon this play, will gradually become aware that they agree with one another in one remarkable peculiarity.

duty performed

in the

introduction to a

straightforward account of the story.

to it

mean merely

that the story told

assume the very point we are is

commonly understood,

practical

misrepresentation.

not correct. I

mean

rule, the first

an accurate and

known Agamemnon.

to discuss.

itself

As a

to give

edition

story of the

to tell without disguise the

course

drama

ventures

do not of This would be I

that the story, as

not told without concealment and

The reason

for

this

will

be only too

INTR on UCTION. when we have

apparent,

outright, as

is still,

Agamemnon,

supplied the omission by telhng the story

was conceived by the Byzantine students of the eleventh

century and

with whatever dissatisfaction, accepted.

king of Argos, having sailed with a great armament to

Troy, to avenge by the capture of the city the abduction of Helen,

arranged with his queen Clytaemnestra',

who governed at home in his when it should be attained,

absence, to transmit the news of his success,

by a time

beacons extending over the whole distance.

series of

arrangement was

this

made does

first

not appear

At what

but when after

;

a war of ten years the city was taken, the beacons had been maintained,

we learn, for at least a

year.

The chief part of the

service, the transmitting

of the message across the Aegaean Sea, was accomplished by beacons

Mount Ida in the Troad, on Lemnos, on Mount Athos, and on the highest point of Euboea. Thence the news was to be signalled by comparatively short stages to Mount Arachnaeus, within a few miles of Argos and visible from the royal palace, where a watch was nightly kept for the expected news. Accordingly on the night in established on

which Troy was captured the system was put duly seen by the palace-watch.

mands

(At this

The queen, being

commences.)

moment

make

are

still

{iK

enquiries, are not only ignorant of the event

seen blazing in

intelligence or not.

291), the

whether

it is

all

directions)

After

some

time,

made

Aeschylus knew her as KXuratft^o-Tpa

Clytaemestra

who

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

hold that

for

agree with

we have no

those

reason to

dis-

pute the testimony of the Medicean MS.

Such

variations

common.

nomenclature

are

But she must remain Clytae7n-

nestra for us. 2

have

of these

profitable

from the

announced, but

and

tried throughout so to

elders

just

fires

honour of some upon daybreak

queen presents herself, and the elders respectfully ask her pleasure to enHghten them further.

The queen then informs them that Troy is few moments of joyful amazement, their next 1

as appears

it,

presently arrive before the palace

uncertain whether the nocturnal demonstration (for the

sacrifice are

good

who

com-

however disclosing either the

receipt of the beacon-message or the purport of fact that the elders of the city^,

the action of the play

roused, at once sends out her

general rejoicing, without

for

and worked upon Arachnaeus was

in operation,

so successfully that before morning the beacon

speak

as to avoid the not very

dispute, whether they are to

actually taken.

question

is,

be regarded as councillors, a yepovaia.

seems to

on the one hand that

After a

'When

did

political

equally clear

their character

and

behaviour would suggest such an idea to

an audience imbued with Greek politics, and that on the other hand Aeschylus intentionally avoided precision on this and all points respecting the constitution of

times.

an imaginary

state in the heroic

INTRODUCTION.

xvi

happen?'

this

arrive

'But how could the news possibly

'This very night.'

'By a beacon-message,'

soon?'

the

replies

and

queen,

acquaints them with the arrangements above described, at which the

The queen makes some more astonished than ever. upon the appearance which Troy must present this morning after the ravages of the night, and expresses a hope that the victors will not abuse their triumph in such a way as to court divine punishment elders

are

reflexions

and so endanger

She then

their safe return.

retires,

leaving the elders

to their thoughts.

But the stern

which

satisfaction,

at first they feel for the

punishment

of the offending Trojans, soon passes away, as they consider the suffering

which the war has cost and the deep discontents which it has bred; and they have already sunk again into melancholy and foreboding when the question arises interpretation

It will

delusion.

They

news true

Is the

beacon

The whole

woman!

excited

—

of a

How

after all ?

How

sanguine

story

may

the

doubtful

imagination

the

of an

prove to be a mere

well

be best to wait.

are in this frame of

mind when they

from whose appearance and from other

see approaching a herald,

visible indications (for the

sun

513) they at once perceive that he has come from Something grave then has really the port and brings great tidings.

now

has

risen, v.

happened, and they

what

will

know

in a

few moments whether

it is

good, or

it is.

The

herald

—

if it

were possible to suppose the reader of

absolutely ignorant of the play, to write

certain that

what

this

am now

book going

would be set down by him as a manifestly absurd mistake mine the herald enters and announces that Agamem-

—

or invention of

non has arrived.

But

The

this staggering surprise is

nothing to the miracles which remain.'

conversation of the herald with the elders

—

if it

can be called a

conversation, in which the herald, almost beside himself with excite-

ment and

joy,

speaks nearly

reappearance of the queen,

all

the time

—

terminated by the brief

who bids the herald return with a message The elders beg him before he goes to satisfy

welcome to his master. them at least as to the safety of the king's brother, Menelaus. This leads him to disclose that the Greek fleet (which, be it remembered, must have traversed the whole Aegaean in a few hours at most) encountered on the way a tremendous storm and was thereby so completely scattered that those on Agamemnon's ship, which escaped destruction, know not even which, if any, of their companions are saved. And with of

this the herald departs

his errand.

The

elders,

under the weight of

INTRODUCTION. and

this terrible

moment

the

xvli

truly inconceivable disaster, not unnaturally forget for

to rejoice over the return of the remnant,

and are still musing sadly upon the terrible and far-reaching consequences of the war and of the offence which caused the war, when the king himself appears to receive their welcome and that of the queen.

And now, it will be The story up to

facts.

supposed, some light

be thrown upon the

will

nothing but an inexplicable

this point presents

But when Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra meet, all will some way become clear. Nothing of the sort. Though the

contradiction.

of course in rejoicings

commanded by Clytaemnestra

before

shortly

are

pro-

still

ceeding, and the sacrifices which were to be offered in the palace in

honour of the beacon-message are scarcely begun, the queen, coming forth from the unfinished ceremony, addresses to the king a long

and high-flown

which there

oration, in

not the slightest allusion to the

events of the morning, nor a word from which that intelligence of the triumph

memnon, That

in his cold

and

could be supposed

had preceded the king's

brief reply,

affectionate anxiety for the queen's

Aga-

arrival.

on the

equally silent

subject.

peace of mind, which we

should naturally conjecture to have been his motive, as there

other apparent, for maintaining such a prodigious machinery of com-

munication and transport, has suddenly given way to a repulsive

liness.

pomp

rebukes severely the

state-

of his reception, and there

ensues an altercation on this matter between the royal spouses, in which

and conducts her husband with triumph and apprehensive condition of mind, with which the audience must certainly sympathize. N4 Thus ends the first part or act of the play, which occupies, we may In the tragic scenes or, to observe, considerably more than half of it. the queen carries her point,

into the palace, leaving the elders in a puzzled

speak more properly, in the tragedy, which

now commences,

the whole

of this vast and enigmatic prologue, except certain incidental narratives external

the

main subject of

it,

seems

be simply forgotten.

Nothing happens which might not have happened just as easily if the king had returned unannounced, or if he had announced himself in

some ordinary manner, and followed

What

expected interval of time.

his

dark

announcement

now remains

the received interpretation, to the end of the play.

remarkable action of the of the second, and

its

first

and

to consider

And V.

first

the

Since therefore the

no particular bearing upon that the estimation of the dramatist must

will

be convenient to pause

what that value may

surely the

M. A.

after

we accept

part has

value in

be supposed independent,

so, if

at this point

be.

and most proper

reflexion

this

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

possible

INTRODUCTION.

xviii

above told really represents the intention of Aeschylus ? That a man, who had spent most of his life in writing plays, when he came to lay down the lines of his supreme master-piece, should encumber that the story

himself at starting with absurdities so glaring, so dangerous, and tuito us, as this fable exhibits in all

moment from And first,

parts?

its

Let us look

so^afor a

these three points of view. that the absurdities are conspicuous.

the sake of argument, that

was

we assume,

for

Aeschylus and the

indifferent to

Athenian audience whether the story told was conceivable or not, we may still wonder why the poet should so labour to be false. The first

Agamenmon

part of the

constructed exactly as

show the monstrosities of

contradiction.

be,

divided by a

crisis,

designed

It is

one huge

the entrance of the herald

may be

508), into two nearly equal parts, the substance of which

(y.

summarised by the statements,

mencement

of the play

this interval

there

the

first

(i) that

from the

of Troy to the com-

fall

a period of two or three hours, (2) that in

not and cannot be any difference of opinion. is continuous, and Language could not be

place, that the action

which we are told that the herald arrives while ment of the beacon-message is passing from lip Even the progress of the hour from darkness to

we have

About

have occurred the events of several weeks.

hours of one morning.

would

in the strongest light.

But

seen.

falls

within the early

clearer than that in

the queen's announceto lip {vv.

daylight

needless to labour the point.

481

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

puzzle,

498)'.

duly noted,

Had

possible to suppose the action divided (as in the Eumenides'), the

readers of the poet, who, as

this

It is certain, in

been

modern

shall see, are painfully conscious of the

would have marked the division long ago.

And

yet,

on the

upon That on the morning after the sack mTroy the weary and famished Greeks would be making the most of their comfortless repose and be in no condition to think of anything But if Aeschylus proposed to bring them that else, is obviously true. very morning to Argos, why should he insist on reminding us, just other hand, look at the necessities of the situation, as they are thrust

\Qur notice by Aeschylus himself

Equally

explicit,

according

only rendering which seems to tainable,

the

enter-

the queen's language at v.

The example

of the

indeed sometimes

and

justified

surprising

between them.

There is no resemblance The Eumenides is simply

divided, like a play of Shakespeare, into three perfectly distinct scenes, confessedly

1040. "

Agamemnon.

Eumenides

cited, as if

explained

what would otherwise be the

construction

the

separated by gaps of time and changes of place.

If the Agamcfiiiion

divisible, there

about

it.

were similarly

would be nothing peculiar

INTRODUCTION.

xix

before their appearance, that they must at this very

hundreds of miles across the

sea, taking their

forward to enjoy next night their the very next speech

Argos give

moment be

unbroken sleep

first

informs us that

Troy,

hard-won meal and looking 342)

(^.

And

they are already returned to

Even a happy carelessness might have been expected not to the lie with so much art. Again, the size and general

itself

geography of the Archipelago were

facts as familiar to

those of the Atlantic or the Channel to a

much more

an Athenian as

modern Englishman, indeed

and he could scarcely, however willing, have imagined so them other than they were. But if Aeschylus desired to present a story in which these facts were to be ignored, why should he aggravate his difficulties by prompting the imagination of the audience with a picture of the reality ? The conversation between Clytaemnestra and the elders respecting the beacons signifies to us at any rate this, that a voyage over the region described was likely to take some time. A narrator

;

who wished

sake of his story, to suppose that some-

us, for the

one had ridden from London to York

by reminding us that

Then look in

any

an hour, would scarcely begin

again at the other side of the

To what

"[picture.

purpose,

case, the poet introduced the herald, with his vivid description of

the hardships suffered by the Hellenic

which the greater part of

was

these narratives to the story,

by reference

to the

scene.

Aeschylus

why does he

that

what

the significance of

may be

seen

But nothing short of a contra-

grossly inconsistent with the preceding

wished to obliterate, by an arbitrary fall

not obliterate

fiction,

of Troy and the return of the

it ?

Why

narrate the voyage and

was not rapid but disastrous? that

at present not too clear, as

the interval of time between the

Greeks,

army and of the awful tempest

finally lost, or

books of authority.

diction in terms could be

show

takes five hours to go by train.

plished in one hour, nor in one day either?

was not accom-

that after the capture,

and before the return was even commenced, a considerable time was spent at Troy

itself in

tion of the spoil

and

the elaborate destruction of the city, the distribu-

captives,

upon by the herald and

were previously informed by attributed

and other proceedings

the king?

many

storm, following as

Who it

could

the

least

have been

left

all

listen to the herald's description of the

does close upon Clytaemnestra's account of the

beacons, and not ask himself in bewilderment at what time

supposed

audience

familiar narratives, but in the design

Aeschylus they might at

-^possible obscurity.

related or touched

these indeed

have happened

all this

This discrepancy of times, not

lightly neglected

by the poet but

INTRODUCTION.

studiously obtruded, would,

Agamenmon mass of

make

stood alone,

if it

But

a confounding problem.

it is

the

part of the

first

combined with another

prominent perhaps to the eyes of us moderns,

difficulty, less

Athens and in the time of Aeschylus equally fatal to that temporary and conventional belief without which the imagination is

but

The

helpless. it

signal

was sped,

and

in its

own

style

whole conception and

all

unrivalled is

its

impossible that a popular audience

ancient Athens can ever have thought, otherwise.

In the

when we

place, looking at the matter generally,

first

reflect that the

p^isxperience I

;

that the story

all

incidents incredible,

its

unsurpassed

But for

eloquence.

is in one sense a fine story that is and the actual description, how the fiery

story of the beacons

told in fine verse,

to say,

Agamemnon was

peace and war, and to

perhaps more

men

satisfy

permissible,

man

of long

an audience which contained;

personally^amiliar with the conduct of great affairs|

than ever assembled elsewhere so

much should be made

life,

written by a grave

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

it is

permissible,

I say,

to wonder, that

of a transaction which, for any relation

more worthy of an inventive schoolboy.

Here

has

a great

monarch, conducting a distant war of uncertain duration. He estabbetween his camp and his capital a system of communication on a

lishes

grand

scale, far larger

than anything of the kind actually existing, when

For what purpose } Naturally, we At the close of the war, as the

Aeschylus wrote, in the Greek world'. suppose, to aid his plans.

Not

all.

ignorance of the elders requires us to suppose, no message had ever been sent,

The beacons were mainif and when Troy

and no message but one was expected.

tained and watched night after night, simply that,

should

fall,

this

news, expected for ten years, might have a chance,

the weather were favourable, to reach Argos

sooner than

would do

any

some weeks

And

case.

this

some days

notion were

not puerile enough, the natural facts are distorted so as to exaggerate the absurdity to the

For

utmost.

the result

seems to be by

the merest accident that the beacon-message arrives before the king.

But

storm he would doubtless have got

for the

Again,

we admit

to say of the useless

surrounded there

first.

and impossible mystery i^vith which they are

The Athenians were

had been maintained on a

The

home

the beacons as a conceivable scheme, what are

to suppose, that for a year at least

hill

Persia were sup-

close to Argos, night after night, a

how far they succeeded,

It does not

appear

posed to have projected something similar,

but

not unlikely that their

though more practicable, at the time of

suggested the idea of Aeschylus,

generals of

their marvellous expedition

(Herod

9, 3).

plan

INTRODUCTION.

xxi

watch forming part of a system of communication with the absent army, and that

while, so strictly

all this

elders of the city

had not the

of such a thing as possible

had the secret been kept, the / it, nor had ever dreamed

least notion of

But these general objections, though serious enough, are nothing to the grotesque and wilful violations of nature which appear in the details. It is here that the modern reader most easily deceives himself, forgetting the local

and contemporary point of

indeed, so far as

impossible

disputes

aware, that the story told by Clytaemnestra

but most of those

;

No one

view.

who

write

\^ ,

on the play ignore the subject

and hardly any one considers how the matter so far as they can' would look to an Athenian of the Marathonian generation. Yet place :

and time are the K

Men

essential conditions.

and the inventor who with moderate skill But so long as he purports to keep

are the willing slaves of imagination

frankly transcends our range of experience carry us wherever

he pleases.

;

may

within our experience, the ablest inventor has but a strictly limited

Not Shakespeare himself could have made

power.

the Londoners

content to suppose that a Spanish ship lying at the Nore had fired upon

an English ship lying

Yet

severe

their

supposed to have

imagination, are

The

^accepted without demur, and honoured with their highest reward. description

the

beacons

careful.

Every stage

mistake.

The

first

of Euboea.

293)

The

Lemnos

to Athos,

possibility

Mount Ida

from Athos to the highest

distances are for the

two stages about

first

h undr ed miles.

sixt^ miles, for the third stage nearly a

and

complete

curiously

three stages are, as above said, from

the island of Lemnos, from

point

{ik

marked and named beyond

it.

which the Athenians, a people singularly

of the

criticism

They simply could not suppose

Tower.

at the

this is the sort of fiction

It is

needless to

prove that beacons at these intervals would be useless, useless under any circumstances, and although

appear to do, the special

we should not throw

facility of

in,

as Aeschylus

would

a tremendous storm, raging in the

Let it be supposed (and it is an atmosphere of the Mediterranean, a bonfire one hundred miles away might

very region of the longest transit. outside supposition) that

on a night

perfectly clear,

the

What would be the use of a signal, unknown time in the course of the year, some

be made out with certainty. intended to operate at if it

slightest haze at any Did then the Athenian

were so arranged as to be defeated by the

point

traject

of one hundred miles?

Not however

all

;

see Paley.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; INTRODUCTION.

xxii audience not

know

these distances and their relation to the visibihty

How

could they possibly fail to know the facts, and to have such a vivid consciousness of them as could not for an instant be Euboea, the terminus of the most prodigious leap, was put by ? of a beacon

Athos, the

geographically and politically almost part of Attica itself

starting-point of the leap, lay right in the eye of Athenian policy trade,

and

always specially directed to the north and north-west of the

The people were essentially a people of ^seamen. When Aganmnnon was produced they had been engaged for twenty years

Aegaean. the

dominion of those very

in a struggle for the naval

which depended most of everywhere

of course

some twelve

distance of

was transmitted to the

and

all

seas, a struggle

upon

their national importance.

and in war, and used them, Euboea, to signal to Skiathos, a

familiar with beacons in peace

They were as

their wealth

else,

miles'.

The statement

that a beacon-signal

midst of a storm from Athos to Euboea stood

in the

knowledge and habits of Athens then

much

same

the

relation

ras the statement that a steamer ran across the Atlantic in one day would

stand to the knowledge and habits of Liverpool now.

And

here again, as in the matter of time, the story

absurd in

fact,

but wilfully and as

geographical facts were

why

to the poet perfectly indifferent,

Nothing would have been

such pains to be precise?

not merely

were purposely absurd.

easier or

the at

mere exercise of the imagination, than to leave the details some obscurity, to start the signals upon a more or less practicable But Aeschylus route, and then to fetch the matter off with generaUties. and when he comes to the most miraculous part leaves not a loop-hole natural, in a in

;

of the story

But to

{v.

298) he

careful to give our incredulity a jog.

the defects of the fable are glaring (and on this enough seems

What

have been said) they are also extremely dangerous.

the

modern critics on this point, the critics themselves show by a testimony more telling than any direct condemnation, by ignoring

real opinion of

and, as far as possible, concealing the said, ventures to

example

tell,

purposely choose

facts.

one, as

have already

As an no way personal) a

received, the story of the play.

(for the criticism is in

book to which I am much indebted, the edition of Mr Sidgwick. 'The action of the play in details,' says Mr Sidgwick in his Introduction, '

as follows

Agamemnon

has

been absent for ten years at Troy. Meanwhile his wife Argos in conjunction with her lover Aegisthos.

Klytaemnestra has been ruling 1

Herod.

182.

INTRODUCTION. The news of

of Troy

the capture

xxiii and

expected,

daily

play opens

tlic

with

the appearance of the night-watchman on the roof, waiting (as he has been for

a year past)

watchman

beacon

the

for

which

fire

announce the

While the

victory.

complaining of his trouble, the flame flashes out, and he goes to tell his mistress (Prologue). The chorus enter and sing: meanwhile the (pieen comes out and is

seen lighting the altar

The

event.

fires

and preparing

for

display in honour of the

festal

leader of the chorus learns from her the tidings, and after describing the

beacon-race, she imagines the scene in Troy and expresses a hope that well (Scene

After another choric song the Herald appears,

I).

and

sufferings before Troy,

sends by him a welcome

In Scene

2).

all will

describes

storm which scattered the

finally the

her lord (Scene

who

fleet

end the

the queen

;

Agamemnon

first

returns with

Kassandra etc'

Now

could

especially

possibly occur to any one

he happened to know that

upon reading

—

more modern

this

Aeschylus, like

dramatist, did not limit his plots to any special period of time

— but

with or without this information could any one suspect from the above, that

these events are represented as occurring within a few hours?

all

Should we not assume, and

not indeed tacitly implied, that the

action of the Agamemnon., like that of

divided

;

and

continuation, the Eumetiides,

its

that the necessary lapse of time

between these

open

either expressly noticed, as in the Eiimenides, or left

But

nation?

this

what the editor means?

scenes

to our imagi-

the contrary, long

we come upon

afterwards in the course of the notes

the following,

Observe that the herald arrives from Troy, announcing the landing of Agamemnon, immediately after the beacon fires, on the/C^ '

504.

morning

after

Such

the capture.

shall

the

first let

common,

so simple and so

commentary with the same frankness

action of the play in details

But

be considered presently.

of possibility

are to observe,

The

It is

This

us ask why, it

last

statement

this violation

should not be exhibited in

as in the play ?

Why

the

so described as to suppress a feature which

and why

writer after another

violations of possibihty were held

quite allowable by the license of dramatic poetry.'

the like device adopted, as

prompted by the

is,

by one

instinct of self-preservation.

expositor, loyally identifying himself with the author, feels that,

whatever he

may

say about dramatic license, the reader will as a fact

be repelled at starting by the wanton perversity of the screens

How is

accordingly.

that

siiriilar

and he

apprehension occurred

««

fiction

;

to the dramatist ?

For as

to the statement that

of possibility is

on the Athenian stage such violations I must take leave to say that it '

were held quite allowable,'

not only without evidence, but altogether contrary to the evidence.

There

no example

such

or approximately such

;

and the theoretic

INTRODUCTION.

xxiv

on the drama remains

treatise of Aristotle

what the extant

to prove,

plays confirm, that the Athenian public, so far from being indifferent to consistency, attached to "<!

an importance much greater than the

moderns, and more perhaps than

And

reasonable.

observe further,

had a temptation, and so far an excuse, the matter of time, which Aeschylus himself had

that the successors of Aeschylus for taking Hberties in

After Aeschylus 'the unity of time

not.

within one day

like a rule.

or,

example, does not conform to to observe

it,

the restriction of the

;

the Suppliccs of Euripides, for

;

nor does the Andromache.

But there

and the tendency produced,

some questionable treatment of

sure to do,

is,

sometimes

not always observed

It is

was a tendency

that

put, to an action grew into a practice and apparently into something

play to a continuous action

this artificial 'day',

was

though

I know of, ever Agamenmon. ^ut Aeschylus

neither Sophocles nor Euripides, nor any one else that

presents us with a

day

like that of the

did not obs^ve the practice at is

separated from the

If therefore

he wished to bring into one play the

return of the Greeks, he

had no need

nor any temptation to distort the

done so consistently with have thought

not

structure

The second scene

all.

of the Eiimeiiides

by an interval of months,

first

to appeal to

of the Agamemnon,

But

not of years'.

of Troy and the

any dramatic

license,

His successors could not have

facts.

their usual

desirable.

fall

practice, to

and probably would

account for the supposed

we must assume

that Aeschylus,

ignores the 'unity' in the third play of the trilogy, adopted

who

for the

play in this self-contradictory form, that the action of one play

first

fall within one day, but that in this day may happen whatever events we please. I think it may safely be asserted that such a theory was never professed by any author or critic whatever. As I see no reason to think that the popular mind in the time of Aeschylus was in this respect very different from the popular mind

ought nominally to

now,

homely.

will

offer

—Scene

a Socratic parallel, not the less just because

A room

London. Time

discovered preparing the room.

From

Early morning.

their conversation

the master of the house has been for

some time

conduct of his

a person too

causing

in relation to

often

Servants

appears that

and

that the

received,

anxiety and a strong desire for the master's return.

on the way home.

expecting soon

telegram arrives for the lady,

See the description of Orestes' intermediate wanderings,

^84—5. 454—5-

in Africa,

learnt with satisfaction that their mistress

to hear that

wife,

them much

They have

Eum.

vv. 239

— 241,

INTRODUCTION. who

presently appears

and was despatched

and informs them that it is from her Iiusband, from Lake Nyanza. Being asked by a

last night

servant whether there

a telegraph at the Lake, she explains that the

by the

wires have just been extended so far

enterprise.

of breakfast he

sitting

down

result of her husband's

She wonders what

intends to return forthwith.

having in Africa, and hopes that he

The

with any accident on the road back. is

xxv

it,

when

there

who announces

husband's courier,

table

laid,

a ring at the

that his master

sort

not meet

will

and the lady Enter the

bell.

detained for a few

at the terminus, but is coming immediately. He dilates upon the discomforts of the Overland route and the breaking-down The husband follows accordingly. He describes of an Italian train.

minutes

The

the success of his explorations.

And

of the telegram, nor he to her. this point of the story

we might

the dismay of the

and

so ends the

either

know

we might

wait for

audience

should prove that there was no

that the mysterious telegram, introduced with so

much

submit that

way in which the crowns of the drama may be won, and most rigorous proof should be required before we assume

not the

this is

that the

ever was.

And

at (if

But what would be the bewilderment and

circumstance, had no bearing on the story whatever

that

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Now

scene.

first

the key to the riddle

a popular novel) or

the author were dramatizing

the solution in the sequel.

solution,

lady receives him with rapture

In conversation with him she says nothing

but witfiout any surprise.

we come

to our third point, that these glaring

and gr atuito us.

defects of construction are also useless

The imagination

and dangerous

After

all,

this is

work for very moderate wages but it does expect to be paid something, and a little extra for over-time. There is perhaps no limit, there is certainly no ascertainable limit, to what men will grant to a narrator in the way of supposition, so long as he justifies the concession by making use of it and gives interest perhaps the chief matter.

will

;

for the loan, or in plain words, so long as the supposition

by the

story.

classical

example

the story of Oedipus^

is ;

required

but in fact

almost every story illustrates in some degree this principle of criticism,

and the readers of to declare that a

hundred miles

fiction are

whole

fleet

applying

was wafted,

in five minutes,

and

every day. spirited, or

If a

romancer were

what you

will, five

out of this fiction were developed

incidents of interest requiring the supposition,

it is

quite possible that

See the remarks of Professor Jebb

p. xlv.

in his Introduction to the

Oedipus Tyranmts,

TNTR OD UCTION.

xxvi his

audience or his readers might be perfectly content.

But the wild

assumptions debited to the Agaviemno^i explain nothing, lead to nothing, serve nothing.

If the circumstances of time

as they are

fact prodigious,

and place were as natural

the supposed story would

be a

still

Let any one suppose the opening scenes of

marvel of discontinuity.

the play, as for as the entrance of the herald, to have survived as a let him notice the striking incidents which centre upon announcement of the beacon-message, the night alarm, the amazement of the elders, their vain attempt to get more information from the queen, their open incredulity; and then let him consider how he would have conceived the lost remainder. ^Why does the poet occupy us

fragment

;

the

When

with the beacons at all?

king

nearing

its

ligible, all

neglected.

with

all this

expense of falsehood the

brought upon the stage, and the play, which

last

middle, begins for the

we have

the preliminary apparatus, as

Nay more,

already said,

the only fact which emerges,

intel-

simply

anything does,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

that the king in some uncame home with astonishing speed and arrived

from the perplexity of the introduction explained manner

almost as soon as he was announced

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

so far from accounting for the

sequel, greatly aggravates the difficulties of a narrative, aflford

now

time to be connectedly

first

which could

ill

the increase.

Almost every

fine

and

story,

particular

almost every story

suitable for the stage, contains a certain element of essentia l improba-

*^ontrast, so important in dramatic effect, will generally require

bility.

surprising incidents,

The

story of

general rule. that

powerful

surprising cajinot be altogether likely.

Clytaemnestra

not impossible, but

no exception

to this

essentially improbable,

monarch, returning from a great and glorious

pedition, should be

the

and what

Agamemnon and

murdered by

his wife

ex-

and her paramour, and that

murderers should not only escape immediate punishment,

should usurp the throne and establish themselves in possession.

but It

would be much in such a case if the guilty pair could save themselves by a prompt flight from the vengeance of the triumphant husband. That in the very moment of his new strength and popularity they should actually overthrow him and take his place is a thing which only under the most peculiarly favourable circumstances could either happen or seem

The

credible.

first

task therefore of a narrator,

who

for the sake of

the striking situation should undertake to present such a story, must be

and upon

to create

these circumstances,

success,

he were a dramatist, must in the

For however

may be

his skill in first

doing

this

his

instance largely depend.

with the student or the reader, a popular

INTRODUCTION. audience cares

first

all

for the story,

and

xxvii not to be put off with

profundity of thought, or splendour of language, or sounding rhythm, or

with

of these things together.

all

Now it will be allowed that in read, me mechanism of the story no consideration

Agamcfunon, as commonly received

According

all.

that for an adulteress

the

has

from the

Aeschylus,

plainly

any explanation of

require

facile

would seem

her king and husband upon a day of

kill

triumph, and to raise her paramour to the throne, too

author

an enterprise

the

means.

course the returning monarch will have

no suspicions and receive no warning; of course, however abruptly he may arrive, he will find \all prepared for the deed of course when he has fallen, any slight mutiny on the part of his soldiers or subjects will be instantly and ;

But

easily suppressed. treat the matter thus

of theatrical

art,

Aeschylus should have been content to

that

remarkable, not only from the general conditions

but for two more particular reasons.

/"It is

odd

that

he really did not care, and did not expect any one to care, how the events

came

at the point

murderous

become scrupulous

about, he should

where the story stroke.

If,

in explanation just

simplest, at the actual striking of the

defiance

we once suppose

of likelihood,

and unsuspicious into the palace where, to his cjueen is living the knowledge of his faithful servants and subjects in adultery, we can imagine a hundred ways in which the wife, if so minded, might compass his death. Yet the poet exactly describes the

the king to walk ignorant

very peculiar device by which the murderess

should have, as

she

says,

made

'neither defence

sure that her victim

nor escape'

{v.

1380).

and disregarded the only real and pressing questions, how she got her chance and how she And again it is odd, that even if the tragedian secured her impunity Strange that he should have regarded

this,

did not observe for himself that in such a case the preparatory conditions

must be a vital part of the plot, he should not have recognized this when it had been emphasized long before by the original narrators of the story.

The

version of the legend current at the date of the Odyssey

given incidentally several times'.

wooed her during

lover of Clytaemnestra,

and with much for his

own.

difficulty

Upon

w. Od.

this,

there

Aegisthus, the

the absence of

Agamemnon,

induced her to quit the house of her husband

the return of the king Aegisthus bade him to a feast,

and there treacherously 1

According to

fell

upon him and slew him, Clytaemnestra

37, 620, etc. I.

foil., 3.

247

foil., 4.

512

foil.,

II.

405

foil.

INTRODUCTION.

xxviii

The

assisting.

we have but

Book

narration given in

how such

could arrive

and why

Agamemnon

Now

to read these references to see at once, that the rhapsodists

were principally occupied with the

in their construction of the story

question,

xi by the ghost of

and death of the captive Cassandra.

also introduces the presence

at the

his death

a thing could possibly

come about,/how

house of Aegisthus uninformed of

was not prevented or

The two most

panions in arms/

instantly

the king

his wife's infidelity,

avenged by

his

com-

elaborate recitals, those in the Third

and the Fourth Books, relate almost entirely to these points and in the Third Book the problem is formally propounded. How,' asks Tele;

machus of Nestor very pertinently, was the imperial Agamemnon slain? Where was Menelaus^ And by what cunning did Aegisthus '

The first question, moment comparatively helpless, is thereupon answered by Nestor, who relates how a storm divided and in great part destroyed the returning hostl Of this we need say little now, contrive the death of one far mightier than himself?

how

came

the king

as this part of the story

at the

adopted" by Aeschylus and will appear

The second and principal question, what means Aegisthus used and how they came to be successful, is answered by the narrative of Proteus in the Fourth Book. /There we learn that Aegisthus after the seduction, lest Agamemnon shbuld reach home unobserved presently in

its

place.

and learning the facts should fall upon the seducer by surprise, set a watch to look out for him, whose vigilance was prompted by a great bribe.

when an

continued to watch for a year before the king returned,

accident

rewarded

carried the king's ship out of

not

home

this

The same

extraordinary success.

its

precaution

undesigned

with

storm, which scattered the

and

fleet,

course, that he was thankful to land

but upon Aegisthus' domain, near the very castle to which

he had carried Clytaemnestra.

(It is plain, that in

supposed by

Homer

Agamemnon

could possibly be taken unawares.)

the circumstances

only condition under which

this accident offers the

Aegisthus, apprised

watchman and seizing the opportunity, invited the king and his companions to a pretended feast of welcome, at which they were

his

treacherously slain. feeling that to

fall

It is

noteworthy that the bard, so

full is

he of the

upon the veterans of Troy, with whatever advantage,

was a hazardous feat, after saying that not one of the king's followers was left, adds grimly that not one of the assassins was left either./ Now between Homer and Aeschylus the story, as we see, has In Aeschylus the murder takes place at the king's essentially changed. house where the queen part.

Much

has been

is still

said,

and and much

ruling,

it is

she

that

who

plays the deceptive

true,

on the moral and

INTRODUCTION. spiritual aspects of this

would commend

xxix

change, and on the motives of this kind which /^ But there were also other reasons

to the tragedian'.

why the Homeric version should not have been followed entirely by subsequent narrators, and(especially upon the Athenian stage.'N^ Without a strong effort of historic imagination, such

simpler and more imperative,

no dramatist would

Homeric

require of a popular audience,

willingly

could not have been realised.

tale

might pass very well

the antique and consecrated epic, but to expose dress to the

faithful witness

Aeschylus a bold

Homeric

reception the

of the eye

and

iiiind,

would have been

The Homeric

effort indeed.

story

an unfomiliar in

the days of

demands

that in t_wo respects.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the

for its

First, in

the ,

supposed condition of society and,

the

word

applicable, of politics.

As conceived by the bard, the whole issue lies between the households and retainers of two chieftains. xThe lady of Agamemnon leaves her husband's castle for that of Aegisthus.) Between the two families this is a deadly breach, but there the rupture ends. ^Wliat would become of Agamemnon's government upon the flight of his imperial regent)| and how the state and the people would be affected and behave, are questions which do not arise, simply because among the independent nobles, to whom the story was sung, no such questions would But how should they not suggest themselves,

actually have arisen.

the story was to be presented visibly and in modernized language before

whom

a great democracy, to daily familiar strictly

problem

And

the administration of government was a secondly, the epic tale depends

and necessarily upon the primitive

bard and his hearers

seemed

still

isolation of places.

natural, or at

the

any rate within the license

of fiction, 'that Clytaemnestra in the Peloponnese should have been

house of her lover, and that her husband should Troad ignorant of anything wrong.) And the audience of Homer might very well think so. With such communicaliving for a year in the still

return from the

tion

between the places as they knew, they might well suppose that an

expedition sent from Argos to Troy,

would

for the

But how was

such a thing were to be imagined,

time be totally cut off from

this to

home and news

pass in the middle of the

fifth

century?

of home.

Would

the mass of Athenian spectators, accustomed to hear news from Sigeum

every week, readily conceive this situation, and was

anything upon their readiness

attempt.

ideas of his

the contrary,

own

See

for

worth while to

risk

Aeschylus at any rate makes no such

by a natural compromise with the habitual communication

time, he supposes such a possibility of

example the excellent introduction

to Eiiger's edition.

v/^

J-

INTRODUCTION.

XXX

between Troy and Argos that sometimes the very ashes of the dead were It is needless to look further for reasons why he sent home for burial'.

should not have placed the queen in the house of Aegisthus ; and the same reflexion, we may add, should make us very slow to assume, as we

commonly

do, that he has placed Aegisthus in the palace or even in

the realm of Clytaemnestra.

V^eschylus then, or the predecessors the

whom

he followed,

adapting

tradition to the expectations of their public, could not but

Homeric

drop the incident upon which in Homer the whole mechanism of the story But neither surely could they drop it without compensation.

depends"-

(The story of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra

daring venture, which

against

circumstances succeeded.

The

and by the favour of

With the change of manners and

became unsuitable

this fashion

essentially the story of a

epic bard, after the fashion expected

of him, provides the circumstancesy

knowledge

probability

all

and the

;

difficulty of saving

many ways too obvious to be specithe situation at all thus, how does the Aeschylean standing then problem The fied. solution being discarded, what Homeric The with it? deal narrative was increased in

solution

does Aeschylus provide ?

Absolutely,

are

no solution or attempted It is hard to say whether the story, as they would solution at all. reconstruct it, is more amazing in what it affirms or in what it ignore^. To the question, the inevitable question, of the Homeric Telemachus, the interpretation of the Byzantine

critics,

How was the imperial Agamemnon slain, and by what cunning device was he overpowered?' the answer of Aeschylus, we are to understand, would have been this, Clytaemnestra entangled him in a bath-drapery '

made it

purpose

for the

now

will

to pursue

diminish as

which

lies

rapidly follow the action, from the point where

this

Our

criticism.

we proceed.

difficulties

Agamemnon and

Aegisthus, though perplexing in the highest degree

precedes or

requirements of the

situati'^n,

obstacle sufficient to

mar

exit of the king, the

does not

reference offer,

the entrance of if

considered in

unprovided

the

taken by

magnificent and astounding

its

left

drama

true that all that part of the

between the entrance of

connexion with what

not disappear or

will

itself,

effect.

any

The

whole part of Cassandra, the whole scene between

the queen and the elders after the murder are such as it would be Upon this part of the play, something less than impertinent to praise. half of

it,

regarded practically as an independent piece,

448

;

See also Ag. 835 r.

13,

i\aav

iirl

foil.

pT/rots

yipaai

TrarpiKal jSacriXelai. ^

vv. 125

1353.

— 145.

INTRODUCTION. councillors,

who form

which

xxxvii

represented by the feeble and anxious remnant,

the principal chorus of the play

pains to expose their weakness

As we

and the poet has spared no

shall see, the very crisis of the

upon their inevitable defect in quickness, decision, and Meanwhile the generation coming up was far from compensacourage. As more and more lives ting in loyalty for the generation going down. action turns

were

Menelaus, discontent grew deeper and end came, the friends of the king, seeing

sacrificed to the revenge of

wider

until at last, before the

the course of

yet not

affairs,

themselves that

all

was

daring

ripe for

acknowledged

interfere,

an outbreak against the government.

Powerless already, they lived in constant fear of some dark design, and / to look with desperate eagerness for the king's return

began

Meanwhile the queen and the partner of her aiding the natural course of events.

how much

How much

were using and

guilt

the king's friends knew,

they suspected, of the queen's unfaithfulness, the dramatist

nowhere determines, nor would anything have been gained dramatically, In such a case the question of moment is but much lost, by doing so.

much what

not so

known

be ignored and what

or suspected, but

much

publicly acknowledged.

plain from the

of the elders, the king's devoted subjects, towards the queen in the

and towards the king

at his return,

inconceivable,

and indeed the whole story is palpably impossible. We are directed to suppose that by the end of the war the repute of Clytaemnestra had reached that only too familiar stage, when a wife's adultery

every one and proclaimed by no one, and

speak least of

who

is known when those know least

most nearly interested but, expecting yet

are

weakly dreading the discovery,

still

say to themselves with the Argive

elders TTciXai

Down

to the

TO (Tiyav cf>apfJiaKOv /?Aa^i^s ^x^-

day of the king's return Aegisthus was

well as legally, a banished

vv. 72

z'j'.

first

which

—

a.v\<\

passim.

nominally, as

die List gelingen sull, vor

—

this part of the story is effectively

summed ^

— 83

still

man, coming and going of course more and

437 480, and vv. 543 555, the passage of great importance, in

up.

'Aegisthos und Klytamnestra schlies-

sen zwar einen Bund, allein er muss,

wenn

helm gehalten warden.' tang.

This

perfectly

cler

Welt ge-

Enger, Einleitrue

;

but

Clytaemnestra had recalled from banish-

ment her husband's hereditary enemy, what concealment could any longer be pretended

rather what cannot

whole course of the play that the correspondence and intimacy of Clytaemnestra with Aegisthus remained to the last at least a pr etend ed Upon any other supposition the behaviour secret, not.„an_open scandal'l early part of the play

TNTRODUCTION.

xxxviii

more frequently

as the hojjes of the exiles

while the other side

still

maintained the

and the malcontents

Where

the fatal morning itself he was actually not in the Argolid.

he was, and where

between

rose,

politic fiction of his absence.

long while past he had spent the intervals

for a

his visits, the story

Meanwhile

presently to discover.

all

knew and acknowledged to themselves respecting the dangerous state of the popular mind was naturally transmitted to their master Nor was it possible but that with these reports a messenger less discreet or more courageous than the rest should sometimes whisper a more dark insinuation. Both the knowledge and that the loyal elders

the

suspicion

account

thus the

for,

communicated determine, and

language

Agamemnon

held

are

necessary

during

brief

his

appearance before the palace-gate.

But the

would have been much more cruel, and more outspoken, if they had known but half the

fears of the seniors

their representations

They perceived that the common indignation against the war bond for a conspiracy"; they were not aware that the fiercer spirits were already bound in a plot, and waited only to determine by circumstances how and when they should strike. To explain the sequel we will state so much as the story presumes to be known The Argolid or ttoAjs "Apyous is respecting the geography of the place. a plain opening southwards upon a deep bay of the sea, and enclosed on the other sides by mountains. The mountains to the N. E. of the truth.

offered a ready

plain are continued southwards

eastern side of the bay,

extends as

far as

a great promontory forming

and northwards

into

the Isthmus of Corinth.

a mass of

hills

the

which

This whole chain was a

and had an evil reputation in legend and fact as a haunt Nearest to the town of Argos, on the site of of outlaws and robbers ^

lonely region,

which Aeschylus, disregarding the tradition attesting the

earlier strength

of Tiryns and of Mycenae, has placed the fortified seat of the Atridae*, lay

Mount

Arachnaeus, the

suggested more than

gave the

first

one

Spider-Mountain, whose

fanciful

hint for the

story

application,

quaint

name

and not improbably

which Aeschylus followed ^

Here,

upon the edge of the forbidden land, lay Aegisthus in hiding with such power as he could make and fed Here himself, as he tells us, with the exile's bread of expectation amid the web of

hills

and

spurs,

â&#x20AC;˘*

Ravibles in Greece, chap. XIII. p. 355.

V. 821.

^ V.

463.

See the story of Theseus and Peri-

phetes. *

See a note on

this

Trof.

Mahaffy,

See the twice repeated

note, V.

1668.

1493,

and

INTRODUCTION. was the

fittest

place from which to watch the communications of Argos

by sea and land with the army

when

the

xxxix

in the far east

moment should come,

and hence

to signal either

was easy,

by day or by night

and throughout the country. Supposing all the best, a hard enough task lay still before him. For it would have been madness to assume that because the Argives

his partizans in the castle for

murmured

and because, while appearances

against the absent princes,

were kept up, the malcontents seemed a formidable number, therefore all,

or a majority, were ready to stand

husband and proclaimed her restorative to loyalty

that the lawful authority should be assailed

And

violence one minute too soon.

