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βουλαῖσι δὲ φρήν, ἐσσόμενον προϊδεῖν συγγενές οἷς ἔπεται.

̓Αγησιδάμου παῖ, σέο δ ̓ ἀμφὶ τρόπῳ

30 τῶν τε καὶ τῶν χρήσιες.

40

οὐκ ἔραμαι πολὺν ἐν μεγάρῳ πλοῦτον κατακρύψαις ἔχειν,

45

ἀλλ ̓ ἐόντων εὖ τε παθεῖν καὶ ἀκοῦσαι φίλοις ἐξαρκέων. κοιναὶ γὰρ ἔρχοντ ̓ ἐλπίδες

Ἐπ. β'.

πολυπόνων ἀνδρῶν. ἐγὼ δ' Ηρακλέος ἀντέχομαι προφρόνως

50

ἐν κορυφαῖς ἀρετᾶν μεγάλαις, ἀρχαῖον ὀτρύνων λόγον,

μελέων. This does not contradict Frag. 14 [16].

27. ἐσσόμενον, κ.τ.λ.] ‘In those whose birthright it is to foresee what shall be.'

29. σέο δ', κ.τ.λ.] 'In thy character are faculties for using both this endowment and that.' For ȧupì cf. Pyth. v. 111, ἀμφὶ βουλαῖς, in which passage Arkesilas also is praised for ἔργα as well as βουλαί, Nem. vi. 14. For τῶν τε καὶ τῶν cf. Ol. II. 53.

31. Euripides seems to be thinking of these two lines Ion, 639, οὐ φιλῶ ψογοὺς κλύειν | ἐν χερσὶ σώζων ὄλβον οὐδ ̓ ἔχειν πόνους.

κατακρύψαις ἔχειν.] Conditum habere, cf. γήμας ἔχεις, Soph. Oed. R. 577, not the periphrasis mentioned Madv. § 179.

32. But from what I have both to enjoy myself and to have the credit of being duly open-handed to (lit. 'thoroughly satisfying') my friends. For the expectations of men, born to sore trouble as all are, are uncertain for all alike.'

ἐόντων.] Cf. Theognis, 1009, τῶν αὐτοῦ κτεάνων εὖ πάσχεμεν. Cf. Pyth. III. 104 for sentiment, also Simonides, 85 [60] v. 13, 'Aλλà où ταῦτα μαθὼν βιότου ποτὶ τέρμα |

ψυχῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τλῆθι χαριζόμενος and see L. and S. s. v. χαρίζομαι for genitive.

ἐξαρκέων.] Dissen explainsἐ. φίλαις αὐτῶν—‘bestowing of them plentifully on my friends.' But cf. Eur. Suppl. 574, ή πᾶσιν οὖν σ' ἔφυσεν ἐξαρκεῖν πατήρ ; ' did thy father then beget thee to be a match for all men?'

κοιναὶ γὰρ ἔρχοντ'.] Cf. Nem. VII. 30, κοινὸν ἔρχεται | κῦμ ̓ ̓Αΐδα.

33. πολυπόνων. ] Cf. Eur. Οr. 975, πανδάκρυτ ̓ ἐφαμέρων | ἔθνη πολύπονα, λεύσσεθ', ὡς παρ' ἐλπίδας | μοίρα βαίνει...βροτῶν δ' ὁ πᾶς ἀστ τάθμητος αἰών. The idea of πολυπόνων reflects on ἐλπίδες and suggests the antiphrasis, cf. supra, v. 15.

ἀντέχομαι.] ‘I claim preëminence in devotion to, cf. Thuk. I. 13, της θαλάσσης ἀντείχοντο, ‘made seafaring an object of rivalry,' 'vied with each other in attention to maritime pursuits.'

34. ἐν κορυφαῖς.] For ev, in the sphere of,' cf. my O. and P. p. xxxvii; for κορυφαῖς cf. supra, v. 15.

ὀτρύνων.] For the phrase cf. Isth. III. 40, 41, ἐκ λεχέων ἀνάγει φάμαν παλαιὰν εὐκλέων ἔργων· ἐν ὕπνῳ γὰρ πέσεν· ἀλλ ̓ ἀνεγειρομένα, κ.τ.λ.

35 ὡς, ἐπεὶ σπλάγχνων ὕπο ματέρος αὐτίκα θαητὰν ἐς

αἴγλαν παῖς Διὸς

ὠδῖνα φεύγων διδύμῳ σὺν κασιγνήτῳ μόλεν,

ὡς οὐ λαθὼν χρυσόθρονον

Ηραν κροκωτὸν σπάργανον ἐγκατέβα. ἀλλὰ θεῶν βασιλέα

40 σπερχθεῖσα θυμῷ πέμπε δράκοντας ἄφαρ. τοὶ μὲν οἰχθεισῶν πυλῶν

55

Στρ. γ'.

