anxious to avert the anger of the gods by the immediate performance of certain rites of expiation, and to procure the return of favor from the Greeks by the burial of Hector's fatal gift. Although no one interrupts him in his speech, and he is permitted to retire without reply or hindrance, it is yet clear, from v. 648, below, that Tekmessa, in addition to the Chorus, was present during his harangue. μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος. "These adjectives are conjoined in the same manner as in the Homeric expression γαῖα πολλὴ καὶ ἀπείρων, Odyss. 15. 81, and are repeated from this verse by Nicephorus Blemmidas, Geogr. XV. 81. Compare Theokr. 25. 24, πολὺς καὶ ἀθέσφατος ἔλβος. Hom. Π. 10. 6, πολὺς ὄμβρος ἀθέσφατος. Ζοsim. II. 19, πολλοὶ καὶ ἀναρίθμητοι.” LOBECK. κρύπτεται. SCHOL. : ἀντὶ τοῦ κρύπτει. On the frequent employment of middle verbs for active by our poet, see note to v. 486, supra, and compare vv. 730, 1314, infra; Ed. Tyr. 287, 1021; Trach. 103, 474, 680; Elektr. 1053. .... φρένες. 612. Κοὐκ ἔστ ̓ ἄελπτον οὐδέν. Compare Archiloch. Fragm. 30, χρημάτ των ἄελπτον οὐδὲν, οὐδ ̓ ἀπώμοτον, the latter part of which is made use of by Sophokles in Antig. 388, βροτοῖσιν οὐδέν ἐστ ̓ ἀπώματον. Ar. Lys. 256, ἦ πόλλ ̓ ἄελπτ ̓ ἔνεστιν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ βίῳ. ἀλλ ̓ ἁλίσκεται "Brunck excellently renders, sed vincitur etiam jurisjurandi religio et mentis obstinata rigor. And so the Scholiast: χω δεινὸς ὅρκος· ὅτι καὶ ὁμόσαντές τινες ἐν μεταβολῇ γίνονται τῷ χρόνῳ. The expression ὅρκος ἁλίσκεται is remarkable, and scarcely to be found elsewhere. Nor would this verb have been employed in the present passage, if the words αἱ περισκελεῖς φρένες had not been added. On the adjective περισκελής, see Lobeck to this verse.” WUNDER. 614. ὃς τὰ δεῖν ̓ ἐκαρτέρουν τότε. Who lately was resolute in my dread threat. On the accusative, see Eur. Alkest. 1074; Iph. Aul. 1370; Jelf's Gr. Gr. 548, c. 550; on the insertion of the article, consult note to v. 299, supra. τότε. SCHOL. : ὡσάνει πρὸ τοῦ. The frequent use of rórs in vague retrospective reference may be learnt from vv. 1178, 1315, infra, Æsch. Choeph. 975, Eur. Med. 1401, Elektr. 1203, Alkest. 915, and the observations of Brunck to Ar. Lys. 1023. 615. Βαφῇ σίδηρος ὥς. SCHOL. : ἐν τῇ βαφῇ οὐκ ἀνίεται ὁ σίδηρος, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον σκιραίνεται. οὕτως οὖν διασταλτέον· κἀγὼ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὃς ἐπείλουν καὶ ἔζεον καὶ ἐβόων, ὡς ἐν βαφῇ σίδηρος· ὡς Ὅμηρος, Εν ὕδατι ψυχρᾷ βάπτει μεγάλα ἰάχοντα (Odyss. 9. 392). νῦν ἐθηλύνθην ὑπὸ τῶν λόγων τῆς γυναικός. ἢ ὅτι δισσῶς βάπτεται ὁ σίδερος. εἰ μὲν γὰρ μαλ θακὸν βούλονται αὐτὸν εἶναι, ἐλαίῳ βάπτουσιν, εἰ δὲ σκιρόν, ὕδατι. In support of the last_explanation, which has obtained the sanc tion of Wunder, and connects the words Bay oidngos s with those which follow, Musgrave quotes Plin. H. N. XXXIV. 