Clytaemnestra must arm against

had spent

by while the c^ueen disowned her In such a situation the very best

lover.

not only

all

those whose disaffection

Only with thcw won by such

hot words, but every honest man.

itself in

so foul a treachery as that of

advantage of surprise and stratagem could her cause be

and so many

would support

the country was Atridae'.

its

put

management not be

sole fortress

into the difficult.

when once proclaimed. ',

hands of the

traitors

would with some

But of what use was

were thereupon to return armed with Hellas

The key

the city or rather the castle of the

all

this,

the king

the strength of Achaia

and of

Plainly the ultimate success or failure of Aegisthus must turn

on the question whether Agamemnon came back, and in what circumMeanwhile the conspirators resolved at least not stances he came. to be surprised. The seas were carefully scanned (with what result hereafter appears) and that communication might be instantly opened, if necessary, between the principals, a watchman upon the palace kept outlook every night for a beacon upon the Mountain of the Spider. ;

Here a small difficulty had to be Agamemnon's household were devoted could be trusted.

overcome.

Yet to introduce a stranger

would have attracted suspicion

once.

for

such a special serviced

Accordingly Clytaemnestra

chose among the servants a fellow as simple as

him

The servants of None of them

to their master.

loyal,

and, to explain to

employment, pretended to be expecting a beacon-signal announcing the king's success. His vigilance and silence were secured his

by threats and whole task

last

bribes.

This arrangement was maintained during, the

year of the king's absence.

and disposed

to regard

The watchman,

impatient of his

as an absurd effect of feminine eagerness

and imagination, was for this very reason the less disposed to talk of it, and had never connected it, as he had no apparent reason to do, with

V. 267.

INTRODUCTION.

which he shared with the

that conviction about his mistress

world

rest

of the

when about the setting month of November, Troy was

of the

Such was the Pleiads

taken

situation in Argos,

by our calendar

in the

The occurrence

event at this

of the

The

ginning of the conspirators' good fortune.

Even

and according

winter;

the

expected after the

setting of the

poetical

Pleiads

were closed.

few voyages were under-

in the historic times of ancient Hellas

taken

seas

tradition at

sail

had the

were their arrangements that

the

for

precisely

for obtaining information respecting the

does not appear in the play, nor was

known)

What

advantage of their preparation.

full

no one Ordinary

all.

communication being thus suspended, the party preparing attack

at last

was the be-

season

army

at all necessary (the story being

There would be no insuperable difficulty in whom to be the first informed was a

should.

getting information for those with

matter of

life

and death.

bring any exhibition of the

upon the

the time covered by the action

and

difficult,

For the purpose of the play

useless.

information was obtained

have already seen

and

this

much

suffices

that

exhibited clearly enough.

Clytaemnestra, at

that

means within

would have been very

stage

the very

moment

news of the triumph, is acquainted not only with the outrages since committed in Troy by the victorious army, but with the disaster at sea which they have suffered in conreceiving, as she pretends, the

first

sequence ^

Once more,

the reckless and cruel pride of

Agamemnon had

betrayed

Not content with the stern vengeance which the justice would have sanctioned, he had utterly ravaged and Hellenic war of

him

to his ruin.

destroyed the captive city, sparing not even the sacred places *. was probably not unnoticed by the narrator that by this brutality and sacrilege the Greek army also destroyed the last possibility of remaining where they were till a more favourable season, and forced themselves to literally It

of the winter passage even while they forfeited the

tempt the

risks

protection

of heaven.

eaten up ^

One 1

fearful

See

the

skill

and

prologue,

â&#x20AC;˘*

vv. 332

any

they had

already

rate,

which

the

character of the

are given with extraordinary

force.

set sail at

;

relevant points in the

watchman

The neighbouring country

and fared as they had deserved. and night of storm scattered the armament to the winds

They

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 362.

353

antiquity

but so *

817.

vv.

foil.,

530

foil.

etc.

The

attribution of these sentiments to heroic

of course an

the whole play.

133.

anachronism,

INTRODUCTION. the

sunrise

destroyer of Ilium

found himself,

sunset, 'a sovereign of the seas without a fleet

cause of the

the

disaster

this

xli

conspirators,

The king might have

very perilous.

still

almost

hitherto

But the

desperate, was advanced to a fair chance of success. enterprise was

Xerxes

'.'

final

escaped.

and her lover could triumph only by destroying him, which, if they declared themselves before he came, they would certainly not do without a bloody and doul)tful contest against his veteran Completing soldiers and those who would rally round his person.

returned, the queen

therefore their plans to suit the

When

while for the event.

Mount Arachnaeus was accomplices were ready. the king's

that

the

announce

still

a short

signal from

those in the secret that their

Fortune stood by them

still,

so far at least as

which by what seemed a happy miracle had

ship,

survived the storm, was the

new situation they waited moment should arrive, the

first

of the survivors to reach Argos.

propitious was the hour of arrival.

was

Still

dead of the

in the

came into the bay^ By none but those in the plot was such an arrival expected, and they only were upon the watch. The news of the king's approach was instantly carried to the neighbouring eastern hills, and it was still night when the watchman from the palace saw the beacon upon Mount Arachnaeus and carried to his mistress the news, as he supposed, that Troy had fallen, in reality that the king had come, that Aegisthus was ready, and winter night that this remnant of the great host

that she

be seen

and

V. 1226.

The

was the so will

and wide) were

far

their partisans

throughout the Argolid

to act as

generality and associated with htlsbands

story

named

the very night.

That this was be seen by comparing the Ianlast

of the year.

guage of the watchman

at the

opening

with the expression of the herald at his first

entrance,

d^iK6fJ.r]v

year

{v.

could

(for the light

had been pre-arranged

deKOLTio

ryS'

(peyyei

^Tovs on this tenth daivn of a joq).

an addition to the

the 'coming

general,

Agamemnon

referred to

vtul^er'

personally And

described in the present tense of actuality,

The

interval

between the

fall

Troy andfr'y^,^

the arrival

would thus be something

a month,

not at

all

too

much

ovef-^^;::^

for the

repose of the army, the destruction of the city,

the preparations for departure, the

picturesque impressiveness of the circum-

voyage up

stances that the day of the

of the king's 'bare hull' from the point

specially

solemn day of

murder was a

religious rejoicing.

Clytaemnestra also remembers the season,

when she compares

the

return

which

to the storm,

was carried (beyond Malea,

according to Homer) back to Argos. ^

The arrangement

husband to the relief of a beneficent change in the weather (vv. 957 963). It will be noticed that, while the other

stances here

one chance

for

seasons are cited in the aorist tense of

d'uitely

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

and the bringing

nestra

of the

exceedingly

circum

skilful.

The

Aegisthus and Clytaem-

was that they should on the king's arrival.

strike iinine-

Every hour

INTRODUCTION.

xlii

The

now

plot

be executed had three objects,

perpetual conspiracies and revolutions of Hellas,

first

familiar in the

all

to separate the king

from his soldiers and murder him, before his friends could repair to 'V

him or open

capture the princii)al persons of the loyal party.

his eyes

;

circumstances, this was

means

shows, by no

secondly to secure the citadel

now

certain yet.

and

;

thirdly to

Given the extraordinary

hopeful project though, as the sequel

Upon

the report of the signal the

queen

once sent out messengers announcing that she had received great news and ordering a general feast in honour of the occasion, thus

and diverting the minds of all who were not better informed. At the same time she summoned the king's chief friends, the elders of the city, who in their anxiety at this nocturnal alarm and their eagerness quieting

for explanation

were but too ready to come'.

reaching the fortress,

they waited in the place of council, which lay as usual before the palace doors", for to mystify

some them

their curiosity.

time, as the queen,

whose object was

for the necessary interval, It

was

and

to detain

no hurry

to satisfy

was day-break when at length she appeared and

news informed them that Troy had fallen that very night. It had been foreseen that some explanation must be offered, and this particular falsehood had the double advantage of tallying with the belief of the watchman and of removing all apparent need for immediate action of any kind. One question could not be escaped, by what means the intelligence had come; and the queen, with an eloquence which might almost persuade her auditors, traced for them the imaginary links between the visible beacon on Mount Arachnaeus and the king's beacon upon Mount Ida at Troy. It answer

to their enquiry as to her

true that in fabricating this story she betrayed a misconception of the

a queen

region described, such as might be expected in

Nor were her

in the heroic times.

had not

sufficient

knowledge

to detect

mere circum-

the

the fraud,

were such as inevitably to prompt suspicion. to probe the evidence. But the queen had taken care

stances

that he passed in

communication with his must make the queen's position more perilous and her success more im-

been sent

probable.

would

subjects

It is

manifest that the situation

given by Aeschylus the

only

one,',

just one, perhaps

which

by vigilance

the conspirators might have several hours of

clear

advantage.

The

dramatist

probably assumed, as he does Supplices,

tliat

the

the landing-place for Argos

was ^

their

They to

tried

surround

unoccupied,

in ancient times z/.

of Argos

Though they

auditors contented.

270 implies that the elders had for.

(as

impulse.

everywhere

But

to repair to the castle

they say It

that,

i()i)

have been

evident here and

though suspecting or

knowing the queen's

infidelity,

they have

not the least glimpse of her treason, ^

v. 523.

INTRODUCTION. some of those

herself with

in her secret

xliii

and by

;

their professions of

and confidence she was enabled to evade cn(iuiry'. She added a few words suitable to the supposed circumstances and withdrew. All this time her partizans in the country, favoured by the darkness belief

knowledge of the facts, were using their advantage. One had hastened to the landing-place to receive the king and his companions, and were now already on their way thence to the castle, a distance of some miles, conducting him, his soldiers, and his captive

and

their

party

Cassandra as

triumph

Others were assembling in and at the

band was descending from the moment. It was no doubt one combination,' upon which he prided himself, that

fortress itself, while Aegisthus with his hills,

ready to push forward at the

of the merits in the

last

personally he ran scarcely any risk at still

all,

even in the event of

failure,

quite possible, as was soon to be seen.

own

Left to their

even with such

ceive,

laid before

the seniors could

reflexions,

light as they had, the

They remembered

them.

not

fail

per-

weakness of the evidence

the state of the country and

felt

Troy was really taken, but much more likely, considering all things, that the queen was the victim of some imposture or delusion, which would soon be exposed ^ vaguely uneasy.

was possible certainly

that

They were in this mood when they perceived signs of the king's company approaching in the distance and at the same moment the entrance of one who by his appearance seemed likely to know the truth. The king had sent forward a herald. This incident, probable as

was and not to be prevented, was

no part of the conspirators' design, and extremely dangerous to them. With the first words of the herald, the queen's whole story fell to the If the elders had been sagacious, Here was the crisis. ground. prompt, and bold, if, putting together all that they knew, they had argued from

inference, they

criminal plots

to a remote consequence and acted instantly upon the and the king might perhaps yet have been saved. But would seldom or never succeed but for the weakness or

error of those concerned to prevent them.

And

in this case the default

was certainly pardonable.

The queen could not be

not right at

beacon-message.

all

as to the

already presumed. after

all

the

^- 363-

According the

And what fact,

did

she was

it matter, when as to what seemed now confirmed ? Troy was really

second

thesis',

main

king

the enters

Greek in

'hypo-

a chariot,

Cassandra and some of the spoil in a

altogether right,

But so the elders had

cliariot.

This

piece of tradition, *

vv. 481

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 493.

possibly a genuine

INTRODUCTION.

xHv

conquered the king was come and the queen's wild fancy about the beacon might well be perfectly innocent. If indeed they had had time But the herald, mad with first to consider and then to put questions ;

;

rapture,

was

no mood

home he had

darted off again upon and before they could recover the subject them and had promjjtly dismissed the herald with

with vague suggestions of danger at the topic of his sufferings

the queen was

While they were fumbling

to catch hints.

\\\>ox\.

a message of welcome to his master'.

The

elders

made indeed an effort to detain him by a question as to who had not been mentioned, a most unfortunate

the safety of Menelaus,

question, as the reply to

and by

fleet,

this

necessarily disclosed the destruction of the

news they were

The king

arrival.

distracted from

sufiiciently

opportune reflexions until the king's

arrived, with

the companions of his voyage and their escort, and the success of the plot

was almost assured.

The king

arrived at the fortress,

and

his

loyal friends

triumphant crowd by which he, his

surprise, that the

were now surrounded, seemed to consist of the very

soldiers,

saw with

and they

men whom

they

was this, that even in the moment of welcome they could not but remark upon it resentfully, and warn the king not to be deceived by this show of unanimous

had most reason

rejoicing".

Agamemnon,

stood them perfectly. subjects

suppose disaffected.

striking

putting their hint to previous reports^, under-

Indeed he had returned

and of suspicion against

his wife,

full

of anger against his

and spoke as

if it

had been

by aggrieving any waverers who on the way from the sea to the

his express object to aid the conspirators,

among

their party or any loyalists had joined the company or were otherwise accidentally present. and the gods of Argos had won a glorious triumph but he had

castle

;

been

ill

served abroad and

ill

served at home, and so the offenders

brief conversation between the and the herald (pv. 543 555) and the manner in which by their hesitation and his impatience the minute is lost seems to me an admirable stroke of draEqually good is the dexterity matic art. and presence of mind shown by the queen 1

The

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

elders

at her re-entrance

{v.

592).

Here

a word might have been

slip of

the

fatal.

suspicion of the elders. says

seems

to treat

risk

from the

the time or circumstances of the message

she mentions.

linguistic

was a

skill

famous 'irony.'

simple

not a word which

was anything remarkable

that there

Attic audience.

still

could suggest to the uninformed herald

from Troy, she risked a remark from the if she was seen to avoid the herald ;

the matter with

there

frankness,

If she referred to the supposed message

subject, she ran

What she actually

so adroitly turned, that while she

vv. 774

v. 821.

relish

It is the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 800.

this

kind of

speciality of the

essence of their

TNTRODUCTTON.

Not a word of thanks, not a word, even

should find to their cost. after the

xlv

wide-spread calamity just announced, of compassion

could better lead up to the

Nothing

by Clytaemncstra. Advancing from the palace, she addressed her husband in a strain of extravagant and rapturous adulation, and then, bidding her attendants to strew rich tapestries over the approach, invited him to accept in the final

stroke prepared

presence of the assembly the signs of that adoration which befitted the

Agamemnon,

conqueror of Troy.

address

in great anger, replied to the

rebuke and would gladly have escaped the malicious

with a stern

But the queen by insistence and almost by violence compelled proceed, all the multitude beholding his act and many not aware

honour.

him

Thus with the symbol and show of an Asiatic tyrant new tyranny pass finally into the toils ^. The fate of Cassandra, though of immense importance in the tragedy, not only for its own pathos but as giving another direction to the

of his reluctance.

did the victim of the

compassion which would otherwise have centred, contrary to the purpose,

upon the murdered king, is to the mere machinery of the story insigniShe perished with her enslaver and possessor, whose death was now near and inevitable. When he had gone within, his soldiers departed But the or dispersed through the fortress, and the throng broke up. The elders, already unconscious prisoners, had no mind to go away. strange events of the morning had produced in them, though they fieant^

could

the

not seize

clue,

a vague

but

sense of danger.

invincible

Already repenting their reticence and consoling themselves as best they could with the hope of the feeble that 'something will intervene', they waited in perplexity to see what would happen"*. 1

w. 80 1

— 845.

Surely

this

scene

impossible to reconcile

with

the

supposition,

that

would be severity ? Whether in the end Agamemnon

Agamemnon had no suspicion of his wife's What other motive could explain

may

honour.

his

He gives her no greeting, he will not even mention her title or her name. His language is full of insinuation. It is the daring and above all the resources of Clytaemncstra, which are unsuspected by Agamemnon, not her un-

about

his brutality?

faithfulness.

The

elTras eiKOTuis

€fj,7J

the

husband's

affectionate

of ten years,

sarcastic

•

sole

dvovaig. nkv

fiaKpav yb.p i^^Teiva?,

his

mild reproof.'

described by Enger as If this

mildness, what

be questioned.

words it

that

his

The

at all.

portance.

The

no trace

see

mind

tapestry

See the

1326

last

— 1329),

im-

little

a mere detail,

introduced chiefly for spectacular '

changed

other view seems tol

But the question

prevail.

effect,

words of Cassandra

(vv.

which expressly declare the

part which she plays in the

economy of

the piece. *

wife's

greeting after a separation

will-

ingly consents to the use of the tapestry

vv. 966

— 1018.

the play

cilable

with

the

story than this.

Perliaps no passage

more completely current If

irrecon-

theory of the

Acgisthus

living,

INTRODUCTION.

xlvi

What happened was

this.

In the palace the king found

readiness both for sacrifice and lustration,

commanded

festivities

went, as custom

in the

commanded,

for

all

which preparation the

morning had furnished a pretext'. ceremony.

Clytaem-

nestra, eager for the delight of taking her revenge with her

own hand,

had marked

for herself this

to bathe before the

moment.

She had even descended

to plan

the details of the bath so as to increase the helplessness of the victim.

There with an axe she slew him, and his councillors, wrought by the agony of the foreseeing Cassandra to a paralysing terror, learnt his fate and theirs from his dying cry. For now

at last they began to realize the situation, and saw that the and their adherents had struck down not only the king, with him the liberties of Argos". Resistance was impossible. fortress was in the hands of the conspirators, the remnant of king's army entrapped and overpowered, the country surprised, the loyal without a leader, the young heir Orestes being absent

adulterers

but

The the

and and the

Among the power of the enemy. fleet, more hearts had Nay, the elders themselves were than gained.

elders themselves in the

people, between the victory and the loss of the

perhaps been

lost

forced to confess that of the chief conspirators Clytaemnestra at least

had a

foul

wrong and a presentable cause, nay, even

that their

own

cause was not clear, for what had they done to save the innocent

Iphigenia? To the name of Iphigenia the queen instantly appealed, and the counsellors could not but allow that as between her, the mother, and them, in some sort the murderers, it was a doubtful Thus does Aeschylus mo: Hze at once both the personal and the case. public aspects of his story ^

But whatever compunction even, the friends of

Agamemnon might

way to pure rage when Aegisthus with his ruffians entered the fortress and joined the queen where she stood with her defenders around her and the dead bodies at her feet, exulting in his just restoration from exile* and boasting the At the sight skill with which he had conducted the successful design. feel

the presence of Clytaemnestra gave

the queen's permission, in Argos, what

vv.

can the elders possibly mean by speaking

of their

inexplicable fears

this supposition the

memnon must and the

Obviously

danger of Aga-

be imminent and certain,

elders,

who

did not warn him,

1040â&#x20AC;&#x201D;41. 1354, 1495

ing scene/ajjVwi. ^

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 97, and the conclud1554 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1560

vv. 1410 foil.,

* v.

1607.

here would of

etc.

The language

of Aegisthus

itself suffice to

show

are in fact nothing less than accessories

he comes from abroad and now

lo his death.

first

time appears publicly

that

for the

Argos.

TNTRODUCTTON.

xlvii

of the mercenaries' the friends of liberty, inflamed to madness, would

even have provoked their death there and then, and Aegisthus, cruel

and cowardly, would have taken poUtic

well

not suffer

Prisoners however they remained

massacred.

But the queen, more

their challenge.

would

base,

less

her

and

hostages

thus,

that of the despots being dissolved, the land settled

all

power but

down under

the

adulterous tyranny until Orestes should come.

Thus, as the story was conceived at Athens in the fifth century, thus somewhat thus was the imperial Agamemnon slain.

The Structure of

the

Drama.

have now to show how the foregoing story, or a story like this in main outline, was by Aeschylus shaped as a drama. The Byzantine story is condemned, first because it is absurd in itself, and next because, the

even

given,

The proof which we

no more than

(to

does not account for the construction and language

it still

of the play.

this

our alternative hypothesis,

drama with But

that

offer for

shall

ought any one

the general truth

such a case to pretend) of

does explain and account for the

perfect simplicity.

first

will

be well to remind ourselves that

Aeschylus which we have before

us,

and

to consider for a

play of

moment

had been and, when Aeschylus, took it in and main conception still. It is a familiar fact, that dialogue, the substance of " play as we conceive it, was first, introduced into the drama by Aeschylus himself. We know also that the

what Greek drama hand, was

originally

in its essence

other literary element in the drama, the songs of the chorus, received

from Aeschylus a great extension and development, so that the masses of continuous music, which he imported from the method of the choric poets proper, are criticised, as a peculiarity, by his adversary in the Frogi

Indeed to Aristophanes

of Aristophanes. of

tr agedy '

seemed

that

the whole

as a distinct style of literature ought to be referred

Aeschylus as the

which with our

first

little

inventor^;

and whatever the value of

this opinion,

evidence we should be slow to dispute, we

know

no higher But what was the stock upon

that the earliest rudiments of literary tragedy could be traced

than Aeschylus' immediate predecessors. ^

The

character of Aegisthus' followers

sufficiently 2 â&#x20AC;˘^

shown by

vv. 1656, 1659.

irpwTO?

ruv

prj/jLaTa

Xrjpou,

w. 1638.

(1006).

'EWriPUiv

Trvpydicras

aefiva

says

the

Kal

KoaiJ.rjcras

Chorus of

rpayLKdv tlic

Fro^s

INTRODUCTION.

xlviii

which, whether by Aeschylus, by Phrynichus, or

if it was so by Thespis, was grafted. Whence came the name which was for some time bestowed upon the whole? What was drama} For whoever may first have used the word drama in its present sense,

the literary tragedy

neither Aeschylus nor Thespis invented, or

Drama,

the thing.

written literature at is

any

all,

has

not properly a form of

far older

of a picture,

exists

literature

supposed to have invented,

implies,

but something

all,

action, the presentation

\ pantomime.

name

as the

existed

everywhere

and has often attained

takes possession of greater

the

permanence

it,

the literary element by

will surely

confer

century this process, like

fifth

all

we soon arrive at a Medea of Euripides or the Oedipus

rapidity, so that '

the

its

rest,

others,

notoriously

when

is,

The name

was given, and

without

ages

for

development

indeed literature

deeper interest and

and

Athens during

species of 'drama', such as the

at Colotuis of Sophocles, which

but a thing to

all,

had already become,

in fact

misnomer. ^But

went on with amazing

not essentially an 'action' or performance at

be heard or read.

natural.

movement and

high

When

without even any regular verbal composition.

and more

or story by

fact,

now

was of course not a misnomer

highly significant

Aeschylus took up and turned into tragedy called

that

the

itself

art

which

performance

\ If we compare what was written, in ages when the bookdrama was familiar, about the early dramatists of Athens, with what was said of them at the time when they were still remembered, we shall note a marked difference. We speak, and Suidas might have spoken, of

or 'action.'

Phrynichus as composing a tragedy on the taking of Miletus.

Herodotus does not say '

action

that

even

favourites

so.

says that he

made

Aristophanes mentions Phrynichus often and

his

own day

the

older

the

were

of Phrynichus

songs

generation.

But nowhere,

literature,

the

still

does

Spd/xaTa

which existed or could

tells

believe,

Aristophanes or any one near that time, speak of the

Phrynichus as a kind of

But

a performance

exist in a

manuscript, like the Andromeda of Euripides, which Dionysus read on

board ship before the battle of Arginusae things which

had been.

in the Thestnophoriazusae, in

speaks of them as

Phrynichus,' says Agathon to Mnesilochus

'whose work you have yourself heard, was

person and fine in dress, and that

why

his actions

were

Phrynichus, as he appears in the allusions of Aristophanes

artist in

pantomime, inventor of gestures, '

figures, 2

6. 21. â&#x20AC;˘^

Thcsm. 167.

fine

fine too is

'.'

properly

and movements, and

Frogs 53.

INTRODUCTION. author of popular songs

;

xlix

and the same character

given by

the

all

first-hand evidence to the predecessors of Aeschylus.

Now

as even the greatest innovator does not change everything in a

moment, it is important to remember all this when we come to the work of Aeschylus himself When we speak of reading a drama we are using an expression which to Aeschylus would probably have / been unintelligible. What lies before us is not the action but the '

words that were to

go with the action

how much

see

Take

express.

the

Antigone, persons

for instance the

spy,

;

manuscript implies which

the ancient editors offer as a

them

to read

does not directly

Seven Againsi Thebes and read wliat of the dramatis personae:

list

Ismene, Chorus of maidens,

who speak

and we have only

Rteocles,

These are the

herald'.'

or sing and therefore attract the exclusive attention

of the bookman, but they are a mere fraction of the performers required

the drama'.

Besides the six champions

and without whose

who accompany

Eteocles

and behaviour the written dialogue could not be followed, we have a crowd of ' Cadmean upon whose playing, together with that of the citizens

in the central scene,

figures, dress,

maidens, would in performance depend the main scene and of the conclusion.

who conduct

speakers,

It is

they in

fact,

both of the or

And

first

more than the which

that 'action filled with the spirit of war' of

the Aristophanic Aeschylus speaks so proudly ^

The same

effect

much

this case

is tyi)ical.

still more to the Eumcnides, and the Persae. In this last drama the poetry, for all its magnificence, is no more than a libretto. Except in the narrative of the battle, the literary element is no where independent and scarcely principal. The spectacular performance is the essence of

most of

applies in part to the Choephori,

all

to the SuppUccs

when divorced from

the piece, of which a considerable part, accessories,

When

scarcely readable M

himself to Dionysus upon

the intended

Aeschylus in the Frogs vaunts of the Persae,

the merits

odes, the speeches, or even the thrilling narrative,

not

What

suggests to that typical representative of the Athenian theatre.

recalls with pleasure is a striking

the

which the name

pose of the performing company,

a situation which has disappeared from the permanent literary form of the work, so

that

actually

do not now know where

to place

In fact with the possible exception of the Prometheus, none of

it". ^

give the

list

in the order,

which

"Etft' ewl Q^jSas,

now think may be correct, of the Medicean MS. On another occasion I hope to make

ivepl

some remarks upon

x^^P

it,

which would here

be out of place. -

opafia TToc^o-as 'Apews fiâ&#x201A;ŹcrT6v,...Tof'^

V. Ai. A.

Frogs 1021.

Fj-ogs lo??, ^x^^/"?" yÂ°^^

V"^'^'

Aapelov redveuiTos, 6 xop^^ '^^^

some

avyKpodcxas et-mv,

^xovaa

evdvs

There

lavoit.

slight error in the text, but this is

not here material.

INTRODUCTION.

[

the extant plays of Aeschylus

a book-play, like the Medea, or the

All are Oedipus at Colonus, or the dramatic poems of modern times. is of Agamemnon the in acting, and dramas proper, or representations

the same type as the

rest.

when drama

Even long after the time of Aeschylus,

as a

purely

and hundreds of tragedies were composed with scarce a hope of performance and when, as inevitably happened, the importance of the non-literary elements had relatively was

type

literary

fully

established

much

declined, even then the part of the 'supers', to use the familiar

term, was larger than a hasty reading of the text might lead us to

suppose.

I will

example of

give one striking

more than commonly sensible of the stage some of them are at a particular part of mutes into

The

singers.

this,

where we are made

crowd

by the

fact that

the action converted from

scene in the Hippolytns, where the hero

denounced by Theseus, takes

place, as the situation

many

text shows, in the presence of

demands and

the

persons ^ servants of the king,

and so forth. It is followed by an ode, sung not most of the odes preceding, but by men and by women only like which by a mere accident is visible in the fact women in response, a friends of Hippolytus,

The

text.

strophe

speaks

the masculine, the antistrophe

feminine, the second strophe in the masculine again

the

the second anti-

strophe does not happen to give grammatical evidence of sex, but

proved feminine by ^ fxeya

<TTp.

yxot

The

substance.

its

ra OeutV

\i;7ras Trapatpet

orav

fxeXcBi^fiaO',

ctvvcctiv 8e tiv'

et^€ yaot ex^afiiva ktX.

(TTp.

fi'.

ovK€TL yap KaOapav

cftpiv'

<j)pevas

^^Brj

eXirtSi kcv'^cdv

Ovarwv koX

XctTTO/Aat ev re rv^at?

dvT.

text runs thus^

iv epy/Aacrt Xevacroiv ktX.

€^w, Ta Trap

eXTriSa XeucrcTOJV ktX.

This alternation of gender admits but one reasonable explanation, that

men and women respecmen (v. 6i) as well as a

these singers are what they declare themselves, tively.

And

since the play has a chorus of

chorus of women, and an excellent opportunity has just occurred for bringing the is

men upon

quite simple.

the stage as part of the crowd, the combination

But the case

a good warning

how

easily

miss the action in a text without supplemental directions.

Frogs 90, TpaytpSLas iroLovvTa TrXeti' kt\. It will be noticed that

fivpla

Aristophanes does not say believe he

8pd/j.aTa.

would even then have

felt

the

word

in this context to

be impossible.

Eur. Hipp. 1083, 1098.

j^_

1102.

we may It

;' }

INTRODUCTION. mere chance

change

that the language here betrays a

small dramatic importance

And if much more

caution applies to the study of Euripides,

this

of no

wliicli is

applies

For between Aeschylus and Euripides, with the development of literary drama and the greater variety of written' to Aeschylus.

mute

parts, the use of the

players

had much

Aristophanes makes Euripides say,

fallen

no one was

off.

left

plays,'

without a part

there were speeches for the lady, for the slave no less than the master,

young

for the

and

girl

we have

just seen

others.

But the

woman

for the old

There are

an exaggeration.

too

This

'.^

of course

persons in Euripides, not a few

silent

an example, and any one of his plays

will furnish

text of the dramatists fully corroborates the

The drama

Aristophanes taken generally.

remark of

of Sophocles and Euripides

unimportant.

drama of speeches the silent players are generally There are few instances, perhaps none, in Sophocles

or Euripides,

of such figures as the judges in the Ejimenides or the

primarily a

;

)

]/'

whose action is of the highest importance and upon whose persons and bearing the full attention of the audience is directed, while yet they have nothing to say. A writer who took champions

in the Septem,

any thought

would not be likely to introduce such parts. and the observation of Aristophanes unite in was otherwise and in the interpretation of Aeschylus we for readers

In Aeschylus, as showing,

must add

his text

;

story the further caution

the action, and that this

with

by our imperfect knowledge of his imposed by the fact, that we have to supply supplement was a far more important matter

to the caution required

'inventor of tragedy', than with

the

Perhaps

consideration

more purely

his

literary

one can suppose that the plays of Aeschylus were performed entirely by the personages who speak and a 'chorus', in the modern sense of the word,] successors.

who

sang.

But the ^

The

rest

this

supposition

of the

The explanation

of the scholia, that

of the

poet,

How

ingenious than rational.

same

set of

could the

The modern

suggestion that the language in the mas-

and,

if it

more general is scarcely true were, would not explain why a

alternate

should the author figure by this strange

culine

and proper

general

should speak of herself in the mas-

and the

eirG}v

play?

regarded.

why the more general more personal language should in strophe and antistrophe.

culine singular, or

between themselves and another, and how

own

little

the

woman

persons carry on a dialogue

deputation in his

too

absolutely inconsistent with the texts.'

company, merged

the masculine parts of the ode are spoken in the character

Frogs 948, iirHr airb tC>v irapriK au ovSiv dpy6v,

yvvrj Ti

irpiiToiv

fioL

ktX.

^Xeyev

give the reading of

Lenting and Blaydes in preference to ovdh irap^K av dpydu

any case

MSS.

The meaning

the same, and

explained by

the antithesis.

— INTRODUCTION.

lii

designation of xop"?'» receive

attention

little

now

that their action can

no longer be seen and no stage-directions survive of

this neglect,

moment

little

to represent

may

in the later poets,

and

well mislead us in

composed when performance was still the sole art. That there were not in some dramas of Aeschylus passages (if the word is applicable) of pure mime, of music and acting merely, such as are, or till very recently were, common upon the popular stage of Italy, is by no means clear from Aristophanes, as well as from the probabilities of the case, we should rather suppose that there the case of dramas

purpose and staple of the

were such passages, nor in

the text without confirming indications, as will

one case presently be seen.

all

important, and the picture was

still

events the element of action was

still

presented essentially by means

of performance. It is

The

so presented in the Agamenifion.

plot both in the theatrical

and

'plot' of the drama, a

more familiar sense of the word, and we cannot properly read the

in the

performed before the audience

written tragedy without figuring to ourselves that performance, separate

from which

The crowd

was never conceived by the author.

chiefly

those partizans of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra without whose support

triumph would be visibly impossible, are naturally not for the most part provided with speeches, any more than the followers of

their

Agamemnon,

or the Xoxirat led

by Aegisthus.

persons, or representatives of them, least,

one very important, the mediaeval

conception of the x^pos to the elders

found and

however

left

their

necessary both said.

All these classes of

do speak, and

who

editors,

in three places at

by narrowing

pieces of the text unintelligible I part to

performance only, but

the picture

and

their

sing the regular odes, have

For the most part performance is

that

to the understanding of

what

in the foregoing story the action of the piece is anticipated,

now be made as brief as possible. Agamemnon in the fortress of Argos. Before the entrance are statues of the gods, among them Zeus and Apollo, and the place of council with its seats. The time is night. A watchman is seen upon the roof. Prologue (i 39). The watchman explains the supposed purpose of his employment. The beacon appears the formal description of

The scene

shall

represents the palace of

—

We have no English term equivalent

the Greek x°P^^t which signifies

number of persons executing prescribed movements That it was and remained '.

the term in use for what '

company

call

an acting

shown by the phrase

xop^''

\a^e1v, applied to a dramatist

'granted a performance ^

wz».

alsoivz'.

363, 618

who was

of his play,

621,1522

— 1523.

See

506, 631 (note on the translation

1625, 1649

— 1653.

INTR on UCTION. and he gives the alarm What

here follows

who have

the elders,

some

and

interval

may

still is

within.

by way of prelude

(after v. t^i),

expresses his deUght in a dance

to the general rejoicings.

not clearly indicated

summoned

to be

liii

{v.

;

but

Exit.

can scarcely be supposed that

270), enter at once.

The

text

presumes

not likely that the action was arranged so as to contradict

it.

conjecture that the rousing of the palace, the sending out of the messengers,

the kindling of

fires

upon the altar or

altars before the entrance,

and the rejoicing of the

household, was typically represented^in action with music, for which the words of the

watchman makes,

((ppaL/iiov xope^<^ofj.aL)

seem to prepare the way.

understand him rightly, some such suggestion

if I

Enter the Elders, singing Stasimofi or regular

The is

ode

first

a march (40

in responsion (104

great length of this chorus

Enger, in his Introduction, (p. xviii).

— 103) and then the First

— 268).

not an arbitrary or accidental circumstance.

necessary to suppose here a considerable lapse of time, even after the entrance of

the Elders, and the delay of Clytaemnestra in appearing

The

a proper part of the plot^

elders state the reason of their coming.

They

recall

how

•

the

war was commenced with ambiguous omens, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, and the threatening prophecies thereupon. Doubtful as to the meaning of this nocturnal alarm, they have come, as invited by the queen, to assure themselves of the safety of the fortress.

270—378). Clytaemnestra, attended She informs the elders that Troy has been taken during the night, and the news announced by a By the chain of beacons, of which she gives an imaginary description. assistance of her followers she eludes further enquiry and retires. First Scene in Dialogue^ {vv.

by Conspijators, comes from the palace.

From

this

time forward the elders are carefully watched, as the situation of

the plot requires, by those in the queen's

interest,

who

continue to assemble.

The

proceedings of the elders and even their actual words, are reported within the This, which

palace.

upon the stage would be manifest of

itself,

indicated to us by the text in the next scene, where Clytaemnestra

accidentally

makes a pointed

allusion to the doubt which, during her absence, they have expressed as to the truth of

This deserves notice as an instructive example of the

her information.

presented by a stage-play stripped of the necessary directions for action^.

her at

to the

iirei<x6oLov.

natural

way

careful

the only

the citizens,

which she can

persons

incredulity of the

would K. know of she was not there?

chorus (485).

this, it is

asked,

The answer

v. 595.)

confess,

This answer seems not an answer but

to,

anK

The question is not what other may have shared the feelings of the elders, but how did Clytaemnestra know what feelings the elders had ex-

evasion.

to the

wick on me,

commentators justly

" koX

eviirTcov clearly refers

raise.

How

think

naturally be supposed to learn." (Sidg-

of solving the question which

tIs

that the chorus only expresses the general

feeling of

submit that the above

the

apostrophe addressed to

83 see note there.

difficulties

pressed?

It is to their

expressed incre-

INTRODUCTION.

liv

certain that

much which to tlie playwright was important. It is what opportunities are given in this scene and those contrasts of action between those who are and those who are

miss altogether

scarcely necessary to point out, that follow for effective

not in the secret.

Second Stasimon

(vv.

—

379

The

480).

elders, avoiding the topic of

upon the sin of Paris, and all the misery thereby caused to the princes and people of Argos, misery The people are weary of their of which the end is yet obscure. sufferings, and their anger, malignantly fomented, threatens the gravest the alleged victory, pursue their reflexions

danger

nor can the friends of the king appeal with a clear conscience

;

They

to the favour of heaven.

fear

Triumph and

an insurrection.

conquest they would gladly exchange for the security of their own

freedom

Their doubts

increasing, the elders in a brief lyrical dialogue

still

are discussing not without contempt the alleged evidence for the victory,

when they observe 481

arrival (^v.

may be to

The

Their hope that 'what

happily increased

whom

echoed

now

effect of the situation

in a very different sense

much depends on

here

the objects of their suspicion.

bystanders speaks, see on vv. 505

the presence face to face of the

— 507.

Secojzd Scene in Dialogue {vv.

508

— 685).

The Herald, The

and Clytaemnestra. The herald Troy, the arrival of the king, and the storm. Almost everything preceding narrative.

been

in the action of this scene has

The queen

summoned from

her entrance and opening

592)

(z/.

accommodated

sufficiently described in the

the palace and comes hastily to

The abruptness of The favourable

to the situation.

—

comment upon her speech {ruv. 61S 619) must be assigned to one clearly shown by the reply from the other side. See note there.

Third Stasimon

{vv.

686

— 773).

The

of her party, as

memnon

present in the thought.'

March accompanying that,

the Entrance of the

Sidgwick

says,

she

may be added that however little she may know about the elders, she must know even less of the general clearly refers.

apparently to Paris; again

feeling of the citizens, with

whom

she

cannot possibly have had any communis

'Again the

Aga-

feel that the sin of

King

{vv.

consequences

far-reaching

of crime, suggested by the fatal disaster just described. application

Elders,

relates the destruction of

put an end to the dangerous conversation which has commenced.

dulity

by those

the question whether one of the

Conspirators,

signs of an

happily believed

addressed.

it is

elders and

and other

the approach of the herald

— 507).

774

— 800).

cation on the subject. ^

have already noticed that the

part of this chorus

latter

of the utmost import-

ance as giving to us

now some

of the

essential facts of the supposed situation,

INTRODUCTION. Mere ihe king

TUe

scene depends entirely on the spectacular conditions. Cassandra, either with him or (according to the tradition)

effect of the

in his chariot,

accompanied by a crowd who seem to be giving them a triumphant welcome and expressing their sympathy The ei'l'ect of these sufferings (w. 781) with the sufferings which they haye midergone. would be visible in their appearance and action. The elders, from their knowledge of second chariot with

spoils,

and

his following enter,

It is this startling the persons, cannot but suspect the honesty of the demonstration. suspicion, as already noticed, which dictates the strange topics of their first address.

the close of the march, the stage

we may presume,

so arranged,

as to suggest a

and extending beyond it. This is one of the many passages of Athenian drama which might be cited against the view, formerly prevalent but lately shaken by the archaeological discoveries of Ur Dbrpfeld and others, multitude entirely

that in the

filling

Cheek theatre

was a high and narrow separate company. For such here suggests could scarcely have been composed.

of the fifth century there

stage (\o7eroj') for the speakers as distinct from the rest of the

a theatre such a scene as the text

Third

The

Scene

{vv.

801

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 965).

king enters the palace,

Agamemnon and

Clytaemnestra.

commending Cassandra, who remains

with-

Clytaemnestra follows.

out, to a kind reception,

Here also the general action is important, particuAgamemnon's haughty and threatening address, and of the honours which he is compelled to accept. The device of the tapestry in

See the preceding narrative. larly as to the effect of

invidious

particular, the

purpose of which

only in

intelligible

its

relation to the feelings of

the crowd represented on the stage, would have occurred only to a dramatist

who

When the considered his whole company not less than his principal personages. king and queen have withdrawn into the palace with their immediate attendants the crowd of returned soldiers, conspirators, and others would for the most part disperse, The general the king's companions still watched by their pretended friends. appearance of the action is easily imagined, though it would be useless to attempt exact description.

During these proceedings

Fourth Stasinwn unable

to fix their

Fourth

{vv.

966

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1018).

suspicions, are

Scene.

sung the

The

The who remains

Clytaemnestra,

nestra orders Cassandra,

within and join the intended sacrifice. is

friends of the king, though

more anxious than

ever.

Elders, Cassandra. still

the chariot,

Clytaemto

come

Cassandra, whose appearance

that 'of a wild beast new-taken', pays

attention,

and the queen

instantly withdraws. In this brief incident the chief point

the violent impatience of the queen,

here and here only loses her dignity and presence of mind.

summoning Cassandra

this

critical

appetite for revenge (see v. 1448).

minute

Note

an imprudent concession

also that, being

now

who

In truth her act in to

her

sure of her triumph,

she can scarcely refrain from a sneer at the victims of her deception {vv. 1040

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;42).

Cassandra, by her prophetic power, in a series of visions sees the history of the Atridae, the crime of Atreus, and the murder of Aga-

INTRODUCTION.

Ivi

mcmnon now imminent.

Declaring his fate and her

own

inevitable,

at last in despair she enters the palace.

" In

Aeschylus seems to have touched the limit of what

this astonishing scene

^-^ speech can do to excite pity and terror. The cries come forth louder and more wildly as the inspiration grows upon her she

to Apollo, repeated

smells the

;

scent of

comes as a prisoner, and visions rise, first of the past wickedness, then of the present ; and lastly she bewails The chorus sustain in songs of 'searching and melting beauty' her own piteous fate. the part of the Argive citizen, sympathetic and horror-struck, and finally bewildered

murder on the walls

of the bloody house to which she

and overpowered by her imminent." play

have spoken already

and clearer prophecies of the bloody deeds that are

clearer

(Sidgwick.)

the relation of this scene to the general effect of the

in the narrative.

here again the general action

have objected (not unnaturally,

Critics

essential to the if

should be observed however that

comprehension of the spoken scene.

the play be read without reference to the

action) to the helpless behaviour of the elders at the

moment

of the murder

alarmed

not convinced

suffered either to enter the palace or to leave the fortress.

men

that old

more than by

and

12 12)

{v.

not at

It is

such a situation should be utterly paralysed, but

the words that the situation

Fifth Scene [vv. 1342

dying cry of

— 1576).

Agamemnon

The

Clytaemnestra,

the language of the elders {vv. 1353

— 1356),

— 141

unnatural

The

Elders, etc.

fills

still

thrown open and two victims.

evident that other signs,

it is

besides the king's cry, declare the triumph of the plot.

parlance the orchestra, rapidly

all

by the action

heard within, and while the elders are

discloses Clytaemnestra standing over the bodies of her

From

portrayed.

pretending to consider the situation, the palace

In fact the stage, in Greek

again with the exultant crowd and the indignant

some of the fighting-men returned from Troy With regard to the majority of the soldiers, we are manifestly to suppose them surprised and In an ancient Greek slain (as in Homer) at the moment of Agamemnon's murder. state a ship-load of veterans, if allowed fair play, would have been masters of the few

1400

(see vv.

who

;

by Cassandra, their hesitation is only to be explained by a manifest impossibility of acting to any effect. But in truth they appear helpless because they are so and know it. From the previous incidents and the present situation of affairs it is plain that if the king is truly in danger, then also they themselves are prisoners. They would not have been

fact long before this, as they are

1),

among

these

are disposed at the last ^v. 1625, 1633 etc.) to try a desperate struggle.

situation,

and the tyrants dared not spare them,

they would.

this

which

explains and justifies the prominence and pathos given to the character of the herald,

whose part

in truth

in _every

508

exit (see vv.

way

superior to that of the king.