60

ἐς θαλάμου μυχὸν μυχὸν εὐρὺν ἔβαν, τέκνοισιν ὠκείας

γνάθους

35. ὡς, ἐπεί.] mss. read ὡς ἐπεὶ and v. 37, ws T' OV.

Mommsen proposes λόγον | τοῦδ' ὅπα (cf. for gen. Pyth. vii. 9, Nem. ιν. 71, VII. 21, 32 and for ὅπα Ο1. x. 56) from Beck's τὸν δ ̓ ὅπως and the περὶ αὐτοῦ of the Schol. Vet. Hermann ὡς ἄρα or v. 37 οὔ τοι, the latter approved by Don. I incline to Böckh's beginning of v. 35, ws T' or s Te, leaving the third particle doubtful, keeping ὥς τ', υ. 37.

ϋπο.] Cf. Οl. VI. 43, quoted in next note.

αὐτίκα.] This must not be taken with ἐπεὶ as=ἐπεὶ τάχιστα, ἐπειδὴ πρώτον, which is Dissen's explanation. The adverb indicates the normal progress of the delivery as in Ol. VI. 43, ἦλθεν δ' ὑπὸ σπλάγ χνων ὑπ ̓ ὠδινός τ ̓ ἐρατᾶς Ἴαμος | ἐς φάος αὐτίκα, which passage also illustrates θαητὰν ἐς αἴγλαν μόλεν, ὠδῖνα φεύγων, σπλάγχνων ὕπο. The infant Iamos too was visited by two snakes, but they came to feed him.

38. ἐγκατέβα.] Hardly stepped into' with supernatural precocity, as Prof. Paley suggests; for the effect of the subsequent miracle would be impaired by such a preliminary display of power. The use recalls the passive sense often

given to ἐκπίπτειν, ἀποθανεῖν. Render simply had been laid in.'

39. βασιλέα.] mss. give βασίλεια (βασιλεία). For the form in the text cf. Pyth. Iv. 5, where two fair Mss. read ἱερέα. For the synizesis cf. Ol. xΙ. 13, χρυσέας. The form in ea is illustrated by the Sophoklean βασίλη, better βασιλῆ, given by Hesychios. In the LydoAeolic ode, Ol. χιν, we find βασίλειαι.

40. σπερχθεῖσα.] Cf. Il. xxiv. 248, σπερχομένοιο γέροντος, Herod. v. 33, ἐσπέρχετο τῷ ̓Αρισταγόρῃ, Εur. Med. 1133, ἀλλὰ μὴ | σπέρχου, φίλος. For the episode of the infant Hêrakles and the serpents cf. Theokr. XXIV, where many details differ from those of Pindar's account near the end of Plautus' Amphitruo is a third version.

41. Whether the doors were left open at night, or had been opened in the early morning, or were opened by the serpents-is left uncertain.

42. θαλάμου μυχὸν εὐρύν.] The spacious inner chamber'; one of the chambers of the gynaekitis.

τέκνοισιν, κ.τ.λ.] ‘Greedily yearning to make their jaws play swiftly about the babes,' i. e. in the act of licking over the victim before en

ἀμφελίξασθαι μεμαώτες· ὁ δ ̓ ὀρθὸν μὲν ἄντεινεν κάρα, πειρᾶτο δὲ πρῶτον μάχας,

δισσαῖσι δοιοὺς αὐχένων

45 μάρψαις ἀφύκτοις χερσὶν ἑαῖς ὄφιας

ἀγχομένοις δὲ χρόνος

ψυχὰς ἀπέπνευσεν μελέων ἀφάτων.

ἐκ δ ̓ ἄρ ̓ ἄτλατον βέλος

65 Αντ. γ'.

70

πλᾶξε γυναῖκας, ὅσαι τύχον 'Αλκμήνας ἀρήγοισαι λέχει·

50 καὶ γὰρ αὐτά, ποσσὶν ἄπεπλος ὀρούσαισ ̓ ἀπὸ στρωμνᾶς, ὅμως ἄμυνεν ὕβριν κνωδάλων.

gorging it. Cf. Hes. Scut. Herc. 235 and Prof. Paley's note. I do not think ἑλίσσεσθαι, could mean to ' enfold 'with jaws. The middle ἀμφελ- may be causal, but cf. Soph. Aiax, 369 (commented on in note on Nem. VI. 15). Here γνάθους supports ὠκείας as there πύδα supports ἄψορρον.

43. ὀρθόν.] Proleptic, cf. Pyth. III. 53, 96, Eur. Hipp. 1203, opeòv dè κρατ ̓ ἔστησαν οὖς τ ̓ ἐς οὐρανὸν | ἵπποι. Prof. Paley observes that this action is miraculous in a newborn infant.