41, tenuiora ferramenta oleo restingui mos est, ne aqua in fragilitatem durentur. The same practice is alluded to in Hippokr. Coac. Prænn. p. 294, T. I. and Plutarch de Prim. Trig. c. 13. On the other hand, Lobeck observes correctly, “Baqń h. 1. significat omnem cudendi ferri fabricam, qua ferrum non solidatur solum sed etiam ad tractandum aptius, hoc est, flexile et elasticum, redditur ademta per aquam ferrariam naturali ejus asperitate. Quare Statius commode hac in re verbo laxandi usus est. Achill. 1. 429, Ferrum laxatur in usus innumeros." Compare Plat. Rep. III. 411. B, rò buuorides WoTER σίδηρον ἐμάλαξε καὶ χρήσιμον ἀντὶ ἀχρήστου καὶ σκληροῦ ἐποίησε. Antig. 473, ἀλλ ̓ ἴσθι τοι τὰ σκλήρ ̓ ἄγαν φρονήματα | πίπτειν μάλιστα, καὶ τὸν ἐγκρατέστατον | σίδηρον ὀπτὸν ἐκ πυρὸς περισκελή | θραυσθέντα καὶ ῥαγέντα #helor' av eloídos. See Klausen to Esch. Agam. 216. .... .... 616. οἰκτείρω . . LITEV, pity prevents my leaving. With this rare construction, compare Odyss. 20. 202, οὐκ ἐλεαίρεις ἄνδρας, ἐπὴν δὴ γείνεαι αὐτός, μισγέμεναι κακότητι καὶ ἄλγεσι λευγαλέοισιν. The infinitive is employed, instead of the participle, to denote unwillingness to perform the action it expresses, on account of the mental feeling expressed by the principal verb. Compare note to v. 481, supra; Matthiä, Gr. Gr. 534. b. 618. πρός τε λουτρὰ . 2μavas. "By the first of these substantives the end or purpose of his departure is declared; by the second, the place to which he will repair. Cf. (Ed. Tyr. 761, ἀγρούς σφε πέμψαι κἀπὶ ποιμνίων νομάς. Pind. Οl. 1. 38, ἐς ἔρανον φίλαν τε Σίπυλον.” NEUE. 619. λύμαθ ̓ ἁγνίσας ἐμά. "The word aúμara is not used here to denote the moral filth or defilement which Aias had contracted by the slaughter of the cattle, so much as physical filth, or dirt to be removed from the body by washing, in the same sense as we find it said of Here in Hom. Π. 14. 171, λύματα πάντα κάθηρεν. Αγνίζειν, lustrare, which strictly is applied to sacrificial purification, is employed by Sophokles in the present passage in order to intimate that this cleansing of his person was pre requisite to any effort he might subsequently make for a reconciliation with Athene. For it was esteemed the highest impiety to proceed to sacrifice when stained with blood or any other kind of impurity. See II. 14. 266." JAEGER. 620. ἐξαλύξωμαι. The manuscripts generally and Aldus read ἐξαλεύσως μαι. See Liddell and Scott, s. Εξαλεύομαι. Brunck restored the true reading, traces of which are found in his Membranæ. HESYCHIUS: žaλúξωμαι, φυλάξωμαι. Σοφοκλῆς Αἴαντι μαστιγοφόρῳ. 621. Μολών τε... · κάτω. SCHOL. : εὑρήσω, φησὶ, τόπον, οὗ οὐδεὶς ἐπιβήσεται. τοῦτο δὲ πιθανὸν, ἵνα μή τις αὐτῷ ἀκολουθήσῃ· πιθανὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ λαβεῖν τὸ ξίφος, ἵνα εὐπορήσῃ ἑαυτὸν διαχειρίσασθαι. " It was apparently a common practice with the ancients, either to destroy the instrument by which any criminal action had been performed, or, if they were prevented from doing this by the indestructible character of its material, to remove it altogether from their sight. In Seneca's Herc. Fur. 1230, Hercules is represented as saying, — 'Tibi tela frangam nostra ; tibi nostros, puer, Ardebit umbris.' Harpocration, s. v. žuvuía, has left on record, that they were in the habit of felling or burning