— 512, 572 —577, 655—657, 676—677)

actually near to death,

and

his

From

his entrance to his

language

ominous.

thus a tragic character as

much

And as the

rest.

curious question arises here as to the exact

represented.

shown

Modern

seems

which the king's death

natural

hypothesis says expressly

not

Agamemnon and Cassandra are lying dead and the On the other hand the Greek that Aeschylus is peculiar in representing Agamemnon as

to the audience until

inference

manner

readers infer from the text that the interior of the palace ;

though not necessary. '

INTRODUCTION.

Ivii

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

upon the stage iSt'ws 5^ AiVx^Xos rhv 'Ayafxifjivova. itrl aKrjv?]^ avaipeiaOai Trote?': and as the text does not suggest this, it is one of the few points in the liypoliiesis which might appear to rest on some independent tradition. The truth is that our knowledge of ancient scenery is not such as to warrant any positive assertion on killed

details of this kind.

Clytaemnestra appears and

She describes

fiercely justifies her act.

of the king's death with cruel detail, answers invective with

manner and

the

upon her partizans and upon the She even forces the lamenting elders to admit that as between her and her husband the justice of the case is doubtful But a fresh explosion of feeling is produced by the entrance {i>. 1569). of Aegisthus himself, with his band (Aoxtrat i'. 1650).

invective,

declares her reliance

loyalty of Aegisthus.

The meeting

of the triumphant lovers

Conversation between them at such a

been altogether out of place.

From

entirely to action, as

left

moment and

preceded by a speech of Clytaemnestra

necessary.

clear that she does not leave the stage.

it is

Aegisthus claims to have

Aegisthus, Clytaemnestra, etc.

Finale.

such a presence would have i the fact that Aegisthus' speech is immediately in

merely procured his 'just restoration' to Argos

upon the son of Atreus the wrongs of

his father

1608), while avenging

{v.

and

his

own.

That Aegisthus does not come from the palace but on the contrary has just the country is shown not only by his address, but by the interval which Consistent in occurs between the achievement of the murder and his appearance. his prudent plan he does not enter the fortress till the deed is actually done and entered

all is safe.

This

Aegisthus

too

much

calls

Stung by

for the friends of the king. his

ruffians

commence

their taunts

a massacre,

when

the

queen, with hypocritical clemency, interposes to prevent an impolitic cruelty which might yet have endangered the success.

'than blood-shed will serve the occasion' {vv. 1654

the elders are led away to imprisonment of Clytaemnestra the scene

hope

the play does in the story

structed as

Critical

and with

Accordingly

triumph

this final

an end.

Remarks.

^'^^^^^'^ORNlA

not rash in thinking that the preceding exposition of its

itself

it is,

comes

;

'Less,' she says,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1664).

general outline

intelligible,

and

and what are the

to the details I

do not pretend

fulfil it

the conditions

explains

relations of to offer

why its

the

that

;

drama

parts to

to say, is

con-

one another.

more than conjecture; on the

INTR OD UCTION.

1 viii

contrary I should maintain that this

the utmost which, in details, the

our information permits, and that by better use of the materials others may, and certainly will, improve upon the suggestions here state of

The

made.

outline

believe,

will, I

be accepted

after time for reflexion

and I will even go so far as to say that the play would never in modern times of good literary judgment have been interpreted otherwise, if we had not allowed the imagination of the eleventh century, criticized and for the most part contemptuously as certainly right;

upon this. It is not Medicean MS. should have lost or corrupted the genuine tradition here as elsewhere, and that they should be wrong about the story, as they are wrong more often than not about the language and the meaning of the poet. Indeed if rejected on other points, to rule us unquestioned in the least surprising that the annotators of the

there

any department of

knowledge of Aeschylus

which the scholars of that time

criticism in

are manifestly incompetent,

it is

owe our whole but we do not and must

the artistic part.

to their diligence;

not obey them'.

But indeed the question at

all.

that

believed,

not

my mind one

authority

no authority, under the author himself, should

any man conceived such

editors attribute to Aeschylus

actually was his conception,

well reply, that accident

the text of the play

and

had

plot

Byzantine

the

Aeschylus could say that such

with the Agamemno/i. before us might

singularly

the sole

and

improved

his design.

it is,

sufficient authority for the poet's

intention.

Nor

is it

ground

for

demur, that the Medicean hypothesis has conthe two centuries at most (we might

tinued to pass current during largely reduce the time) during

In this matter, as in

MS. commentary

the

many

which Aeschylus from a

otiiers,

actually preserves

literary point of

the functions of these persons, and the

comparison

But

pointless.

traces of the truth, though not understood

their

by those who copied them down. On first line it is observed in the Medicean

scholia that depanuv 'Kyaixijxvovos 6

Aegisthus' plot, of which the

the

\oyi^6fievo%, ovx^

irpo-

virb Aiylcrdov raxOeis.

The comparison, as is pointed out by Hermann and others, is between the Watchman in Aeschylus, and the Watch-

Homer

man

Now

according to the story of Aeschylus

as told in the is

(see pp. xxviii, xxxiii).

Medicean hypothesis, there

resemblance

whatever

between

functions

Homer

Aeschylus as in

long watch

represents the

watchman

as a fact

exactly analogous

are

conscious

the 'year-

duration of

Homeric

instrument,

the

Aeschylean an unconscious.

fair

the

note

writer,

suppose

was known

from

whom

into the chaos of the tary.

the

that

meaning of the

has found

original its

way

Medicean commen-

INTRODUCTION. view has been

lix

Even

studied in the West.

efficiently

the

fifteenth

would indeed have been strange, if the readers of Shakespeare and of succeeding dramatists had accepted such But they never have so accepted it. On the a plot with satisfaction. century niurnuu-ed': and

contrary they have

concealing

its

transmitted

memory

times within living

until

with manifest discontent, actually

absurdity, so far as possible,

artifice.

we add

that

the exponents of Aeschylus were

and properly engrossed by the preliminary difficulties oi/ language and grammar (Paley's edition was actually the first exception necessarily

English),

not accuse" our instructoTs of

shall

adding much

authority to a tradition which they would have been only too glad to disbelieve.

Agamemnon

plot of the

reality the

In one detail

natural.

announcement of the

and When, by the

perfectly coherent

judiciously improbable.

herald, the queen's interpretation of the

disproved, the elders would have acted most prudently forthwith questioned if

him severely on the subject: and we may

therefore,

improbable that they should act This 'improbability', as nothing would have been easier

please, call

otherwise.

beacon

they had

than to avoid

it,

in a certain sense

the dramatist must be supposed to have sought.

he had good reason.

And

would have been a gross violation of the true and vital probabiUties of the case, and a great loss to the dramatic interest, if he had represented the design of Aegisthus as never running near to

failure.

Only by the favour of circumstances, and of human

blindness or weakness for one circumstance, could a design so audacious

succeed

at all

and Aeschylus has wisely chosen,

that this ingredient of

necessary chance shall not be concealed but exhibited.

In one other matter the dramatist has disregarded, not indeed probability (very far from

it), but a certain expectation, which we, accustomed to the modern conditions of the stage, might have formed from the course of the play. A modern playwright, having to tell

his story for himself,

all

would have thought

desirable,

by way of

accenting the construction and rounding off the development, to introduce, after the triumph of the plot, a plain description of the artifice by

which

was conducted, or

the Choephori. (for the

an allusion

TToie:

rous "EXXijvas iJKOVTa!.

it,

such as appears in

of any such allusion in the

passing glance of Clytaemnestra in

Schol. in Cod. Flor. to

Tpoias

at least

The absence

509

nvh

fiiiJ.<{)ovTai.

1436

Tip

Agamemnon

not sufficient to

iroiriTrj

otl

avd-qixepov

INTRODUCTION,

Ix suggest anything of

and

itself

by a prevalent and

actually destroyed

alteration of the text) facilitated the error of the mediaeval editors

has

made

difficult

and defiance neither

But manifestly,

of detection.

of truth and nature, Aeschylus

In the

is right.

victors nor

vanquished would

in the matter

outbreak of anger

first

to discussing or

fall

The

describing the device by which the contest was lost and won.

first

address of Aegisthus to his Argive supporters and subjects turns naturally

upon what he he

alleges for the rights of his cause

and

it is

only because

too violent and vain-glorious to govern his tongue, that he touches

upon the inopportune topic of his stratagem (z-. 1608). Before a modern audience, who did not know the story, Aegisthus would very likely have been made to narrate his plan and its success, although in real life he would not do so, simply lest some of the spectators should at all

left in

Aeschylus, by the conditions of his

the dark.

art,

was spared

the necessity of this misrepresentation.

What points have been added we can scarcely guess and have likely that those incidents,

the

;

and

by the dramatist himself,

interest in

which would be

were invented for the stage origin

to the story little

for this reason

whole apparatus of the

king's

victim

aireipov

enfolded.

a.jX(^ipXrjaTpov, in

This curious device

which is

on the stage only,

we may

entrance,

laying of the tapestry, the whole vision of Cassandra, certainly the

But

knowing.

effective

refer to this

including

and

at the last

to the plot of the

the

any case

moment the Agamemnon

so unimportant, that if the play had survived alone, we might well have wondered why it is introduced. But the question is answered in the V) Choephori, where one of the best scenes is the exhibition of the garment by Orestes, after he has avenged the murder which it served to commit It is there used, as Antony uses the robe of Caesar, and with similar dramatic effect. For the sake of this scene and of the closely connected reference in the Eumenides (v. 463), it is introduced and made promiIt serves also, by its appearance in the nent in the Agamemnon. sequel as evidence of the crime, to fix attention upon the part of Clytaemnestra, with whom only, and not with Aegisthus, the moral The stratagem of the beacon was, interest of the story is concerned. we may say, certainly not first introduced into the story by the tragedian. If it had been, -it would not be presented as it is. Who was the inventor, it is useless to ask. Possibly some one not more deserving '.

of remembrance than

some of the romancers who supplied 1

Cho, 971

foil.

material to

INTRODUCTION. To

Shakespeare.

Ixi

the essential originality of the poet such questions

are of course immaterial.

Indeed in

would be a grave mistake

to exaggerate the importance,

a literary aspect, of the whole subject which has been set

forth, at

Un-

great but I trust not unpardonable length, in this introduction.

doubtedly the main purpose of the poet, or at any rate his chief value for us

now,

lies in

and beauty of

things almost independent of his story, in the majesty

his language, in the

bold delineation of character, and

the temporary object of winning the prize, which

coloured.

we may guess

that

the deep moral feeling with which the whole sul^ject

Aeschylus did not undervalue, the difference between an absurd and an

would be

effective plot

mere

vital

nor can

be thought indifferent to the

reader, whether the beginning of the play has or has not any

intelligible

connexion with the middle and end of

my own topics to my

But

it.

would not

sake leave the impression, that I have proportioned the

for

The

estimate of their permanent significance.

story of the

Agamemnon, once understood, might with justice to Aeschylus be The critical discussion of it stated and dismissed in a brief summary. is

required only by the present state of the subject.

required

now

;

and

for this

reason only

unduly to neglect other matters of not

hope

less

It is

however

to be excused, if I

moment, upon which

seem have

nothing to say which has not been excellently said before.

The

text of the

The Text.

The

Aga?nemfwn depends mainly upon two MSS.

Mediceus (M) should be regarded as the sole authority for those parts

which

— 322 and 1051 — 1158). Only one MS. of and nearly contains the whole 361 — 1052) necessarily the

contains (yv.

one half of

Fortunately

(yv.

vv.

any value, the Florentiniis

play,

)

this

appears to represent

where the genuine <^aos of conjectural supplement {vvv <^cos) of V.

23,

Farnesianus

(h),

for

sole authority.

very closely.

Cases such as

could not be recognized f,

One

are rare.

contains the whole play, but

in the

other MS., the

worthless.

Its

very

numerous variations are, in the great majority of cases, manifestly conBefore therefore any weight jectures upon a text derived from M. can be assigned to its variation in a particular place, it must appear that the reading cannot be merely conjectural, that is, it must be such as the corrector could not have

propounded

for sense

—a

condition not

INTRODUCTION.

Ixii

easy to be

fulfilled.

logical course

seemed

Two

All critics

to ignore

sufficient to

show

put the MS. very low, but the only

altogether.

have cited

only so far as

character.

its

of the imperfect MSS., Marcianus Bessarionis (a) and Vaidus

(g) include parts of the play

the second a large piece

not in

assistance which cannot be

the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the

first

a few lines

Wecklein

made

(^v.

323

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 360),

much The MSS. are

end), but neither gives

had from the Florentinus.

cited as in the apparatus of

repeat the acknowledgments

11 59

(v.

(ed.

1885), to

whom

edition of the Septem.

would

AI^XYAOY

AFAMEMNQN.

AFAMEMNONOS TnO®ESlS\ eh "IXiov (nnwv

Ayafiijii'oii'

t^s

virecr^ero

eKaOicrev

lowv

TTvpaov epovaa'

avrrj

Iva

o^Xof

SirjyetTaL.

'AyajLte/xvaJV 8'

eV^a

rjv to.

Xdcfivpa koi

OLKOV

avv

ySacrtXeta

OpeaTov 8e

iKai'ov.

Tfi

KXvTaLfxrjcTTpn,

ela-eXOeZv,

toi/

fxepo<;

t8ta)S

o-twTTT^oras

Kat o Trepl

tov cos

fx-ev

tov

oirtvcs aK0i;crai'rc9 Traiavt-

ra Kara tov ttXovv avTia Irepa

TrpofxavTeveTai,

avrryv*/,

ivpXv

ets

tov

Ayafxefxvovo^ 6a.va.T0v koX Trjv e$

6avov/j.evr],

tou SpayLtaros 6avfxdt,^Tai

8e Atcr^i;A.os tov

TOV 8e Kao^avSpas

kcll

Kal etcrTnjSa

p.r]TpoKTOviav,

KacravSpa

eavTrjs

IXtov, ctkottov

a-uros [xev ovv irpoeLaep-^eTai et?

Kacra'vSpa.

odev

fxeTUTrffXTreTai,

elireTo 8

ep)^eTaL'

dTnfjVT]';

i-rrl

iropOrjaroL

tov Tvvpaov.

TTjpotr]

^opo<; (rvviorTaTaL'

Trvpcrov.

[xeT ov iroXv Se «at TaXOvifSto^ irapayiveTai Kat

^ovcriv.

TOVTo

tov

ota

TrpealSvTwi'

Twi'

wv KOt o

K.\vTaifxr](rTpa,

}^\vTnLfxrj(TTpa,

ynttr^w

ctti

dTrrjyyeiXev,

rfj

cryj/xaLveiv

't]fxepu'i

avT7J<s

pL^aaa ra

eKTrXyj^iv

to9

are/A/xara.

e\ov «at oiktov

Ayafxepivova lin aKTjvrj? dvaipelaOat

OdvaTov veKpav avTrjv

ti7re8et^ev,

Troiei,

ireTvoi-qKev T€

Atyto-^ov Kat KAvTat/xi^o^Tpav eKdTepov ha(y)(ypit,op.evov Trepl t^s avatp£0"€MS €vt

K€<^aAat'w,

T17V

/X£v

ttj

dvaLpeaei

'It^tyeveta?,

tov 8e

Tats tou TraTpos

0V€O"TOV €^ ATpews O"U/X(^0patS. e8t8tt>^P'>y

TO Spdjxa

SeuTepo) (B.C. 458).

IIpwTet

craTvpLKiti.

eTrt

ap^^ovTos ^iXokXcous

TrpwTOS Ato-^i^uAos

Xvp.Tna8i oySorjKoaTrj eVct

Aya^e/xvovt, XoTy^opois, Eup.evtVt,

e^opijyeL EevoKAi^s Af^tSvens.

TA TOT APAMATOS nPOSOnAV $YAAa X0P02. ArrEAOs. KAYTAIMH2TPA. TAA0YBIO2 KHPYH.

AFAMEMNON. KA2ANAPA. Aira©02. '

See the Preface and Introduction.

ATAMEMNQN.

AIIXYAOY

^TAAH. 0eof9

fx,€V

(f)povpa<;

rjv

/u,7]ko<;,

areyaa ArpeiScov Tov<s

d<yKa6ev, Kvv6<i Slktjv,

(f)epovra^ X^^f^^

\afJb7rpov<;

ttovcov

Kotfjia>/jb€i'o<i

Karoiha vvKrepwv

acTTpcov

Kai

diraWayrjv

alro) TtyyS'

erela'^

Bwdara^;

ojxrji^vpiv

^^P^? ^poTo2<i,

'^*^''

epbTrpeTTovra'i alOepi,

aarepa'i, orav (pOivcoaiv, dvro\d<i re tcov

Kol vvv <pv\dacra> Xafi7rd8o<; to av/jb/BoXov,

avyqv Trvpo^ (pepovaav sk Tpoia<; I

|x^v...Kal

— 322.

still

Readings of M.

vvv (8)...vuv

have long been praying

8« (20).

for release,

and

watching, but this time

hope See

Koi|Ji(opi£vos o-T^-yais oiyKaQtv.

Appendix A. 4

—

CLcrrpoiv

and

6(M]Yupiv Kal tovs ^i-

company of conparticular them 'who,

//le

ivhole

ccnspicuonsly bright like princes in sky,

Pers.

cf.

751 OeQv 5^ TravTWv

bring -winter

and stunmer

the

man,

man

/. Phil. XVI. 246

6, 5,

deprives the description its

not

point

it is

;

the stars, which are cojispiciions,

all

Trpiirovcri).

—To

condemn

those

properly a great star, and

here stands for the great and familiar stars

which mark the seasons. Hermann's view.)

substantially

M. A.

(This

For koI

rightly

replied that the demonstrative tQu

not

the style of an interpolator (Housman).

no evidence against the verse

There

to dffrpov

who

(Valcknaer)

as spurious,

except the rarity of the

opposed

Mr Housman

but I think this

\aft,irpoti%...aidipi.

the great stars, the times of their setting as

the great constellations,

and the risings thereof

d(rr-qp

ouk

(per'

ev^ov\la Kal Uocreidwpos Kparriaeiv (Hous-

povras-.-cuTT^pas stellations,

5' riv.

would transpose

to be answered. 2.

cjjdriv

which

not

omitted by Achilles Tatius, vz'.

—

6, is

dactyl,

initial

conclusive.

That

who

cites

not evidence, as a quotation

need not run

to the

end of a sentence. I

—

AIIXYAOY oKwaLfiov re ^a^LVl

—

Kparet

coSe 'yap

dvhp6^ov\ov ekm^ov Keap' av 8e vvKTCTrXayKTOv evSpoaSv r

lyvvaLKOi;

€VT

ovk

evvrjv oveipoi^

^Xe^apa avf^^aXelv

j3e^a[w<i

fii]

dXw<ri|iov

10.

yap dvd' vttvov nrapaaTarei

((/)o/3o9

i/xijv

news o/ the capture

Theb. 622 oKwcTLfMov Tratara 'a cheer /or

cf.

t/iis

commanded

— wSc

(Wecklein).

capture'

the

by,

welcome

inexplicable and

of man woman

182 /tAei yap dv8pi,

/ht]

the business

rA^uOev. lady'

—yvvaiKos

ywT] ^ovXeviTO)

and

imagifte.

—Note

constant epithet,

^ovXov

oi>)

iXwl^o} often

means

eXirl^ov

that

avdp6^ov\ov

= di'dp6-

(

particular to the occasion, the

regular use of double epithets in Aeschylus.

— The

speaker

disposed to regard

his strange occupation as

wild

freak

due

some

capricious

queen's

the

fancy and feminine imagination; hence the to

sarcastic

her

allusion,

which

'dreams'.

occurs to the elders

{v.

— 19

being eSr

7iie

i^r\v,

I am I might

that

ever,

'might

is,

missed the signal or

were caught neglecting my watch', the queen like Creon in the Antigone [ovx 308) having,

vp.lv "Aidrjs^fiovpos apKicrei

presume, threatened this penalty.

For

popular

the

euphemism

—

'lasting

sleep' for 'death' see v. 1450 rhv alei VTTVOV,

1293

PcPafcos

lit.

ttXoOtos aSt/cos oi ^i8atos etc.

of the softer explicit

The

del

e's

word

TipLupiav

Cf. Eur.

weiaw, and for

Laws 943 D

diKTjv

p-rj

in inflicting

ktX.

jxt]

</)6/3oy.

(€<ttIv) el

use

upon and explains

the emphatic substantive

cf>o^e'tff9aL

The

more the euphemism a

adds to

clause depends

avSpa

—

instead of the

rough humour.

touch

rdSe.

(TV/x^aXto

'6p.p.a

permanently, lastingly, as in

dvdpl iravT

eireveyKeTv

i/'ti/S^

punishment a

man

should always have before him the fear

5okw, KXaluj rbre.

emphatic

in itself,

contrast between the speaker and

whom

XpV iraaav ewKpipovra

here emphasized strongly by position in the sentence and verse, importing a

else,

for

eyes

suffer death,

the form of the clause Plato

one

thought

\n V. 16 8^, like 5' odv, marks merely resumption after the parenthesis. €vviiv...€iMiv 'the couch where no 13.

dream visits

as I

sleep,

fear, that by sleep

and see

one period, the construction ^'''*''

For, instead of

286)

{v. 882).

ai'...^x'^)

— 15.

similar ;

treated

corrupt, but,

Afed. 184 06;8os

dreaming anxious dreams about

Agamemnon

commonly

ifi-fiv

follows,

Clytaemnestra's pretended description of herself as

haunted by the

may

wider than hope, includes fancy,

imagination, etc. to

eXTri^ov

woman.

Kiap a generic description of iXiri^ov,

T/ieb.

cf.

generic (not 'the

Clytaemnestra),

i.e.

with the

the poor servant

think, without reason.

sanguine feelings of a

dles

condemn

where dreams would be only

to a couch,

too

who med-

7vvaiKos...K^ap: 'one

11.

of the mistress

Kparei,

Tovvra fiaKdaKws.

virvw),

literally

see v. 942 rhv Kpa-

'thus uses power';

k')(U)

eTriaKOTrovfjbevTjv

dreams do

context points the allusion.

visit.

some

The

The dreams

inflicting

wrong

The

penalty').

article puts into sub-

infinitive

with the

stantival

form the ordinary dependent

clauses

pLrj

repetition

proper,

(Tvp-^aXw, pJq eireveyKrj.

dv0'

vTrvov...i5'Trva)

—The clearly

not necessary, to the point.

The common interpretation is this: 'for I have with me fear instead of sleep, so that I cannot

a great

to sleep soundly'.

But

number of emendations show the

just objections

made

to this.

Th...viTvi^

—

AfAMEMNQN. 8'

orav

ncLSeiv

ToK

virvov

oiKov TOvSe avfjL(f>opnv aTevwv,

K\ai(o TOT

vvv

Ta irpoaO^ dpiaTa Siairovoufievov'-

co<;

ov'x^

GVTV)(r]<i

evayyekov %a6pe

«5

fxivvpeadai Soko),

avTifMoXirov ivTefivcov uKO'i,

op^vaiov

(f>avevTO^

XafMTTTTjp,

(iTraWayt) irovoiv

yevoiT

vvKTOf

irvpo^;.

r]p,epricnov

7n<f)avaK(ov koX -^opwv KaTciaTaaiv

<^do<;

TToWftji/ iv "Apyec, TTjcrSe av/jLcf)op(7<i '^dpiu.

lov lov.

Ay afiefivovo'i

yvvaiKl

eTravTeiXaaav

evvr)<i

TopS<;,

cn]fxai,vo)

t«yo?

co^

86/lloi<;

oXoXvyfJLov ev(f)r]fiovvTa rfjSe XafiirdSi eTTopOpid^eiv, etirep 'iXt'ou ttoX,*?

edXcoKcv,

dyyiXXcov

6 (f)pvKTC)<;

co<i

d77^Xw«'.

30.

then worse than superfluous, and the

weakest word

in it

Moreover the supposed

emphasis.

syntax

has the place

(iiirvip)

were

etpyei or KuiXvei

depends

0oj8os,

and

against

the clause

thus sleep

making of song one remedy using song

was the technical term

the

—The

37.

herbs

roots,

among

etc.

for

(iv)

rifi-

shredding

compounded

drugs (Blomfield, and see L. and

Sc.

. .

.pjtt to

work not so good altogether

as in old times. (vlivov')

signifies

The to

6p4)vaiov irvpos

21.

ness',

25.

—

So^ois

27.

servant

oitKoi

the house',

'for

Xa|ATrd8i,

2S. ^eiv,

'upon'

between

hotischold

Under the mere grumble lies the same suggestion

and

of the as

-'.

26.

i.e.

dependent on

eir-opdpid-

honour of

'in

ap-

its

pearance.

morn-

eiropOpidteiv 'to sing as a

ing song' {6pdpio^), pursuing the train of

wrong

cautious phrase, depending on the ambi-

the slum-

behalf of the household.

metaphor suggested by

So the deponent Hiairovelcdai is word for a professional pracThere is a double meaning in this of

awaken

o-rjuaivw in

ayjuavCi recc.

work.

house.

Hence

eTravreiXacrav

the regular

guity

calls as to

passive -KoviiaQaL ttocos

of the dark-

will not disclose.

cannot

—

'fire

worked

at,

'managed, adv. hia.-Koviiadat)

which the darkness keeps and

i.e.

being technical for any exercise or task-

tice.

incorrect.

29.

s. v.).

19.

rendering

bering house.

other things to keep myself awake, veiv

cannot be con-

secutive. 1

ministered' (L. and Sc.

faulty: irapaarare'i cannot gov-

ern such a consecutive clause, as

irpeTrei'

but

recc.

think the modern

in generally

change,

mere

vofj-os,

30.

are as foreign is

7'.

and of to

the

appropriate.

6 'the (expected) beacon':

(TvpL^oKov in

The

error.

associations of 6p$ioi, shrill, high,

passage as 6p0pLos

editors

adopting this injurious

probably a

the 6pdioi

(pdo^,

ri/xeprjcrioi'

eTropOtd^fiv

etc.

S. I

—

cf.

AIIXYAOY avTo^; T

eycoye ^polfjuiov '^opevaofiai.

rd heaiTOTwv yap ev

irecrovTa dyjaofiai

rpt? e^ ^a\ov(T7)'i rrjahe fioL (f)pvKTcopLa<i. 8'

yevoiTO

ovv fio\6vTO<i eiK^Lkrj x^P^

dvaKTO<i oiKcov Tf]Se /Sacrrdaai %ept. Trt

dWa

/Se^rjKev

oIko^

/Soj}?

(Tiyd), 8'

eVl yXwaarj fieya^;

avT6<i,

Xd^ot,

el (pdoyyrjv

aa^earar dv Xe^eieV <y<? eKwv eyw fiaOovatv avSw kov /xaOovai \r]6oiJbai.

XOPOS. AeKUTOV

ero<i

/jl€V

Td-Sea-iroTwv-tS-irco-ovTa 6i]<rofiai

32.

'my

lord's

game',

roh^ eTrel Uptdfio)

avriSLKOf,

(Jbeya<i

good fortune

I shall score to

regard

i.e.

oiKenhaofiai schol.

my own:

vice versa xpV^Toiai.

with which slaves were punished, seems

There

as probable as any.

evidence on the subject.

bovXoLS ffv/j.<popa ra BeaTrorwv /caKws ttIt-

common

the form of a prefix

and

quod fors dierum lucro appone\ So also

cumque

dabit,

— Others

Wecklein.

take eS TveaovTa

use of ^ovs, as a type of

37.

39.

my intention

who

seems entitled

for those who

with

the best possible throw

Povs.PeP'nKE.

reasons

for

silence',

punishment and of

i.e.

losing,

the reward of his service. the general meaning

have weighty the if

fear

overheard,

This

Trapoifxia

ewl twv

dwa/jL^vuv irappyjcna^eaOai, Hesychius.

also /SoOs

Xaf

iin^alviiiv tVxft

proverb

Of many latest

I do

not

do not understand '. X^^O/uat

/txe

tovto

do not observe

the interval between this

this

speech

and the entrance of the Chorus of Elders see the Introduction. 40.

Xlpia^xu): the dative

marily on TToKos etc.

a.vTlhi.Ko% )

(cf.

depends

dvTLTviros,

pri-

dvrl-

and more generally, as dative

tence.—n/Jid/itou recc, a mistaken change. The singular avTiSiKos includes both brothers as one 'party' to the suit, Mene-

conjectures

/Soetos,

think that

(willingly) unobservant

kwt'iXKhv Kaiwep ein-

— The

origin of a

made upon

(Wecklein), that

t/xas

may

of relation, on the whole following sen-

a most uncertain speculation.

do not

yXuffarj Kparepi^ trobl

Theogn. 850.

(TTdixevov

the

eirl

have meaning

here the passive answering to the active

— On

clearly

/JL7]

fJ-ol

Xay^df et

cubical dice.

tk7-ee

36.

for those (only) toko understand, ivhile those

to respect.

size, in

^oi-irais, /3ou-

glances at the queen's adul-

see, literally 'I

'i%

(cf.

on such a question the Greek tradition Tpls

was

tery.

predicate, 'I shall reckon fortunate'; but

33.

all, it

fxeXia etc.).

score) wpiirec (Soph.

and Horace,

fr. 686),

no positive

perhaps merely a metaphor, based on the

vovra (Eur. A/eJ. 54), apparently an imitation. Cf. (TT^pyeiv di TCLKweaovra /cat 6d<r0ai (accept

After

it is

this,

the

an allusion to

or ox-leather scourge,

—

laus having precedence, as the strictly his

(Sidgwick).

wrong was

— APAMEMNQN. dva^

Met'eA.ao?

?)8'

W.'yafi^/nvcoi^,

htdpovov AtoOev Kal 8caK)']7rrpov

o^vpov

Ti/A?;?

^61)709 ^ArpelSaiv,

aroXov ^Apyetcov

'x^iXtovavrrjv

rfjaS' (XTTo )(^oopa<;

dpwytjp

rjpav, (TTpaTcdoTiv

fiejav

iic

Ov^ov

—

KX(i^ovTe<i "Apr],

TpoTTOv alyuTTtoov,

aXyeaL

eK7raTioi<i

oI't

iraiScou VTrarot Xe^ecov

(TTpO(})o8LVOVVTai, TTTepiKycov ipeTfxotcnv ipeacrofievot, Se/jbVCOT^pr]

TTOvov 6pTa\l)(^Q)v oXeaavT£<i' '

viraro^ 7}

Udv

')6ov

8' 7}

alwv Zet"?

Ti<i

AttoWcov

olwvodpoov

o^v^oav

TCOvSe IJ,€ToIk(OV VCTTep otto LVOV irepbirei

ovTQ)

irapa^aaLv ^^pivvv.

TratSa?

'Axjoect)?

'ArpetSac.

44.

*ATp€i8aiv Dindorf.

45.

)(^i\iovaiTr\v

— 51.

54.

-irovov 6pTa.\i\<av:

crczfs.

iJTraTos

55.

gen. of equi-

echoes vwaTOL in

z>.

The

birds are 'licensed dwellers' in the high

Pan

augury, versal

right.

of animal

Apollo as god of life,

Zens of uni-

(Schneidewin.)

—The

ap-

the

late',

vengeance

bably

Hermann

of /xerolKuv.

may be

time'

especially liable to

Fro-

belief

that

tralSoiv)

were

be avenged

by refusing children

i.e.

though

deferred.

such youthful cruelties (note

the

— vo-repo-

end,

the

was the popular

against

observing

not

'punishing in after

iroivov:

'soon

to the figure fieTokwy.

abodes of the gods.

from

arises

predicative force

valent, 'the brood, their care'.

and leads up

ruvde

raised

difficulty

o/a t/ioicsand See Appendix B.

Kpeicra-cov

in kind,

to the offenders or

Cf. Soph,

taking their children away.

varepo-

pearance of the humble Pan in the com-

Aiit.

pany of these great Olympians

cpdopoi \oxi2cnv"Aidov /cat deoiv "Epivves,

56.

a cha-

See on

T/iel>.

132.

olwv69poov...6|vp6av;

see

racteristicof the time.

z/.

58.

TwvSe pieTOiKwv (ovrwy) 'of them, they are

their

entitled to their protection

ihre fiiroiKoi

sind,

ij.€toi.koi\ :

and

"dieser, die

wie Soph. £1. 790 (von dieser, die

TTpis TTJffd' v^pi^xi M'JTpos

deine Mutter sein will)" Wecklein.

—The

Xca^-qTrjpes

it>

roiaiv aiirols roia^e X-qcprjvai KUKoh.

60.

6 Kp€C<r<rwv

niigliticr

II,

because

1074 Toirwv ae

^e'vLOS

Zevs //lar

Zens, the guardian of hospitality

Kpelaauf referring back to the Zeits of

the birds,

z'.

56), mightier as representing

a stronger claim, since the faith of the ^^"os,

outraged by Paris, was

strongest

point of view.

obligations

llie

very

a religious

— AIIXYAOY

Zei;9, 7ro\vdvopo<i dficf)!

TToWd

yvvaiKO^

iraXaicTfiaTa Kol <yvLO^aprj,

y6vaT0<; Kovcaicriv epeiSofJievov

BiaKvaco/j,evr]<i

ev irpoTekeioLf;

KafiaKO^, Or/acov Aavaot(n,v 6'

Tpcoal

reKelrat, S'

ecrrc'

OV0'

ea-TL 8' oTrr/

6ytiotft)9*

vvv

to TreTrpcofievov

e<f

VTroKamv ovB' vTToXei^cov,

ovre SaKpvcov, dirvpwv lepajv

0/3709 drevei'i TrapadeX^ei. viroKKaiwv.

69.

61.

'AX€|dv8p<a

€ir'

punish

triumphant Paris.

of an action, see on Tkeb. 531, 701.

the

name

A.\i^av5pos see

the

of the object

eiri

— On

may have been

of the custom

one of averting the motive

v. 714.

iroXvdvopos tuon (not wooed) by

62.

—The motive

judgment, to be accidental.

the

eye.

evil

common To this

assigned a somewhat similar

Indian custom, to which

referred

many, a woman that could not be faithful to one. For the contemptuous force of

the epithet here

maries, et on en jette les morceaux des

cf.

vv. 790

foil.

TpoTcXefois properly ritual pre-

65.

ceding marriage, used here with irony,

toile

war being the irpOTeXeLa through which Helen must be finally won. As this comparison is clearly the point of

this

very curious that the

end

the sentence,

language a

should

present

parallel

detail

dechire una

yeux des deux

les

St refers to fi^v in v. 40.

67.

time

see

— 71.

doth) though

will

may

tears,

used, as often in English and in

The

the

The '

be easily recollected.

picture will '

knee

ground

the

snapping of the rod

sense of spear-shaft

and

the

(for in Ka/xa^ the

only secondary)

will not burn.

The

in the

have been chosen from this point of view to draw a parallel between irporiXeia and

you, you

evidence for Aeschylus'

not

aware

referring

time,

but

deserves notice and

the the

any other custom

resemblance

not likely, in

right as

form of a metaphor

TeXeirai is to irewpwijAvov.

G reekj^^'^in.

words Without meta-

proba])ly proverbial, the preceding

are exactly the expressions which would

war.

The sentiment is general

meaning.

and expands,

pers.

schol. \eiirei rb

though bad in grammar,

to the

2nd

2nd person being

the

for the indefinite. Tis,

sacrifice that

irapaOEX^ck.,

mid.,

fut.

one over-

men

b)-oke sticks across their knees.

increase of fuel

and by no

come the stubbornness of a

figure in the foreground to the right of

all

{the

custom made familiar by Raphael's Espousal of the Virgin {Sposalizio, at the Brera, Milan). At the ceremony young

sing.

must.'

libation,

no accomplishment

matter stands as

marriage-

the old

"on

deux cotes opposes. Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes et a la Chine, i. p. 78."

the

—

G. Frazer: en deux devant J.

phor the meaning

may

which party

"if fate

struggle

against

in vain ".

in the present contest this

doctrine applies, whether the sin of Paris or

the

affect

sin

the

Agamemnon

event,

will

the speakers

most not

AFAMEMNQN. drirai aapKi iraXaid

rjixeb<i

T^9 TOT

v'Ko\eL<^6evTe<i

dpu>yP]<;

la'xyv

fjilfii>o/j,€v

laoTraiSa vefiovTe^ inl aKt'jTTTpoi^. re

yap

V€ap6<; /ttueXo? cTTepvwv

eVT09 dvaaaoiv Icroirpea^vi 0'

—vptroKaCwv

Casaubon. or fuel

fire

the wine or oil

poured

be burnt.

sacrifice to

cisely

anger

in,

ii7r6

121

JSIed.

and

fieralidWovacv,

under the

faulter

not pre-

6/37015

x*^^''''^^

frequently.

— As

the form Trapa64\^o/J.ai, the middle has its

regijl^ quasi-reflexive force

modum

facientis

meaning.

com-

as in Trapdyofxai,, irapi-

and other verbs of

crrafxai, Trap-qyop^o/j.ai,

form

this particular

diX^o/xai

no other example

there

nothing to raise difficulty in

list

will scarcely be

of such futures

become

nature of the case

this,

thus of

from the

prjyi>vfj.i,

a far

commoner verb than deXyoj, the examples in this mood and meaning are exceedingly For the future middle, Attic had

few.

a special predilection.

All the

tators

assume wapadeX^et. here

pers.

active

arising

;

are

appear to

but

the

insuperable.

Paris

be 3rd thus

by all, and There is no

and the context sup-

subject to the verb, plies none,

difficulties

acknowledged

commen-

and

Agamemnon

which are proposed, being both too mote. general,

Note

also that, if the sentence

reis

are released from the impos-

sible task of finding

in dTTvpuv iepQv. /Sioj'

any particular allusion

—The correction

cTriXet-

and the omission of ovre daKpvuv are

unnecessary.

correct,

from

default^

i.e.

could not render

But perhaps it should be read fem. sing, from Stitos disre-

dat.

garded, unvalued, and corrected to

axiT'jj

(Wecklein, comparing for the feminine termination,

ffapKi TraX.

choose.

—

617

Clio.

599 irepiKXiKTTa is

crdp^

etc.

causal.

not easy to

eqical

in the classical writers

609

T/iel>.

6' rj^Cicrav.

The compounds

true sense of the

the dative dr.

It is

muscle,

I(r6irai8a, '.

Pers.

dda.vdTo.s,

Then

)

yepovra tov vovv adpKa 75.

quasi-reflexive

;

Ahrens).

child

The

one who does not pay, a debecause with our outworn thews

our due service any more (Weil,

or could possibly

ahyaj^s^jflxe, ;

but

;

made

coe

supposed that our

complete.

middle forms are

noted

drirai {ovres)

72. driT-qs,

op-ycts:

TtdtirepyT^pwcr.

79.

and

put,

but mood, almost caprice,

Eur.

—

rjSr]

avaacrui'.

77.

expresses that the

ouk ivl x^wpa),

cf)v\\d8o^

V7repyi']p(a<i;

driTai,

72.

determine.

"ApT]<; 8'

(

that

of iao- preserve

almost always the

word and

are applied

only to that which can be measured.

The

use for mere resemblance

ladweTpos etc.) becomes late

common

(as

only in

Greek.

— 79.

77.

T«...T€: as... so.

dvao-(r«v.

Hermann.

the pushing

suggests

The word

and shooting

young growth or sap (compare dpidpa/xev 'ipvei laos), and answers to (pvXXddos /caxaKap(l)ofji.€vr]s.

78. fies

"Apiis

ovK evlx^P?'

this quali-

the parallel, to the disadvantage of

'The

the old; note 8^.

spirit of

war'

not being 'in the fort', children do not miss the strength they have not known. 79.

in Lireek

Enger. The much more favoured

virep-ynpws

rhetorical question

;

than in English.

For

tI antici-

— AIIXYAOY 80

KaTaKap(f)0/jbivr)(; TpL7ro8a<; fxev 68ov<; 7rat8d<i

crrei-xei,

ovap

ov8ev dp6L(ov aXaivet.

rj/jiep6(f)aTOV

Tvv8dp€co

8e,

cri)

dvyarep, ^aaiXeca KXvTaifi^crTpa, ri

ri veov\

')(peo<;;

iTr'acado/xevr),

rlvo<i ar/yeXia<;

iretdol irepiTre/jLTrTa 6vo<i Kivet'i;

irdpTcov Be Oewv tcvv darvvo/jicov, 6voaKLVii<T (the first

87.

pating a verb \ilp«s

wf) 7u/iai of

it (or

vtrtp-

hini) in sheer old age?

—

[J.h'...8J

'three feet' should

have meant greater power.

—rpCiroSas

i.e.

reproach put more plainly by

dpiCuv echoes to

in v. 78

"-Apijs

what report?'

convinced?

From

There seems

light.

rejecting certified

and are

be no reason It

rjiJ.ep6(paT0%.

form parallel

for

sufficiently

by the existence of

a dream in day-

<j)dw to light,

There

to HKparos.

two forms of the stem, ^a and

(pa,

in (pavepos, <pdv6s: the preference of the

vowel

long -<paTos

and

-(paros

lit

natural,

having two other meanings, said

slain.

(poiTov

—

riixep6(paPT0v

Farn.

rifiepo-

Ahrens.

as Ajax, lingering in his tent,

phized in Soph. Ai.

apostro-

134" (Wecklein).

of apostrophe in both cases

The form

indicates the like impatience for the pre-

sence of the person addressed. not

that

supposed

appears.

—

father.

name

the

introduced

that

must

Clytaemnestra

not without significance of

the queen

together with

To be

thus

that

her

a daughter of this house

was no good omen, and the speaker glances, as

round

were involuntarily,

at the

V, 96,

see that

See v. 599. what was sent '

such an occasion was

merely the message or order to

not

sacrifice

but materials from the sender, the prince

Hence

or master, to aid the off'ering.

point

the

flames

are

persuaded

species

between

to rise

by the

from the palace. religious

communion

and the subject. was doubtless

prince

the

The word

'high

the

that

noticing

rich oil or incense

wepiire/xTrra

technical.

The speaker "apostrophizes Clytaemestra, who remains within the house, 83.

by the way of sending

directions for sacrifice were

throughout the country.

in fancy. i^[A€p6<|)aT0v

adverbial accu-

irepfireixirTa

The

report

by zvhat

i.e.

sent not only to public places but generally

ovap

—

sative, literally

Aeschylus probably connected the words 82.

Agamemnon

'from conviction

irtiBoi: literally

87.

round'.

iirl ffK-^TTTpOiS.

81.

an erasure).

in v. 905.

Cod. Farn.

6' virepyripwi'

80.

926.

{(rreixe') see v.

properly a predicate (uirepyrjpui

may be

noted that the

usage gave the queen in this instance an excellent opportunity for

unsuspected Ki.v£ts

with

literally

her

start

going'.

I prefer this

dvocTKuv

(Auratus,

communicating partizans.

sacrifice,

—Ovos

set

reading (Prien) to

Turnebus, and

the

majority) both as adhering to the MS.,

and as more appropriate z/.

599).

those

The the

to the facts (see

sacrifices are not exactly

queen, but of her com-

manding. 88.

