The Tragedies of Euripides Part 30

[1] That is, through the signs of the zodiac: ast?? differs from ast???, the former signifying a single star, the latter many.

[2] The preposition s?? is omitted, as in Homer,

??t?? ?e? ?a??? e??sa??.

The same omission occurs in the Bacchae, a?t??s?? e?ata??, and again in the Hippolytus. It is an Atticism.

[3] See note on Hecuba, 478.

[4] The word t????a must be supplied after t??t?, which is implied in the verb ?a???s??.

[5] The ?a??? is a bird of prey of the vulture species. The sphinx was represented as having the face of a woman, the breast and feet of a lion, and the wings of a bird.

[5a] Dindorf would omit this verse.

[6] a?a? and a?as?a? are often used by the poets in a good sense for prayers, e??a? and e??es?a? for curses and imprecations.

[7] d???e? ??pe????, ? ???a?. HESYCHIUS.

[8] Milton, Par. Regained, b. iii. l. 326.

The field, all iron, cast a gleaming brown.

[9] Lerna, a country of Argolis celebrated for a grove and a lake where the Danaides threw the heads of their murdered husbands. It was there also that Hercules killed the famous Hydra.

[10] This alludes to the figure of Argus engraved on his shield. See verse 1130.

[11] Tydeus married Deipyle, Polynices Argia, both daughters of Adrastus, king of Argos.

[12] Some suppose ??ste??? p?d? to mean with their last steps, that is, with steps which are doomed never to return again to their own country.

[13] Triaena was a place in Argolis, where Neptune stuck his trident in the ground, and immediately water sprung up. SCHOL.

[14] Amymone was daughter of Danaus and Europa; she was employed, by order of her father, in supplying the city of Argos with water, in a great drought. Neptune saw her in this employment, and was enamored of her. He carried her away, and in the place where she stood he raised a fountain, which has been called Amymone. See Propert. ii. El. 20. v. 47.

[15] a????a? ?e???s?? is, _they say one of another_; a????a?? ?e???s??, _they say among themselves_.

[16] By ped??? a?a?p?st?? is to be understood the sea. The construction ped??? pe?????t?? S??e??a?, that is, ?a S??e??a? pe????e?. The same construction is found in Sophocles, d. Tyr. l. 885. d??a? af??t??. L.

969. afa?st?? e?????. See also Horace, Lib. iv. Od. 4. 43.

Ceu flamma per taedas, vel Eurus Per Siculas equitavit undas.

[17] The fire was on that head of Parna.s.sus which was sacred to Apollo and Diana; to those below it appeared double, being divided to the eye by a pointed rock which rose before it. SCHOL.

[18] The Python which Apollo slew.

[19] Libya the daughter of Epaphus bore to Neptune Agenor and Belus. Cadmus was the son of Agenor, and Antiope the daughter of Belus.

[19a] But Dind. e?f??s'. See his note.

[20] The construction is, af?a??e ?? t? t?? pa???d?? s?? ??e?a: that is, _genarum ad oscula porrectionem_. It can not be translated literally.

The verb af?a??e is to be supplied before ??e?a, and before p???a??.

See Orestes, 950.

[21] Locus videtur corruptus. PORSON. Valckenaer proposes to read da????ess' a??e?sa ?.t.?. Markland would supply f???? after ??e?sa. Another reading proposed is, da????ess' e??e?sa pe????? ?????. _Lacrymabunda, lugubrem cinerem injiciens_. Followed by Dindorf.

[22] Cf. aesch. Prom. 39. t? s???e?e? t?? de???? ?? ?' ?????a, where consult Schutz.

[23] See Porson's note. A similar ellipse is to be found in Luke xiii. 9.

?a?? e? p???s?? ?a?p??: e? de ??e, e?? t? e???? e????e?? a?t??: which is thus translated in our version; "And if it bear fruit, _well_: and if not, _then_ after that thou shalt cut it down." See also Iliad, A. 135.

Aristoph. Plut. 468. ed. Kuster.

[24] ??ae??, properly, is the judge in a contest, who confers the prizes, and on whose decision the awarding of the prizes depends: ?ae?t?? is the same. ??ae??? is the prize. ??ae?a, and in the plural ?ae?a?, the very act of deciding the contest.

[25] So Hotspur, of honor:

By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon: Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, And pluck up drowned honor by the locks; So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear, Without corrival, all her dignities.

Hen. IV. P. i. A. i. Sc. 3.

[26] See Ovid. Met. vi. 28. Non omnia grandior aetas, Quae fugiamus, habet; seris venit usus ab annis.

[27] The Scholiast doubts whether these G.o.ds were Castor and Pollux, or Zethus and Amphion, but inclines to the latter. See Herc. Fur. v. 29, 30.

[28] Or, _fell with limbs that had never known yoke_.--V. Ovid: Met. iii.

10.

Bos tibi, Phbus ait, solis occurret in arvis, Nullum pa.s.sa jugum.

[29] Valckenaer proposes reading instead of ???a?? or ???a?, a??a??, writing the pa.s.sage a??a?? ?st????? apetasa?, "per auras leves crine jactato:" which seems peculiarly adapted to this place, where the poet places the tumultuous rage of Mars in contrast with the sweet enthusiasm of the Baccha.n.a.lians, who are represented as flying over the plains with their hair streaming in the wind. But see Note [C].

[30] a??? is here to be understood in the sense of a????e??? as we find a?s??s?? for a?s??t??, ???? for t? ????e???.

[31] The words d?d??? p?ta?? do not refer to Dirce, but to Thebes, Thebes being called p???? d?p?ta??. The construction is p????? d?d??? p?ta??.

Thus in Pindar ????a p?ta?? means ????a pa?a p?ta??. Olymp. 2. Antistr.

1.

[32] See note [D].

[32a] ????. See Dind.

[33] t? ?a? pa??; _Quid enim agam?_ est formula eorum, quos invitos natura vel fatum, vel quaec.u.mque alia cogit necessitas. VALCKEN.

[34] ???s?????s?? is to be joined with ????, not with e??. In confirmation of this see line 1011.

[35] So called after Nes the son of Amphion and Niobe, or from ?eata?, "_Newgate_." SCHOL.

[36] Argus himself might be called st??t??, but not his eyes, hence p??????

is proposed by Heinsius. Abreschius receives st??t??? in the sense of ????