trees from which any one had hung himself. So Plato, p. 935. E, in imitation of Drako, wishes certain inanimate objects to be removed beyond the boundaries of this nether world. Swords which had been used in the commission of some atrocious crime, and which on this account were deemed unworthy of exposure to the light of the allseeing sun (Ed. Tyr. 1425), were usually buried deeply in the earth where they could not shock his rays. Hence, probably, the language of Apollonios, IV. 296, respecting Jason at the hearth of Kirke : μiya páryaνον ἐν χθονὶ πήξας, ὑπέρ τ ̓ Αιήταο πάϊν κτάνεν.” MUSGRAVE. 622. SCHOL.: vì To ipos. See to v. 95, supra. The genitive depends upon the local adverb "vé. See note to v. 367, supra. Jelf's Gr. Gr. 527. ὄψεται. In similar dependent clauses of an oratio recta, the oratio obliqua is sometimes used, as, for example, at Trach. 903, κρύψασ' ἐμαυτὴν, ἔνθα μή τις εἰσίδοι, in order to intimate a reference on the part of the speaker to a thought or statement of another, in contradistinction to his own. In our passage, the indicative future, expressing no such intimation, and limiting what is said to the mind of Aias, is properly employed. See Matthiä, Gr. Gr. 529. 4; Bernhardy, Synt. p. 157; Jelf's Gr. Gr. 885, Obs. 627. xsdvóv, i. e. Tíμiov, áɣatóv. Cf. Blomfield, Gl. ad Æsch. Theb. 62. 629. Εχθρῶν.... ὀνήσιμα. Compare Eur. Med. 621, κακοῦ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς Milton, Comus, none, But such as are good men, δῶρ ̓ ὄνησιν οὐκ ἔχει. 66 can give good things." πέμπετο δῶρα, ἐκ χάριτος προφάσει μοῖραν ἔχοντα μόρου. With the expression dwga daga, gifts that are no gifts, Neue directs us to compare Elektr. 1154; Ed. Tyr. 1214; Ant. 588, 1277; Philokt. 534, 848. Anth. Pal. VII. 152, οὕτως ἐξ ἐχθρῶν αὐτοκτόνα Similar expressions are met with in Elektr. 492; Antig. 980; Ed. Kol. 1549. "By what argument we may deduce from this verse that the Medea of Euripides is older than the Aias of Sophokles, Elmsley has stated in his note to v. 605 of the former play." HERMANN. .... 630. εἰσόμεσθα μὲν.... εἴκειν, μαθησόμεσθα δ' σέβειν. On the infinitives, see Jelf's Gr. Gr. 683, Obs.; and on the particles év dé, consult the note to v. 592, supra. .... 632. Τί μή; Compare Asch. Εum. 203, ἔχρησα ποινὰς τοῦ πατρὸς πέμψαι; τί μή; Agam. 672, λέγουσιν ἡμᾶς ὡς ὁλωλότας· τί μή;” WUNDER. Add Blomfield, Gl. in Agam. 655. 634. Tipais. Wunder renders, to men excelling in dignity, and Neue, to power. The latter gives, in our opinion, a sentiment which harmonizes better with what follows, and with the feelings entertained by Aias to the rulers of the Grecian army. The Oxford translator quotes, in illustration of the sentiment, a very similar passage from Shakspeare's Troilus and Cressida : "The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order." νιφοστιβεῖς, thick with snow. Compare Ed Tyr. 301, χθονοστιβῆ. On TOUTO μiv, with d in the correlative clause, cf. Philokt. 1345; Ed. Kol. 440; Hermann to Vig. p. 702; Matthiä, Gr. Gr. 288, Obs. 2. 635. fig. See Jelf's Gr. Gr. 593. 1. 