T(ov d,trTvv6ji.wv.

city' generally.

The gods of the '

— AfAMEMNQN.

VTTCnWV, '^OoVLOiV,

Twv T

ovpavlcov

Tcov T

a<yopaLa)V,

^(Ofiol Bcopotat (f)\6<yovTaf

oXXt]

uWodev

ovpavofMijKr]'}

XafXTrd^ dvta-^et, •^ijxaro'i

(f)ap/jiaaao/j,ivr)

dyuov

fia\aKat<; aSoXoicri 7rapr)yopLai,<i,

ireXdiu) fiv^odei^ ^aaiXeiw.

Xi^aa

TOVTCDv Twv

90.

ovpavCwv T«v

koI hvvajov

aYopaiwv:

a curious antithesis, apparently without parallel, as

for

theology ing

also

name

we sometimes

Greek

attached to the

generally to

deities.

the

applied to a single deity

viewed

signifies that the deity is

OvpavLa

filial

love

high

the patroness of chaste

love, the great natural

tions

in a

Thus 'A<ppo-

or wide religious conception. diTT)

Olympian

great

Right which sanc-

d Ovpavla Q^/us (Soph.

and

upper

the

nether

the

no objection to

It is

Ovpcivios in

an epithet of dignity, apply-

dyopaioi as a

class of gods.

'gods

worlds'.

this that

find the epithet 'Ayopaioi

name

of an Olympian, a

Zens or Hermes Agoraios.

was and

the policy of great polytheistic religions to attach to themselves the this

may

way, as

lower cults in

again be illustrated by

name Hermae to much older than

the application of the objects of veneration

anthropomorphism. t«v...t«3v: the articles are added because virdrwv, x^oj'fw»',

would have the ap-

£/. 1064), and the object of Hippolytus'

ovpavlwv, dyopalwv

mystic and ascetic devotion

pearance of a fourfold division, instead

Thus

ovpavla 'AprefMLi (Eur. Hipp. 59). also in Eur. El.

1235

ovp6.vi.oi

Bf.al

At6$

contrasted with 5al/j.ovh rives, a lower

There were everywhere vast num-

term.

bers of 'deities', many of them much more popular than the exalted persons of

who

the orthodox religion,

possibly have been termed

The

them

little

so-called

opposed

Hermae'

ovp6.vi.oi,

than

higher

Since

instance.

could

a.yopaioi.

we must

here

seek in

a meaning antithetic to sublime, highexalted.

would suggest

that 6.yopalos,

in this theological use, has not the local

common though

but the equally

sense,

antitheses, based

which even

—

which these things are a But

symbol, will not prove deceptive.

dyopaiuv

gods and the low different

division

This

from

a quite

viraToi-x^oviot,

how

the speakers are unaware

from

6.ho\oL

"atVe?;',

consent (to

tell (aiVetc) is

supplied from

not used.

sich

\iifl.(ja.

and

In this sense atVei»

etwas

sagen".— X€|a<ra...irau5v

y&ov

far

far as thou canst

tell J,

'so far as thou canst

not

for \iytiv

very

the queen's persuasions are.

o Ti...alv€iv: so

97.

niayest

ruv

Under

rejoicing, of

and

oCipavlwv

suggested the hope, that the

familiar

irapadeX^ei

cf.

contrasted epithets.

deceit,

dyopaioi

'deities of every degree, the great

scarcely

this figure is

Ti2v

own time were

jJioXaKais d86Xoi<ri, in ivhose softness

terms,

means

in his

irapTTyopiais

95. 71.

somewhat that

pure '.

used but for religious purposes.

X^^acra,

the commonalty,

xP''A'a'''«

of foreign, chiefly Oriental, production,

and mayest

different prin-

poet has in view those costly

secondary sense of popular or familiar, in a.yopa.la. 6v6p.a.Ta.

d-yvov halliTwed, not merely

94.

The

some

fetiches.

of Athens are an

then

to ovpdvLoi,

not

two

ciples.

also

Wecklein,

verstehcn,

zu-

^tvov

i.e.

iraiwv re 'be the informant,

—

— AIIXYAOY

10 Kal

de/xc^ alvelv

TraKtiv T€ yevov rPjaSe

/u-ept/it"?;?,

lOO

vvv Tore fiev KaK6(f>pQ)v reXedet,

Tore

dyava

Ouaiooyf"

e/c

(^aivet'i

eXTTi? dfivvetr (ppovTiK dtrkeicyTov

6vp,Q^dopov

rriv

Kvpco'i

\v7rrj<i

dpoeiv

elfjLL

(fjpeva.'f

— ohtov

Kpdro<{

crrp.

aiaiov dvSpoov

The

etc.

105

periphras-

imperative, yevoO with aorist participle,

tic

here seen in

its

where

original use,

serves to express something not so easily

put without

it.

— Others

suppose that the

i.e. 'is

0810V and alViov apply properly

past.

omen on

a favourable

the

vigour

luhose

Kparos 'strength'

journey.

march or i.e.

'that

foregoing thoughts {Tpiwodas odovs creixet ',

on the whole' or 'on the balance'.

in Eur.

1095

J\/ed.

— 103.

iarl

ijTis

TT}i

(ppevos schol.

ing

^poTols,

tJSi;

Pauw.

of OLyavd,

\30\\\ fortunate Si.xid

a'lcriov

permitted

a double suggestion.

(see alffa) there

tKTe\i]S, here the opposite of ivreX-qs, is

Doric form

very doubtful whether in

the literal sense of the words.

Xijirr)

dyavrj Karsten.

to the

story,

relates to a oStov Kpdros alaiou in

i^ead-

6ufj.oj36pos

— The

by the coming

80) but chiefly

which

which means

103.

quite uncertain.

(pavdela

nun

etV avLapbv iraldes reKidovai.

loi

an encouragement upon

TcXeOei properly results in being

but

;

natural. 100.

way permitted

so short a sentence, seems un-

re yevod

iranbi'

by anacoluthon (Wecklein)

lost

this,

of old age

which strengthens', see on v, 299. The application of the metaphor to the journey of life is suggested partly by the

sentence corresponding to is

en yap

iKTeXicov'

and so the healer

a euphemism for aged: as

man

here

iKTeX-fji

d eVreXi?? is

vigour or perfection, so 6

his

one who has passed that

such points poetry was regular, and there

stage

are traces of a certain tendency in v to

different application of the notion 'finish-

the

retain

a-sound,

exercised by

writing

For the cXttis

last

dfivvei

that

regularly

iroiva-TOjp,

va/xepT-qs,

Kvvayos,

evvaffifios,

fcifia,

Thus we have

two

lines

<ppovTi8'

ed' a young

in Attic

opposed

euvdrup,

the

vads,

vatos.

Housman dw\T]crTOv

—

gives 0v/xou,

not,

tion

—

Kvpids

to certainties,

€l|Jii:

and

they turn for relief

to that

which

still

within their power, the narration of the past.

eKTeXrjs veavias as

think

clear that

marked, with

usually

(ti.

referred directly to the

afterwards related, there

no point

the epithet e/creX^wj/, however inter-

preted is

and moreover the other punctua-

required by the general sense, for

the speakers clearly

104.

mean

that as old

men

they have the right to narrate (or sing), not the right to

106

— 108:

tell this

/or

still

particular story. their age

draws

front heaven inspired persuasion, -which o8i.ov...«KT€\c(dv (in apposition to

105.

dpoeiv, or rather to the notion Kvpios tlvat

Opouv,

omen

give rise to the MS. and schol. (TTOV

man

a boy.

6diov...eKTe\^wv

dirXr]-

parenthesis begins with o5lov, and

which, as he shows (J. Ph. XVI. p. 250) might not improbably Xvirrialcppov aT7)v,

In Eur. Ion 780, by a

(cf. ^f??/3ox).

narration

the privilege

and

gift

the strength of song,

i.e.

the old retain a strength, strength

gone.

—

in their eloquence

-n-eiOw

when

all

other

the essence and

— APAMEMNON.

6e66ev Karairvevei Treidcio,

fjiokirPiv

dXKap,

^vfx(puTO<i

aiwv

— I

'EWaSo?

hidpovov KpaTO<i, ^v/x(f)pove

rdya,

avv Sopl koX

Trefiirei

rj^dv

%e/3t.

irpaKTopt

6ovpio<i opvL<i TevKplS" e'K

alav,

oloivwv ^aatXev^

115

^a(n\ev<Tt vecov 6 KeXaivo<i 112

KaTairve^ei.

107.

— 114 inserted by corrector m in space

The thought of this we might

type of rhetoric.

passage, that mental and, as say,

literary

gifts

are

the

consolation of old age, trated, as well as the

closely illus-

111.

remaining

form of expression,

men

112.

|v|A<})pov«

^vvevSuv

Dindorf,

raYw

age

which they are';

xpovos for

the aged

TTfpl

(or

uncertain

upon'.

;

both forms

down breath' The age of

the singer could not be said to breathe

persuasion upon him 'from

and

irveiv

dffirveiv,

its

compounds

dvairvitv)

'exhale'

according

—The forms in ambiguous

mean

this

the

(see

gods'.

iiiTrvelv,

either 'inhale'

the

context.

passage are curiously

Trei^w, fxoKwav,

a\Kav are

uncertain in case, and the two last easily be read as datives

many

(/j-oXirq.).

all

may

Hence

corrections (see Wecklein), but the

traditional accentuation appears to be cor-

— Wecklein

rect.-

interprets

weidu to be

the confidence or trust which encourages

them

tell

the following story.

But the

slip.

or,

dual

{rayrjs)

The

The schol.

t^v

6fX}(j)pova

rd TUKTiKa assumes the abstract form rayiw [Tayq), contrary to the

^vix(ppQva

metre.

—The source of error was probably

an accidental 1

Ta-ya

{rayos).

put

— Karairvevti

—^"EWdSos

(Frogs 1285)

but presumably by a

down

not 'breathes

^/Sas,

abstraction 'age'

are good) ^inhales, draws

XaSos

clearly required.

common

Eur.

cf.

citing the verse gives the singular, 'E\-

885

according to a

plural.

—Aristophanes

the later MSS.have KaTairvevn.,

the letter

sometimes

substantive.

language.

habit of the KarairvEici

the time of sleeping

— The

(Enger). '

cf.

plural

Ion 476 TiKvuiv veavides 7,801. An abstract used in concrete sense is sometimes

in general.

the

for

T|Pdv:

singular,

by M.

sentiment should from the context be one applicable to old

by Eur. H. F. 673 foil. It may remind us that the poet was himself over sixty when the Agamemnon was composed. |v(«}>vTos alwv 'the time born with them' or beginning from their birth ', i.e. the

for

left

^v/x^pova rav ydv.

112.

(or intentional, see

164) doubling of the 7.

7).

Hence rdyya,

TCLvya, rdu ydi>. 1

irtHiirti

historic present.

— Kai x€pl

dropped accidentally from recurrence of the syllable -pi, restored from Aristoph. Frogs 1288. 114.

Bovpios op VIS a gallant

transferring

the

omen

omen,

the feeling

produces. 115.

olwvwv Pa(riX€vs...<(>avtvT€s the

appearance of etc., in apposition to tpva. See on Theb. 611. 116.

the

The

black

difference

between the

and

while-backed,

the

doubtless symbolical.

birds, is

The meaning must

depend on the reading and interpretation oiv. 126.

—

AIIXYAOY

iKTap fieXddpcov

<f>avevT€^

^epo? e« SopvTrakTOv ev eSpataiv,

irapt.irpe'irTOi'i

because the aptness of the

T«

117.

omen

two

lay in the appearance of the

birds

different

together.

(Hartung)

would of course be regular for one black and the other' etc., but is here alien from the meaning and inconsistent with the use '

With 0^ we some would write, the

TToXvaTrip/xaTos (Theophrastus)

cf.

forms are

no reason

there

date

for

their

(things, creatures)

^aaiXTjs.

— dpyCas

describing

white-marked:

common

words

marks of animals

the

cf.

ipvdpias (epvdpos), Sac^ias the slave-name

both like dpyias (dpyos) from

(^ai>$6s},

colours,

does

KOTTwaTloLS,

seem

not

are/xpLarlas

etc.

that

likely

copyist

should have introduced by error a form

once

and

correct

{dpydeis,

peculiar.

white)

dpyrjeis

—dpYas

Thiersch,

for

The

appearance.

plural phrase Xayivav ^^^/vac, the neuter

8p6p.wv

termination

but

any particular

to fix

first

should expect, as the

these

neuter plural stands in apposition to the

of the singular ^aaiXevs.

plural

;

in the older writers,

i"are

being used for pathos.

a true plural, the 'runs' of the

hares

respectively.

show

that

When

dpo/jLoi is

means

alone would

This

7^wav

Xayivav

plural.

used of a single subject,

'a series of courses, a running

from place to place' (Aesch. F. V. 616, 814, Eur. Iph. T. 971), a

meaning here

excluded by ^Xaji&ra and the epithet Xoicrdioi

last.

— The

fact

^Xa^ivra Xoiadluv Spd/xuv

expressed

The Trojans were

symbol.

part of the

but to

all

proved that

escape their enemies, and were at last

Aeschylus would not allow the pronun-

only caught by the pretence of abandon-

metre;

but

cannot

ing the attempt.

ciation arg-yas. 1

19.

schol.

Se^taj,

e'/c

eariv

— SopvirdXrov

oi 5opvTrd\Tr]s,

cf.

seems

spear-shaking' gen.

XayodaiTTjs v. 128.

On mere

piwdXrov Turnebus. of spelling

ev(Tv/j,p6\us,

have followed the MS.

impossible

121.

For the stock or

prove that

Aeschylus could not have written

word as it was always

80-

questions

the

given, or that his spelling

consistent.

Xa-y ivov -ytwav hares (not a hare)

periphrasis, in

hiud (not

which yivva means

offspring) cf. dpaivusv

yivva males (Eur. 3Ied. 428), KevTavpuv yii>va Centaurs (id. I/. F. 365), yivva. ^pvycov

Phrygians

(id.

Ttoa yivvav thee, loio).

Tro. 531),

an Asiatic

—Po(rK6|X€voi..,8p6nwv

craj' 'AcrtT;-

(id.

Andr.

feeding on

hares, creatures full-teemed ivith young,

which they had caught in the moment of escape, literally 'stopped from their last

runs'.

—

€piKV|JiaTa

from

fpiKv/xaTos,

—

think the text here

The assumptions

and simple.

correct

which have created difficulty are (i) that ipcKV/jLara is an error, (2) that the two birds have but one hare, inferred apparently from V. 142, where see note.

to (i), the schol. gives the interpreta-

tion TroXvKVfiova, but this that

the text

had

TToXu-.

uses the

(The

had

no more implies

-KVfxova

than that

The interpreter naturally commoner form in both parts.

possibility of

the form epiKiifiaTos

seems to have been overlooked by

modern editors.) some read (with sing.) (pepfiari,

-the

these assumptions

recc.)

epiKvfiova

(fem.

and explain the gender of

^Xa(3evTa (masc. sing.) as referring to the

meaning But this

(t6v Xa7wj') of Xayivav yevvav. is

play fast and loose with

TO a-qp.aLv6p.evov. 7ej'j'a;'

fact that

The meaning of

Xayivav

ex hypothcsi feminine, and the

Greek had no

distinct

word

for

—

AfAMEMNQN. epiKvfiaTa

(jjep/jiarc

^\a^evra

XoiaOioop Spoficov.

yivvap,

atkivov aTkivop eiVe, to

ev vtKaTCO.

K€8v6<; Be aTparofiavTLf; I8a>v

8vo

avT.

125

\r]p,acn Stccrot)?

'ArpetiSa?

/uLa')^ifjiov<i

XayoSaiTWi

i8di]

TTO/xTTOv'i 8'

ovrcii

Xpovco

ap-^a<i'

elire

repn^cov

130

dypel

/j.€v

UpLafiov ttoXlv dSe KeXev6o<i' irnvra 8e irvpycov 124.

the female hare

Others etc.)

a'CKLvov

throughout.

nothing to the matter.

(Tumebus,

therefore

Hartung,

read ipiKv/xova (pep/xara and inter-

pret this either of the mother-hare, which

{fdus) will not admit, or of the

<pipfia

unborn

which ^Xa^ivra dpofiuv

offspring,

will not admit.

proverbial.

the burden of a dirge.

should

make

the

first

— In

— al'Xivov we

English

clause dependent,

'Though sad words must be said, yet See on v. 360. the good prevail'. See Appendix C. 125 129.

let

—

apX^S ^i'- 'understood the hare-devourers and the conducting powers ', i.e. understood the combination of the two pairs (see on re in z', 117) and 128.

iiar\

Xayodalras

perceived the parallel.

133^-135.

wall all their beafts, their ptiblic store, shall

visions

army

and

The

destroyed.

consume their probefore Troy, and be reduced to shall

the last straits.

Calchas infers

this

from

the fierce hunger of the typical eagles.

(So also Wecklein.)

This or other similar

prophetic interpretations of hunger pro-

bably suggested {Aen.

—

schol. here,

and

The one note

kttjvt}'

the

portent in Virgil

116 etiam mensas consumimus).

irvp-ywv..."irp6<r0€ before i.e. outside the

wall, so irp6<rde irvXav Theb. 512.

kttjvt]

Kr-^fiara

-xp-q/jLara

Hesych.

explains the source of the

how

and shovfs

other,

little trust

can be

placed in the ancient lexicographers,

when

supported by independent evidence

not

distribution

partitio

— p.oipa division, For

(Klausen).

similar uses of iidlpa in

concrete sense

its

430 and note there. meaning fate established in prose, but in poetry the word is Sophocles probably had this or a

(port) see Eur. Aled.

The

specialized

itself

free.

like passage in

mind when he described Greek host

these herds, the supply of the

before Troy, as avfipLiKra '

the

\eias

dSaara

mingled spoil of forage, not yet

divided'

Thotigh ere they pass the

perforce be divided

besieging

here as always (Paley).

beasts,

or scientific probability.

Probably

124.

XoYoSairas,

128.

(Ai.

54).

—

to,

a mass or zohole

ttXtjOos

yuoipa.

STijiioirXtiGrj

correlative to

distribution the supply ceases

and to be a TrX^^oy. The added to bar the possibility of taking the adjective as a predicate, which

S-qixios

article

would destroy the

lently)

most

sense.

— irpos to pCaiov

^lav or jStaiws perforce (not vio-

Trpos ;

is this

error

difficulty here.

which has caused

—-To refer

the schol. to the wealth of

Kr-r\vi]

with

Troy requires

us to neglect txiv..M and to mistranslate KTrjVi

and irCpyuv, and leaves unexplained

how Calchas

inferred from the portent

—

AIIXYAOY

14 TTpoaOe rd

KTijvr}

BrjfxiOTrXrjOrj

fiolpa XaTrd^et Trpo? to ^iaiov. oiov

ciya

Tt<i

fJbr)

135

Oeodev KV€(^d(Tr) Trporvirev arofiiov fjLeya T/oota?

ockm yap

arparwOkv.

eiri-

would take a long do not apprehend the grounds on which it is denied (Housman, y. r/n'I.

necessary from the point of view of the

that the enterprise

time.

FAedra,

XVI.

7^2) that according to that story

Aeschylus followed

of the siege which

army was reduced

the besieging

to the

See

before the final success.

last straits

the portent.

characteristic doctrine of this play, that

one man's sin tends to produce sin in others.

and overcloud

the gathering of the host,

luhose

young and of pregcannot but

therefore

seer

the house of the eagles

which

same power by another un-

affronted the

banquet (the Thyestean

natural

and he forebodes allusion

dvofj.6v TLv

from

feast)

excellently put

the

The prophet fears may be made to breed '

—The

question here, as

by Paley,

how Calchas

the

destruction

Agamemnon had

of a

offended

Artemis by killing a sacred doe.

sin

prose

be represented by a dependent clause, IVa arbp-LOv yiv-qrai t^s

With

over-clouded

gathering

the

<XTp6.TU3(jLs,

Nevertheless in

bridle

the

juxtaposition

the

really

but

host.

bold

the

crrpaTOvcrdat

castris

substantially though right).

— irpoTvir^v

too soon 139.

which

'smitten beforehand,

tives of relation,

Theb.

167

one

in effect a possessive,

(rrpaTc^

The Agamemnon, as

there.

— Note

the

ry oIkuj For the two da-

iraTpos:

ol'Ka>...KV(rl

rCov KvvC)v Atos schol.

see

esse,

not quite formally

iriipyoii

thus small, so that

manner of Pindar. (TTpaTwBcv means in the camp at Aulis before departure (Hermann translating and more

621

interesting in itself.

what

for

not the

thought the meta-

phors do not touch,

iroKei,

and would

dicate to arpoLTudiv,

are not directly concerned, but

the change

The

Sophocles (£/. 566) gives another account

in KV€(pa.ari aro/Mov

which that destruction was the symbol I suggest the above as the answer.

this

assembled

it is

oT6/atoj'...Tpoias are a further pre-

below (v. 158 erepav (a second)

hare by the eagles, unless the Atridie had already committed some crime, of

It is this

the anger of the goddess against

of the matter

which

that

a mighty curb of Troy, in

(as)

moment when

words

metaphors

clearly

Atridse from

assembled the

Tpo/as (TTparu-

ffrofiiov fj-iya

(TTparwdiv, literally

T/ooicts.

another like itself according to the doc-

infers

Oev,

collision of

this source.

doaiTov.

trine of V. 755.

would be TO

might

construction

full

which permits the

Ovcriav

that the old sin

The

should bridle Troy.

naturally guarded, but

disaster

comes out more ffirevSofi^va

Only tnay no

cruel feast of the eagles

being interpreted 'of the Atridre', has

The

a^a Hermann.

The

The '

divine displeasure fore-smite

the patroness of the

personal

are not driven to the

further suggestion from

an offence against the kindly law of Nature, represented by Artemis EiXeldvia

recall that

nancy.

himself, so that

136.

— 144.

compromised,

gravely

not

such

while

^- 343-

136

OTtt.

136.

TTpOadeTCL.

134.

irvpy-qpovfiivd

...xOovl

emphasis

which marks that the speaker

and on

notes otntfi,

refers to

— AfAMEMNfiN.

dyva

(f)dovo<i "ApT€fii<;

140

TTTavoiaiv Kval 7raTpo<;,

avroroKOV irpo

X6')(^ov

inaKa

fioryepav

Ovofikvoiaiv'

cnvyei Se BetTTVov alerwv. aiXivov atXivov Toa-a-cov irep

BpoaoKTiv

ro 8

elire,

fxaXepwv eovTcov

dk'inot,<i

dATrroij.

147.

hereditary, not a personal, offence in the .

—

Atridce.

would never

(Scaliger)

oiKTifj

have been suggested, had

and the consequent curse upon the w/io sacrifice a poor trcmhling

creatm-e luith all her zinborn young.

The middle form

(icvouri.

properly

fying

dvo/xai, signi-

for

sacrifice

0vo-

one's

purpose' or 'with a certain ulterior object

technical for sacrifices of divina-

L. and

(See

tion.

Sc.

v.)

applied therefore naturally to the act of it. But and again in the type and antitype are mixed

the eagles, as Calchas expounds in

dvofj-ivoiai,

Seiirvov,

together.

and

the

The '

ot/cy

'house', the 'sacrifice',

banquet

(5e?7rj'oj',

word

proper to men, not animals, and applied

Thyestean Feast

to the

and of Atreus.

used not merely as a synonym

ofKayws, but in

—The

1601) are

in v.

really those of the Atridae

— irrdKa

its full

sense (see

irrriffaco).

is no was but one hare Whether there was one or

use of the singular here

evidence that (see above).

there

two, the singular in this generic description

rhetorically necessary.

The wickedmother,

ness lay in killing a pregnant

not in killing two animals. 144.

eagles.

the (for

Seiirvov altTcov

note) was

fit

146

l)anquet

(see preceding

only for creatures of prey.

— 152.

appeal to the goddess

not to interfere with the fulfilment of the portent sitch as

The

it is.

So we must render

to give

akTuv, being superfluous would be their possessive '

supplied from the context),

but only good with

much

portent,

it is

that

necessarily

evil,

her

(see

To'(r<rwv

epic

See Appendix D. invocation

and so caus-

fleet

sacrifice of

ing the horrible

—

a victory after

w. 131— 135), so displeasure may be satisfied

suffering

without delaying the

form

Iphigenia.

roaov

— KaXa: fair one.

propitiatory, like the

recc.

The KixKi

and (hyaBi of common conversation. Sidgwick and Wecklein also punctuate thus. CO

K-oXd Weil,

d /caXd

(recc.)

merely

bad conjecture. 8p6(rowriv imitated, according to

147.

the schol., from tpaai {lambs) in Od. 9.

222.

If so,

an odd specimen of a

poet's science,

ipcx-q

a lamb and

ipai)

have probably no connexion; but Aeschylus apparently took ipa-q a lamb to mean properly 'that which is dropped' and extended the analogy to epari

deiv

dpoaos.

Cf. i5w\ia for ddXa/xos bower, a

parallel

case,

Theb.

cUtttois

442.

rough, uncouth, from the stem 'iir-, primarily 'that which cannot be handled, or dealt

sucA a banquet

full effect.

the

The

emjihatic.

noted, does not promise unmixed good,

Aouse of Atreus. 142.

6vtcj}v.

been perceived

that all this passage refers to the Thyestean feast

ev viKaTO).

KoXd,

ev(f)p(ov,

with' (see

Leaf on

'iirnv

and

HetxOai in J. Phil. XIV. 231). Hermann rightly defends this word against prohas aiXwrois but its posed change.

—M

archetype had

by the

ol^wtois, like

schol. to

M, which

proved

explains not

—

— AISXYAOY

i6 irdvTfov T

dypovoficov (piXofjbaarot'i

o^piKoKoiat repirva,

Orjpcov

TovTcov aiTet ^v/jL^oXa Kpdvai

150

•

Se^cd fiev KaTd/xop,(j)a 8e (pda/jLara arpovOcov.

he KoXeo) YiaLciva,

irjtov

d^TTTOts but d^TTTots.

dix

Mag. 377 ffKtj/J.vovf

A((rxI^^os

see

Appen-

from Etym. roiis

'A'yaixiiJ.vovi

kindly; nom. fem.

— If

with the next clause this portent

prayed,

art

thou

Still

150.

taken as a neuter

spoils the emphasis.

is, to

permit

ati

and the

(pdcrfia

the golden lamb.

declared (after Per-

ffTpovOGiv is generally

which

son) corrupt, on grounds

cannot

help thinking wholly unsubstantial,

\e6vTuv dpdcrovs KiKXrjKe.

rQiv

Tepirvd sweet, delightful, because

149.

what

— lovTwv

Stanley,

\ebvT03v

seeing

answer-

The

metre,

it is

But as the passage metre

not strophic, the

unknown.

really

(i)

assumed, must be dactylic.

There

nothing unrhythmical in the

text.

(2)

meant a sparrow, could The same argument would prove that it could not mean an

ffrpovOos, since

mean

ing accomplishment, a cumbrous version, but we cannot with much less effect what

not

the

Greek does simply by throwing the emphasis on Toirwn, and thus giving it a

ostrich

predicative force,

meanings shows that originally it meant simply 'a bird', and like other synony-

— |v|iPoXa case,

is it

see /iTj

being what

tally

the

which

suggested, the goddess should

because Se^ia

8k (pdafiara.

Thuc.

it is

here

other;

to tally with the sign, in is

satisfied,

jj.ofi(pa

this,

each

are ^vfx^oXa

event

any two things which

Zovvai

— alrtt:

97 koL

for the passive

firj

exactly the

same

effect

The speaker does

—8e|id

ktX.,

tovtuv

(see

naturally no conjunction.

above),

—The

accounted for by resomewhat similar story about the serpent and the birds ((Trpovdoi) (TTpovduv

has

difficulties

Homer

fact that

inserted

immaterial.

of the birds,

i.e.

the

omen

153.

obtained by

name

the

the T\jpavvoi are Atreus and Thyestes (so that the use

may

well be a reminiscence)

that

till

The

derivation

the

tiame of

still

pers.

Artemis,

subj.

God from

ancient

T€6^7]s

of Mercy.

en-

T«i|T|

eTev^a/xrju (for

the

v.)

not 3rd pers,

The middle

voice has the

force as in cnrevdofx^va.

schol.

who

the

The

etc.

remember her near connexion

from irev^a.

language, by the Atrid?e, in whose

For the sense of the genitive

form see L. and Sc.

same

see Eur. ^/. 710 rvpavpuf <paafj.aTa,where

oh,

with Apollo the

plain

he appeals.

Btet

treated to

or in

6voixivoi(n),

word

we might

might have been

Healing God, do not thou

2nd

the eagles (see

likelihood If the

seems far-fetched.

itself

6wv to the previous sentence. <rTpov6wv, the portents

came, but

shown, the is

The

criticize.

be genuine here,

enquire whence

appeal

«})d<r(j.aTa

311).

(//.

we need not

and conjectures made here seem to arise from not perceiving that alrei is (i) passive, (2) from mis-joining 8e^ia...<TTpov152.

easily

could not

reasonable.

its

collection of the

has

explanatory

variety

mous words, was variously limited in various places. Here we find it in its proper sense. The insertion of (3)

of this

in English.

The

or a dove.

and

put his request

not

directly but pleads that

comment

ahrjdivTa

rvx^^f,

As used here

L. and Sc.

|i€V

-qv

al'crx'oi'

alTTiaavra

Kard-

fiiv (earL)

ati eagle.

interpretation

—This (w

was

"Apre/xi,

on 156, does not imply the reading as Hermann infers) and seems

preferable in feeling to the recent view that Apollo

asked to prevent the

in-

—

•

—

AfAMEMNQN. /i^ Tijm<;

avTiTTVOovi

Aavaoc<i xpovia<;

e'>^ev7)i8a<i

155

cr7revSo/ii€va Overlap

erepav dvofiov tiv\ nSatrov.

TeKTova

veiKecov

ov Secarjvopa.

yap

av/n(f>vTOv,

160

/xtfivei

(f)o^epd 7ra\ivopTO<;

8o\ia,

oiKoi/6/j,o<i

fivd/jiO)v

reKi'oiroivo'i.

fijjvi<;

TOidSe Ka'X^a? ^vv /xeynXoi^ dyaOoi'i n7reK\ay^ev fiopaifi

o8i(ov

ySacrtXe/of

o'lKoi'i

T0l<i

165

opvidoiv

d'TT

O/uLOCpMVOV

alXiiov a'lXivov

165.

tention of Artemis.

elnre,

ev vLKarw.

dwiK\ai^ev.

Moreover on such a

The examples given

respected.

avij.(t>i)Tos, (TvfKptJu),

Tivas,

154.

156 Tiva: the vagueness

of foreboding. the

reflexive

form

(for thyself), not (TtrevSovaa, because the

wrath.

— 6vcrCav «repav:

—aSaiTov:

that

may

that of Iphigenia.

not, like

lawful sacrifice, be partaken

vciKcwv

159.

very '

difficult

T€KTova

an ordinary

and obscure phrase, literally or maker of ',

Some

(as

Weck-

by 'creator of hatred between near friends', Stifler von Hader lein)

render

unter den Angehorii^vn,

and

wife,

i.e.

Agamemnon and

comparing ^waiixov.

the husband

is it

not un-

160.

hushand

the

8eio-i]vopa :

by a bold

rebelling against figure the act of

sacrifice, personified, is treated as

a living

agent, and takes the qualities of the true

who carries out the effect The language is of course inten-

it.

tionally obscure.

It is

the language of

prophecy, fully intelligible only in the light of the event. still

(a£(av.€i

the subject

the living crime, embodied in the

avenging wife and mother. 165.

air€KXa7|€V (recc.)

tiiro:

the pre-

position depends on ixopaip-a, 'predictions

.Soph. Ant. 794 veiKos avipdv This would be simple according

deduced from'. The foregoing ejiode has been largely remodelled by recent critics (especially in vv. 150 163) upon metrical

Greek habit of expression, if husband and wife were called (Tvfx<f>vToi, which however does not appear to be ascertained. think,

clinging, inseparal>/e (Faley,

Clytaemnestra,

If this

agent (the wife)

of.

<rv |A<j)VTo V

inbred maker of hatred

hatred in the very flesh.

especially the Platonic

Hermann, Klausen) comes to the same thing by a slightly different road.

ultimate object would not be the death of the victim but the satisfaction of Artemis'

traceable.

and Sc.

in L.

examples, will show that likely.

(nr€v8o|ieva

157.

now

mystic use of the word, not

point, if any, ancient tradition should be

the meaning, as I incline to must be based on some such

—

assumptions, which seem to

extremely

unsafe in dealing with a piece of recitative not strophic in character.

—

AIIXYAOY

i8 Zev<i

—

eaTiV,

oo-Tt9 ttot'

arp. a

to8' av-

(f)tK0V K€K\7]fl6V(i),

TOVTO Viv

TTpocrevveTTCo.

ovK e^o) TrpoaeiKacrai, iiricTTaO/jico/xevo'i

TTcivT

175

irXrjv ^i6<i, el to ficLTav

airo <f>povTi8o<;

a')(6o'i t68€.

i7,v

The

70.

comes upon which

narrative at this point

face to face with a mystery,

How

the poet pauses.

mind explain

shall the religious

an event as

to itself such

the sacrifice of Iphigenia?

legends and suggest the point of view

from which they are

;

Why should guilt he visited, beyond the guilty? Why does

to,

be regarded, and a

186)

(v.

slightly

modified shape.

the one

hand Agamemnon received divine warning against it on the other hand he was fearfully tempted to commit it, and this by divine act and in consequence of sin

appears

finally

'Zeus

170.

— meaning

unknown Power, whose be so called self.

oiuK

173.

irpocrfiKatroi

?x"

guess for the purpose but Znis

the Divinity permit, nay, sometimes seem to

bring about, the evil which he de-

nounces?

the

resort

last

can

answer these questions only 'by casting off the

burden of vanity

the Almighty'

(v.

175),

that

language of later theology, by

much however we

(v.

faith.

discipline,

haps the only possible, and, all

is,

the

see, that evil itself is

an instrument of moral after

name

in the

if so,

Religious

192).

per-

shadows forth such a doctrine, when it tells us on the one hand that there is one Power over all, and on the other hand that this Power itself has been developed

one Almighty eiKai^io

previous experiments. lus spiritualize the

Thus does Aeschy-

uncouth legends of the

ancient cosmogony with cession of brutal deities.

of the passage,

strange sucstructure

though simple,

perfectly continuous.

the

its

—The

Zei)j

in v.

not

170

projected subject to the statement

'Zeus has decreed that wisdom should

come by is

experience', but this statement

deferred,

order to set

forth

the

here

my only

trust,

other I

i. e.

but in the wpoG-

resource.

but 'to conjecture with a view to'

to',

itXtiv

not 'to compare', or 'liken

the purpose explained in

t'v.

175

— 177.

can liken none but Zeus to Zeus

This

(Wecklein). but

leaves

nearly the same,

dependence of

the

kt\.

somewhat obscure. 174.

iravT

£7n(rTa6[iw|X€vos,

pondering upon irdvTa

(npicpeTai

TrdXiv

in deep

iravTa the

all things.

universe as in Eur. Med. 4

h'lKa

koX

nature and the

universe are turned upside do^vn, where see note.^liri- over

out of a struggle, and that the present

order of things stands upon the ruin of

can think of no other to

a mercy tradition

literally

make no

can

Aios

is,

him-

not his own. it

that is

emphatic,

aiurco

thereby pleasure

I'jc,.

vain

that

is,

''in

the burden, in the language

The Preacher, of

and over.

TO iidrav a\6os the Inn-den

vanity

the oppres-

which must accompany a belief that the moral problem to Pauw. of the world is insoluble. sive

sense

177.

futility

€TT)Tv|iws

the fullest

to the use here of this

term, and the light which

sense.

etymological it

may throw

on the source, from which Aeschylus drew the form of his thought, I have written in Appendix II. to my edition of the

AfAMEMNQN. -X^prj

^aXeiv

ovS"

ocTTt? irdpoidev rjv fxe<ya<;,

iXey^erat irplu

eT7}TV/jb(o<i.

dpdcret ^pvcov,

7rafj,fj,d^(p 01/8'

€7reiT

€<pv,

180

aiv,

rpca-

ot^erac tv^cov.

KTripo<i

Zrjva Se rt?

7rpo(f>p6vco<i

itriVLKia K\d^a)v

rev^erac (ppevcov roirciv'

rov

(Tavra

devra

ovSev \i^aL.

will

184.

reference

sufiicient,

the

for

etymological origin of the thought, even if

be, as I think, certainly traceable,

has of

on the present application

little effect

— 185.

According to Greek tradition Zeus and the dynasty of Zeus were the third in succession to supreme power, having expelled Kronos, father of Zeus (os eitiiT i<t>v), who had expelled his

father

Ouranos

(^aris

irapoiOev

rjv).

Aeschylus, relieving the legend of grotesque details, reproduces

mark the two that there

won

liouth)

7i'ill

so as to

Supreme Ruler, and

that

scarce he proved to have once

will not so much as be an expressive phrase f(jr destruction which has left no trace. wv imperfect

been,

literally

proved

participle.

'he, whate'er

was, who '. This earliest power has almost ceased to be discernible even in

word

victorious:

iraiincCxw

but

metaphor from gymnastic was specially as-

to sustain the

contests

Tra/x/zaxoj

sociated with the nay- KpcLTiov (see v.).

the

used, like TpiaKTr]p and ewivlKia,

— ppvcdv.

/SpiJoj

I.,

teem,

and to

sprout describes generally richness and fullness

life

animal vigour sap in 180.

and cf.

here ajiplied to

the metaphor of the

V. 77.

ov8* tXeY^fTai irplv

It is as

near to the MS.

arisen through the spelling^ ovdeXev^erai)

and better

in sense.

TpiaKTrJpos properly a wrestler

181.

who

throws his opponent three times,

thus

winning

the

victory.

But

18.^—185. giveth

titles

£um.

.See

that

lie

of victory

by forecast

Zeus, shall be

right in the guess of his thought, or, if

hymn words air.

of '

victory

Zeus

(Margo-

may be

Zeus' power

the plain

trusted in

See Appendix E.

Who

leadeth

standing tmder this

men

under-

laiu, that they

learn

a truth by the suffering of it. This is one sentence, in which 68io<ravTa is the principal verb participle,

kt\.

and Oevra a subordinate

equivalent

— 68to(ravTa

second and the emphasis

gnomic

i!i8(j}(Te...6eh

aorist.

''"

clause,

on ry wdOei, constructed

The whole

as instrumental with /xddos.

Kvplwi ^x^"'

— In the

properly particijual

phrase tuj irdOei fxaOos u)'v

seems the best restora-

(the error having probably

oiIS^ X^^eroLi

186—188.

tradition.

179.

—

— This

KXa^wv be read 'he that singeth

by a contest.

vague,

ocTTis

rb irav.

85.

its

points which he requires,

his position

178.

.Sc.

KXdj'wc.

tion suggested.

it.

178

/3'.

irdOei ixn6o<i

Against Thchcs. place

that

arp.

KvpiQ)<; e^etr.

180. St'vcn

185

(fypovelv ySpoToi)? 68(6-

'''''

the subject of

— t6v...65u)2—2

established.

AIIXYAOY

(Travel B\ evO' vttvm, irpo Kaphla<i

190 Kat Trap

a/covTa<i rjXOe (raxfypoveiv.

Baifiovoov Be irov

l3caico<{

%<^/3t'?

aiX/xa aefivov yfievav. ^v 6' virvw.

i8q.

aavTa,

rbv ...Oivra

a mistaken

Schiitz,

change, though attractive at

and followed rhv

many

.bdwcravTOL,

proposition,

taken as a

irrelevant

The

texts.

clause

separate point

the

;

sight

first

but the sentence

(cttI),

— The language here

then cumbrous.

taken from the

is all

and may

poetical vocabulary of medicine,

from the Philoctetcs and

illustrated

For sto^uv

elsewhere.

to ooze,

break out

not that Zeus teaches mankind, but that

see Phil. 7(83 crrafei yap av (polviov rbde...

he has imposed upon them one universal condition of learning. Moreover the removal of the article from t^ iradei

the word to that from which the flowing

obscures and has in fact

unintel-

connexion and construction of

ligible the

the following sentence. 189

made

— 191.

For

and

dorjiiaiit,

See next note. cohere it lies

it bleeds,

ache keeps before the

K-qKiov aifia

and

comes see Cho. 1056 i^ bfifiriTuv crTai^ovcriv Svff(pi\h. For the metaphor of sleep applied to a dormant pain which ceases and recurs see Phil. 649 (pvWov y t65'

Koifiu!

^\kos: Ko.ipio'i

viiiid the Die^nory

for

inf.

wisdom

n-rj/xa

of the hurt ; and so them withont their will.

co?nes to

TTTJ/jLa

further L.

afterwards will ache at times and even

and corrected

break out again, reminding the sufferer

would suggest

The comparison

hurt. itself

even more naturally

under the rude

life

and rude surgery of

ancient times.

The

rh TrdOos

(as

subject to o-Tci^ti

clear

irdOei

irbvos

pain, ache

841 Soph. Ai. 582 to/aQv

and

commonly

Sc.

knife.

w. — This

deeply corrupt

treated as

violently, but only, I think,

this

that of the sufferer.

{Ittvos is

assumption nothing can be made

— dCKOvras

it.-

without their will rather

than against their the negative of

7vill, cLkuv

being merely

So d^Xovd

e/cwc.

retained in the preceding clause) which

KoivwveL KaKwu take willingly thy

passes in the metaphor into the restricted

suffering with

sense of a hurt

cf.

Enm. 499

—irovos stands apsubject. — KapSias —

TraiddrpuTa irdOea. position

the

depends upon

irpi

nvqaiir-qtuav.

literally luherever it sleeps,

there is

iiirvw

2v0'

i.e.

wherever

such a dormant

hurt,

hirvi^

the Doric contraction for

virvb-rj

(or for

hirvbei indicative).

iroWa.

v-Kvbu3 is

The

Homeric, but

intransitive use like

many

other

See

passage

consequence of the erroneous assump-

tion that the

for

aiTovbr\ Trbuov X-^^am-os:

a hurt that needs the

The admonitory recollection of experience is compared to a wound which long

of the original

atfia

Phil. 637

its

for the application

him The

(Theb. 1024).

much

that

except

men

hath

luho

point here

will not

Slkovti

part of no zoill

not so

be wise as that

through suffering

they perhaps

could not. 192

—-193.

And

it is

perhaps a mercy

from a Deity who cai?ie by majestic seat. The subject

struggle to his is still

suffering regarded as a discipline. i][i.cv(ov:

'to be seated

wados,

— ^laCws

by force' has two

archaic forms and usages does not appear

possible meanings, (i) 'to have taken a

in prose until after the best age.

It is

seat

possible

same

take a seat' ('to

also

sense the reading

construe in kv

virvi^

the

(supplying

by force

impossible).

(2) 'to sit

have been forced to might'

of course

Here the context decides

—

;

AFAMEMNQN. Kul Tod^

o irpe-

Tiye/iioov

v€MV Wy^auKWVy

crjSvi

ovTLva

fjbdvTiv

ylrejcov,

rv')(aLaL avfiiTvewv,

ifiTraioL'i

dirXoia Kevay-

€VT

yel /SapvvovT

for the

meaning.

first

—

'A^att«o<? Xeoo?