44. δισσαῖσι δοιούς.] Cf. Nem. VIII. 43, δὶς δὴ δυοῖν. αὐχένων.]

57a. Rem.

For gen. cf. Madv. 8

46. A bold phrase both in construction and sense. 'As he kept throttling them, the time made them breathe forth the life from their dread frames.' The causal use of ἀποπνέω is strange and the word is not the most appropriate to death by strangulation. Of course ἀγχόμενοι ... χρόνῳ ... ἀπέπνευσαν have

been proposed. It is quite possible that there is some corruption, but it is impossible to establish a correction. For ψυχ. ἀποπν. cf. Simonides Frag. 52 [26].

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75

48. βέλος.] ‘Α pang. Cf. Il. xΙ. 269, ὡς δ ̓ ὅταν ὠδίνουσαν ἔχῃ βέλος ὀξὺ γυναῖκα. There is a slight preponderance of ms. authority in favour of déos, which Par. A. has as a correction, but it is hard to see how βέλος could have replaced the much easier déos (which on the other hand would inevitably appear as an early marginal gloss), unless as a badly corrected transfer from the line above, -ν μελ- becoming -ν βέλ-. (For confusion of u and B cf. Ol. IX. 8.) That déos is an interpolation from the margin is decidedly the simplest hypothesis.

49. Theokritos makes Herakles nine months old. Plautus agrees with Pindar as to the age. On a coin of Thebes (see Plate facing Title) the child does not seem to represent a new-born babe. Professor Paley cites a fresco-painting of this subject from Herculaneum, Racc. di Ercolano, Pl. 11.

50. ‘Why, even she herself sprang from bed to her feet and unrobed as she was thought to repel the attack of the monsters.' Mommsen regards ποσσίν as a dativus termini. Cf. Ol. XIII. 72, ἀνὰ δ ̓ ἔπαλτ ̓ ὀρθῷ ποδί; but they may be instrumental datives, though

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ἵκετ ̓, ὀξείαις ἀνίαισι τυπείς, τὸ γὰρ οἰκεῖον πιέζει

πάνθ ̓ ὁμῶς·

εὐθὺς δ ̓ ἀπήμων κραδία κάδος ἀμφ ̓ ἀλλότριον.

55 ἔστα δὲ θάμβει δυσφόρῳ

τερπνῷ τε μιχθείς. εἶδε γὰρ ἐκνόμιον

rendered to her (his) feet.' For certain dat. term. cf. Pyth. XII. 31.

ἄπεπλος.] With nothing on except an under garment, χιτωνίσκος, 1.4. μονοχίτων, Philostratos, Eur. Hec. 933, λέχη δὲ φίλια μονόπε πλος λιποῦσα Δωρὶς ὡς κόρα. Greek women seem not to have had special night gear.

ἄμυνεν.] A good case of the imperfect of intended or attempted action. Bergk recklessly alters

ποσσίν to παισίν.

ὕβριν.] Either="the attack, cf. Pyth. 1. 72; or else . K.='savage monsters. Cf. ὑβρισταὶ ταῦροι, Eur. Bacch. 743.

κνωδάλων.] Fick refers κνώδαλον and κνώδαξ pivot to the root SKAND, whence Skt. khâd, 'bite' (he should hesitate to separate κιναδεύς, κίναδος from κίδαφος, σκίνδαφος which he rightly gives under the root SKAD 'hide,' 'cover'), Lat. cena, Sabin. scesna-, 'supper,' Lith. kándu, 'to bite.'

51. So best ass. The Triclinian mss. and the Aldine and Roman editions give σὺν ὅπλ. ἀθρ. ἔδρ.; Editors ἀθρ. σὺν ὅπλ. ἔδρ. Οr ἔδρ. σὺν ὅπλ. ἀθρ. For the lengthening of -ov before a vowel cf. Pyth. III. 6, IX. 114, xopòv ev.

ὅπλοις.] Don. renders shields from Hes. Scut. Herc. 13, φερεσ

Στρ. δ'. 85

σακέας Καδμείους ; but it is more natural to suppose that they caught up any weapons.

52. φάσγανον.] Omitted in the best mss. The Triclinian mss. read ξίφος ἐκτινάσσων against the metre.

53. οξείαις ἀνίαισι τυπείς.] ‘Smitten with keen throes of anguish.' The phrase τυπείς was very likely chosen in reference to βέλος above. Π. ΧΙΧ. 125, τὸν δ ̓ ἄχος ὀξὺ κατὰ φρένα τύψε βαθεῖαν, Od. x. 247, κῆρ ἄχεϊ μεγάλῳ βεβολημένος.

τὸ γάρ, κ.τ.λ.] Pausanias, x. 22. 5, cites this sentiment with approval. Cf. The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with its joy.'