636. αἰανῆς. SCHOL. : τουτέστιν, ὁ σκοτεινὸς κύκλος, ἢ ἀδιάλειπτος. SUIDAS : αἰανής. Σοφοκλῆς· Νυκτὸς αἰανὴς κύκλος. ἢ αἰανῆς, θρηνητικῆς, παρὰ τὸ αἰάζω τὸ θρηνῶ. Zonaras, p. 64, αἰανός, σκοτεινός. Σοφοκλῆς· νυκτὸς αἰανῆς κύκλος. ἢ θρηνητής, ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰάζω, τὸ θρηνῶ. The manuscripts generally exhibit alavñs, the MS. La. reads aiavns, which Hermann and Wunder have received. See Liddell and Scott, s. v.; Blomfield to Esch. Pers. 935. " In Elektr. 492, ὦ Πέλοπος ἃ πρόσθεν Πολύπονος ἱππεία, Ως ἔμολες αἰανὴς Τᾷδε γᾷ, the common reading is αἰανή, which Hermann preserves in his edition. Wunder reads alavis. Esch. Eum. 394, Ἥμεις γάρ ἐσμεν νυκτὸς αἰανῆς τέκνα. So Hermann, Schütz, Bothe, Burgess, Wellauer. Müller prefers the common reading, alavń. Ibid. v. 457, αἰανὴς νόσος. Ibid. v. 542, ἐς τὸν αἰανῆ χρονόν. Ibid. v. 903, μηδ' ἄκαρπος αἰανὴς ἐφερπέτω νόσος. Pers. 628, αἰανῆ δύσθροα βάγματα. Ibid. v. 903, alavnv aůdáv. From these passages and their various readings, we see manifest traces of the form alavós, of which Zonaras has made mention. Hermann observes, Ac re vera aiavès et aiavós idem esse, atque ex eadem origine natum videtur, unde aivós est: quod, nisi fallor, ab aisí deductum primo diuturnum, deinde diuturnitate molestum et grave, ideoque tœdii plenum significabat. Thus in Eum. 542 it means diuturnus, and its cognate adverb alavas is used in the same sense at v. 642 of the same play. On the other hand, in Elektr. 492, Esch. Eum. 457, 903, Pers. 628, 903, its signification will be found to be gravis, molestus, lacrymabilis. But what does it denote in our own verse and Esch. Eum. 394? Suidas gives two explanations, exortivos and envntixns. In the first, he supported by the Scholiast and Wunder, who says in his note, hoc loco manifestissimum vere Scholiastam αἰανής explicasse σκοτεινός. Nihilominus ingenue profiteor me nondum perspexisse quomodo tam diversæ significationis uni huic vocabulo attribui potuerint. We have determined to follow Lobeck in retaining the vulgar reading, and deny the inaptitude of Suidas's second interpretation. On the same principle that we find Night termed søgóvn, from its nursing the tender thought to reason,' it is here very properly joined with the epithet alavñs, for reasons which we will give in the words of Montgomery : 'Night is the time to weep, To wet with unseen tears The graves of memory, where sleep The joys of other years: Hopes that were angels in their birth, But perished young, like things on earth.' The same idea is to be found in an exquisite passage of Shakspeare, II. Henry VI., IV. 1 : — 'The gaudy, babbling, and remorseless day Has crept into the bosom of the sea: And now loud howling wolves arouse the jades These two quotations sufficiently justify the second explanation given by Suidas. In the passage from the Eumenides, if we read, with Hermann, alavas, the sense will be the same as that claimed for our own; if, with Müller, alavý, translate, as he does, Wir sind der Urnacht grause (dread, dismal) Töchter. In the explanation of all poets, and especially of Sophokles, whose finest and most exquisite conceptions are generally conveyed in a very |