The

8ai,|xdv(ov.

plural must not be pressed, and

in fact

not correctly represented by a plural in

Zeus only

English.

in view, but the

main sentence is resumed with a 5^, and for more clearness the subject is repeated almost in the same words, <xvo.t, 6 irplafivi. 196 197: remembering that a prophet is

—

blame

plural indicates (as usual) that the char-

not

acter or position rather than the person

to the buffets

described.

— Note carefully the emphasis The

8aiiJ.6vui>.

as well as earth

This

point

that

heaven

under the general law.

the moral, or rather part of the

(for his

make

the best of his case, and give to his

acquiescence this courteous turn.

ovTiva »|/€Ywv

literally

phet',

legendary theology which he has given

the general rule.

The

outline.

as a discipline

of suffering

necessity

perhaps taught by the

tradition that the Deity itself has

and

progression reign

till

he had

did

not

—Weck-

which the MS.

(irov...r)/xivuv;)

equally admits:

Gnade der

Zeus

overcome.

sentence as a rhetorical

lein reads this

question

that first

known

"und

nirgendazeigt sich

Gotter, die mit Gewalt das

Steuerruder lenken

This makes

protest against the divine cruelty instead

mercy.

acknowledgment of the

The

other way.

—

context points, (r€\|iia

divine

think, the

the metaphor

haps from place in a ship (cf. v\j/l^vyos yap 6 Z(vs schol. see

Hom.

69 (Wecklein). But the use of does not necessarily imply this. 8.

194—227.

The

story

per-

1615) //.

(xe'K/xa

mouth of the

the

yJwTi

kixkSiv,

etiras.

alei

toi

ilY^jjMDV

irpco-pvs.

the sentence '

Agamemnon,

here in

etc.

The substance of commenced is this,

spite

the

divine

warning, resolved in the end to slay his child'.

where

The verb comes

z'.

215

(efTre),

after long preliminary clauses, the

Homer,

men

king of tarl <pi\a

(Agamemnon

(ppeffl

to Calchas.

Wecklein also compares

106.

this

passage, and observes that such opposi-

would have been more in place at <rv|Ji7rv€'wv the metaphor seems to be taken, by contrast, from the act of struggling against the wind. There is no tion

Aulis).

—

now

exact parallel

extant, but from the

manner of use here to

it must be supposed have been once common and popular.

€|i.-ira(ois

a unique and obscure word, to

it is

yield

with

valu

position

shows

connected

The

{e/xTrac(TaaaLS schol.).

of the phrase

Kal t6t« so on that occasion

guessed that

irori /xol t6 Kprjyvof ko-k

to,

/xavTevea-Oai etc. //.

ttu}

oii

that

thesis.

may be

with the feelings of a simpler time, puts

sacrifice of Iphigenia, the

of which suggested the foregoing paren-

unprincely denunciations, which

proceeds in one sweeping period to the circumstances

|J.dvTiv

blaming no pro-

Aeschylus has in view the petulant and

perhaps

resumed, and

embracing this particular case under

moral, which the poet draws from the

and bending

message)

of fortune. The old men, though unable to excuse the king's crime,

emphatic and contains the point ;

seemingly

fortune

Wecklein

refers

the

disposed to

might strike

metaphor

the

beating of waves upon a ship. 198.

K€va7-y6£.

depended almost

As an

ancient

army

entirely on foraging for

provisions, to be detained

shore threatened starvation.

on their own

AIZXYAOY

22 ^uXkIBo^; irepav

200

iraXippo-

'e-)(wv

€V At'X/So? TOTTOt?'

6oi<;

TTVoal

airo '^rpvfiovo^; /uio\ov(rai

KUKOcr^oXoi,

err p.

8vaop/jt,OL,

i/?;crTt869,

^poTwv aXai, vaoov Koi TreLCTfidrcov d(f)eiBei^, iraXififiyjKr}

205

y^povov rcdelaai

Tpl^fp Kare^aivov dv-

eVet Se koi

^Apj€LO)v'

6o<i

TTLKpov

dWo

')(etiJbaTO<i

^rj-^ap

210

^pidvrepop irpofiOLcnv fidvra eK\ay^€

Trpo(})€po)p

^Aprefxiv, oiaTe

yQova ^dKTpoi^

iiriKpovaavra'i ^ArpeiSa^i

BdKpv

dva^

Karaa-^elv'

fjirj

6 7rp€a/3u<; res'

/3ap€ia

[x,ev

207. 203.

make

—

Krjp

(xi)

Kari^evov

m).

(ai

PpoTwv aXai Housman would refer 204.

doubtful. this

6.\y\

grind, and render

lengthening

the

^KXay^eif

sense and

very attractive, although the

known this dXij

only not metaphorical.

should coexist with

ing, itself extremely rare is

seem to That wander-

derivatives of this stem

literal

ixK-t\

and only poetical,

— Those who take

quite likely.

fiXai

here

mean wandering, explain it as meaning that the winds make the men wander,

either

search of forage,

literally

metaphorically in their minds,

them mad. highly fies

last

drive

(Wecklein slightly modiIrrsal fUr die

well der fortdauernde

des Kopfes erzeugt

205

But both explanations seem

artificial.

this

i.e.

— 208.

Wind

Menschen,

Befangenheit

Appen-

dix II. veQiv Pauw, re koX Porson. 208.

tirtl:

commenced start.

the

at eSre

subordinate (z/.

clause

198) takes a fresh

for

184, e

Porson.

215.

tone of this

the

Appendix E.

before

—

irp-

-n-po<f>«pb)v

putting forward Artemis

demands as L. and S. s.

his reason

i.e.

—The epic.

"AprejAiv citing her

and defence.

See

See on

S\.

z'.

194.

for t68'

The adverb would

Stanley tot.

be resuming the previous rare in For rode see t/. 418 (Wecklein). 194. €lir€ (f>ci>v<>)v spake in words ', or with

effective as V.

—

articulate voice' (the proper

meaning of

(j}wvuiv),

tears

as contrasted with the 'unchecked

of the previous verse, in English

voice and said. That this is the meaning (and not 'spake and said' i.e. said ') is shown by the tense of the l)articiple ((pwvLov not (puvrja-as) and still more clearly by its emphatic position.

found '

216.

'.)

the metre see

215

wiideffdai.

^KX-a-y^e

This gives a perfectly simple

211.

tribulation. is

avT.

word see on

to hunger.

dXe'co to

216.

hungry, because they

vTJcTTtSts

stem of

eine (fxovwv'

inOeadai,

p,i]

iriOe'o-Sai

(Turnebus)

more pointed than to p.i) ireiOeo-Bai to hold out, and is favoured though not absolutely required by the re/use obedience

metre.

The

MS.

distinguish them.

does

not

effectually

AfAMEMNQN. ^apeia 8\

reKvov Sai^o), So/jLwv ayaXfia, fiiaivcov irapdeuoa-^dyoKTtv

220

peeOpoa Trarpcoov; %€pa9 /Scofiov

rl roovS^ avev

7re'X,a9.

KaKwv; TTw? XiiTovavi

yevw/juai

^u/i/ia^ia? a/xaprcov;

^ap

iravaavefjbov 6^

irapOevLov

6ucrLa^

225

opya

aifiaToi;

Trepiop'yw'i, iinOvixetv

yap

Oifii';.

iirel 8'

dvdy/ca^ eSv Xeirahvov

^pevo^

elrj.

(TTp .8'

TpoTralav

irveoiv hvcrcre^Pi

230

dvayvov, dvlepov, rodev

TO iravTOToKpLov

(fypovelv fxereyvco.

/SpoToa Opaavvei yap

raXatva irapaKOTrd

220.

pts'dpois

pendix

and

peiOpot.s

metre see Ap-

tiie

'how can

irws Y€vw|i,ai;

— 226.

be?'

bear to be?'

/(?;

Mgcr

their craving

that to stay the winds her virgin blood

should be offered up, desire

it.

—op^a

avfJ-fiaxi-a,

and

loell

(see opyaui)

may

they

has for subject

and takes the dependent geni-

tives according to rule.

hterally

'it

The

it'.

of the weaker word

—

€iri0v[A6iv 8«'|ais

use in this clause

(eiridv/xeii'

eagerly,

and

for desiring

be blamed', that

however

keen,

Agamemnon

is,

can-

unreasonable

not

their 'desire,

endeavours

persuade

himself that he yields from a sense of duty.

— For

the absolute use of

the similar use of in

its

uses

apx^TE Thuc. s.

—I

\i Travaai.i.ivov...difj.i.% (ecrri)

be taken as one sentence,

XP^'«"'>

throughout, 3.

suggest

40,

and

that

difXLs cf.

see L.

this

XP^^"

and

Sc.

punctuation

and construction remove the objections

For proposed changes see Weck-

feeble.

Appendix.

lein

from

—TrepLopyQs

Blomfield, as

Either form

wepLopyris.

and duplicate forms

correct,

both terminations

common.

are

227.

Y*P

English

t60£v ..|A€T£-Yvw /ro/u

230.

took

resolve.

Constr.

effect the

fi-eriyviis

—

that

mo-

heart nnfiinching

his

avro.

(ppoveiy

w(TT€

(^^ot /or), in

^^'''"

7oell.

ment he

to iravToroXfiov

fierayLyvuiffKU}

here

has an ace. object of the feeling assumed, not

more commonly of the

quitted

{/xeTayiyvdiaKeiv

drav

feeling

repent

folly).

^ vvord parallel e.g.

that

(i)

viz.

pronominal subject to

show that the sentence is not general, and (2) that dpya (dative of 6^717) irepiopyus eiriOvfidv is at once verbose and

compared

with opydu) aids the intended point, they

not

made

properly

being permissible that they

should desire

crave

ppOTOlS.

232.

ewtdvfxeiv requires a

'how can

224

pronounced

— On

II.

222. i.e.

7rp(ji}T07rr//j,(ov.

Ti Tras \«r6i'ai/(rre(text h).

'222.

so written in h.

ala-^^^po/jirjTL^

232

— 233.

For

shedding of blood

put faith in

the

obstinate delusion,

whose base suggestion is the beginning of sin, literally, for by bloodshed takes (or '

gives

confidence an obstinate delusion

— AIIXYAOY

24 6'

erXa

dvTi)p

ovi>

lyeviadai Ovyarpo^, ffwaiKotrol-

vwv

235

cipwydv

TToXeficov

Kol TrporeXeia vadov. dvT.

irarpwovi

\tTa<i 8e Kol KK7]86va<;

S'.

ovh\v alQiva TrapOeveiov

Trap

240

the plural

word ppoTov

lilood,

Od.

234.

235.

Ov-yaTpos, "yvvaiKoiroCvwv.

189

24,

antithesis

may be

Greek,

which rested on the

transitively, (3

either

yap.

The

but

there

way.

The

— Note

sense

obligations.

jSporois,

emphasis on

a joint

also

which are closely con-

and distinguished,

together

genia)

which

It is this

\evaT7Jpa

fiopov.

Brjfiov

—TrapttKoird sentence

her father, {mere) life-breath of a girl,

all.

de-

the

seems to combine,

origin,

on Eur. Med.

that the /dood of sacrifice

being probably

efficacious,

without respect to moral considerations. Lucretius

(i.

— loi)

draws from the

story a like moral in his tantiim rcligio pottiit

suadere

however

condemning a much more sweep-

malornin,

rcligio in

sense

Aeschylus

than

^poTovs (Spanheim)

but

for

accepted: for

many

(i) it

point, (3) there

read-

reasons not to be

does not account for

the MS., (2) the emphasis on is

then no excuse

the position of yap, and

incomplete, as there

/3poToi)s

what particular delusion

(4)

has for

the sense

nothing to show is

intended.

and see

274), the

spectators on

depended

—aiwva

specta-

editor's note

fundamental sense

luitness.

Here

whom

means

the decision

These

irapOe'veiov.

words, as their position shows, are lated

explanation to

This

^OevTo.

forbids

aiujva irapdevewv t'

intends.

common

the

in full

uncertain

like the Latin

meanings of judge and

tor (Eur. Hel. 703,

doctrine of a rude and barbarous religion is

%var, cared not at

for

word,

this

ppa^TJs

arbiter, the

it.

against

sed ipso

— 240: for her prayers and appeals

<pvyri

fx-^

Hymenaeo,

luibendi tempore

the spectators, eager

entertain

directed

the

23S

(Iphi-

posset

perfecto

comitari

inceste

concideret

sollemni

'non ut

[I.e.)

T/tel>.

personified

who

lusion stands for those

The

ovtl

the

justifies

See on

place of the conjunction.

claro

casta

see on vv. 65, 249,

irpoTeXeia:

237.

to the action

verb dvrrip yeveadai.

and Lucretius more sacrorum

subject from predicate, from the rest of

the sentence.

dpw7dv in apposition

236.

(t6 0veii>) of the

the

the position of

principal emphasis

/Spdrois Opaffvvei

nected

Soph. £/. 916

cf.

dapcrvve.

^iXr),

same

which

for

the

sanctities

by an offence against those very

family,

Latin, English, and all languages), or in-

ing,

The

daughter

the

(Sidgwick), and moreover exposes the moral monstrosity of supporting a cause,

— 9paeruv€i

as such a universal object often

ing

being a blood-relation, the wife a stranger'

taken either transitively (the object, tov dpacrvvdfj.et'oy, being left to be understood,

281

significant

ill.

^porov e| ureiXeuu.

fieXava

tuation from ^poTOS.

ctW,

oSv however, for good or

MS. gives the more familiar accen-

airovixj/avTes

The

of the

aifxara)

(cf.

Homeric

dative)

(instrumental

PpoTois:

etc.

Elmsley,

aiayfia jrapdeveiov (Karsten)

But no change

corrections

the

(and her virgin

at'w re irapdiveiov

required.

re-

ovMv

Trap'

life)

(O. Miiller). is

admissible.

That

aiiova

should stand in apposition to Xtrds Kal KXTjdofas

because

seems unnatural

connect aiwv take

to our ears only

(rightly as a matter of science) (aifuip) life

mean

with aermin and

time, life-time.

But the

—

ArAMEMNQN. 8'

(f)p(iaev

hiKav

d6^oi<; irarijp fier

ev')(^dv

virepOe ^o)fiov

\t,fiaipa's

TreirXoiai TreptTreT/} iravjl 6v/j,(p

Xa^elv

irpovfOTTTJ

KaWtTrpu)-

dipBijv, (TT6p.aT6<i re

Greek poets did not so associated

limit

mainly with

They

it.

and d/w

&riixi

and took it to mean properly Thus Euripides, guided probably by this and other similar phrases of

245

order

Ovfiifi

points to (i);

wrote

actually

aviirvivatv

and

Ovfjii^,

this

iravrl

an attitude not a state of mind, which elsewhere means

scribes

and

were constructed with Xa^eiv. This but tr povwirri^, which de-

breathe,

life-brcalh.

Aeschylus,

Travri

irpovuvij

order alone would be natural,

irafTl dvfj.w,

wLdva {fr. 787 Dindorf) drew breath, and the same conception underlies many com-

energetically, resolutely, will hardly bear

mon

phrases,

hand

ai(i)v

necparai, aiiUfos

such

Eur. Phoett.

also

time

ex-

See

1532 h€^ov chv aiuva

where

6s e\/ceis fiaKpSirvovv ^oav,

ti4\eov,

the

which

ffrepeh',

clude altogether the idea of

alihv,

'^<^'

i/'i'X''?

two associations of time and 'breath '

Thus aiwva marks both the

(2)

sense

Trpoi/wTPTjj

while

Tr/jofWTrTys,

the sacrificer

would naturally strike the back of the neck (see the

throat, not the sacrifice

of Polyxena, Eur. Hec.

veiov here exactly

feeling

fiaros

diappod^.)

of the warriors and the cruelty of their

consideration

feeling.— For irapdivos as a term, from the

bo-wed do7i<n

irapdevuTrds girl-faced Eur. El. 949

dWot rdudpeiov

irapdevuirbs

wrapping herself

trast

249.

—irpovwinfj

schol. beftt or bo7aed

her robes: con-

in)

irpoveviVKviav

/onaard.

d^p8i]v variously interpreted

—

(i)

iravrl...

drooping

in all her ioul (suggested by Paley). to raise

(2)

maid

unfalteringly the drooping

(Sidgwick and the majority); 'the order of

the

thesis;

words

marks

the

sharp

raise her

and grief

bowed {over

The

None

of these

(3) to

(S.)

the altar)

so as to

present her neck to the sacrificer' lein).

anti-

they were to be eager, she was

fainting with fear

(Weck-

quite satisfactory.

order of the words

TriTr\oiffi...irpo-

vuwrj strongly suggests that wavrl refers to

the victim,

and

in fact

dv/xQ

makes

any other interpretation seem artificial. The supposed antithesis between iravTl Ovfii^

and

irpovuTrij (see

have been

satisfied

Sidgwick) would

just as well

rendering desperately

agony of

the victim, in an

supplication, struggles with the energy of

despair to retain her attitude and not to

be raised into the posture for

Tp6irov.

ireirXoKTi trtpitrtri] 7i>rappcd in

243. (ji,.e.

\iri

—

the

by the

565

and T^fivei irveOwould suggest for

567, Xai/Mos euTpewris 65e

cf.

satisfies

(3)

but not the order, and moreover

irapOi-

view at the moment, of contempt,

the other

does not satisfy the order or the

are subtly mingled.

soldiers'

the interpretation required.

This

with the throat exposed.

sacrifice satisfies

both order and words, and makes the

two

phrases

Tr^TrXotcri

TrpovuTTTJ

dv(ii^

ttuvtI

irepnreTTJ,

parallel, as

rangement they should be

their ar-

both mark

the straggle of the victim. 245.

Constr. <TT6iJ..-KaW.-<f)v\aKai> Ka-

raaxeiv <f>d6yyov k.t.\., literally 'and, by

way

of guard

should restrain

upon her ',

etc.

fair lips,

<j)vXaKdv

they

ace. in

apposition to the action, see dp()rydf, v. It is unusual that an accusative of 236. this

kind should stand before the verb it explains, but it seems to be so

wliich

Others

meant here.

construe

Karaaxft" (pOoyyov as Theb. 277 rbv

fwTTiipoCtri

rdp^os

making the

ace. arbfia

<f>v\aKAv fj.4pifj.vai

dfKpireixv

Xew»,

KaTaffXftv to

depend on (pvXaKdv Hut heep guard (Wecklein).

against this

Karaa-xei" eheeh.

— <pv\aKq^

Blomfield, cuts the knot, but does not

AIIXYAOY

pov ^uXaKuv Karaa'^elv <f>d6yyov cipalov otKoi<i

^la '^aXcvMV t dvavSro KpoKov

^a(f)d<i S'

e/3aX,X-'

CKaarov

pcov diT

250

Ovrrj-

opLfxaro^ /3eX,ei

irpeirovad 6

OeXova

crrp. €

nevei,

e? irehov ')(^eov(7a

iv ypa(f)ai<;, Trpoaevveireiv

o}<;

iirel 7roX\.dKL<i

KUT dvhpoova<i evrpaire^ov^ dyva 8 dTavp(OTo<i auSd

7raTp6<i

255

kjjbeX/^ev,

TTUTpuf; (piXov TpiToairovhov eviroTfiov 256.

account for the text.

— KaWiirpwpov.

See

This

pia...|jL£V€i

fine expression

takes special emphasis from

new

the

Unless

inference.

supply the con-

necting link (as here 'and her look was

Tkcli. 520.

248.

d7i'a.ai;5a.

its

position in

we should render

vocal to them, for' etc.)

simply by

strophe (Wecklein).

and

and indeed

iraiava (Ilartung,

258.

Enger).

her robe of saffron, the dress of a princess and a maiden. So Antigone

banquet was followed by

unties 'the saffron splendour of her robe'

With the end of the libations came the paean or song. So in Plato's Symposium, ^<p7} denrv-^aavTas ffwovdas

249.

KpoKotaaav Tpv(pdv, Eur. Phoen.

(STo\iho%

There

1491 (Sidgwick).

perhaps also

the

three,

(^UTTjp).

third

libations, usually

Zeus the Preserver

an allusion to the hymenaeal associations

TTOLrjaacrdai Kai affavras tov 6e6v (S.)'.

of the colour (see on

whole

237).

not appear whether Aeschylus

does

knew

followed the story of the pretended marriage

Eur.

(see

Agamemnon Aulis.

— 8e

A^d.) by

Iph.

brought

his

the position

which

daughter

natural, KpoKov

/Sa^as being inseparable and in effect one

word.

—

xs'ovo-d

^PaXXc

see

Appendix

II.

in fact

sort of 'grace

ritual acts, especially those

Trpeirouerd tc

joined with x^o^^co.

because both the action and the mute

look

make an appeal

youth and beauty. foil.

(So almost

to their pity for her

See Eur. in

the

J/ec.

558

same words

254.

They knew

the voice that would

(see Thel>. 156, 251,

254 Eur. /on 150 oVios

ewas

the

emphasis here on

wv...<^oi^i^ \aTpevwv).

Whether

avda.

the or

virgins,

the

ayva

join

custom here im-

show

later

—

than with

our

conjunctions

the

But

who

days

sub-

'grace',

it is

nothing

natural

and

In any case there can scarcely

way

of contrast, as has

been suggested, to the

pathetic remembrance of her and happy maidenhood. The connection marked by «irei is often much looser

positively.

probable.

persons

with

and particularly

of the family should sing

singing

Hence

dravpiOTos

sisted in Aeschylus' time there is

have spoken and had reason to associate

proud

all

connected like

personal purity was of great importance

be reference by

Wecklein)

The In

the paean with the worship of Apollo,

plied, that the children,

253.

was a

'very different'

sang the 'banquet-songs of

The paean was not a ban'

quet-song' but a hymn, and the 'different'

persons have no connexion with the subject.

— —

APAMEMNQN. iratava (^/Xeo? Tci 8'

erifjia.

eiSov ovr

evOev ovr

avT. 6

evveiro)'

260

ovk ciKpavroi'

K.d\')(avTo<i

Te')(yai 3e

hiKa he TOtf fikv iradoviirippeTrei'

criv fiaOeiv

TO fieWov

yivotT

iirel

irpo y^aiperco'

KXvoi,<i'

265

laov Se TO) irpoarivecv'

Topov ycip

(JvvopOov avral<i.

i]^ei

enLy^fOLT.wpoxa^i-p^TU}.

264. TCI 8' 'ivQiv

259.

what folloxvcd,

i.e.

the

sacrifice itself.

T€\vai

260.

science,

his oracular

i.e.

utterances as a seer by profession,

Soph. O. T.

380

Tex*"?'

T^x"'?

The immediate

(pepoiKTa.

Cf. iittt-p-

reference

good-bye

let

i.e.

keep

at a distance

TO KXiiecv supplied from kXvols

adverbial.

Tlie

same

Wov

the subject of

before

against

irpo

to {irpb) Kkveiv

(«(TtI)

before

'hearing of

lamenting

equivalent

—The

irpoo-Ttvciv to

sentiment

of div-

the usefulness

211),

directed

but the accomplishment of this raises also

ination.^

fears as to the threatened sequel (v. 160).

has inserted to de irpoKKiew.

Hence what here

doubt that these words, excluded by the metre, have arisen merely from a mar-

the suggestion of the sacrifice

261.

{v.

follows.

the law, that to experience

wisdom should fall, i.e. that men should learn by their own sufferings, and seldom by anything else. 8(kt) properly 'wont', way and here nature of things ; for this use see on Eur. Aled. 411 kou dUa '

Kal Trdira 7rd\t«' ffTpe(peTat nature

universe

metaphor

and the The

turned upside down.

in iTripptwei (literally 'inclines')

—After i^iXKov

explanation

ginal

For

266.

when right

The

subject

thing

and itself

therefore be

ence.

avoided.

(if

is still

When

t6 kKvuv.

rightly.

the

be told

will

Till then the pro-

never clear and cannot

known

right.— avra is

to be

position

shows.

reading 'justice' should be

Aeschylus

this

pronoun almost always is no difficulty in supplying

'law'

far

from being it

raises,

so.

There

Tois Texv^i-s

from

—

MSS. irpo x**'-As for the future,

€ir€l later

ptTw H. L. Ahrens.

may hear it when I care not for

ere that,

comes

pass,

the hearing ;

but anticipating sorroio.

kXvois av

'tis is

the principal verb, y€voito optative in-

The subject

definite assimilated to k\voi.s.

of \aiptTw (literally

let

be bidden

-'.

260, as the interven-

ing sentences contain nothing to wliich

auTah could be

difficulties.

one

and

come, made

the

The

— 265.

will

Aeschylus has shown above, moral 263

right,

clear

emphatic,

anachronism) to

manifestly just; on the contrary as

clear

and

experi-

the

—The

gravitates

accomplished

phecy

right together with the divination itself.

clearly

Wisdom

will come clear

literally

;

the

use

following

the

the science itself comes

of the moral world and those of

may

There

clauses.

suggests a comparison between the laws

physical.

M a later hand

the emphatic

place

referretl

and divinaUon

the topic of the whole passage.

;

marks the

placed

made

pronoun unsuited point,

otherwise.

its

and could not

The

objection

here arises from neglect

emphasis.

Nor for

of the

—The MS. seems to me correct

and the received emendation a\)vopBpov airya'S (Wellauer, Hermann) more in-

AI2XYA0Y

28 8'

ireXoiTO

ovv Tdirl tovtocctiv

267.

than

genious

The

happy.

subject

taken to be to /xiWov, and the sentence explained thus

eu, irpd-

To3' dy^iarov, 'ATTta?

6e\€t'

(W9

^i<t

as the rising sun suddenly

lightens the darkness, so will the

ment of the prophecy bring

first

fulfil-

and

evTTpa-

ceived.— The antithesis of present and future is marked in three ways: (i) roirl TovTOwriv 'the immediate

what comes next

irpd^ts

once a clear confirmation' (Weckleiu).

action

But surely

here

this sense is

most obscurely and

inappropriately expressed by the words '

for the future will

come

together with the light

dawning Moreover the

clear,

subject naturally supplied by the context

literally

Ot'Xcu

*Ss

(2)

irpd^is

the

wpacffbiievov,

practical

demands '.

(business)

—

sQc^xxeV , literally

to this present

matter

hand, the thing to be done, as opposed to

what can only be matter of guessing or speculation.

Soph. Ant. 1334 ^lA-

Cf.

Tavra'

Xovra,

irpoKeifiivwv ri XPV where note the metrical emtCiv

TO k\v€iv, not to fxeWof.

(but this

a pure matter of

introduction

the

also think

taste)

that

metaphor

fresh

would greatly mar the simple directness of

epigram.

the

text

not

would read avTois (emphatic, dative of avTo., which is often clear,

sufficiently

used thus independently for in question

translating thus,

the matter '

for

(the

hearing of events) will come clear and

when

true

the events themselves

This however or desirable.

come

do not think necessary

— Prof.

Goodwin, retaining

the text, retains also the old interpretation, '

the future will

come

clear in accord with

and its pregnant force, are here marked by the position of the word in its irpa^LS,

clause.

Somewhat

use of oS

Tis TTpTJ^ii TreXerat 760:0,

practical

L. and Sc,

j.z;.

here

(«o-Ti),

Trpa^ts):

a7Xt(TTos 'the person ',

the

Homeric '

nothing

Soph. El.

(3)

t68' aYXicr-

our nearest concern

dyxiarov 'nearest

cerned

comes of lamentation' (and see

Tov for

similar

concern)'

(in

It is best to

take

As an

ex-

comment upon

Tairl ToijTOLffLV

;

most nearly con-

105.

this as a separate sentence.

planatory

cf.

the preceding

has according to usage

no connecting conjunction. It is possible also without change of the meaning to

267 Lei us pray then for suck 269. immediate good, as the present occasion

take Tdde.-.^pKos as in actual apposition

(the prophecies)

be unemphatic.

—

Our

needs.

nearest concern

this for-

tress, sole protect io7i of the Argive land. Dismissing (S'ovv) useless speculation as

to the future, they turn to

and

what

near

practical, the present safety of the

exposed to special danger by the

7r6Xis,

absence of

its

lord

and, as

hereafter

appears, from the state of the country

463

(;}jv.

— 466).

must be remembered

tolttI

To^TOLaiv 'the

immediate matter,

our nearest concern' etc.—*ATr£as ^aCas ^pKos

Argos,

ancient fortress

the

which, like Athens and most other old centres in Hellas, occupied a hill (the

Larisa or Larissa). that there

It will

no attempt

be noticed

in this play to

represent any of the details of the place, its

appearance, buildings,

ample of Sophocles

(see

etc.

The

ex-

commentaries on

the

the prologue to the Electro) shows that

following question shows, wholly ignorant

such details were not within the knowledge

meaning or purpose of the

of the audience (perhaps not of the poet)

They do not even

and would not have been appreciated.

that

the

elders

the

nocturnal

The emphasis upon

phasis on Trpdaaeiv.

But avrais cannot

them

TTpaacretv,

are at

alarm.

present, as

know

whether, as the celebration sug-

The play assumes nothing but

gests,

any news has actually been

general facts, which could

re-

not

those

but be

—

;

AFAMEMNQN.

yaiaf; fiov6(f)povpov epKO<i.

ijKco

(TejBli^wv aov, K-XuTaifiija-rpa,

BiKr)

yap

yvpaLK ax>

€pr)fio)6€VTO<i apaevo'i

etre Kehvbv etre

Kparo^'

/x?)

Opovov.

Treirvcrfievrj

5' ft t6 corr. to text.

-273-

context and order of the words require.

known, the plain, the sea, the mountains, and the fortress. Fov'Airia ya?a Ari^olis see L. and Sc. s.v. for 70/0? 'ipKos cf.

The

Eur. Heracl. 441

her demonstration

diplyfieda

;

yaias ^pKos ovk

-koIov 8i

— These

have been made

lines

only by wrong punctuation.

difficult

They who do not

are generally given (by those

words) thus;

alter the

7r€\oiTo...evTrpa^is,

ws d^\€i...^pKos, 'Let good fortune follow, as

the wish of this one sole defence of

Argos, bound by close

words being supposed

the

ties',

for

einrpayia,

form, and eu npa^is

last

to describe either

the speakers or Clytaemnestra. eStrpa^is,

But

(i)

an incorrect

no better

this

objection has been frequently taken and

many emendations

are based on

further (2) yalas 'ipKo^

this

but

not a possible

description of a person or persons translation

;

partly concealed

the use of the abstract 'defence', but 'ipKoi

^pKos /.

a iozun or fort, in

c.\

7vall

(3) a.yxi-(^Tov

sentence, so taken,

beside the purpose.

(r€p£t«v...KpdTOS

270.

i-e.

obedi-

Here Clytaem-

ence to her command.

nestra comes forth attended (see v. 363).

—

Whether tidings good or not 273 2 7 5 good prompt thee to celelu-ate this cere-

mony of

hopeful announcement,

gladly learn;

though, if thou ivould'st

keep the secret, literally TToters,

I am

good

—With

|i-t|

etc.

feint.

she

in reality stall

and

not merely trying to fore-

bad report which has

discredit a

reached her and must soon get abroad.

That

this is their

doubt and the purport

shown not only by the by the addition ovbk aiyuicrri (pdovos. Only on the supposition that the news was really bad could the queen have any motive for such concealment. The elders, it must be remembered, are preoccupied with the dangers near home, to which they have just referred and afterwards more plainly of their question

words of

refer.

but

it,

They

queen,

attribute their fears to the

assuming her honesty, they

as,

must do indeed she herself had pretended ;

them

(see v. 874).

— evayyeXoio-iv

dative (Latin ablative) of cir-

with fair-announcing

cumstance,

literally

hopes ',

with promising announcement

i.e.

see V. loi, iK dvjiuv (palvova rb (M. but corrected is

a mere

slip.

et ri

adopted, with

the

whether thou

hast

iXirli.

—

by the same hand) (Auratus)

widely

interpretation

heard

'But

some good

news, or hast not heard any, but art sacrificing in the hope of such (i)

etc.

the proper form to express this

But would

davfiacTThv

be el' Ti KeSvov Tr(irvap.ivri, eire firi, (2) the mere expectation of news would be no

Kiihner Gh.

reasonable motive for the ceremony at

content.

thing',

o-TOTTov \^y€is,

Gr. § 403.

I would

genuine or a

;

tXirCo-iv,

as 'this fence' or 'this fort'

elders feel a very natural doubt whether

explanation

has then no point, and indeed the whole

worthy of the know whether

She has intimated that she has good news but as she has not disclosed it, the

to share

without

persons

elders,

queen's confidence, wish to

no language could persons de-

themselves

scribe

and yaiai as appears by Eur.

a rampart or

270

icrrt (jbfWTo? npy^rjyov tlglv

cf.

kcSvov

supply Kiovov, as the

—

;

AIIXYAOY

evaiyyeXoicriv iXiria-iv 6v7]7ro\€i<;,

KKvoifi

ovBe acywaj)

evippayv'

2/5

cfyOovof.

KATTAIMHSTPA. eva<yye\o<i /nev, wairep

yevocTO

eft)?

irapoi/jLia,

irapa.

€v(f)p6vrj<;

fi't]Tp6<;

veva-ei Be y^/ipfia fiel^ov eX7ri8o9 k\v€iv' Ylpid/Jbov

yap

'^prjKacnv ^Apyelot iroXtv.

XO. TTft)? ^»79; ireêvye rov7ro<; i^ cnriaria^. KA. Tpoiav 'Aâ/cGi/ ovcrav' Topu)<i Xeyo); XO. X^P"- 1^ vcfiepTrec Sdicpvov iKKaXovfievi]. KA. €u yap (f)povovuTo<; ofjbjxa aov Karriyopel. XO. TV ynp TO TTiaTOv; ecrrt rcovBe aoi reK/xap; KA. eanv, ri S' oJ^t; /x?) BoXo!)(7avTo<i Oeov. XO. TTorepa 3 ovelpcdv (fxia/jLar' €V7ri6rj cre/8et9 KA. ovS^ oyfrav^ dv Xdôifib ^ptôvcrr}'; (f)pei'6<i. XO. aXX^ a iirlavev rt? aTrrepof; (fxiTL^; KA. 7rat8o<i vea<i w<; Kapr e/juco/xyao) <^peva<;.

280

285

286.

276

— 278.

evTTnOel corr. to

She corrects

sion ei'a77e'Xot<rii'

eXTriVtJ',

their expres-

accepting

e'i'd7-

ye\os with the remark that, according to

men

the proverb,

look for good news in

the morning, but rejecting

eXin's,

as her

news leaves nothing furtlier to hope. Note that the proverb involves a play upon the ambiguity of ev(f>p6v7], vighl and /7;/r/;/^,f.r '

(Ilesych.

May Night, her

send

message

signifying

(Sidgwick): and note also that

this evcppovT]

echoes the elder's eO^puv.

—

importmg iiiore than Jiope, 'greater than hope to the hear-

loyal gladness (not disloyal sorrow) of

-yopei

sounds like a kindly

The

earnest.

284. is

?o-tiv.— to irwrTdv,

286.

another

but this sense

only for the queen and

the audience. 281.

overav:

cf.

Soph. ^/. 676

vvv T€ Kal wd\ai

'Op^ffTrji'

\iyo}

ei;.

'My

the

correct

«vitiOt] o-c'Pcis

—

literally

evirtBris

'easily

by /xij dream would be

suggested

oveCpcov,

a false

miraculous deceit',

287.

See Appendix F.

288.

htioxtv has cheered ox encojiraged ,

thee,

from

(Week-

same

force {n/> to a certain point) as in

eiraipo),

—

'what you

^aro/'T*

lein).

282

to':

ooXtiaavros 0eou

find.

'pay the Inspect of an easy

together,

believed

eXTrlSos also in

Blomfield,

€viri0T]

form according to analogy.

literally

It. is p-ei^ov

grim

tke^^-oof.

credence

ing'.

soon to

elders

^his punctuation (Prien, Sidgdemanded by the form of the

answer rely

but

jest,

loyalty of the

their crime, as they are

wick)

— Kari]-

misapplication of the word

tlie

y.iCL!av...\Ck{it.vv

sense 'greater thai) could be imagined',

h6t,ci.v.

which thine eye accuses thee'.

Morning with a kind

child

cf. 5i'(r(^/>6;'7;),

according to her kind name,

287.

ei'iTret^^.

Eipphasis on x"/"^ and on tear ik the tear of Joy', 'Yes, it

kir-ialvw,

and iaivu

L. and Sc.

this aorist is

its

where usual

v. lalvo)).

— By

commonly

kiri

has the

meaning

(see

an oversight

referred to Tnaivu)

— .

AfAMEMNQN.

XO.

TTolov y^povov Se Koi TreTTopdrjTai 7ro\t<?;

KA. XO. KA.

T^<f

vvv T€Kovcn)<;

Kal Tt9 ToS' i^iKOLT

H^aicrro?,

res'

<^ft)9

CIV

nyyeXwv

"IS?; ixev

T(i'^o<i;

dyynpov

d'lr'

irvpo<i

irpo^ 'Kpfialov Xeirwi

295

fxeyav Se Travov iK v/jaov rpirov

Xi'l^ivov'

^A.6(pov

290

Xeym.

"IS?;? Xafiirpov eKTrifiTroyv o-€Xa<i

<^pvKTo<i he (^pvKTOv hevp' eireixTrev.

€i'(f)p6m]<;

7irjvo<i

al'rro'i

i^eSi^aro

ayyeXov.

294.

(pavov.

396.

taken in the sense oi puffing up. use of wiaivu and the connected

— On

the story which

to fatten,

324).

The

the Introduction §

follows

see

irporepo^

Casaubon.

words lends no support whatever to this airrcpos <|)dTis. supposed metaphor. The context shows that this was some

rovTiiiv Alffxi'Xos iu

superstitious proof yet lower in the scale

than a dream, probably something like

are veiy ancient readings in this passage.

vague presentiment' (Paley, Kennedy).

296 300. And the huge beacon from Lcmnos^ isle rcas taken up thirdly hy

—

The meaning and origin of the phrase are unknown. It may or may not be derived from wT^pov (either

in the sense of luiiig or

iravov

296.

'Ayap-^nvoui p.ipvr)raL

TOV iravov, Athen. xv. p. 700 E. also

good and

classical

—

Zens'" mountain of Athos, with such a soaring pile of wood upon it, as might

of omen), or connected with the Homeric

strengthen

which in its turn is doubtful. 'A report not winged' like the dream-god, i.e. brought without any

joyously over the wide main.

dirrepos ^irXerofivdos,

—

dream (Wecklcin).

mour

unspoken

aTTTepos p-vdos looni

cf.

— 'An

ru-

unspoken

(Sidgwick). 290.

how

i.e.

xpovov

far

'wil/iin

literally

the capture of the city?'

lies

back

compared with

be put?

ttoctou

—iroiov

or riVos (lohat

the travelling

of efeS^faTo irevKT],

diadys

beacon'

the

JVote

carefully

narration

are

but words.

rule,

that

joined

according to usage, by

(a 'hen-

grammatical

The

T€ not 5^.

according to

subject

the whole phrase 'AOfov... its

pass

The

according

phrase).

this

fame

'Athos and

junction

iroCot»

what time

—4>avov

probably both

;

the

throughout,

Here

5^.

con-

periods of

couples not

re, also

periods

—virepTsXtjs rising above

all.

—

of time) gives the question tlic air Compare the of incredulous wonder.

irovTOv. .iiSovtjv.

common

vaguely asvare that in this leap of the

sort

and Sc.

s.vi).

the fact,

contempt (L. emphasizing, assumes

use of irowi in

—

Kal,

Since

it is

taken, since

when

She points

291.

the

dawn

just

Clytaemnestra,

Aegaean she must be making a strong

demand upon

the faith of her hearers,

aYyapou Canter

294.

fv 'Ayafiepvovi

tov

ayyapov nvpoi'

(AtVxi/Xos yovv

diaSoxn^

?<pr}

Et.

irvpcrov

p. 7) a

Persian word describing the couriers transmitted orders

by successive

Herodotus

tion

as to

the

size

particular beacon.

breaking.

pares

the ground for virepreXris.

enforces her statement with an explana-

it?'

'ttTr'

This explains and gives

(8,

to the

98)

Greek

who

stages.

Aeschylus comXa/x-n-aS i}<f)op[a

(v.

and height of

this

— iroi^ov properly 'the

open sea'; note the em]ihasis on i<rxvs, in apposition to

ireijKri,

it.

'strength to

the flame' for 'strengthening the flame'; cf.

Thcb. 256 oXoXoXvypov, dapcros

(plXois

'the cry which encourages friends',

566

dpocroi,

Ag.

aivos effOripaTUf 'water, mis-

chievous tn garments'

etc.

—7rop€\rrov

—

;

AIIXYAOY

T€ (ttovtov a)<TT€ vcoTiaai

V7r€pT€Xi']<;

TTopevTov A,a/A7raSo? Trpo? i^Sovtjv)

tcr^i)?

irevKij,

y^^pvcrocjjeyye^

co?

rt? y\io<;

irapayyelXacra M.aKlaTOV

<Te\a<i

300

cr/coTra?'

o S' oi/Tt fieWcov ovS* d<ppaafi6v(o^ virvw qSovTjv

irpos

unreluctantly'

'travelling

(ov TTpos piav), not fearing the distance, as it

This

were.

flame

the

in effect

because

TropeiTov gen. of iropevrrji,

'strengthened '.

here an adj.

a predicate

gladly'

'travelled

—

irevKT]

of pine- wood,

usually a 'torch'

but here extended, like

fresh subject, requires a fresh verb. this criticism,

which

of long standing,

Hermann's neglected remark seems

perfectly

conclusive

legeretur, requireretur

' :

Nam

to si

verbum pro nomine

re posito, i^ed^^aro

7rei/K-);....Nunc vero,

Through-

etiam ad sequentia refertur'.

to a 'bonfire' of the same,

out the passage re and 5^ are used in the

from the necessity in this narrative of vaiying the term. See also next note.

verbs having the same subject, Si every-

XoyiiTras

etc.,

—

300—301: which, with

the golden light

of a sun, blazed on the message to the outlook on Makistos. to xpv*'"©literally 'as a sun its <}>«Yy«S...'nX.ios as

ivere

golden the

better

verb

the

light',

supplied from

(sends)

distribution.

being

This

napayyeiXacra. to

xP^co-

^677^5 be taken with crAas, the article \r6 is needless

usage of

distribution

—

and not according to the

With

Aeschylus.

Commonly even

o-KOiras-

this accusative

the above

of course indispensable.

it is

of place

such as irapayy^Wu}

ffKoirats.

and

for this reason

But considering the

strong and peculiar metaphorical language

of this

passage,

which represents

beacons throughout as a

the

series of couriers,

in v. 315 to couple

where between clause and clause. If a is to be inserted here, re must be changed to 5^. It is surely quite improbable that the error which removed the verb should have coincided with a harmonious error in the conjunction. Moreover the text expresses the meaning intended, and divided clauses would not. The high mountain and the vast beacon are intentionally coupled, as jointly ac-

complishing the prodigious task.

MaK£<rTov

301.

Sidgwick says

6pos Ei)/3otas schol.

'in southern

Wecklein 'probably

impossible in any case, the question

little

much

better suited to the special purpose

than the dative. otherwise,

put the same thing

7ra/)a77e'XXaj

here means not

message' but 'to go with a

'to give a

message' and therefore takes the construction of a verb of

ytCKaa-a.

The

motion.— irapaY-

tense follows

according

to usage that of efeS^^aro.