54. ἀμφί.] Cf. O. and P. p. xxxvii.

55. θάμβει, κ.τ.λ.] 'With mingled feelings of painful and glad wonderment.' Thus Prof. Paley rightly explains μιχθείς. Others simply render it affected by,' comparing Soph. Αnt. 1311, δειλαίᾳ δὲ συγ κέκραμαι δύᾳ, Αiax, 895, οἴκτῳ τῷ δε συγκεκραμένην.

56. ἐκνόμιον.] Not used, it seems, in the same sense as ἔκνομος unlawful,' inordinate' as correlative of ἔννομος (cf. the adv. Aristoph. Plut. 981, 992); but always extraordinary.'

λῆμά τε καὶ δύναμιν

υἱοῦ παλίγγλωσσον δέ οἱ ἀθάνατοι

ἀγγέλων ῥῆσιν θέσαν.

6ο γείτονα δ ̓ ἐκκάλεσεν Διὸς ὑψίστου προφάταν ἔξ

οχον,

90

ὀρθόμαντιν Τειρεσίαν· ὁ δὲ οἱ φράζε καὶ παντὶ στρατῷ, ποίαις ὁμιλήσει τύχαις,

ὅσσους μὲν ἐν χέρσῳ κτανών,

ὅσσους δὲ πόντῳ θῆρας ἀϊδροδίκας

καί τινα σὺν πλαγίῳ

65 ἀνδρῶν κόρῳ στείχοντα τὸν ἐχθρότατον

58. παλίγγλωσσον.] Apparently a word coined by Pindar = 'gainsaid,' i.e. by the fact.

oi.] Dativus commodi, not after ῥησιν (as Mr Myers translates) and not the article, as the digamma of the personal pronoun is needed for the scansion.

ἀθάνατοι.] i.e. Zeus, by transmitting superhuman qualities to his son. Cf. Theokr. xxΙν. 83, 84, γαμβρὸς δ' ἀθανάτων (Ηρας) κεκλήσεται, οἱ τάδ ̓ ἐπῶρσαν | κνώδαλα φωλεύοντα βρέφος διαδηλήσασθαι.

60. γείτονα.] According to Pausanias, Ix. 11, Amphitryon lived by the Gate of Elektra, in the neighbourhood of which was the οίωνοσκοπεῖον of Teiresias (Paus. IX. 16).

Διὸς ὑψίστου.] A special title of Zeus at Thebes (Paus. IX. 8. 3) amongst other places.

62. κτανών.] The participle of the gnômic aorist referring to sundry points of the time covered by the principal verb. Thus ὅσσους κτ.= καὶ πολλοὺς κτενεί. Cf. Nem. VII. 3.

63. ἀϊδροδίκας.] For justice and the reverse in beasts cf. Archilochos, Frag. 88 [6], Ὦ Ζεῦ, πάτερ Ζεύ, σὸν μὲν οὐρανοῦ κράτος, | σὺ δ ̓ ἔργ ̓ ἐπ ̓ ἀνθρώπων ὁρᾷς | λεωργὰ καὶ θε

Αντ' δ'.

95

μιστά, σοὶ δὲ θηρίων | ὕβρις τε καὶ δίκη μέλει. For this phrase cf. Od. IX. 215.

64. τινα.] ‘Many' (cf. Pyth. ΙΙ. 51, [θεὸς] ὑψιφρόνων τιν' ἔκαμψε βροτῶν), such as Busiris and Antaeos.

Simi

For the junction of the definite article with the definite pronoun cf. Soph. Oed. Col. 288, ὅταν δ' ὁ κύριος | παρῇ τις, Oed. Rex, 107, τοὺς αὐτοέντας χειρὶ τιμωρεῖν τινάς. So Böckh, Don. Bergk reading v. 66 μόρῳ for us. μόρον. larly Dissen, only changing Tòv to ποτ', and Kayser, only changing τὸν ἐχθ. to πανεχθροτάτῳ. Hermann reads v. 66 φασέν iv (acc)...μόρῳ and above τῷ ἐχθροτάτῳ, making τινα the subject meaning Nessos. Keeping μόρον Mommsen would change δώσειν to γεύσειν, Ahrens to παύσειν. Rauchenstein, Hermann and Bergk propose τινι...στείχοντι τὸν ἐχθ. Bergk also suggests και τινα σὺν πλαγίῳ (adverbially) ¦ ἀνδρῶν πόρον στ....μόρῳ after Hartung's καί τινα σὺν πλαγίῳ | ἀνδρῶν νόῳ στείχονθ ̓ ὁδόν ἐχθροτάταν | φασέ νιν δώσειν μόρῳ.

σὺν πλαγ. κόρ. στείχ.] Cf. supra,

υ. 25.

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