All recent editions treat this passage as corrupt, on the Te...<TKOTr(is,

ground that

wTrepreXijs

being a fresh clause with a

that

the

may be observed mountain by its name would

seem

have been 'the highest', or so

moment

;

but

really

the distance

post to post (note iropevTov in this very is

nearer part to Athos).

supposed, in the island

case

Euboea',

in the north' (as the

actually travelling with the message from

sentence), the accusative

two

verb

poetry

found only with

verbs of 'motion to', and not with verbs

some read

normal way, re

;

the highest part

about the centre, near Chalcis. 302.

o 8€: Makistos,

i.e.,

in the lite-

ralness of prose, the watchers thereon.

Here the

story

becomes comparatively

the country between Argos and Aulis Clytaemnestra and the elders might naturally be supposed to have some knowledge. The distances are indeed, as the queen says, full long (e/cdj ...irp6aui) running up to about 25 miles; in a real system other stages would probably have been interpolated for safety; reasonable.

but her conception

conceivable.

—

AFAMEMNQN. dyyeXov fiipof

vLKoofievo<i traprJKev

eKdf Be (ppvKTOv

^eaaairiov

(jxJo'i

^vpiTrov podq

(fivXa^i arj/nalpei jjloXov.

305

dvTeXafiylrav koI 7rapt]'y'yeiXav irpoaM

ypaiaf

epeiKTji^

dcofiov li'^avre'i irvpl. 8'

trOevovcra Xafnrdf

virepOopovaa irehiov (f)aiBp(i^

ovSenQ) .

/xavpov/juevr),

Slkiju

oottov,

310

irpb^ K.t,da(p(vvo<i Xeirwi

a-€\r']vr}<i,

ijyeipei/ ciXXrji^ e'/cSo^r/i» ttoixttov irvpo^.

o€ T7)Xe7ro/ii7rop ovk r^valvero

<f>aof;

tmv

(fypovpa, irXeov Kaiovcra

Xifivrjv o

opo<i

touch of

last

unreality to

the

foregoing narrative, that she should describe

the

from Messapius (N.

transit

Cithaeron as

Roeotia) to

far

with the preceding stages ing

sent

<r9€'vov<ra

from the

fuel of

—

— The render-

It is

taking strength afresh

Messapius;

cf. I'trxi^s

the close relation of these

words {adivovaa.

preceding

Xa/xirds) to the

sentence which justifies to the ear the of

position

the

conjunction

really a separate clause,

and the beacon

took strength therefrom, and 309.

wTTOv.

irtSCov

word may be read Turnebus, or the

technical

much

The

reading has

advantage of accounting

better for the loss of the letters

similarity

hand the

syllables.

later mss.

may

well represent a tradition.

the river Asopus'

On in

the

such a case

The

having regard to the geography.

—irXeov

making

But on

fire

Ci-

Ka£ov<ra Ttov €lpT]pi€v«v

was enjoined

larger than

'more than what was bidden them (ra elp-qfiiva) '. These words confirm and extend the phrase of the (Weil),

literally

previous line ovk ijvaiveTo, or

disowned not

their

denied not

In their enthusiasm

watchmen of Cithaeron,

the

showing

so far from

exceeded

actually

reluctance,

See further Appen-

instructions.

dix G. rop-ywiriv

apparently a bay or

estuary in the territory of Megara, N, E.

Corinthian

the

elrat €v Kopi"Bii>,

refers to the

315.

gulf.

Xlfxvrjv

Hesychius

;

\ifj.vri

(paalf

but the de-

must be very inaccurate,

scription

here mentioned.

AiYCTrXa-yKTOv

obviously

of Geranea in the Megarid.

part

6pos Meyapi-

doi schol.

316: urged him

'plain of

the better description,

question

watchers on

the

(}>povpd:

313.

thaeron.

other

The

ears.

not important.

314.

defective

by by the writers

first

whole from Oropus would have a popular sound to Athenian

etc.

either 'ilpioiroO, as

'Actujwov, as

of the later Mss.

they are

315

idlov

(Paley) lacks authority.

308.

V. 299.

quite close.

it is

iraprjKtv 7ieglected.

compared

rather far for the purpose, but

303.

(f)do(;

AlyLTrXayKTOv i^iKPov/juevov 309.

adds

elprjfxevwv'

virep VopycvTTiv ecTKrj-^ev

coiiuitandedjirc. strives

The

to rouse an

exact strictly the

fire

from Cithaeron

enthusiasm like

The

its

the other hand 'the plain of Oropus',

own

properly the maritime part of the plain

mountain

of the Asopus, was claimed and generally

301, but with a difference of character.

—

6€<r(j.6v

possessed by Athens, so that to

V. JE. A.

name

the

in others less ready. is

receiving

personified, like Md^cto-Tos in

|xi]

X'^p'S*"'^*''

"'vpos literally

—

— AIIXYAOY

34 uirpvve deafj-ov TrefjbTTOvai

yapll^eaOai

fii)

7rvpo<i.

dvSaiovre'i d(f>66vq> fievei

ZapwviKov VTTep^dWetV TTpoaO)

(pXoyoii /jiiyav Trcoyoyva, koI

TTOpdfXOV KCITOTTTOV TTpwV

(f)\ejovaav'

ecrKrj-^ev, etr

elr

^Kpa'^valov

^ArpeiBoov e? to 76 (TKrjirTet

KnTreiT

not to remit (to himself or his watch)

commandment

Xapl^effdai here

but

common

use of

generally condemned,

The

think wrongly.

The

fire'.

sense and

of the verb are

constructions

closely similar to those of TrpoUffdai,

and

of such Latin verbs as indjtlgere, remittere, condonare,

hand

not

'''^

x^^P^f^^^"^

surrender,

hand

etc.

sacrifice',

xttp^ff""^"'

''»''

with',

strict

iitdulgcre equo.

have on the one '''"''

gi^c

up,

and on the other 'to be indulgent to,

as in x^P^S'^"'^'»'

From

these

tir-n-i^

we might

have inferred, as an extension of

fairly

usage possible in poetic language, such a phrase as xapi^eaOai deafibv

imferium

{alicui)

neglected',

when many

'to

and we may

actually

corrections

(rij't)

easily accept

occurs.

—Among Oeafibv

object of djTpvve), /irjxavrjaacrdai

the

may be mentioned

Paley (making

Xpovi^eadaL

reniittere

an order be

let

\xy]

the

Margo-

liouth, but there are objections to both. /UTj x"-'^'-^^'^^^'-

is,

Heath, 'not to be wanting',

by examples, an impossible

to judge

form.

318

— 322.

A flame

crTe'yo<;

K&TOWTpOV.

319.

the

320

a(f)LK€To

darvyeirova'i aKOTTa^;'

alnro^;,

a great heard,

which could even overpass, so far it flamed, the headland which looks down upon the

nent

form,

should be

otpofiai.

—The

'headland'

the high coast on the S. side

of the bay of Cenchrea' (Wecklein). Kal...vir€pPaXX€iv,

ware

i.e.

avT'^v

Kal

virep^dWeiv, a consecutive infinitive de-

pending on the whole previous sentence,

and

upon

specially

fxiyap.

—

<J>X€YOv<rav

feminine, not masculine, because (p\oy6s is

the really

word,

substantive

merely

being

TTcoywva

fi^yav

and

descriptive

and therefore avr-qv, noiavrbv, (Paley, Sidgis the pronoun supplied wick). To have said (pX^yovra would adjectival,

have been almost grotesque;

virtue of

its

that the flame travelled far.

was not

«It 'ia-Kiy^iv,

In a sentence of symmet-

d(f>£K€To.

and prosaic form these clauses would

rical

be parallel with the ware

irpQva

made

that the

infinitive, as thus,

virep^aXKeiv,

elra

(The point

courier-fire,

eager to

long journey, 'ran in home'

finish the

and would not

were,

fikv

Kal d<piK€udai. kt\.

aK7J\f/ai

resemblance to a beard

Aegi-

after

stop.)

make a natural but unnecessary By a usage very common in

poetry

the

planctus

second

parallel

clause

turned for variety into an independent sentence, and the effect

Saronic gulf,

ened by the omission

(also

only then,

fi&...d^,

and by the rhetorical repetition

of elra

and thus alight then, and when it reached the outlook,

neighbouring to our city, upon the Arachnaeon peak, whence next it lighted (at here upon our royal roof.

last!)

oiTTOV

Canter.

The

genitive

erned by the preposition.

—

in V. 320,

gov-

that the

last.

tive,

corresponds to a verb also of depo-

The

many

in v. 322 points

back

to etra

then... after then': they

were the

—TO

common) of

place of the simple copula

'iirtiTO.

kcit-

'active' forms in

word, like very -ro%,

Note

—

Kal.

further strength-

several

i.e.

last

mark

stage and the very

Tovrbye: t6 demonstra-

times used

particle yt (literally

in '

Aeschylus.

to the roof of

AfAMEMNQN.

ToS* ovK aTraTTTrov ^ISaiov ttu/do?.

(f)do<;

ToiotSe Toi

viKa

\a/u,7raSrj^6p(Ov

/j,oi

aWov

aXXo<; Trap'

vo/jloi,

325

SiaSo'^a2<i TrXrjpov/Jievoi'

o trpwTO'i koX rekevToio'; Spaficov.

T€K/j-ap TOLovrov (Tvix^oXov T€ aoL Xeyci)

avSp6(; TrapayyetXavTofi €k

XO.

X6yov<i

323

— 1050.

the Atridae this at least

wanted

av,

a><;

Readings of ')

just

to give to the close the

poetic

after

animation

324.

till

7'.

dirainrov

Toio£8€ ToC a.

Schlitz.

jAoi,

roiold'

would scarcely be appro-

runners that

priate here to say of the

—

In the

T65e,

but

they are ready.

from

this

race called \afjLTraS7]<popia a chain of run-

1050, here gives a last assis-

ners, posted at intervals, passed a lighted

M, unhappily about point

— The later

commonplace

the

longer.

^Toifioi

give

and

7'')5), 7^)5),

least,

messenger had indeed arrived.

330

TOloiS' ^TVfXOl.

324.

(Birds

being often sent on, the far-travelled

MSS.

ifiol.

ttoXlv.

X€<yoi<;,

what

This time at

feeling.

Tpoia?

lyvvai, Trpocrev^ofiaL'

cLKOvaat rovcrSe KUTroOav/jiacyai, OeXoLix

8cr}V€K(o<i

deoit fiev av6i<i,

fail

—

\a|X'ira8Ti<j)6pa)v.

The

which should not be refused. To write, with Hermann and others, in v. 322

torch from the start to the goal.

iar

the shortest time, provided that the torch

tance,

iaK7f\j/€v,

when at

all, is

evr d(piKeTO,

arrived

'till

lighted,

make any change The

or to

unnecessary and injurious.

repetitions <p\oybs...<p\^yovaav, elr \(/€v...lw€iTa

natural

;

overdone,

slightly

are not negligent

(jK-qirrei

but calculated

^ct/ctj-

here

rhetoric

should

323

the light there,

method meant and

offers

plainly the

The custom was

here.)

specially popular at

Athens (Wecklein),

a natural illustration of the

passed

fire-message

<j>dos

elders might

effect

now

to her words,

the

see the beginning of

It is the place of the beacon which helps to suggest the comparison of it, on its first appearance, to the dawn,

day.

V. 12.

— o^K.-.TTvpos

literally 'not

an ancestor in the beacon of Ida

without

The

genitive depends on the privative force of

the adjectiv^. jesting

phrase

audience. airairirov, it

—The negative turn is

As a

for fact,

mountain

from

little

tails

form of a

the

ceed.

compliment

her

The thoughts of the queen are away to the absent ones in

guard,

itpvae

more de-

Naturally he does not suc-

narration.

was

invention,

tries to

beacons, putting the request delicately

the beacon

nainrovs in the phrase of Aristophanes

are so aston-

know what

(Sidgwick) on the subject of the

Troy'!

at all,

elders

draw from the queen some

the

ears

The

think or say, and one of them

the

See Appendix H.

last.

— 331.

gone

and had no 'ancestry'

by a

329

runner who

the victor is the

ished that they scarcely

of this

has supplied the defect, as others do,

But

326.

ran first and

she points to Arachnaeus, behind

which, to add

will

(There were several

alight.

forms of the race, but this

which shmvs a

pedigree from the beacon upon Ida.

but

was kept

this

mountain.

be.

ToSc

won which accomplished

chain

—

6£ois...Trpo<r€v^o(i,ai:

far

appearance of

may

be,

disbelief.

this

against

will

the act

upon the queen's testimony presently, when he has heard it again. avOis, later,

a/tenvards.

— — Xo-YOvs...'TrdXiv: 3—2

hit

— :

AIIXYAOY

KA. Tpolav

e-^ova

'A\;aiot, Tf;^'

ev rifiepa.

olfiai ^orjv afXiKTOv ev iroXei Trperretv.

a\ei<f)a T

0^09 T

hi'^ocTTaTOvvT

iK')(^ea<i

ravro) KVTei

ov <^iX&)9 7rpocrevve7roi<i'

fiv

335

Kol Tcov nXovTWV Kol KparrjaavTwv S/^a story

t/ijs

—/

"would fain

satisfy

wonder by hearing it repeated (in your way of telling) from point to point. SitiveaTToGaviido-ai to admire fully. Kws: both 'clearly' and 'continuously', without anything omitted. (See L. and

—

Note the emphasis. ws Xe'-yois The mood of X^7ots as you would tell it. follows that of diXoifi dv on the same principle which determines errel yhoiT Sc. s.v.)

whole action lying Sidgwick in the same hypothetical time. compares Plato Jlfen. 92 C ttws av elSeirjs

au kXvois

Trept

264), the

{v.

TovTov ov direipos

you know that of which you have no experience?' et

Xeyots Blomfield,

el'ijs ;

could

(ex hypothesi)

— ws

\t'7€ty

oi5s

how

\kyei%

Bothe, are

simple, but for this reason not likely. 332.

The

upon

point

the

stage,

two

attitudes of the 363), themselves

scene at this

the

contrasted

parties (see

5ixo<''''tt''"oi'''''fs

^^ (plXws,

interest with which, for

and the painful

different reasons, they all

mark the words

and behaviour of the queen, would make, well-acted, a

moment of almost intolerable

tension and excitement. 333.

334

d[i.iKTOv t/iat will not blend.

— 336.

o^os T€.

each

other

and so '. The sentence has as no conjunction, as being only an expansion or explanation of the word d/juKTov,

TavTw Kvrei shouldst thou pour out oil and vinegar with the same vessel, i.e. put them into the same vase or bottle and pour them from it iK^tas

334.

together. It is

The

dative

instrumental.

by no means clear that

be changed recent

texts)

(as

this

by Canter and iyx^o-s.

The

be much more conspicuous

should in

text

all is

strong

the

would

pouring

in the

The

in.

pouring

in the

upon a

out of a mixture (as

plate) than

very familiarity

with the dative, which has prompted the change, is an argument against it eKxe^^ is an improbable error. of iyxeas

335 thou taouldst exclaim at their unfriendly parting, literally wouldst accost :

them as

(persons) parting not like friends

an expression of studied irony mutual repulsion. aro-rovvrf.

which

— Note

that the use of

{to

used

habitually

apostrophe

the

Eur.

{e.g.

a form of emphasis. parted

participial

1168

cppevQv)

Tro.

6yK0P dopos 'ixovTei

more than

means much

thou wouldst say that they

— Note

also that di.xo(rraT€iv ov

(piXws is a legitimate expression only

the assumption that

see

note)

SiarofJiai (piXai.

In Theb. 918

we have

(and ov

(plXus

Sixoa-Taretv

would have a meaning. (where

for a violent

name, apostrophize) 5txoperfectly natural in a language

Kpoaevvkireiv

term

the

(piXai) for

a parti-

tion, friendly or unfriendly,

between joint

occupiers of land.

likely

similar

Kal Ttov dXovTwv

re and Kai here answer

and

language,

fiei^ov

the significance of this speech

see the Introduction.

correct

repulsion of the two ingredients

here, '

metaphor

and

lies

—

01/

that a

behind the language

that dixocTTaTeTv cpiXus

friendly dissolution

marriage.

meant a

as of partnership or

^iXw (Auratus and others)

simplifies the language, but at the expense

its

significance.

336.

T«v dXovTwv Kal KpaTT]o-dvTwv.

Observe that this collective expression is correct and not put, by license, for tw»» aXdvTuv /cat twi' KparTjcravTuv. The comparison is between the compound of oil and vinegar (which will not blend) and the ensemble of victors and vanquished

(which would

make upon one who

could

—— ArAMEMNQN. iiKoueiv eari <TV[X(^opd<i StTrXf}*;.

(f>6o<y'yd<i

yap dficf)! awfiaaiv dvhpwv KaaiyvTJrcov re Kal

ot fiev

7ratSe9 yepovrayv, ovKer Seprjf;

Tdaaei,

ovSev iv

may be heard

338.

distinctly', or

se-

both neck and throat (Eur.

8^pTjs,

341.

Or. 41

the two

iroki'i

fiipei TeKfjurjpLov,

distinct).

SC^a emphatic, with aKoveiv

7r6vo<i

/u.»^?;?

e-)(et

not a single har-

monious impression but two

340

fj,6pov' e/c

dpLo-roLaiu

tt/jo?

hear the sound of

parately

cfyvToXfiicov,

i^ iXevOepov

avT€ vvKTL7rXayKT0<;

vfjaTi<; 7rpo9

voices

TreTrrty/coTe?

^tXrdroiv

diroLficdi^ovai 8'

Toi)?

here combines the two meanings.

lein),

With

i\ev9epov

ovK£T

oli

jtiv

the living captives would

exactly

generic description of them as the van-

proved

quished party

(ot dXduTesi) is

nevertheless

husbands, brothers, fathers,

The gender

of avrip

tended throughout.

and

be ex-

a sub-

(}>vTaX.|A£wv is

like KacnyvrjTuu. The word means properly 'connected withgeniture'; so in Soph. O.C. 150 aXaQp o/xfiaTuv apa

stantive,

Kal TjaOa

even

(pvTd.\/jLios

from

wast thou

;

Here

birth ?

used with

the assistance of the context 'relations

by geniture

{i.e.

sightless

parents, chil-

dren, etc.), in order to abbreviate

and vary

So Kao-iYVqrwv

the catalogue.

mean

pro-

perly 'collaterals', brothers, cousins, etc. iraiSes "yepovTwy children bezvail-

340.

ing aged

;

children,

not that all the captives were or

all

the

slain

aged.

The

phrase merely signalizes the most pathetic figures,

among the captives the orphan among the slain those whose

children,

years might have saved them,

but did

not, from the indiscriminate massacre.

The TratSes

common

punctuation

tended sense of

<pvTa\iJ.lui>

correction

Weil) misses the

((>vTa\ixli)3v.

that

yepivTuv both young ages, but

it is

Karsten

and

in-

better iralbuiv

old, i.e. of

not desirable.

—

English word

airoinw^o^*'"''

be-

i^ot

•

and Sc), which is Eur. Med. 31 avTT]

disirpbs

i.e.

bewail desperately, as lost '. all

the

cited;

e.g.

Antiphon

/jLOJ^ev

T€

i/J.^

vovs,

and Aeschyl. fr.

here

air olix(j}^6v

where as

12S,

tou TedvqKbros

/xe

diroWvixi-

(is

dead, 'AcrtXox'

the

15 dn-y-

134.

avrbv

Kai

refers

from which

places

suits

This

^Qvra

tov

fxaXKov. vTJo-Tis.

343. toil is

require us

difference

different is

symbols

and

j/Tjcrreis

and

texts)

pijffris

being almost

in the

in-

Aeschylean Mss.,

not clear that Aeschylus would

have used the form

prtareis,

for the accusative case

The

many

read (as in

between

immaterial,

are

expression hungry

In point of MS. authority, the

viyo-rets.

but

The

not so alien from Aeschylus as to

vri<XTi,das

and

;

particularly

the proper forms

vricrTias.

—

(3v 'i\ti iroXis-

besiegers are starving (see v. 132),

and the long-beleaguered

city ofters but

little.

yep6vTUv (or the correction tpvraX-

fuoL iraiduv yipovTts

fit.

auTr]v irarip' djroi/txwfei <pl\ov, but bewail

away,

naturally masculine.

sons.

will

throat.

diroiixw^ovcTL

tvail loudly (L.

;

the

nech,

metaphor being that of the yoke, with

be chiefly or solely (particularly in the case of Troy) women and girls but the

339

Weck-

ede^aro

aljo. 5ta Mpr\%

oiire

all

344

The

not in order according

casual

banquet

the

billet.

famished

plunderers, estal^lishing themselves in the first

house where they find food,

trasted with

the orderliness

of a

conwell-

appointed army distributed to quarters

by 'token' or

'billet'.

Hence

the anti-

—

AIIXYAOY

dW'

w? eKaaros ecnraaeu

ttciXou

tv')(ijs

345

iv aL-^^^fiaXwTot^ TpwtMot? OiKrjfiaatv

vaiovaLV

twv

rj8r],

vrratOpioJv Triv^wv

d7raWay€VTe<i

BpocTMv T

SvaSaifMovet'

oot

d(f)uXa/cTou euSi'jaovcTL irdaav ev^povrjv.

350

€v (removal toi)? iroXiacrov'x^ov'i deov<;

el B"

dewv 6

Toi)? T^<f dXov(Tr)<{ yfjf

IhpvfiaTa,

ov Kav eX,ofT€9 av6t<; dvOaXotev dv. 350.

dXK ...TJdri. Trohably was technical.

tlicsis

TeKfXTipLov

— 347.

345

the

vv()r<l

hand they are

installing

av Odvouv.

6.V

d^vXaKTov,

predicate and

meaning of

ther the

exposure

the

uis

fur-

dua-dal/ioves: after

camp and

the

equivalent

This explains

d(t)v\aKTov ovaav.

Rather by such chance as

falls to each eager

ovK

35'2.

cucreliodfft.

the

themselves forthwith in the captured houses

weariness of the watch the soldiers are

of Troy. <is ?Ka(rTOS...ird\ov literally 'as each has snatched a lot' i.e. according to

not nice enough to disdain the wrecked

used

iai^a-civ i)eing

for

a mark of eagerness.

misery of victors

the

an unbroken night.

'drawing' a

lot as

sentence

the

denotes the

TriXts,

comforts

The

fly.

them Such an explanatory properly written without any security will give

word

— alxH-aXwrois

wf ^x^i

epithet, like

The mere

houses.

violent

the

of each,

fortune

the

which

the

houses arc such as they

conjunction.

— Sfres wpoTfpov orjXouOri 8v<t-

Tvxiti vvv d/x€pifxvui V.

348)

cvbrjCFOvai.

(schol.

near the mark, though

on as-

sumes the wrong punctuation dtraXKa.iv<j)pl)vqv which is that of the Cis

would be when carried after a desperate It is worth night of fire and sword.

yivrei,

while to remember

ws 5' evdal/j.oi'ei .Stanley, which gives the same sense in another way but is no improvement and does not account for

in the

tiiat

time of

Aescliylus the private buildings of the

Greeks, even in great

and

poor

slight

cities,

were very

construction.

tjSt)

347

— 34y

and dews of

With no watch

the open air.

keep they will sleep the

whole night long, 8aC|xov(S, literally

d'7ra\Xa"Y^vT€S

8v«r-

ridding themselves as

poor wretches may', where ws has the same qualifying sense as in ayaOos dfTjp wj AaKtdai/x6vios

man

good

Lacedaemonian' and the

like.

tmv

6p{u>v neuter, gen. of to, inraLOpLa, to 7rd7a>i'

dplicrwv

stands

article,

cf.

rQv

iroi.KlXwv v.

Note the emphatic

IJoth

£v o-t'Povo-i .Scaliger

350.

The

€u(r€pov<ri MSS.

perhaps the

and

I'cjrson,

accentuation

first

evidence for the

safer, as the

transitive euac^eiv is not conclusive (see

L. and is cl

.Sc. s. v.).

ai^ovat, not

— Note

carefully that

17" (T^jiiDai.

The English

/f they observe, standing for both, easily

misleads.

The

captors are doing as they

which

speaks (according to her pretended as-

apjjosition,

and

€u(})p6vTjv

night being watchlcss, they will sleej) all

should, or otherwise, while Clytaemncstra

917: hence the

— d<})v\aKTOv

diraXXaxOivTes

virai-

which otherwise would be

admissible.

for

'the conditions of the open air, frost

dew';

the MS. reading.

glad of such poor deliverance

the frosts

forms are good.

again marks their impatience.

from

This requires a conjunction; hence

Mss.

position

sumption).

have

352.

ov Kav.

belongs to fX6vT€s

no neat way of but

very

important.

in'

ex[)ressing the difference,

being

The

attached

{erjen

empliasi/.ing

/caJ

after conquest), it

according to

custom, 'they will escape a ruinous ending

—

— AfAMEMNQN.

6/30)9

Ttv "rrporepov efXTTLTm/

/i./;

TTopdecv Tu

yap

Sel

p.i}

)^p>}

(iva/jL7r\(iKr)To<i irfjjjba

yevocT

irpoairaia

CIV,

enough

phrase

for

ovk iveXovrcs a

k5,v.

(a natural error), ovk av

correction).

have been familiar, but

MSS. are

the

ov ran Her-

all'.

TO» is admissible, as the

— dvOaXouv

(Xovres

Auralus.

dvOa-

?p«S (Atj

353.

Tis.

be /eared,

is lo

tv^ol, KUKa.

fxrj

«•

Note the conlrasleil emphasis on the words placed first and last, Otoh...TG)i> the The meaning is this 6\u\6ro)y. :

Troy and the slaughter of her

ruin of

population naturally cry for vengeance

and expose the

.«|A'n'CirT][l

//w desire,

may come upon

them.

with the present subjunctive, in a

it.7\

principal sentence, expressing an anticipation or suspicion about the future, see

The

Theb. 183.

must

perative

translation

by the im-

carefully

avoided,

They have

at this time.

need to increase

plundering the sanctuaries and thus

in-

curring the avoidable anger of the gods.

But to

herself,

who

daughter,

and

queen

for the

avenge her

of lives in the war,

sequel

;

of the

doubly connected with the

is it

was punished by the disaster and it led to the capture of

fleet,

who was torn from sanctuary. rd (XT^ XP^' ^y « M^ XPV f- There seems no reason to doubt that the older relative rd was used here, as in z/. 531 Cassandra, 354.

At6j

The

fxaKiWri,

KarelpyaffTai

substitution of the familiar d

significance

;

tridov. is

of no

the opposite error would be

unaccountable.

The

355.

auT-qplai

genitive

and the

both depend upon

infinitive (cct/x^at

Set,

the infinitive clause translating the literal ffUTTjpiai irpbs

into a popular

ot/coi's

meta-

proposes

course. to

—

diaitlos

Kd|ix|/ai

KwXov: as we might say

'make the second

or 'lap',

or double race-

/ca/xi/'ai is

half of your round'

dead' has another meaning.— The apodosis to

/wXoi,

they

vengeance of the dead stated

often

may

suffer

the

not expressly

the following clause all

but,

languages, implied.

The misformed

'yopov.

iypr{-

adjective

typri-

yopoi (whence the late verb iypi^yopiu)

can scarcely be as

old

Aeschylus,

though such are the vagaries of language that it is difficult to trust analogy against positive documentary evidence in matters

kind.

this

Either

^YpiiYopos

(I'orson) or i-^pr\y(Oftiv should probably be

read;

the

first,

For the metaphor

still

ef.

Eur.

av i^fp/tipi Tbv Xyaiiip.vovos

supply ^orf.— JlI.

41 tiJbovj'

(}>qi>ov

for the use of T^/ua .Soph. Ei. trrj/iara

transitive.

—

the

for

by the sacrifice the wrong of the

infuriated

phor from the

its

— The

sin of the victors in this respect

little

opportunity',

already 'watching

conspirators,

532)

therefore

danger, which

this

being confined to the aorist subjunctive.

{v,

according to the

victors,

doctrine of Nemesis, to especial danger

voiev a.

(nparo^i,

el /jloXol

twv oXcoXotwv'

ejpijyopov TO

of their victory after

likely

355

SiavXov OaTepov kwXov irdXiv.

354-

mann.

arparw

K€p8e(Ttv viKco/jievov^;'

Trpo? olkov^ voaTifiov aoirrjpias,

Kcifiyp-at

Beots

(I'aley),

258 varp^a

father's wrongs'.

Evi/ may find accomplishment, postponed fall not at once, i.e.

35y.

357 358. 'And if the army return without offence against the f^ods, the

if it

wrong

of expression, repeating the thought of

the dead

on the watch'.

not prevented

a quasi-proverbial turn

—

——

AIIXYAOY

ToiavTu roi yvvaiKo^; e^ ifiov «Xi^ot? TO 8

ev Kparolt]

TToWcov yap iadXdov

XO. y8'.

yvvai, kut

avSpa

rrjv ovrjaiv elXofiV/V.

crcix^pov

the previous lines (ami therefore without

copula)

the victors will be in danger for

—

some time yet'. y*'*'®'''''* ^" ^^'i^^^ emphasis 'may be actually accomplished', cf. v. 264 €Trei yivoiTo when it is actually accom'

plished

—irpocnraia

sudden, off-hand

eixfypovwi \ey€i<;. though simple

more obscure. 362. For

this

construction

this

in effect

and the preceding clause ei is concessive and equivalent to the

more exact

/cot

common

Grammar,

Kiihner, Greek

360

},(> I

may the good triumph, plain and clear of all doubt. Conscious of the ish -cvords,

covered

thoughts

this

pretence

nestra

the aorist refers to the

the

with a light self-reproach. she trusts, no more than of a

the nervousness

woman.

Clytaem-

e5.

eIX6|i,t]v

moment

before,

ttji/S' HerKennedy, that

to the preceding wish.

and dismisses

pro-

that to e5

more senses than

that

one can be put upon to

and

6vy)<nv.

(probably

phrase

means

mann; but

will prove,

eaBXwv.

follows, according to

means no more than

verbial)

solicitude for the absent, she breaks off

Ta-urqu

(i.e.

gender of the predicate

covers everything desirable

But for all these my zvoman-

The demonstrative Ostensibly this

— 359

ttjv

TTjv 6vri<jLv) iv7)(nv (ov<Tav) ttoXXwj'

note

For further discussion of vv. 357 "^see Appendix I.

the

Den

and the

ttoXXwj',

eiX6/x7]v

rule, the

2).

use (see

§ 578,

gives

choice

Genuss von vielen Guten erwahle ich

The emphasis

clause accordingly.

in reality

mir damit' (Wecklein, reading r^vSe).

with emphasis in

its

appearance

enjoyment ofmo7-e blessings than one,

here a secondary predicate and placed

— In

360

Scy^oppoTro)'; ISeiv'

fir)

demonstrative

archaic

retained.

think, with

— Another

should

possible rendering of

kXvois.

the words

\iyoi.%),

should be an enjoyment of wa;/)/ blessings

to get a construction simpler in appear-

(not few)', i.e. 'of what is good one would have as much as may be'. The remark will then refer specially to firf

/fXyeis

a (as in v. 331 X^7e(s for

ance.

But the optative

mistake arises from stopping off as a separate sentence.

The

right.

360

It is related as

e<j6\6v

common

better.

Toiaura

(ikv

literally

require

kK^oh rb

thus

iiiv,

e5 Kparoi-q,

i.e.

pray that thou mayest hear

prefer that

The

ideiv.

ZiX^:pp6wii3s

concessive clause to v. 361 and would in

parlance

enjoyment

victory

all turns out well, so

Here

el\6p.y]v

manent, habitual choice, made not

moment

The propriety of the optative may be made more clear, according to triumph

English conceptions, by paraphrasing the

second clause

;

ovt(j3

to,

Toiavra

kXvois

Eur. Med. 395

Trji»

pretation

though the dirge must be uttered,

let

actually in the speaker's mind.

k\6€l%

disturbs the relation of the clauses,

and

^vvepybv

eyw

;

cf.

cre'/3w

elKofiriv.

apt to be for those not familiar with them,

in alXivov diri, to

the good win'), a saying (note rot) which

'qv

Yet other renderings might be suggested, and in fact the words are, as proverbs are decidedly obscure.

(Anglice

dfcrwoLvav

Kal

TrauTiou

fjLa\i(TTa

See a precise parallel vikcltu}

at this

but as a general principle

uiare Kparelv to ed.

near

past tense but the timeless aorist,

akin to the gnomic, referring to a per-

or in English form 'I pray that, though

may

the

would be not a

such words and yet the good triumph', thou hearest such words, the good

a sure

much

363.

are

XOP02;/3'.

the speakers

following scene

Appendix

But the

first

inter-

prevalent and seems the best.

On the question who here, to

and

how

the

be conceived, see

——

—

AfAMEMNON. eym

a/coi^cra? iricrTu

aov

reKfxrjpta

deov^ irpoaeiTrelv ev irapaaKevd^ofjuai'

y^P ovK

X^pi't

365

etpjaarai ttovwv.

aTifio<i

Zev ^aai\€v Kol vu^ ^iKia,

fieyaXcov Kocrficov Kreareipa,

eVi Tpola<i 7rvpyoi<; e/3aXe<;

r]T

areyavov Slktvop,

ux;

ixeyav

fJbrjTe

ovv veapwv rtv

fxrjT

370

vTrepreXeaai

fiiya SovXelwi

ydyyafMOv

Aia

iravakwrov.

dT7]<i

Tot ^eviov jxeyav alBovfiai

TOP

Tc'iSe

Trpd^avT

reivovra irdXai to^op,

Katpov

irpo

firjTe

365.

irpo<rtiir€iv «u to praise.

366.

Ju}r there hath been

OVK

might

wrought (by

inadequate'

'not

aTijios

X"/"s>

though relative

— 378.

Clytaemnestva

directly

in sense to

Dur-

retires.

the whole phrase /1^70

feeling of

into their

— vv|

the

position for

All this

(j>i\ia.

passage takes a poignant irony from the fact that

not

really

it is

Troy

and

Argos and the

her

night

are

that etc. 371.

375

i.e.

ware, so close

ovv 'nor if it comes

to that^

-yayyaixov (not

bow

the

adj.

Now

shame.

before his greatness

that ai'SoO/xai signifies

zijho

properly a

that the delay of

all

previous doubts.

hath ivrought this vengeance

See on vv. 69, 714. The shade whatever it was, which

oTTws av...o-KT]«|>cicv.

376.

difference,

distinguished the final optative with av

from the

\i.iyav full-grozan. |i'»JT'

'of

because of Paris'" sin.

of <rTeyttv6v...ws

they are ashamed of

gracious

370.

genitive

vengeance proves to have been only the delay of the archer taking a long sure aim

elders,

who

people,

enslaved by the work of this

set

dependingupon

alSovjiai.:

|Ji,€-yav

predicate,

Note

moving

are

in apposition to bovKeias).

sub-chorus, the principal chorus of elders

following hymn.

iravoXajTov

aT»]s

373.

ing this anapaestic march, sung by the

are

tyrants

that

equivalent' or 'of quality'

374.

367

them

remind

seldom grateful and that those who up cannot always pull down.

(Paley),

without the value' of the

trouble spent.— irovwv depends

upon

375

virep ciaTpcou

fjiijd

the gods) a return in full for our pains.

literally 'not

hXe^dvhpu)

o7rft)9

not

optative without

final

it,

was

worth retaining, and

to be

felt

this is the full force of the expression,

but

Attic prose ottws ffKri^eiev only would be

we have no English

not

admitted.

Here

the

was probably merely an archaism and,

cumbrous.

jiiJt'

equivalent that

ovv...Tiva.

irony of the situation turns against the singers.

The conspiracy which enthrones

Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus

the

work

of the younger generation (ceapo/, see the Introduction).

Their

own language

here

To Aeschylus

the older type

as such, part of the poetic style.

377. the

Kaipov before

irpo

mark:

cf.

hyperbole for

too high

(i.e.

virip

778. '.

short of)

darpwv

—This

usual interpretation of tt^ «ajpou.

the

— AIIXYAOY

42f

/8e\o9 r]\l6iov (TKrj-^eLev.

XO. Ato? irXaydv e^ova irdpeaTL tovt

eirpa^Gv w? eKpavev. 6eov<i j3poTu>v

7re(f>avTac S'

eucre/S?)?.

ijyovov-

ix°^'^°'-^ (corr.

379.

ovk e'0a rt?

%«pt9 OVK

385

to ^xoucr') eliretv.

385

—

an equally possible sense of the word

and

gives, divested of metaphor, the real

meaning.

But

vir^p

darpuv, a phrase not

taken as past definite or as gnomic, does

or does not imply a specific reference to

the present case.

gested but for the misinterpretation of v.

i]X£0iov

378.

be taken

predicate, to

379 and of the foregoing scene. The would naturally be referred to the

plural

with the verb.

subject of

a stroke of Zeus which This thought they are able to proclaim.

meaningless.

379.

The

permissible tofollorv out.

themselves ovk

(7rdpe£rri),

join

inasmuch as they are

more than doubtful

of the

But there

celebrated.

elders

^xoi'"'' (^^'^ ^lot able) to

in the celebration,

fact

an opportunity

phasis) does watch

and does punish

and

this accordingly they do, carefully avoidall explicit

reference to the supposed

Troy.

capture

This

and prompted

dubious

somewhat feeble distinction is by their peculiar and embarrassing situation. They cannot accept Clytaemnestra's proof, yet will not commit themselves to Naturally they soon quit the

a denial.

altogether.

yopivw, a

— dvtwreiv

word proper

metre

the

see

a.vo.-

to proclamation of

a victory in the games or the 380.

see

Appendix

determines.

{i.e.

Zeus) accomplishes as he

—Note

the convenient ambi-

guity of the aorist, which, according as

would be

referred

of ws (Her-

not strictly necessary

seems

the ar-

;

and the

better,

not

But the omission

may

insertion

well

have arisen from the want of punctuation after Ixvevaai.

381.

OVK

t<J>a

Tis.

we should

tis

understand, as usual, (juidam

the tone of

;

the remark suggests a personal reference. It is

probable that the poet has some

passage of literature in view

;

but upon

the dramatic bearing of the remark light is

thrown afterwards by

v. 1578,

where

appears that Aegisthus had entertained

and presumably expressed an unfavourable opinion of Providence. 383.

dOiKTwv

X<^P''S

the

charm

of the inviolable, i.e. the restraining 'power' which religion ought to exercise.

spell

x^9'-^i

i'^

the mind), 6pKui> x'^P's

and so

The omission

inadmissible in lyrics.

For

like.

II.

381.

mann)

lx<'i"'''i

chaic scansion e^ixvevv', ws (that)

they say, to moralize upon the

suggested truth, that Zeus (note the em-

subject

iirpa^av

the local and metaphorical

sense.

ing

In English the ambi-

guity can scarcely be preserved.

without the assisting contrast of

TTpo Kaipov in

it is

ws iwpa^ev ws.

(Hermann) must on no account be accepted, and would never have been sug-

very happy at best, seems scarcely intelligible

381.

iyydvova droX/xriTuv,

Sidgwick prefers before the time', which is

380

d^iovaOat jxeXeiv

ocrot? ciOlktcov

TraToW'

arp. a

dveLireiv'

i^c^vevaai'

385.

this sense of influence

Eur. Med. 439 and note there. cf.

manifested,

(upon

/3^/3aKe 5'

how pregnant is when

the insolence of a too-defiant pride, the fulness of the house

overpasseth the

APAMEMNON. aa

Twv

ToXixTj

'Aprj

TTveovTcov fiei^ov

SiKaiw^,

(^XeovTcav Scofidroyv virep^ev virep TO jBeKTKTTOv.

ecrrw h

(itti]-

dirapKelv

fiavTov &a-T

390

ev irpairihwv \a-^6vra. mean.

blessed

'to

«YYOvovo-a

iti^a.vTa.\.

liter-

proved to have been pregnant', or

ally 'is

have

been

giving birth to

carrying

When

it.

offspring',

the consequence

men see to what it was The metaphor and its applica-

have been good

and

tion are familiar in Aeschylus, Pindar,

other poets, and w-ere evidently conse-

crated

tradition.

out in vv, 749

— 773

man

much

meet his

The

needs without distress. ('let

i(TT(j}

be, let us put

(piaros

'so that a

6\^ov

The

yivei

ri/xas ;

yipuv

see notes

subject of at this') is

'the standard' of wealth,

TO ^i\Ti<jTov

tiJtrre

TraKai<paTo%

kt\.

man

by the limiting

and

literally

may'' etc.

true point of this

this

let

lie,

—dirijuavTov:

word

(for the first

time so far as

Wecklein.

explained

know) by

commonly rendered

'harmless' and construed with ^orw, the

merely touched by a passing allusion.

subject being supposed to be 'wealth',

of the words here

Hartung

follow in part

(eKrivovcra

no reason

Twf), but I see

for

T6\^a

changing a

but

of this verb without object might with

cited,

common

verb

two

too

584

takes

Xax^vn

offers,

form and meaning.

ivepyeiv,

^yyovos

The

synonym of

suffice

him

man

force

but

dTrj}iJ.a,vTos,

dwo- in dirapKelv. suffice

from

[oaov dwo'^riv

Lex.

from the

Thuc. 1.2),

obviously

The formation

transparent that, whether

was

familiar

or not, any one must have been at liberty to coin

it.

—

ToXjiT].

would be t6\/m, but detennine

More it

usual in lyrics

impossible

how much

now

regularity the

we There may

for the

d^opfi-^

the

literally 'to

preposition

enough

to live

d/sKw

of.

upon

a fund or capital,

For the personal use of

etc.

suffi-

cient (to myself), content' there appears to

be no other example.

ToaovTov dpK<2

Even P.

<TOL <Ta<f>7}vlaai.

V. 648

fwvov '1 can

only inform you as far as this' (cited by

But it is such happy and natural abuse of language

S.) is materially different.

poets observed in these matters, and

must take what we

find.

it':

ignoring

— dirapK€iv

dtro^riu

first

change

mistaken not only as requiring

sense occurs in Aristotle (see

;

without

sense

distress^; but the

capable of

Ivtokos),

and

much wealth

cattsint^

in-born, being contained as offspring

derived iyyovowa.

transitive

and means

The second s.v.)

(Auratus)

Wecklein

it.

dir-qnavTov

reading

adivet

dTr7]/j.dvT<j}

but does not prove

himself

very doubtful

translating 'let there be so

MS.

the

senses, either 'in-bearing, containing '

could bear the active

dirrjfj.avTOi

Suppl.

supply the

not

will

and

which

formed like

offspring

here,

be iyyovos

wealth

have been easily mistaken.

eyyovov(ra, clear both

moreover

whether sense.

reason be disputed

context

the

subject

In iKTivovcra the use

MS.

letter of the

clause

dryadas

— As to the division

be,

of sense

which shall

but the

;

familiar train of thought

Here the

there.

— 391

commentary upon

pXaardveiv oKbpeffrov ol^vv ktK.

389

'will permit a

the

irrelevant.

this sentence defines

reKeadivra

fiiyap

TtKvovffdai ...iK

Bothe and others

aToXfJLrjTioi

which

present passage,

Xbyo'i

for

tKydvois

Tr^(pai>Tai

of the play, which

are the best possible the

worked

fully

literary reason

—

reference to descendants

of sin comes, leading.

form here.

Ionic

justifies

itself.

— irpairiSwv:

of.

the

AIIXYAOY

ov <ydp ecTTLv eiraX^t';

irXovTov

Kopov dvSpl

7rp6<;

XaKTicravTL fieydXa At/ca? /3&)yu,oi/

et<?

^uiTai

d(pdv€Lav.

395

d Tokaiva rreiOw,

irpo^ovKoiraa

draf;.

d(f)epTo<;

Hermann and

genitive with ^x^'-" ^ws, as ws etxe ttoSujc

(2)

'with his best speed'

d<pdveiav 'protection against destruction'.

(S.).

—

/vr t/iere is no defence for 395. man, who in the pride of ivealth doth

392 tlie

haughtily sptirn the foundation of Right,

whereby he

may

be hid.

sentence

this

one or two points which

are

would

may

itXovtov

leave uncertain.

be taken

either as above or with ^TraX^ts ('there is no protection in riches' etc. Sidgwick: 'What defence are riches' etc. Kennedy).

other only as

prefer the

somewhat the attachment a.(()dvHav.

Theb.

cf.

339 6\ol9' fi^yav Canter

TToXei fxeyaX' ewevxeTat.

(5j

See Appendix

the rendering 'altar'

The

/3w/Li6s

that

facilitating

to ^TraX^is of d%

II.

—

fixity,

p<i>fi,6v

—

The

and

concealed,

tection

for

d<f)a.veLa,

the chief

els

difificulty.

as the

(i),

acpaveiav 'spurn-

that of arbi-

Not only does

cannot

the metaphor

thus pass decidedly into the grotesque,

words are separated from

is more like an becomes inconsistent with

the sentence, because they strike the key-

note of the passage following. Vet irresistible

396.

way

protect him.

Eur.

796

ffel.

the very notion of a

|3w/x6s,

which, as

The

that oi fixity.

wicked may insolently spurn a

/Sw/tos,

could not, however willing, spurn

And

et's

far

moreover, the addition of emphasis,

from strengtTiening

a(f)a-

may be

forces

him on'

taken here ('Temptation S.),

but the other makes

The

better connexion.

temptation

ToXaiva this

not

obstinate

;

here

397.

strength

the

word

the

shade of meaning, avTovs,

cf.

and per-

cf.

w rdXav,

question. often

has

Eur. Med. 1057 reKvwv

(pelffai.

to her heart).

irpoPovXoirais

difficult expression.

The

oTtts

another

old interpreta-

was fore-counselling child of InfatuaTo this it was objected (Hartung, Karsten) that the law of composition does

tion

tion'.

not admit such a substantive in the sup-

posed sense, an objection not answered

;

he did not spurn

per-

The second

suasion to do [temptation). sense

;)

sadly

observe),

XaKTicravTi,

but

away.

weakens it the wicked, it would seem, might 'spurn' the ^u/jlos without offence, if

obstinate

means both

Tret^w

tLs rovSe ireidu)

(Medea appeals

that

suasion to believe [conviction, as here,

iacov

the

They

^iraX^is.

are placed with emphasis at the end of

but (and this perhaps

(with

why

This connexion also explains

argument)

j'etttj/

to the

sequel ovk eKpixpOrj, irpiwei 5i kt\., v. 398.

is,

trary taste, but I confess that

already observed,

(for the purpose

els

and as suitable

some

objection to this

suggest this as ren-

dering correctly both

and

whence the

concealment',

translation above.

of)

eh dcpdveiav 'pro-

(3) ^TraX^ts

tion' (S.).

secret,^'

wrong preposi-

the

'e^s is

the wicked, that his wealth will in

ing out of sight', or 'into destruction'.

it.

word, means

not destroyed, but always invisible,

and the

explanations given are

majority, XaKrlaavri

common

a very

els

persuasion, the self-persuasion, that

solidity (cf. /3^/3atos), is

els d<|>dv«iav

^ The sole

dcpavrji,

others, ^waK^is

on which anything

here more prominent than that of sanctity.

But

rather too narrow.

stands, 'a base, step, pedestal',

notion of

— |X€YaXa,

for metre.

dvr. a.

as far as invisibility.

by producing exceptional

adjectives

as aivovapis (Ildpts), alvoirar-qp etc.

compound

substantive

such

The

Trpo^ovKo-irais

—

ArAMEMNQN. aKO^ Se

ought to mean

^w?

a Trais

'who belongs

Xos' or

not an adjective

common, and

a irpo^ov-

This type of com-

but a substantive.

whether

who

the question

Now

applicable here.

a SKhstanth'c ^wfS. always,

may *

meant

Greek

one who prepares measures

tion of another

politics

occurs

Aeschylus himself (Thcb. 997), and not seldom elsewhere. It is a word in in

meaning

(as

with

coloured

deeply

short

describes not a quality but

ways These

another

Trpo^ovXos

punishment of the

the

avert

wicked.

lie will only ruin

adopt his

guilt.

to observe

— In

al-

others.

compound Trois also is a term oifunction, and means not child but servant or handmaiden (a common meaning), and that we

that ^Trel...6pviv

The almost unique word

it.

meaning thing,

which

that

plainly adopted,

when

SiKaiwOcls to

justice

justified,

Self-decep-

drop the metaphor, prepares the

Such meta-

phors from occupations and functions are see

;

his

XaXKivei 'Att) (f>aiTyai'ovpy6^, his

like.

—To

-\ (Hartung)

trpo-

irpixriro-

irpo^aToyvufiuv, and the

Xos ^ovoxj, his

write is to

Trpo^ovXov

irais

.dras

cut not solve the problem.

No copyist would invent irpo^oiiXoiraLS, and besides, the use of irpo^ovXos force us to ask

as irpo^ovKos?^

To whom

— irpo^ovXos

would then

does Ate serve Tratj

in-

has in

hiKixibd}

(Karsten)

'brought

i.e.

punishment

'to

and Sc)

(see L.

it is

the few passages where

all

used with a personal object.

It suits

rp\.^i^...-Ki\ei.

In contact with justice wickedness

what

But

is.

This

the meaning which

for

the style of the poet

probably

—

counsellor-servant of Ate

Trp6ffTpifi/ia,

rubbed on to

very well with the words

for judicial blindness.

a paren-

and that the metaphor of the rubbed metal is pursued after it as before thesis,

should translate by servant of Infatjiation who prepareth her decrees, literally 'the

way

who

TpfjSoj. It is additionally recommended by the use of wpoarpi^eLv to inflict a punishment (Aesch. P. V. 345 Paley).

facts strongly suggest that in this

tion, to

those

detail, the first point

vented, by the poet, as a correlative to

irpo^ovXa^

that,

and

function, and

a relative function.

technical

also TrpojSovXeijo}),

general meaning

as wealth will not serve, so neither will

power, such as the power of a mighty

for the sanc-

In this sense

The

analysis.

state,

be trusted, confined to one sphere of

association.

The sonorous

conversant 7oith such.

obscurity of this sentence almost defies

the Lexicon

well worth notice, that Trpo'^ouXos always is

€Kpv(f)07],

alvoXafxire^, aivof;'

to the class irpopov-

\oi\ where TrpdjSonXos

pound

ovk

•jrafifiGTaiov.

irpeiret he,

SiKaLuOels does not

this

seen

meaning of

square exactly with

where that with which the malefactor has contact is no longer justice but the 7r6Xiy which beir6\ei Trp6(rTpiix/xa...dels,

comes a party

The

his cause.

seems to be that

in these last

mind a

poet has before his

fact

words the

possible sense,

quite different, of diKaiovffdai, analogous to that of 5tKo/wcrty, e.g. in Lysias pStl

oZ'V

fieif

(TTaade.

d(j)d6-qv

ivpoiyfjKeiv

ra^Ttjv

hk riyovfievoi koI

airyjWdxOaL

dwdSfi^iv

T7]v

virh tQiv TafiiQv itrl-

Sia

rod

avoids this question, but is also arbitrary.

iyK\rj/xaros,

a(f>€pTos 'tyrannous',

Here and elsewhere diKaiuais clearly means 'justification in the modern sense, and in later Greek the verb diKaiou takes regu-

lit.

'insupportable'.

—

398 408. Remedy is all in vain.... Like base metal at the rub and touch he

shows the black grain under Justifcation .and sets upon his people a fatal mark . .

of his touch.

Deaf

supplication, the

gods condemn for a wicked

man him who

'4ti.

fiXXas StKtttcccrets

TrXeiovas

Kal

vo/xov?

Kal

irapacrx'ri'^ofj.ai.

larly the

corresponding sense of

The dawn is

often

'justify'.

of a future change in language

first

seen

poetry,

which

—

;

AIIXYAOY

4OO

KUKOV he yakKov rpoirov Tpi/3(p Kal Trpocr^oXaiii

irekei

IJbeka[jiira<yrj<i

BiKaio)6el<; (eVei BicoKet 7rat9 irravov opviv)

TToXei irpocnpijxix

Xirav Tov

a(f)€pTov

d/covet /nev ovTfi

4^5

dei<;.

Becov,

eTTiaTpocpov TcovSe

(j)coT

dSiKov Kudaipei.

oto<;

Kal ITapt? eXOcov

69 Sofiov TOV

41O

Krpeihav

^evlav rpdire-

'^(T')(yve

^av KXoTraicrc yvvatK6<;. XiTTova-a

daTOLcnv

arp.

dairl.crropa'i

/3'.

kX6vov<; Xo'y'^t/xov<; re koI vav^dra^i oTrXicrixovq,

nyovcrn t

^e^aKe

dvrlcfiepvov 'IXtto (f)dopav

which appears

the

— The rendering

words.

not supported, so far as

TToX^Tatj,

T/ie6. 57,

102 1 etc.— a4>€pTov

should be changed

The

iXeyxelriv

put ttpon avadrjcrei

Bel's

Aeschylean;

(see

Ap-

and a bad one,

{II.

except TrpoaOds.

—

possible, 11.

best of

100),

all

a.va.ri-

and most

preposition

quite

But the

irp6<T-TpLfj./xa

compound would be

and no

satisfactory

therefore leave the text,

€ir€l...opviv,

for his pur-

suit is that of the boy after the flying bird

the hope of the malefactor and his friends that they

^TwvSe

may

masculine,

escape punishment

is futile.

better taken not as neuter but as

TIjlV.

which

this

the

Homeric phrase

dvOpwiruf (Od.

€irl(rTpo(pos rjv

177) from

The

appears to be imitated.

plural includes the

whole company of the

wicked with the original malefactor. dSiKov predicate with KaOaipct, has or

its '

which 'condemn' destroy though

judicial Attic sense, to

sentence

(not

this is indirectly implied), as in

povaa Sc.

yprjcpo^

(Lysias) etc.

— On

Appendix

avdeh (from avariis

the correct

already given

under reserve.

This

Oeis.

OdvaL alriav (or kv5os) tivL etc.

simple verb

iroXei,

Cod. Farn. has as usual a

for €v- is not correct to

—

TroXet irpocTTpi/xfjLa Oels

conjecture, S.(pepTov evOeU,

divai)

Perhaps the order

II.) is harsh.

atpepTOP.

very frequent in Aeschylus,

metre though not impossible pendix

tested

can discover,

by any example or even analogy. 7'.e.

possi-

many commentaries,

410.

7rpo/3oXa?s.

always experimenting upon bilities of

415

hid irvXav,

plfjic^a

the metrical points see

II.

dcTTiCTopas kXovovs Xoyx^|aovs

413.

T€ the din of shield

pdros

KaOai-

See L. and

and

oirXieriioiis attd the

spear, Kal vav-

arming offleets.

T€ couples the adjectives dcnriffTopas 'KoyxlfJ.ovs,

the

KdL couples vav^a.ra'i

whole

phrase

and

oTrXia/jLois

preceding.

The

order of the words and conjunctions the

proper order,

require notice but for the

change theory.

415

and would scarcely attempts to

under the pressure of metrical See Appendix

— 422.

II.

See Appendix K.

416. p«PaK6. The vowel ened by the following p.

length-

AFAMEMNfiN. 8'

drXnjTa rX/icra' iroXv

dvlarevov

To8' €Vve7rovTe<; Bo/llcov 7rpo(f>i]Tai'

Soofxa SSfia koX irpofiot,

1(0

Id)

lo)

420

Xe^^o? Kal art^oi (f)t\dvop6<;.

Trdpeari a8taT0<;

atyfl';

ISetv.

(i(}>efjieu(ov

iroOw

(i\olSopo<;

dTtfjio<i

VTrepirovrla^

dvaaaeiv.

^dafia S6^€L

Boficov

etfiopcfxov Be

KoXoacrwv

425

€')(6€Tai %«/3t? dvBpi, S'

ofjifiaTCOv

eppet irda

a-^^Tjvtaif:

A(f>poBiTT}.

dvT.

6vei,p6(f)avTOt Be 7retdi]fiov€<; 419. iroKi

Appendix

II.

417. see

id)

dv€<rT€vov:

•7r69w...dva<r(r£iv:

423.

her that

metre

pining for

sea, the lord of the a mere phantom : den '

Herrscher des Hauses wird

man

nicht

einen machtvollen Herrscher, sondern

fiir

fur ein Schattenbild halten

The is

for

far beyond

may pass for

honse

and SQfia not repeated.

(Wecklein).

tone, as in the preceding sentence,

mocking.

still

—

sorry to

for this interpretation the old

his longing for the lost wife a

one *in

phantom

home

not in

abandon

and familiar

of her will

seem

the subject of 86^ei should be other than 6 iroOwv

the suggestion to translate by

The

question

eyes

the

or of the

wife,

lost

raised

those

are

husband, or of the

blankly-gazing statues, a question which

The

cannot and must not be answered.

eyes of the husband seek, but no longer the eyes that were wont to answer,

find,

and, for lack of this response, love

him no more. tween eyes

for

the advantage of the

It is

language here that

rule his

But this, however poetical, is It is impossible that the Greek.

irevO-qiiove^.

4-29.

of the eyes. whether the

yS'.

absence of eyes

ambiguous beand

hunger of

429.

irtiOiiiAoves

compel

belief in

pertius

visions

i.e.

their reality,

11.

persuading

So^ai,

visions or 'convincing',

which Pro-

cf.

departed wife

addressing her husband)

'sat

me, Paule,

sint

tibi

som-

he will think that a phantom of her

noctes, quas de

(Housman) shows a consciousness of this; but itself makes an impossible Moreseparation of <p6.<Jixa. from ^ofyi.

niaque in faciem credita saepe meant;

over the old interpretation does not satisfy

iace,

the force and position of dopLuv avdaaeiv.

aropyrjs

rules

will

no doubt seem

Dr Wecklein's rendering

many

destroys what

they most admire in the passage.

may for

be,

but

myself that

that

This

compelled to say

think

indisputably

42 7.

6|x|jLdT(ov iv

dx^lvCais in the

want

atque ubi secreto nostra ad simulacra loqueris

responsurae singula verba

Meleager ^;/M. Gr. i/J-a

166

\dipava Kal rb

OaKweT

ev eiKacrlg.;

^x^' CTfjyKoi.Ta TO. daKpva,

i^vxaTrdxTjv

pov

apa. /x^vei

<pl\T]/j.a

fivr]|

fjjoavvov \f/vxpg.

Ka.fJ.hv

apd

6vii-

(xripvois a.jj.<pi^a\ovaa

(Ilousman journal of Philology, Both passages, that of Pro269).

(piXet;

16.

pertius

right.

fatiges

especially,

suggested

l)y

seem

have

Aeschylus (see

?'.

been

425 above)

—

)

AIIXYAOY

irapeLaL So^at (f)epov<Tai %«/3tJ' /xaTatav.

430

av iaOXd rt? Sokmv opdvf,

fidrav yap evT

irapaWdâa-a Bid ')(epu)V êâKev 6yjrc<; ov /xedua-Tepov trrepoi'i o7raSoi<? vttvov Ke\evdoi<i.'

she inclined, I waked' (and

and strengthen, as well as illustrate, the But the strongest commenconjecture.

embrace

dation, though not perhaps truly an argu-

complcxits

ment,

ixdrav "ydp cut' av €S 6170,9 SoKav opa

is its

poetic superiority.

The

MS. 'mournful'. pretations of this,

(

irevO-qixove^

alternative

inter-

sad-looking, {^) caus-

ing sadness, are both unsatisfactory. is

pointless,

the

and

context.

(2) is

contrary to fact and

cannot be said of the

visions that Trivdy]ix.ovt% irdpeKTi

contrary

(pipovffi

Mr Housman tation,

X'^P^"'

Eur. A/c. 348

ev<f>paii'oii

vvktI Xeicraeiv

— There

though

fiaraiav,

(Admetus

foil.

ev 5' ovelpaaiv ipoiTCxxa

civ

yap

ridii

6vtiv

i.e.

arise before the disturbed

the mourner.

might even

frag.

dvdpbs

i6'2

d<pvXaKTOs

veaviov

supposed stumble

visions

cite Pro-

proverb

metrical

irdalv

From

the mere fact that the passage

some word not common.

somewhat

Mr Housman take, if

may or

does not notice,

irevOi^/jLovei

be retained

which

old is

the

as to

for

Housman's

venture to insert

ireiSri/xuv, it

though

reading,

am Mr

do not

as a clear restoration.

we have common error T

account for the MS. text

But

merely to suppose the

and

for

in the

In short,

myself completely satisfied with

and

have contained

likely to

should

text.

431.

corrupt

;

other.

cannot refrain from placing

very likely be an old reading, as old

nearly as

Mr Housman's I

explanation,

artificial

irpdyfxaai

eiffi

ab exsequiis penderet

This

easily

Under

dijo,

5).

here.

where irpoffdrJKai (additions) has no meaning and should be everything has replaced by irpoadiyai two handles or ways of taking hold of irpo<70TJKai

L. and Sc. will be found the

irpoadriKT] in

appears to her lover 'cum mihi somnus (4.

the

nothing to

the existence of dtyelv, and can be foimd,

pertius for this also: the ghost of Cynthia

absolutely warranted

it is

;

KiJirpiv

rripTjcns.

touch there

diyri

opuvroi i]

recognisable shape than

mind of

offers

'),

for when in vain he looks to touch the phantom where for hoKoX {i.e. So^ai) see Hermann ad loc. and for hpav e% Eur.

as I have long thought, in

perhaps a third possible inter-

inter

96)

/m'

kSv

<f>i\ovi

(4.

umbra meos

excidit

waprj xpovov.

h,v

pretation, visions of mourning,

which

on the

aptly quotes another imi-

dying wife)

his

( i

add Propertius again

thus ecrdiras, and from this by the

;

commonest

sort of conjecture

ecOXd

tls.

434 with wings thai follow the passing of sleep. The dative KeXevdois, de:

Here again

agree

with

Housman upon all points. The attempts to make grammar by minute alteration {e.g. opq.) are useless. The intrusion of

pending on

mere generality here is intolerable, and the words icrdXd rts must be wrong. It is absurd to say that whenever anj/ one

of error.

seems to see good things they pass away

oTraSos

through his hands

Something

quired leading up to 5ia x^P^^-

man, comparing Milton

But

re-

Mr Houslo

oiraSoii

correct, produces

(cf.

dative cases, but there

— Of

(Auratus) technically

'iirofx-ai),

though

a curious collision of is

no certain proof

proposed changes the

simplest

most probable

might

well

the adjectival

Aeschylus take

— — KcXcvOois, com-

inepoh as an instrumental dative. poh

6Tra5ov(F(a)

monly

Dobree.

65o(s, cf. V. 131.

oirahbs

change and

irre-

—

;

AfAMEMNQN. ra rd

Kar oiKOVf

fiev

TO irnv

€crTia<;

i<f>

axv*

435

Kal tcZvS' virep^aTdWepa.

ecrri,

'KWaSo^i

(t(f)'

aia<i avvopfi6vot<i

irevdeia T\r)(TiKaphto<i

eKncTTOv irpeTrei.

B6/j,Q)v

Ta.8' effrl.

436.

435.

co-rCas.

€<f>*

(\^iss).

((pecrrlovi

437.

"irav h\

generally, nniiu-r sally,

the commons', or

This merely expresses the same sense

i.e.

a more ordinary way.

'the general' in Shakespeare's phrase, as

But a poet

way, and we

liberty to prefer an unusual

may even 4<p'

think that the cumulation of

more intimate expression)

fffrlai (the

upon Kar vision

(Halm), but

right,

think this di-

further

?<m The

that

should be accented as emphatic.

word ly

without emphasis

icrrl

very rare-

admitted by Aeschylus, especially in

lyrics,

but almost always

be sup-

left

The emphatic ^(rri is used here mark the true present time of v. 436,

opposed

plied.

of thought

were ai home

this

Such

otVovs) the sufferings

(/car

(e^'

eo-r^as)

most nearly con-

cerned (the Atridae, particularly Menelaus),

the domestic

f<'"r/ay,

The

concerns of the princes.

accords with the analogy of rh ir\eicrTov,

and other sufferings they have now,

etc.

— «ruvopfjievois

and their army) went away For this 'dative absolute', as it may almost be called, see on Thel>. 217 and hereafter on v. 1277. 'EXXaSos. "EXXayos Bamberger for metre. See Ap-

—

pendix

439

II.

—440.

/n the dwelling of every

one heart-aching grief

seen

from an adjective

deia, as

436 and

;

437 are separately

thetic in different

ways

to v. 435.

anti-

— If

rctS'

be written, so that the antithesis is merely between to, iiiv and rh Trdv 5^, e<7Tt

there

an ill-marked transition of time

from the

past

the

present.

twvS'

t/iore

surpassing than these,

(active)

senSe of inr^p^aros,

vir€ppaTWT€pa

an unusual

Adjectives in

formation.

compounds,

The

epithet

heart'

would be logical. word the active :

for 'one

bolder case

{d.cnvr]S crurrrip

in a

passage of

And

there.

authority

little

looseness of construction

yond reasonable

must

limits.

grief.

who

see notes

carried be-

The combination

singly formidable,

difficulties,

—Translate:

tha-e

and

women of every kinswoman of each

be heart-ache for the

house, literally, 'the is

see

the range of poetry seeking a strong ex-

naturally.

pression.

than

V. /E. A.

his

thirdly in the genitive Sd/xwu

exceptional only, not incorrect

saves harmless') occurs in Thed. 811 but

man's house

'suffering

could scarcely be applied

and the comparative seems well within

sense

So tAoj,

proper only to the mourner, and

overwhelming.

these'

only

irevOeiv,

but not riXeia perfection.

TXrjffiKdpdios

of these

reject the

are formed

-77s

e.g. dvcnrevdyjs.

reXe?!', £VTe\rjs,

and a redundant, or rather inaccurate, 'surpassing

iriv-

would

be a word of monstrous and unexampled

use of the comparative formation, where

Some would

the re-

irevO-qs,

loss)

ceived translation, but impossible,

and throughout Hellas, since they (the princes and their army) went away, there is sorrow'. Both first

they

(the princes

from words such as nivdos,

to the

TroXi»,

'since

together'.

even greater (the miseries of war being

added

phrase as

an adverb qualifying the whole statement

to the 'historic' time of v. 435.

The connexion of those

opposed to ra i4

does not seem to occur elsewhere, but

oikov^ has a poetical effect.

TO. 8'

436.

reference to

'in

ire'vOeia

'is

heavy

at heart of course'.

Appendix L.

This

—

irp^irct

the force here rather

conspicuously'.

The

use of the

AIIXYAOY

TToWa yovv oTBev,

Oiyydvei Trpo? ^Trap'

yap

0^)9 fiev

dvrl Be

T€VXV

'^^*^

440

TrapeTrefiyjrev <f>(i)Tci}v

(TTToSo? et? €Ka-

CTTOV S6fiov<; d(})iKveLTai.

6 'Xpvcra/jLObl36<;

S' "Aprj<i

Kol TaXavrov')(^o<; ev

<TTp.

(TOi/JbaTCOv

fji>d')(r)

445

Bopo^;

TTvpcoOev i^ 'iXtoi;

^apv

Trefiirei

(f)LXoi,cn

SvaSnKpVTOV dv-

yjrrjy/ia

cnrohov yefxi-

rr)vopo<i

450

^(ov Xe^r)Ta<i evOerov.

yap

441.

verb

closely akin to

personal use {irplwei

common imand may be

its

it is Jit),

approximately illustrated by Pers.

yap to^ov\k6?

irdrepa

avToU

'Is the

TTpiirei;

450.

iireixypev.

O-^XI^V

bow

5ta

1^2

x^P^"

weapon

the

natural to their hands?' and Soph. 0. T. g TTpevcov

nei to

rCovSe

irpb

their natural

It is this trpi-

which ^ovv in v. 440 refers yovp some justification of what pre:

introduces

cedes, here of the notion 'naturally' or

'of course' conveyed in irpiwei,

sad naturally, for she has

much

'she

OiYydvei

xpos

{avrrii)

The

wo2i7ids her to the heart.

7]irap

interpre-

tation of irivOeia ofifered above has the

incidental difficulty

advantage of removing

from

this line, as

the

supplies the

personal pronoun, without which Oiyyav€L TTpbs rjirap

would be a doubtful phrase,

doubtful as to have prompted cor-

rections, KiyxoLveL (Meineke),

(Wecklein) 441.

has been recommended

ject to ?Trefi\pev,

which

already supplied

under the foregoing interpretation.

Appendix II. "Notice the 442.

xp^f^'""^^'''"-^

beautiful effect in

this pathetic line of the implied antithesis

instead of the familiar and loved comes back the unknown urn and

to oIScv

face

;

ashes" (Sidgwick).

"The

445.

'dust in the urn' suggests

'War

a bold figure to the poet.

•irape''n-€|A4'«v

(Bothe) those

711/1

away with cheer and encouragement. The preposition, bearing the same shade of meaning as in irapashe sped forth, sent

fivOela-dai, irapaKeXeieiv,

of the contrast.

The

adds to the irony

loss of a syllable is

accounted for by the similarity of bles r*PTT<'^P-

—

'''5

^irefixf/ev

sylla-

Porson (and

he has

;

his balance (holding the scales of fight, a

Homeric idea from weighs

fates)

dzest, trupoiQiv

//. 8.

he sends

;

and ^apv

69,

where Zeus

back

diirtit

;

men

451.

he '

fills

^rj^ixa

and heavy

(grievojis), like gold-dust, but in

sense

another

the jar with ashes in place

" (Sidgwick).

«vOtTov

literally

'convenient';

the old translation 'easily stowed' far

etc.

— See

further

gold-merchant dealing in bodies

her'.

440.

but this has no graphic

;

only by the necessity of supplying a sub-

to grieve

texts)

probability.

'marked as

(fxavetv,

spokesman '.

many

yefii^ojv (?).

from the implied sense, but a

not

little

more than the meaning of the word. The is 'convenience', as comes

general notion

out clearly in evderelv to be convenient,

handy {evBerei irdffi xpv<^o.(Tdai Theophrasand specially the convenience which comes of being in small compass. So in Hesiod {Theog. 541) Prometheus, binding tus),

the bones of an ox in fat to deceive Zeus,

—

AFAMEMNQN. 8'

arevovcTt

Bpa TOP 8'

TOP

ev XeyovTe^; uv-

fi€V

i'Spt?,

iia^ri<i

ft)?

kuXo)^ ireaovT

(f)Ovat<i

aWoTpia<i htaX <yvvaiK6^' rdZe

(^Oovepov h

avrov

epirei

a\<yo<;

VTT ^

TrpoSifcoicnv oc

At pei8ai<i.

irepl t€l^o<;

455-

first

0T)Ke

packs them together, evdertaas kut^KoXvfa^ apyiri Brj/jLip. So in Aesch.

/rag. 238 shoes for running are termed

from their

ap/3i'Xai

ei'deroi

word appears,

(The

as a conjecture of one of

the later copyists, in

T/i€l>.

629,

l)ut

dia.

some one, an emissary conspirators,

malicious suggestion

see

Here it is an epithet borrowed from the merchant's gold-dust, whose convenience of small bulk, ready

and Sc. of

etc., is

the ashes

it is

a chief part of

its

value.

applicable only in bitter

compared with the living man, they are so small in bulk and so irony, because, as

quickly disposed is

ironical tone

aided by the emphatic position of the

epithet

less

evOhovi (Auratus)

purpose.

The

taken change.

goldsmith's vessels

dead)

430 has a similar strong and different

fxaralav in v.

emphasis, though in

The

of.

a mis-

'convenience' of the (i.e.

the urns of the

not to the point

;

still

less that

they are 'well-ordered' (as the word

sometimes rendered).

may add

the

457.

ya'

the last words aWorpi-

I have followed Wecklein marking the natural pause. pau^o-

of the dead.

—

the

snarls

;

dog.

word

signifies the tones of the

some one

;

from ^av^ovffi and

When the

note that this differs is

praises of the

•uiro

For

sense of irpddiKos

picturesque.

dead are sounded,

see

But the exact fix, from the

word and of

^pirci

hard to

similar words.

a laudatoiy

;

would

or merely general epithet irpSfiaxos

spoil the

forward in

handy, irpbKuiro^ ready

Trpbxeipoi

battle,

avrtdiKos in

cf.

here clearly invidious

sentence.

the great cause of the

Troy.

there

282 x^-P^

grow

iptreiv to

diKT) is

rarity of the

with the sword, and

wpoKecrxo'i too ready

ivith talk, so npoSiKos

may be

ready in suit, in short

would

fit

for7ciard or

litigious,

and

very well, the point being

the princes

are

selfishly

urging their private interest.

os Sial yvvaiK6s, not of course the praises

A treus.

Atridae against

that

i.e.

'ArpeCSais

—-irpoSfKOwriv

The

V. 41.

word. Td8€,

This intransitive use

i)(j>ipTrei.

Theh. 17.

«rffw

indignajit grief against the

be distinguished from that in

this

456.

connexion with

its

(|>6ovcp6v

v(j)ipirei.

i.e.

been altered to the case of a remoter

Hermann.

and

quarrel of the sons of

too

Sial

the

in a whisper.

o-i-Ya

ffPy-) to hiss.

spreads an

improbability that cvdirovs should have

455.

—

the word retains the effect

s.v.)

origin

its

(stem

note there.)

exchange

example of the

for

generally put

will

In this and the like passages (see L.

convenient

and other adaptation.

lightness

455

Ti? ^aii^ei,

crl'ya

gically irp68iKOi

may

also

eager in

— Etymolo-

mean pleading

on behalf of anolher, and sometimes did (cf. wpodiKiu} and trpofiaxoi in the sense of defender).

Hut

this

the purpose here

;

would be contrary

dae was certainly

their

dering

vindex

iustitiae

the cause of the Atri-

own.

The

ren-

(Dindorf)

scarcely consistent with the etymology.

4—2

; .

AIIXYAOY

460

'IXtaSo? 7««»

6i]Ka<;

e^-

evfiop^oi Kare')(ov(rt,v'

6pn

eKpvyfrev.

6')(^ovra<i

^apeia

darrov

ZtjiMOKpdrov

avyKOTCOv'

(fxiTLf

463.

to7tm in Trojan earth, ivhich hating

doth hide

Greek

them

The

fair possessors away.

its

feeling for the lieaiity of the liody

here touchefl with a strange pathos.

though joined with Karixovaiv,

cii'|j.op(f>oi.,

takes

The

^Kpv^fcv.

even

from

force

its

antithesis

epithet could be applied,

imagination, only of course to

VT.

Others possess s^-aves there by the

460.

dpd<i Tivet ')(peo^.

464

of a

peifortns the obligation

^dm,

the talk by which malcontents are

drawn

swo)-n conspiracy

together.

—

the subject

dpas a popular

8rij».0KpdT0t)

conjuration, a curse by which the people

bind

themselves

together.

that the MS. reading

believe

right

and much

better than any of the proposed substi-

The metaphor

tutes.

Kpdffis

mixture, ap-

the dead buried, not burnt.

plied to a league, covenant, or bond,

the irony in

modern language but consecrated and characteristic in Greek; and it

Note also KaTexov<riv...?x.ovTas, words

used naturally of conquerors

— ixOpa.

(Sidgwick).

land

(Orelli) gives a

who

oceitpy

^x^'"'^"^

more obvious but much

Papeia

463.

when united

common

dangerotis.

— otjykotwv

similar

ffvvKorm)

justifiable

The compound

ffv/xiraO-rjs

not

ffiyKoro^

united in feeling,

bound

avvai/ios united in blood, a-uvopKos

by a joint oath, and exactly analogous to

one in mind, of which a

<svu.<ppwv

tary specimen

soli-

preserved in v. 112.

answers to dXXo/foros (properly differing in

hiimottr)

avixtppovuv

answers

For the union with a

aK\ocf>poveiv.

was in fact more than was an actual symbol

see the ritual of Atlantis as described in

Plato (Critias p. 119).

{(tvvko-

imperative.

;

annually renewed

microscopic change from the MS. for

bond.

This

Tuv

specially applicable to a conjuration or

religious

anger, possessed by a indignation.

feeling

a metaphor

less delicate point.

pre-

foreign to

The

their

kings

ten

compact

with

each other and with the law by

shedding the blood

first

of a bull over a

on which were written, together

pillar,

with the laws, 'an oath invoking great

on whoever should break them

curses

{opKos fJLeyaKas apas eirevxafxevos To7i dwei-

Oovai)

and then mixing drops of the

bulPs blood, one for each of them, in a bozul from

which they drank, sivearing as

they did so to deal truly with each other

according

to the la^o (KpaTrjpa

Kepaaapres

hi^aWov

we have inr^pKoros and iwiKOTo^. With (TVYKOTwv we have an exact expres-

kt\.).

sion of the point, which, as the next line

beginning

when there is among people a common indignation (not

expressed by the dedication of a Kparvp,

position

shows,

that

the in-

vwhp

eKCLffTov

Hence of

Opoix^ov in

Herodotus

commercial

and we are told that

dignation simply), a conspiracy, or some-

dwb TOVTOV Tov

grows up naturally out of daily intercourse and conversation (c^dris).

ffvveKprjdriffav.

thing like

it,

— With ahv lar

rumour

anger'.

But

KOTip is

we must

translate

popu-

dangerous, where there

this is a

expression of what

'ipyov

aipLaros

152) the

(4.

league

Qripaloiffi is 'Za/jLiovs

wpwra

(piKlai fjieyaXat

the

Seven a-

gainst Thebes (43) the forlorn hope of the besiegers bind themselves together till

death by putting their hands while they

lame and inadequate

swear into blood

meant.

which serves

poured

shield,

for the occasion the func-

—

——

;

AfAMEMNQN. fievei 8'

(iKovaat ri fiov

465

fiepifiva vvKTi]pe(f)e<;.

iroXvKTOvcov yap ovk

TftJf

aTToaKOTTOi deoL

val

KeXai,-

^EipCVV€<i "X^povM

ovT

TV')(ripov

Blku^

civev

See also the oaths of Priam and Agamemnon //. 3. 269 and From this ritual and symnotes there.

tion of a Kparrjp.

many

came

bolism

terms

familiar

compact, such as avyKepdaacrOai avyKeKpacrdai nvt ther),

{to be

covenant of

people, a

juration' of the

solemnized with imprecation

rebellion

and the point here

common

Hence

etc.

dpa properly describes a 'con-

8r}fj.6KpaTos

that the

indignation irregularly

cated from

mouth

dangerous to authority as a sworn conspiracy.

be observed that what

It will

the speakers fear

not the unimaginable

but the sanction of a law has

itself;

really nothing

waits to hear from

glimpse

political

development of the play.

to the

Xpcos

the

important, indeed essential,

performs

'it

The

obligation'.

shape'.

would be 'I

that

which

irpbi

simpler form of expression fihio}

aKovaal

fiat,

riKvov,

Hermann)

efiavrou kt\.

waiting to be told by myself, from

which the actual form

differs in the per-

sonification of the questioning anxiety as

something

from the person

distinct

For the

it.

430, 451.

/j.ipi/ji.vd

aKovaai

vvKTTjpetph

expects news

on must

—We

avoid the construction ri

fj.ov

anxiety

pressed in Aeschylean language by fxoi

itself to

cf.

For

Soph. 0. C.

Xexos,

XP^o^ {pbiigatio

Observe

^e6j.

that

rivti.

fx.ivei

still

This would be ex-

etc.

by a bold

causes to be done.

who

antithetic emphasis

'pays') the

OTi aoL (pi\ou iK (xidev avro-

<r'

though

a definite

(pans

the extended use of XP^°^

250

evil, it

(literally

but natural personification said

rlvti

aiuait

something, which

cannot at present give

vvKT7}p€(t>is see vv.

have a fixed presentiment of

break against the representatives of the This

darkness covers'), or in terms of prose 'I

feels

situation

ant/

|A€V€i...vvKTT)p£<j)€S

465.

with boding a voice from the darkness of my thoughts (literally 'and my anxiety

thing which happens, but a popular out-

king.

present

the

witli

matter.

bond of a communi-

mouth may be

<pi\lav,

united with ano-

(rv/xj36\aLa

aufifu^ai.

470

Tpi/3a ^lov

'iraXivrv')(fi

fi4vei.

Both the order of the words and the rhythm show that ixov depends on a/coucat in the first in/xipi/xva aKOvcrai

ti.

stance, though of course

possessive to

467.

also supplies a

p-ipifiva.

OVK airooTKOiroi they do not look '

away from

them', «'.(?. they watch

them with

XP^os pursues the idea of the covenant

fixed eyes.

and confirms the correctness of 57}iJ.oKpdTov. 8r)iJ.oKpafTov (Porson and most texts)

Appendix

gives the sense 'a curse decreed in as-

lives lightly in the pursuit of their ends.

—

sembly, an

official

curse'.

The

public

upon offenders were an important of early Greek legislation and were

curses part

Cod. Farn., but see twv TroXvKTovwv includ-

da-Koiroi II.

ing those who, like the Atridae, reckon

471.

iraXivTuxTi

•

P^ov

7Cihen

by the

of life his luck is reversed. Probably a metaphor from some game, like the )'ub

bowl which furnishes so

regularly registered with the laws (see a

'rub'

specimen from Teos

many

similar images to Shakespeare.

Inscriptions No. is

142).

therefore a very

Roberts'

Grech

dTjfjiOKpavTos

good expression

dpd in

the

woKwTvx^'i- (Scaliger) does not alter the

sense.

— AIIXYAOY

reKedovTO^

dl-

ovTi<i okKo.'

vTrepKOTTOx; kKvgiv ev

dfiavpov, ev

Ttdeta aTOt<i

^apv' /3dXXeTai yap Aiodev Kepavv6<i.

oacroi.^

(Kpdovov b\/3ov'

Kpivw 8

vTepKbrus.

474.

TtXeOovTos

473.

when he

Eur. Andr. 780

cf.

dSi)

finally^

on Eur. Med. 1096.

yap avriKa

fx-kv

and see

TOVTO, ev 5^ XP<"'V TeXiOei ^r]p6v,

6p6yKOLs pea/cs ( Ahrens), Kplxxaais pinnacles

(Schneidewin) or

— The

etc.

why must we

But how do we know, take for granted, that

word we want, that it mean peaksl Not because it every language has many eyes not the

6(X(Toi^ is

••

virtpKoirws (Grotius) kXv€iv €v /0

474.

475

does not

collection of k6to% in the preceding pas-

means words of double and treble signification. Not by its form, for the very word 8(7cre,

sage.

eyes,

word

clcrtros

praised too

iitiich.

vwepKOTWs of

the MS. comes from an involuntary re-

Papv dangerous, see

475.

o<ro-ots: a difficult

the

463.

word, as appears from

proposed corrections cited

thirteen

The

by Wecklein. (see

order and rhythm"

show decisively that depends upon ^dWerai. (We

above on

the dative

465)

evidence for the likelihood of a

sharpness

With pdWeiv

the

as with

many

verbs, simple

6«/)«

(cf.

a point

;

and

the

The

fact

In such cases of ambiguity,

one word or meaning tends rest

the stem

means point or edge, does not from meaning also eye, line of

that acies

battle, etc.

even

point, being derived,

cognate Latin ac-ies ac-us).

bolts from the eyes of Zeus

sense were appropriate.)

oo'croi')

of which the original notion was

OK-,

prevent

the

(or

believe, agree, from

all,

cannot therefore translate by 'thundercase and

and so

to oust the

appears to have been in

cases sometimes express in poetiy relations

this case, if the present 6(r(ro:s is the

more accurately given by prepositions. Thus here /3a\Xe7-at is used like eTrt/SaXXeroi, and the dative

extant example of the meaning points or

usually and in prose

stands for the object of aim.

Fhoen. 1385

Xdyxv

A/ed. 1285 x^P^ riKvois

and note

117) takes

/SaXetj'

there.

Eur.

irpoa^aXeiv)

(i.e.

irpiireiv

(Theb.

proper to

the genitive

Trpiw€Lv.

Cf. Eur.

evdi/xa (TTdfxaTi,

hand

the other

bolt of Zeus strikes ihe eyes

5ta-

that is

the

neither

true as a fact nor significant as a figure

nor

say, as

the wording

passage scarcely permits,

of the

his eyes

the expression any truer or better.

make

sense,

we want,

some type of greatness

many have or

peaks for instance, which

To seen,

height, the

the thunder

Horace says illustrating the Hence the suggestions "Otr(Lobeck), opea-aiy and ox^o'J (Weil),

strikes

same <r^

;

topic.

The meanings

peaks.

common

discarded

only

from

use will nevertheless be pre-

and there, especially in and the present phrase has I would therefore the turn of a proverb. retain cio-crots and translate, after Horace, for the bolts of heaven fall upon the peaks, feriuntque summos fulgura monies '. served

here

proverbs,

477.

KpCvw

'sift out',

properly

the separation of 7ahat

mass,

'separate'

limited in this archaic use to

and

prefer,

uncnvied: as the 'unstinted,

good from the

choose.

— a<|>6ovov

common meaning was

abundant',

use has special point.

this

exceptional

It puts in

a single

word the contrast between abundance and security. 8' «ttjv is rightly given by the 478. MS. and should not be altered to ft.TjT' (J.11

—

AfAMEMNQN. S'

fxr)

irToXiTropdTjf

eiriv

ovv auTo<f

yLi?;T

vn dX-

aA-oi)?

XCOV ^LOV KaTiSoifll.

irvpo'i

evayyeXov

VTT

480

TToXtv 8iriK€i 6od

^d^i9'

€1

Ti9 oiSev

iTr]TVfiQ)<;,

rot Oelov icnc,

;

484.

The

eir]v.

negative and

ij.

conjunctive

llie

yjruOo'i.

fir)

modern

and

have their separate force: 8« joins the

The MS.

whole period

balance

preceding V.

antithetic to fn^r' odu in

The connexion

479.

to the clause

firi-.-KaTldoifii.

\i.ri

;

not

(/icijr'

ovv)' etc.

(fir))

|jii]t'

know

ever

KaT£8oi|Ai

the

of a captive'

life

conjectured to be the meaning

may

'nor

(?)

I is

literally,

;

myself subdued by another, the

see (experience)

But

may

'nor

(of

life

a slave)

must be confessed that the sup-

posed sense of Kandeiv ^lov lacks probability

nor

;

the

that

satisfactory,

period should close with two superfluous

words,

simply would

aXoi-qv

for

expressed as much. the bread

(fiios

of captivity

sustenance, nourishment) ;

neither

but

satisfactory.

is this

481

^lov Kor^Sotytit, 'eat

Valckenaer

have

— 493.

See above on vv, 363

lyric reci-

— 366.

etc.

'now

have no better

evidence at present than a signal which

may

well

mistaken, or

be fraudulent,

misinterpreted.

Compare

486 and con-

supply dyyeWovros dyy^WovTOS being supplied

eTT)TV|ji«s

483.

kt\.,

from €v-ayye\ov.

The

tween the adverbs

eii

antithesis

and

—

e'rTjri'/xos

(eVrJv

irTjTvfiws

signal gives gooJ news, but does /;•«£•?

Toi 0ei6v

k<rri,

[l.r^

«l/vOos (so.

— if not false.

expression of contemptuous scepti-

cism, and

The

shown by

proverbial, as

rot.

subject of the sentence in Greek, as

in the English,

the general subject, to

The doubt

di-

rected against the trustworthiness,

not

jrpdy/xa

the thing

the existence, of the alleged system of bea-

The

cons.

force of dehs

Herodotus viour of the Egyptian trated by

KaraXafM^dvei icTTi.

Toiis

cats,

which leap into Bela Trpriy/xara

Note that and indispens-

aUXoijpovi.

slightly emphatic,

exactly illus-

66) on the beha-

(2.

fire, irvpKaLijs 5e yevo/j.evr]^

it commonly is in Aeschylus, when it is not omitted see on v. 436. The supplement of the verbal 61^ from

able, as

principal clause,

the

iaTL in

cases as Plato Phaedr. 240

Kpea^vrkpav Koi ovk ev is

closely

— Of

/Sa^is

the

many changes

of O. Midler, nearest

same sense /XT]

D opQvri

dipq.

(ovcrav).

6\pi.v

exceptional but seems not unnatural.

the

trast V. 501.

di-qKu

indeed miraculous,

similar to that of the adjectival 6v in such

irvpos: note the emphasis,

481.

as for the fire

484. 61') it is

;

Conversation in

between the elders (Wecklein).

tative

right.

petence of the witness.

not

of the clauses and lays the emphasis on the right point, the com-

would

(5^) I

be a conqueror, nor yet

fain

480.

choose

is this:

an unenvied prosperity ; and

seems

texts)

reading preserves the natural

proposed, that

toi deTdv ecTTiv

the MS.

as the text.

Ti Oelov iffTi Si] \(/udo^

;

\pvdos, is

and gives the Almost all (e.g. Weil) introduce

be-

a suggestion foreign to the purpose, that

the

the signal

give

Auratus

(Oetov

xj/Odos).

any one,

it is

deception of the gods

speaker suspects

If the

the queen

sec the next lines.

;

AIIXYAOY

485 TrapaiyyeKfiaaiv

<f)\oy6<i

KapBlav

TTvpcoBii'Ta

veoL<i

dWa<ya \6yov 'Ev yvvaiKo^

485

— 488.

Trpeiret

al-^/Jia

irpo Tov ^avevTO<;

X"P^^ any one

'Is there

i.e.

This second speaker takes up the hint of the preceding and gives it

so childish?

The

a stronger turn.

rashness of the

queen, in acting upon such an uncertified report,

more than

speaker answers that

Does

natural.

To which

she really believe?

the next

quite possible

v€ois,

487.

are fresh',

i-e.

Why

with Trvpudivra Kap-

not await confirrhation

—irvpw0€VTO AfiL 87 ^X^'S.

—

KapSiav

sanguine

figure

'when they

viois od<nv

emphatic and a predicate,

closely connected dlav.

rashness

iwi

depixy]v

take

let his feelings

heat

for

fire at

Soph.

i.e.

first,

'to

when

news should change'. For the relation of sense between the participle and the verb, cf. Eur. Med. 1412

suffer if the

oi)s

fiTjiroT

(pvcas 6(pfXov vpbs

eyil)

whom I would I

ffoO (pOifi^vovs iTTidiffOai,

had never thee.

begotten,

—The 'with

irti

clause

to see

them slain by (dare

consecutive

following wSe.

Kafielv)

impulse or natural temper

a'^xiia

—

€v...alx|i(j

woman's impulsiveness

irpeit

sense

628 yvvaLKeiav droXfiov

aixiJ-o.v

and

Paley, and see L.

Sc.

TOLipde

d^iovPTi.

opinion prevails' and 5. 59 (Ti) 5^ /ue von have no proof)

omit

(Scaliger

gives

common

common;

but should not be

rare,

Not unlike

phon

very

43 'where such an

still

nearer

490.

Anti-

|vvaive'<rai

X'^P''''

The

of the hearer.

quasi-

cognate' accusative, and expresses that the

assent

favour

or act of par-

exactly the meaning of

the thing being proved

participle,

x<i/"5.

(tt/jo

—Trpo

tow

<f>aviv

stands for

the

This use of the

though quite

the infinitive

pleasing

where rb

be/ore proof,

«|)av€VTOS

the sense but not

to her' (Paley) gives

'Acquiesce in what

tiality.

logical, is rare,

with

article

tov (paprjuai).

Very

similar are the examples in Thucydides ec

Tifi

firj

/xeKeTQvTt d^vperuiTepoi 'iaovTat

'from not practising they will have

knowledge' 'where

modern

texts)

surely for that very reason unjustifiable.

in-

not

ace. x^/"" is related

an adverbial or

to ^vvMviaaL as

43) etc.

give

merited but conceded from the inclination

—To

but

ii^

doubtful.

dulgent assent, an assent which

Xoyij) (zohen

construction

alxM

etymology with

other senses

airdKicraL.

d^afei

'^rirels

and

Thuc.

Here more

—

identical

having been expelled by the

; the same variation occurs in meaning sometimes anger sometimes merely mood (compare the English hiiWhether this alx/J-v is or is not mojcj-).

woman's impulse', i.e. where a woman's impulsiveness comes in. In Latin the Greek it condemned.

v.).

opyi),

proving of the thing

(Blomfield,

prominent

natural' etc., literally 'in (a case of) a

corresponding use of in

ata-ffus.

compare 0v/ji.6i spirit with Ovu to rush. Other words of like formation and meaning are pi^^i?, (xhfiiri. The word occurs also in P. F. 418 Zei>s i)W€pr)<pavov ivdelKvvcnv alx/J-rjv, and Cho.

For the

KapSlaf

Kapiv the

cf.

^pvxpoTai

Trvp«96'vTa...^ir€iTa

he must

489.

regularly formed from the stem of

the primitive notion of impulse

woman.

in a

490

^vvaivecrai,.

'Who

t£s «8£ iraiSvAs kt\.

so childish' etc.

eireir

Kafietv

what

such

less

142), ev T(f roiaJSe a^iovPTi

(i.

an opinion prevails'

— Others evident

(3.

by 'instead of but the context shows

translate

clearly that Trpo here

temporal.

— AFAMEMNQN. nyav

T\iOai'6<;

6rj\v<;

dWd

Ta')(yTTopo<i'

Ta-^v/u-opov

oWvTai

yvyaiKoyyjpvTov

eTTivefieTai

'opo<;

/c\eo9.

Tri^' elcro/xeada XafiTrdSoyv

(f)aecy(f)6p(ov

(f)pvKT(opL(Sv re kuI 'irvp6<i '7rapaWayd<;,

ovv dXrjOet'i eir

€iT

iXdov

repirvov t68 KrjpvK

drr

oveipdreov Slktjv i(f)7]\a)crev

<f)a)'i

IVoinaii is too open to convict io)i,

491.

<f)p€va<i

opoo KardcTKiov

dKTrj(; t6v8'

among

natural

a people

who went

usually

a boundary soon passed by the cnc}-oacher,

bare.

hut quickly dies the report which zvoincn

does not infer from the olive the nature

occupied-over,

of the news (as the priest in Soph. O. 7.

an irregular ancient

82 infers the success of Creon's mission

cry. is

«iriv€|A€Tai,

encroached upon

passive set

iiriKTjpvxddi 'having a price

of.

lit.

upon him'

Theb. 621, and other

examples there

The

cited.

etnvifieffdaL to flocks

application of

which feed

on a neighbour's land

(ve/j-ovTai)

illustrates the use

It will

be observed that the speaker

to the oracle

What

The

dKTTJs.

from

inferred

to the

clusion of a voyage. 24.

which

taken directly from

i.e.

occupy land.

sounds sharp and the female tone in

Eur.

Phaedra)

—

almost

213 (the

trap

^x^V rdSe

herald

XajiirdSwv

irvpos.

depend on that

496.

tl'r'

shriek

nurse

yripvffei

effect.

will

suppose'. 498.

Karao-Kiov kXcISois «Xatas 'with olive-branch'

i.e.

with small

given of

newly arrived

the

of which

laid

on the coast of Argolis.

In both passages the reference

some

local

custom noticed

probably

in the le-

gends which Aeschylus followed. 498

— 504.

shore,

Von herald comes

f7'oni the

shade

of olive

see

by his

and the thirsty dust, sister of the mire and neighbour, testifies to me this, that, not with dumb signals offire-smoke, boughs

burning you a bonfire of wood upon a but with a plain 2Vord, he "will either

ffKid^eiv ^Oeipav

here would

of a chaplet.

satisfied

ffKMJ^tiv for

probably meant.

what

bid

—

us rejoice or

The

etc.

of this passage awaits solution.

the

The conventional answers may be

olive-

branches were carried over the head, but is

riddle

The words

Hipp. 130 XeTrrd (paprj ffKid^fif, and Simon. 150

Cf. Eur.

^avdav K€(f>a\av

explicitly

is. What dust is meant, and show that the herald brings some important news which will presumably throw light upon the recent report?

branches of olive bound as a wreath upon

a wreath

hill,

shade of his head.

mihi

noticeable that a closely similar

refugees in the Suppliants (358), the scene

;

sort of intelli-

It is

6/j.l\ov}

of synonyms

'whether,

carinae, traiectae Syrtes, ancora iacta est.

(3.

teligere

description {kKolSokh veoSpowois KardcKi-ov

ovv

See Propertius

coronatae portutn

ecce

used

<J>pvKTa>piwv...

has a certain contemptuous shall not

in sign of

— Ywai-

seen approaching.

The accumulation

gence any more

opos

here suggests

shrill,

Hipp.

01) /atj

The

494.

494

regularly

yrjpvci},

v^fieiu

GrjXvs

TO d^Xv regarded as a Spos.

KOYijpvTov.

—6

air''

gods for the safe con-

nothing to do with the present metaphor,

vifiecrOai

comes

was wreathed,

here (Donaldson, Paley); but flocks have

15)

wreath of bay).

that he

herald would be wreathed,

as the ship itself

gratitude

his

The

use of

worn on the head

The question

how

does

thus:

(i)

the dust

herald raises

;

this

that

shows

his

therefore the importance of his

divided

which

the

haste and

news

(2)

AIIXYAOY

58 /cXaSot9 iXaLa<i.

fjuaprvpel 8e fioi Katri,^

irrjXov ^vvovpo^; Sfyjrla kovl^ Tahe,

ovT

a)<i

6peLa<i

vXr}^;

aSX

croi

fiaXkov eK^d^et. Xeywv

')(^aipetv

dvTiov he

rbi/

500

haimv (f)\6ja arnxavel KanrvM irvpo^,

avav8o<; ovre

—

drrrocTTe^on \6<^ov'

rotcrS'

504-

mud

the dust and the

are upon the gar-

mud

ments of the herald (the

and the dust on

his shoes

are

neighbours

show

contiguous

to (i),

man

dust\

(which there

x"-^P^\

herald's

act,

according to cus-

tom

(see V. 801), will

be to salute the

tolerable.

makes a

in haste, because he

make

man

a noticeable dust, in violent haste

no reason to suppose),

be absurd to

still

cite the dust as

evidence of the visible fact that he

running.

Moreover

no notice

at all of the description 'sister

this

explanation takes

of the mire and neighbour aside

mere

which

but,

flourish

set

rather be called

mere nonsense.

explanation

meet

this

scarcely dwell

Paley's

an honest attempt to

difficulty,

last

upon

it.

we need

but

See further Ap-

pendix M. 501.

<roi.

sizes the

The

ethic dative

precisely the

you stands

same

for

has in fact

English

effect as in

one as in the

(v.

494).

KaiTvw contemptuous

!i02.

Hipp. 946

ypaiJ-ixdriov Kavvol,

cf.

Eur.

learned futi-

turned

Soph.

5^ tov Ki^pvKa irpow-

ToXXy (pavivra, xo-P^^^ f ? ti For the avrlos \6yos see the

iS/j.01

aTrdcrrjs

KaKov kt\.

sense of

Salamis (Fers.

'Aaiddos TroXiV^ara,

—£Kpd^€i

j3d|is v.

483.

/Safeif in the

The

preposition

signifies extension, ^xplicitness. airoo-TtYft) i.e. dwoaiowQ), 'I sup-

504.

press, I leave unsaid',

properly is

by an

aposiopesis,

technically called,

still

ffriyeiv

hold in (of a net, a vessel

a regular poetic equivalent for

(ncoirdv

refrain

from

etc.)

<ri7aj'

See

saying.

Soph. Phil. 136 tI xPV (friyeiv, rl ri \i; what should be said or suppressed?,

yeiv

(XTiyu

341

ij^et

even

yap avra

refrain

kS.v

iyC:

from

ffiyy

uttering

them, and other examples in L. and Sc.

— dTrocTipyu a

(/ cease

dislike of) will

indeed to

not pass.

mean here

con-

like,

It is said

reject

ill-

no proof of this sense (see supposed examples in L. and Sc. s.v.) nor is the word capable of it. The case of abominor and abominate is omened', but there

plainly not analogous.

The

conjectures

diroaTvyO} Karsten, dwoirTiju Arnold,

show

a part but only a part of the objection.

lities.

503

u 7^s

252),

ceive

The

nouncing the battle of

the

present speaker inclines rather to believe

XP^^V

a x^P^i ^s it is See the same

—

entrance of the Persian messenger an-

expressed such strong incredulity.

not,

xa^/jeti/

Kdl (pepeis.

s.v.

would be reinforced by a turn or who just before had

;

differently

Trach. 225

o\ik

gesture towards those

first

If his salutation

thought

viirio

formula of salutation.

the

513), well

(v.

common

av afxapTois one cannot fail etc.

stage

empha-

tone of contempt for the reports

of a beacon" (Wecklein).

town.

has

nothing to do with the subject, should

(2)

that

to xaCpciv:

'the

and that the herald

would

The

;

E%'en supposing that one

running would

announcement

fully express the

are to be glad by saying

they

ridiculous to say 'I see

confirm the gladness, literally 'he will

come a long way and he has come from Troy

But neither of these

(Paley).

that

his clothes they

that he has

so suggest that

being on

either

his

happy greeting will

The

MS. reading

may have

arisen from a

—

;

AfAMEMNQN. yap

€v

ev (f>av€la-i 7rpoaOr}KT} TreXot.

7r/J09

505

XO./S'. ocTTt? TrtS' nXXtw? rfjS' iwev'xeTac iroXei, ai/To? (ppevwv KapiroiTO rrjv ajxapiiav.

KHPTH. TTUTpaJov ov8a<; ^Apyeia'i ^^01/09,

tco

Se/caro) ere (f)eyy€i tmS" dipiKOfjiijv erovi, double 77, but

more probably a

berate change

made by one who

recognize

meaning of

the

dvrCov XoYov

these',

i.e.

(rriyu.

— tov

the alternative of disap-

rourdi

pointment.

deli-

did not

'out of respect

who

gods

rots 0eois, the

and

as usual before the palace

for

stand

whom

the herald addresses himself below (vv.

The pronoun

514, 524).

explained by

a reverent gesture towards the images, a 'deictic' use

common

construction

The

in the poets.

the 'ethic' dative,

and

very similar to that of ffiuvQ in Ar. 1 1

34 iyoj

(TtwTraJ

r(f5e,

abstain from words of

the respect of silence?' and ill

pay him 530.

omen was

special duty in a religious place or pre-

sence (see

e.g.

Thcb. 234) and the more

so at such a solemn

moment

as this.

That Toiade should be so taken, and not as neuter with dfrlov, 'the opposite of this

may be

seen

from the rhythm

(i)

to divide the line after roiffd' spoils the

and

caesura,

{2)

because superfluous pro-

nouns, such as TolaSe are

ivTiov,

above

offensive

poetry.

all in

argument

to It is

—

oo-Tis.

IVhoso

taken with

Greek habit, an additional

for awotfriyu that

an acceptable construction 506

provides

These

lines are

undoubtedly

to be given (as by Wecklein) to a

speaker

remark

But the meaning of the

becomes

only when we shown above, that present upon the

clear

perceive, as has been

two parties The words Sans kt\. are spoken

there are stage.

new

otherwise a conjunction would

be necessary.

prayer of the elder but tacitly of

own

course putting his

and

— The

Byzantine

the

up)

MS. gives vv. 494

505 to Clytaemncstra, vv. 506 chorus,

kept

triumph of the

wpoaOrjKT] (the final

conspiracy).

upon

sense

(the deception so far

(pavdiyi

—

7 to the

being

scholars

here as elsewhere unable with their dramatis personae to distribute the piece intelligibly.

The

508.

herald

enters,

utterly

overcome by past suffering and the present emotion of seeing his native city once more that it is some time before he thinks to

tell

his

deed

till

news

and

in-

543)

{v. 530),

addressed

{v.

scarcely seems to be aware that any one

From his first words (note would seem that he throws himself down, like Shakespeare's Richard II., is

present.

ovba.s)

to salute the

for the

spot

beloved earth, and he thinks

moment

(/itas

that he will die

Tvxuv

510).

on the

The whole

speech is marvellously powerful and in any ordinary work would stand out as a

golden piece.

Greek audience

the average

man

in a

would perhaps appeal

as strongly as anything in the play.

for roiaBe.

titters (his prayer

with other intentions toxvard Argos [than ours), ^Gtc.

the

/\iin.

id. Lj's.

by one of the queen's partizans, accepting

StKaTto) <j)^yy€i

509.

this tenth

may

pass,

annual dawn, (piyyos

day

t<u8' if :

Jtovs ivith

the expression </>iyyos irovs is

an imitation, with special purpose, of the

common means

periphrasis <peyyos

literally

-rj/xepas

and

year-day or year counted

as a day, the genitive being that 'of equivalent'.

This peculiar phrase

explained by the ancient proverbial significance of 'the tenth day'.

Homer

— AIIXYAOY

TToWwv

payei(T(ov i\,7ri8(M)V

ov yap TTor

davdw

%atpe

')(Qwv,

/-tei/

aXfi irapd SKafMavSpov

avre

crcoTrjp

ava^ "AttoWov.

icrOt

tov<;

and

days,

ttj

at the

slaying of the Greeks by the arrows of

Apollo

(//.

Tov (^X"""

T^ SeKaTrj

dycovlov; ^eoi)?

before the palace.

kt\

PtXi]

515.

prayer of Chryses to Apollo

See above on

in //. I. 42.

v. 509.

enough he came Scamander' s plan, as for

dXis...iiX6e long

516.

enmity

Tlaeiav Aavaol ifih SaKpva

ffoici ^iXeffcriv,

ava arpa.

53), ivurjfiap fikv

'f^^tt deoto

7raia)vio<;,

the

deKciry]

Thus

correlative term for at last.

koI

Trayuvios.

the regular term for ever so

and

S15

dvdpaio^'

rjXd^

517. is

(f)do<i,

ava^,

et? rifia<i ^eXt}'

To^oLS IdiTTtov firjKer

ivvrjuap

510

')(6ovl

r)\lov

^copa? Zei)? o Uvdio^ t

viraro'i re

long, days

^Apyela

pêdeêiv (îkTarov rd<ôv fxepo^.

vvv xatpe

vvv

Tvy^ooV

ytiia?

rjV'^ovv rrjS^ iv

(where see Leaf's note), of Niobe's chil

instance on the occasion just mentioned,

dren

^ri

Spa

610)

(//. 24.

ovdi Tis

<p6vtj},

/xh dp'

deKaTrj 6d\pav deoi,

rrj

ly both in the

Toiis 8

and so frequent

(The

the Odyssey.

passage seems to have been

first-cited

actually

/Had and

Kiar

ivvijiiap

KarOd^ai....

ijev

Aeschylus' mind

see

;

reference to the arrows of Apollo in

514

— 518.)

Thus

to a

Greek ear

KUT^ OvXtjfiiroio

t6^'

KYJp,

The

ioiKibs.

V^^

pvktI

upon

^x^''---^

the scene are a striking feature of

meric story.

—The

into the

by the nominatives natural

momentary

Ho-

deflexion

third person, already prepared

the

5eKdT<f)

Kaprjvwu x^^ofievos

descents of the gods

(HfioiffLv

when

in v. 514,

perfectly

referring to one not present,

and

(piyyfi T<^8€ of itself suggested 'at last',

except symbolically in the image

and

all

has here the great rhetorical advantage of

course the literal

sharpening the contrast between the hos-

(peyyei

SeKdriji

these weary years'.

number

truth of the

^tovs 'after

r<^5'

in this case is consis-

tent with the point, or rather

is itself

the

Apollo

tile

Apollo

in the

Troad and the

;

friendly

Argos, the Apollo of the past

hereand through-

and the Apollo of the present, by the

out this scene to remember the supposed

return to the form of invocation in the

point. It

also material

hour, just after sunrise. payna-iov

510.

intended it

the exact

The

doubtful.

the rest break.

Sc. s.v.

p7jyvvfj.i)

Others

render

metaphor

schol.

anchors, one of which

when

refers

may hold

(see L.

and

ivrecked, as

line, cohere the

resumption

marked

by a fresh vocative (avo^ "AttoXXov) serted /or this very purpose.

r}\9' to Tjad'

—The

(many modern

texts) in-

jures not only the rhetoric but the

mar

;

in-

change

gram-

note the case of liKdixavSpov.

a ship, but in the passage cited for this

517.

iraiwvios Dobree.

mean

518.

Tovs ci-ywvtovs Qioi% these assem-

(Demosth.

p. 1289) payrjvai

does not

'to be wrecked', but 'to spring a leak'.

bled gods or gods in assembly.

Probably the tradition of the scholia

occurs also in the Supplices (195 and 248) where there is no doubt as to the meaning,

tv^wv belongs in any case not metaphor but properly to iXiridos.

correct.

to the

514.

viraros Tt Zcvs

The images

supply

x»'/'^'''^'

of these and other deities are

This term

'gods assembled in one place, and having

one 228.

common worship', KOivo^u/iiay Supp. An examination of that passage

—

AfAMEMNQN. iravTa<; irpoaavSco, top Kpfitjv, (ftlXov Ki)pvKa,

arpuTov Se^ecrdat rbv

there no other sense

that

possible, since the deities are recognized as collectively dywvioi.

who have

by newly arrived not yet identified

any of them. There, as here, the reference is

and

to the religious custom of Argos,

among

the gods, there as here, are Zeus,

Apollo, and Hermes.

There

therefore

every reason to suppose that the sense here

the same and that a similar kolvo-

^wfiia

represented before the palace of

Agamemnon.

It is

probable (see L. and

word was

Sc. s.v.) that the

also some-

times used for dyopaloi 'the gods of an

agora

nrnkiv

XeXei/ub/jLevov Bop6(;.

TC OaKoi, haip,ove<i r

ae/jLvot

foreigners,

(07111;')

gods of assembly';

might well have both senses

(ivTijXioi

looking',

•»5

irov irdXai

upon

adjective

not

an agora but in a lonely place near the

sea.

—Wecklein takes the same view.

519.

and him.

Tov T«

the

been';

English

in V. 518,

demonstrative (not 'and

repeat the verb

ye have looked'.

now

;

—

in the

it is

see

4)ai8poi<ri /'r/^///

both

common

due and decent 3. 82 rd

—

...

Sopos

receive

back

K6<r|A<i),

(h).

(cf. Kofffxlus

fiiu

—The significance of lies in

we have

and

{irrjuaTa)

ov dvvavTai vqwioL k6(T/xw (pipeiv)

place and the hour.

crrpaTov

toktCS'

not necessary or

roTcriv

see Find. Pyth.

thought

522.

derived sense

dative of manner, combines the ideas of

the persons of heralds, of whose office

was patron.

'your eyes as

i.e.

it is

write

of the religious inviolability attaching to

Kijpv^,

here a predicate.

them to

'ye

long

'these eyes'

desirable

the perfect,

how

honour.

Hermes, the divine

must

iraXai dfil

— and

that look eastward

rifJiaopov: 'defender 'because

defender').

t/uasi

natural though not absolutely necessary

what

rov, like tovs

sense,

I have long would be more

English

represents

Aeschylus the primary sense,

comment same

Greek

—

the

be supplied.

be remembered that in

which

a participial

o|j.)jiaoriv

fi^v

surely methinks

from

duTTiXtoi dvres, is to

of ' glad

for the Koivopcj/jLia of the Stipplices

literally

dvTri\iot,

a Koivo^ufiia were, in a particular case, d-Yopato^

east ward

R05

Ai.

a long while', a parenthetic

connected with an agora.

But

Soph.

(CTTripovs dyKCiva^ ol S' dvTT/X/ouj ^TjTare.

and

at once, if

avTtjXtoi

the long-absent l^ing.

literally

was not

520

o-e/9a<f,

€v/j,€V€2<i

fieXaOpa âaiXecov, <î\av are'ât,

1(1)

show

e/x6v rifiaopov

KrjpvKwv

re Tov<i 7re^i^avra<i,

»;/3&)9

will

and of

this beautiful

the circumstances of the

seen

(v.

ciates itself in the

The

new-risen sun,

509), naturally asso-

mind of the man with

The connexion

army what of it the 'war hath spared. The last words come in as a

the end of his long misery.

correction; the expression for the part

was indeed fixed in the language (v. 276) and the symbolism is important in more than one play (see for example the Electra

their

accommodated fjfj.ia'eia ttjs

524.

the whole,

is 77

7^J.

OciKoi

seats

for the

king and

probably for his councillors before the

Wecklein

gate of the palace.

Hom.

Od.

14,

406.

avniXioi ktX. and ye

refers to

— 8aCn.ov€S

deities

that

look

what a 'while!), with this bright gladness in your eyes 'welcome fitly

eastiuard (ah,

of recovered happiness with the morning

of Sophocles V. 19 fiiXaivd t &<rTpwv e/cX^\oi.-n-€v

there).

ev(pp6v7j

The

and

Prof. Jebb's

herald has

note

come up from

the port by the eastern road, and the king is

coming from the same

direction.

palace and the gods before

wards the approach, and

at this

The

look to-

moment

AIIXYAOY

5^5

TTou TTaXat), (f)aiBpoi(Ti rota-iS' 6fxfia(nv

(/)

Be^aaOe

yap

^K€t

^aaCkea ttoWS

Koa-fjLO) rjfilv,

y^povo).

ev eix^povrj (fyipwv

(f)oo<i

Kol rolaS" airaai kolvov, ^Ayafie/xvcov hva^.

aX)C ev vtv acrirda-aaOe, koL yap ovv

nrpeTrei,

Tpoiav KaTaa-Ka-^avTa tov 8iKr)(f)6pov Aio? fiaKeWrj, Trj Karecpyaarai irehov, the faces of the ancient statues, the eyes

all

here also'.

probably inlaid after the archaic fashion

proleptic

with brilliant stones, are

(Schnei-

full-lit

dewin) by the level rays. They beam (so thinks the man) with joy for the sunlike return of the king, as

through the

if,

night of his absence, they had themselves felt it long to he looking seawards and Troy-

wards in vain

expectation.

cannot

ing here I

and

has even been proposed

For ^

to strike out v. 525. treated as hopeless,

tuted

thus

ttou TraXat,

commonly

substi-

ye did

before

But, to say nothing of what

(Auratus). is

iroXat if ever

TTOU

entertain the

There are many con-

smallest suspicion. jectures,

— Of the read-

|}iyself

lost,

only of what

such language can be used likely to

have happened

before (such as a victorious return)

but

;

the coincidence of a triumphant entry from the sea-side into Argos with the

of the morning

in this striking

coincidence

Nor

gist of the matter.

Svvarbs

eTvai

irov

hour

diKiSiov

\iyeiv,

clear that irore

in elTras

wov

and

the very

lies

is it

would be correct for O. T. 162, and passim)',

TTov

Eq. 347

first

just not such a fact,

(Soph.

come,

also

—roio-St

broadest sense of iKelvoi

Agamemnon

a dative possessive or of

home may have

'those here' in the as the correlative to

6'5e

includes the city, the gods, the

much

other objects of his address, and

more with them.

—All modern texts have the

iifuv {i.e. (fiipuv iifuv /coi roTcrS' diracn),

conjecture of h, obvious and specious,

the verses are written without punctua-

But

tion.

giving what

not so obvious,

better

entitled to credit

;

an easy-looking change

and that

make

the editor of the Cod. Farn. should

a matter of

course.

TOV

530.

8lKT|<j>6pOV

The compounds guishing

mark

constantly

deities

AlOS

JtaKcXXT).

in -(popos as epithets of

emblem

'carried'

the

would inevitably suggest conception of Zeus'

to a

SIkt]

distin-

by the figure

in artistic representation, that this

difficulty in

phrase

Greek the a SlKtWa

deriving SiK-q^dpos from

KeXXa (the -eXX- being itself

'lost')

from di-ixaKeWa.

See on

in art.

pendix

5t'-

and diKcWa likely that

this subject generally

531.

to diist, literally

to pieces', the intensive /cara-

'tilled

marking

the extreme limit of the process, as in

whom

KaraXvu

— Kal

toio-8*

Karayvvfii. break

airao-i koivov literally '(to be) shared with

ground

Karc^pYao-Tai irtSov her

has been broken

Ap-

Seven against Thebes.

II. to the

particularly for the army,

the KTjpv^ specially represents.

the

bringing

such a notion had been actually embodied

the person interested (commodi), stands for Argos and the Argives generally, but

Argos that those

their share.

temporaries of Aeschylus would see no

—

the king

e5,...<^0D

means, as

For our prince is returned, 527 528. bringing light in darhiess to impart unto rijiiv,

army already; now

The

<f>ipo}v.

come

of the victory has

'light'

are joined as

(two-pronged hoe), especially as the con-

gation would not be here relevant.

the king,

The words

predicate with

Aristoph.

There usual, not if ever but if perhaps. may be better instances, but the investi-

all that are here; he

53^

up, etc.

destroy,

The

loose

to pieces,

its

atoms\ burn

KaralSu}

force of KaTepyd^ofiai

— AfAMEMNQN.

^cofiol 8' (uaroL koI decov ISpvfiara

KoX cnrepfia

e^airoWvrat

Trrto-T;?

')^6ov6<i.

TOLovhe TpoLO, irepi^aXwv ^evKrripiov

ava^

'Arpei'S?;? 7rpea-/3v<i evhaifioiv dvrjp

rjKet,

TieaOaL

Twv vvv'

IT apt? >yap ovre avvTeXrj<; 7ro\t9 TOiovSe.

534-

shown

well

eating

in the special sense of tnasti-

food;

{ivorl'iiig to ficccs)

and Sc.

see L.

are itndiscovcr-

and her fixed fahries of religion, and from is perishing out

able

Seeds

of course could not be so des-

troyed, but notwithstandingffTF^pyua, which

has a free use

Her foundations

532.

all she tnight rise

of the earth,

535

a^ia)TaTO<i /3poTwv

P(0|j.oC

the

sense

full

metaphor,

rather of

an olive-yard or a vineyard that the poet is

The

thinking.

elaborate devastations

of these, regularly practised as a method

— The

of war, has suggested the image.

whole

passage

and

395) including altars but not these only. The reader may be reminded

verbally imitated from the account of the

which

destruction of Athens by Xerxes (Pers.

(see

that except the religious buildings,

this

may

properly include the king's palace,

the

prytancum, and even the wall, a

of Darius.

Greek town or rather age, and for the most fifth

fort in the heroic

part even

century, contained very

till

the

which

little

would not rapidly perish of itself. See the remarks of Thucydides (r. 10) on an imaginary abandonment and decay o( Sparta and of Athens, where t6, re lepa Kai

KaraaKevijs

TTJs

equivalent for aKTTot. (lSe?i>,

eldivai) i.e.

edd<pri

cannot

where they were.

avrij^, ttjs

a prose

deuu IdpvfiaTa.

j8w/xot /cat

literally.

Trdcrris,

to.

—

Tpoi'as,

—

learnt <rir€p(io-

the

same

possessive pronoun being supplied from

the leading

530

— 533

word Tpoiav

with

iriSov,

all

air^pfxa: literally, 'seed of

That vdcrjs

through

jSw/xot,

IdpvfiaTa,

any of her'.

shown both by the natural division of the rhythm and by the sense. Without the genitive the metaphorical meaning of <yiripp.a could not with

scarcely

x^<"'<^^)

understood.

Note the

\6ov6s.

cal conception,

tense.

— t^airoXXtn-ai The metaphori-

not strictly possible but

sufficient for poetry, is that of

pulverised (see on v. 531), left

tliat

soil

there

nothing capable of growth, and

the vegetable fragments can only decay.

The ghost

of the wise king

thus, roiyap

continues

ovK eXdffaova

Spdaavre^

/caKws

words which lend

Traffxoi'fft,

an ominous significance to the herald's boasts in vv. 537

— 538.

Toi6v8€...t€VKTrjpiov

534.

strong

compulsion hath he put upon Troy. Anything which binds or holds tight

uncommon

verb not

Ant. 955

equivalent

yohe

in poetry, e.g.

^cvk-

not

a metaphorical

fact

The

avajK-q.

for

notion

suit

by the

given

necessarily

word and would not

Soph.

KaTd<papKTOi

^€iyx^'7--.TeT/3c65ei

dea/xi^:

ii>

from the generalized sense of the

T-qpLov,

with that of

destruction.

535.

constructed with awepp-a,

put by the poet into the mouth

foil.),

closely

of dvr}p

cvSaC|i.<ov

addition

formula

eis

dvqp)

individually

'singular in his pi'osperity

i.e.

dc^p 'one pious man' con-

ei5cre/37js

trasted

The

dvi]p.

common

something

signifies

happy'

the

(cf.

with

the

impious many,

Theb.

589-

537

— 538.

Twv VVV* Hdpis Yap ktX.

The words rdv

vOu are

emphasized by

the irregular pause after the

first

foot.

566 and the index to that play The ominous effect of these s.v. Pause. See

Thcl>.

—

lines

(sec

532)

aidetl

by their

AIIXYAOY

i^ev'^eTai ro Zpafia rov irdOovt irXeov.

yap

o(f)\a)V

re koI /cXoTrr}? Zlktiv

dp7ra<yi)<; 6'

Tov pvaiov

koI iravcoXedpov

rjfiapTe

The intention is of course Agamemnon, having more than avenged his honour upon Troy, has now ambiguity.

has not only

that

'what

But

rival in the world.

as rather to suggest that,

paid in

full,

worded since Troy has so

it is

against her cruel de-

vastator that the balance of sin

For TUa-Bai

now

lies.

an indecisive word, limited

conventionally to rejvard or hottour, but easily

reverting

proper sense of

its

—

payment. Ildpis "ydp ovrt Wecklein suggests oihe. ndpis

i.e. oih-e

more regular Phil. 771 etc.

;

the stolen thing itself or an equivalent

and something besides by way of satisThis would be the penalty for mere theft. That piaiov may have this original meaning even in Attic poetry, is proved by Soph. Phil. 958 davuiv wapi^u} faction.

8a76'

aiov

'that

293,

Soph.

him adopted

certain society, as a kinship or the in-

ment in property a member. 7i>ell

held to pay-

or person for crimes of

as theft

i.e.

rapine', apiray-q

theft aggravated

meaning

violent robbery

as contrasted with K\onri, simple stealing.

The aggravation

naturally increased the

penalty and perhaps, under the law or

custom

which Aeschylus

alludes, also

involved the extension of the responsibility.

There would be a rough faimess from a could seldom be done without

in this, for a apira-yn as distinct KKoirri

and

assistance,

the

fix

guilt

individuals might be difficult.

of Paris, whatever instance,

supported

which

was

.(j}f>vov (f>6vov

was

word

upon

The the

act first

became apvayi} when Troy by war. Wecklein notes it

—

elaborately, gives

of pledge

discusses the

here the sense

but he takes

;

difficulty.

seems to be sug-

Hermann, who

gested that

5k pv-

also specialised to

taken as ^pledge, €vlxvpov\

much

as I

have done. lb.

Kal

hath

also

iravwXcOpov ruined

father's house,

together'.

8o|iov

'but

and razed his own and the place thereof

This penalty, we are doubtless

understand, was prescribed literally

this

more than Draconian

law,

and

not merely in the metaphorical sense that the fine would

dpira^ris t€ Kal K\oTrr\s o/raJ>ine

539. as

e(p€p^l)ix7fv

ToKas.

In L. and Sc.

and has shared his punishment. See vv. 405 — 408. The metaphor seems to go back to some police custom, such as is common in ancient law, by which a district,

his act

habitants of a

vip'

Tiffii)

certainly

literally 'joined

in receiving

th pv<nov

reprisal', i.e.

but that idea here only makes

with him in payment' or 'liability to

payment'. Troy

way of

Cho.

— <ruvT€\iis

the reprisaV

lost

taken by

i.e.

ov5i,

ovU, which would

Uapis

540

ruin

ffvvT€\€h, the

the

family of the criminal.

For a heinous

act of rapine, a barbarous

custom might

well prescribe not only, as a matter of course,

the

extinction

the

robber-

family, but also the actual literal destruc-

of their

tion

house.

Such extravagant

and dramatic aggravations are quite the spirit of savage legislation.

—We need

not press the parallel to details or ask

what was the pvaiov in the case of Troy, whether Helen herself or what else.

The

point

simply to palliate the sacri-

legious barbarities exercised

upon Troy

a precedent from private law, showing

that

when the crime is aggravated, the may be (i) made very severe and extended beyond the offender. The

penalty

that according to Horn. //. 13. 626 Paris

(2)

carried off other plunder {KT-ftfiara iroWa)

custom cited

with Helen.

quated, and the plea would appear to an

540.

TOV pvo-iov

TJ(AapT€ ktX.

'he

is itself

barbarous and anti-

audience of Aeschylus' day, as the pur-

AFAMEMNQN.

avToyQov ov TTUTpMOv edpicTev SofMOV. 8nr\a S' eriaav TlpLafilSaL ddfidpria. xo. K7]pv^ 'AâicSi/ %atp6 Twv (itto arpaTov. KH. jâlpoy' Tedvcivat 8' ovk avrepw êot?"f'. avTbxôvov.

541-

pose requires, worthless.

fact

self-condemnatory, for the real object of

committed

the sacrilege apirayri (see

Z'V-

or avToxOovov

350

foil.).

I prefer

(?).

Troy was

— avToxOov' 6v

to the point.

the

site

'grounci rdppi-^os

— avTox^ova:

here 'even to

literally on which it stood and all'; cf. avrdirpe/ivos, aiietc. For avrbx^ovov Hermann ',

—

makes the

subtle defence that the form

avTQxGovos

used deliberately in order

distinguish

meaning from

this

common avrox^^v

the

But

indigenous.

would be strange that this scruple should occur to a Greek poet who was incessantly using one compound in two and three senses, and who saw, for instance, no difficulty in &(p9ovos

SiirXd

541.

not invidious,

^Ticrov

feelings

they

Twv

543.

fully the peculiarity in the use of (rrparos oi

nant' use of the preposition, for arpaTi^ or

these phrases for

collective

Kara arparov

an army.

a use noticeable but not un-

This

544.

dvrepu (h and

which

actually paid, not of the crime for it

paid,

and

rifxapTe lost just

(2)

emphatic

pretation, Tbv /xiadov

by the

7Ata

schol.

TTJs a/jLaprias, is

though

Beols,

the

analogy

herald, who,

the

was

line

V. /E. A.

—All

the

seem

restorations

redvavai. ovk

mean /

ovk

merely a patch. dvrepu or

oxiKir''

not refuse to

?vill

But redvdvai, though

for

some pur-

poses interchangeable with daveiv, could

connexion give only the meaning not deny that

given

however

zvill

seem.

Though

mere guess dvrepw

— The

will Ije observed, has not

I am

the

This

dead.

not so impossible as

might

evidence does

warrant any conclusion,

a regidarly formed

imperfect.

per-

xaipa)...Te^vaVa£

modern

dvrep<3 could die.

from eud77eXos, is

we may affirm

haps (with Hermann, Weil) that part of

and would resemble eua7-

f.vajyyiXia.

in this

reioard for good tiditigs (Sidgwick),

secondary adjective that

— Another

inter-

the occurrence of

above.

ou/c^r'

merely a bad

hard to see a reason

assume that

hopeless,

scholia)

reOvavai (for redvavai)

;

— As

figment.

line its

perhaps in fers. 679 where both reading and interpretation are uncertain. For the use

In short

natural.

avrepu, and that deoh

(i)

the

but for

soldiers

aiMpTLov seems to occur only here and

commonly used only of what

all

used as an abstraction, equivalent to

arparela,

for the

the rendering loss argue here

but in

stands not as a

(rrparos

the

to speak, of

form, so

can stand, by the 'preg-

dirb (TTparov

more humane jurisprudence. The anticlimax is noticeable and betrays the

of TtVw,

used in

manner which may be called regular in Greek the description of the army itself is coloured by the fact that the herald comes from it. But note care-

conjecture

— ?Tio-av Odiidpria

twv crpa-

i.e.

preposition

the pregnant

have paid the double of the loss, another analogy from the law of theft, but from a

weakness of the plea.

diro (TTpaTOv

The

revofi^viov.

477.

0d(j.apTia

one of the elders addresses

till

him.

on the whole

way of reading the letters. The emphatic ov his own is surely not, as Hermann says, superfluous but much Blomfield's

addressed any one except the gods, stops abruptly and remains absorbed in his

I will

not

add as a

words reOvavai 5' ovk am dead I will not turn on the familiar use

that the

but that

gainsay' seem to

of X'^Vf (hi funerals, epitaphs etc.) as an

—

XO. ep&J9 7rarpa)a<i rrjcrhe 'yrj<; a iyvfMvaaev. KH. cocTT evhaKpvetv <y ofJbfiacTLv -xâpat; vtto. XO. Tepwr/^ dp' tare ryjaS^ etrrjôXoi voaov. KH. TTCri? St] StSa^êt? rovSe hecnroao) Xoyov. XO. TQ)u dvT€pa)VT(ov ifjiepo) TreirXrjy/xivo';. KH. iToOelv iroOovvra rrjvSe yrjv arparov \ey€i<;. XO. tw§ TToXA-' dfiavpd<; eK (f)pev6<; a dvacneveLV.

545

AISXYAOY

;

(ppevbs dvacrrivew.

551.

address

The

dead.

the

poets often

Thus

play with the senses of this word.

xafpw

e.g.

;

Tb reOvavai

xo^i^pi^',

avrepui (where x'^^pw

Thou

would mean ^Be glad!

junctive)

Though indeed

need'st not say be glad.

the gi-eeting of the dead suits

well

man

the

that

Then learn that

547.

sweet.

— TcpTTVTJs

<rov: ^puTos.

predicate.

—£7n]Po\oi:

{taken by) does not

{faretuell),

advdpa fjLTjTpl

OVK

reKovcra,

Hec,

not

Hec.

KaKuv

viro.

S^^ot,

may

take

mother)... /*<?/.

(noX(/5w/3os) Kol davo^(T7]s

rb abv.

Katr-

xat/ae

x^^P°^<^'-''

ToSe (otlicrs

i<TTLv

but

comfort,

/j.01.

6/x/j,a

TidvrjK' ^7urye

<rvyK\ricrei

irplv

daveiv