Euripides: Iphigenia at Aulis 1911226460, 9781911226468

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Aris and Phillips Classical Texts

EURIPIDES

Iphigenia at Aulis VOLUME 1 Introduction, Text and Translation

Edited with an introduction, translation and commentary by

Christopher Collard and James Morwood

LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS

First published 2017 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk Copyright © 2017 Chris Collard and James Morwood The right of C. Collard and J. Morwood to be identified as the authors of this book has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available ISBN 978-1-911226-46-8 cased ISBN 978-1-911226-47-5 paperback Typeset by Tara Evans Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY Cover images: Volume 1: Iphigenia (Lucia Lavia) and Agamemnon (Sebastiano Lo Monaco) in their first scene together in the 2015 production of IA in the Greek theatre at Syracuse. Volume 2: Clytemnestra (Elena Ghiaurov) and Iphigenia (Lucia Lavia) in the Syracuse production. Reproduced by permission of Fondazione Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico (INDA) Siracusa.

to the memory of Bill Ritchie (1927–2004) τῷ μὲν ἀποιχομένῳ βίβλος ἥδ’ ἀνάθημα γενέσθω, μνημόσυνον κείνης ἣν ἔθαν’ οὐ τελέσας· ᾿Ιφιγένειαν γὰρ δι’ ἐτῶν σχολίοισιν ἐκόσμει αἷς ῾Ρῆσον μελέταις κάρτ’ ἐφύλαξε πάλαι. (see Preface II)

CONTENTS VOLUME 1 General Editor’s Foreword Preface Introduction Preliminary The Myth Human and Animal Sacrifice Sacrifice before Marriage The Political Context Panhellenism Dramatis Personae Iphigenia Off-stage: the Army; Troy The Chorus Themes and Motifs: Looking; a Sense of Shame; Fortune, Chance and Necessity; Glory Early Performance and Later Reception Metre Text

vii ix 1 3 7 11 12 15 18 25 28 30 33 37 45 50

Bibliography Abbreviations Note on the Greek Text and Critical Apparatus

63 77 79

Greek Text, Apparatus and Translation

81

VOLUME 2 Commentary Addenda to Volumes 1 and 2 Indexes to Volumes 1 and 2

235 647 649

GENERAL EDITOR’S FOREWORD This is the twentieth and final volume in the Euripides Series. The volumes have been published over a period of about thirty years. Users and reviewers have been tolerant or generous towards the principles of content, form and commentary which I set out in previous Forewords, and which the earliest contributors followed closely. Since that time large and swift changes in the study of Greek Tragedy, in the needs of teachers at all levels, and not least in pupils’ decreased mastery of the Greek language itself, have gradually induced flexibility; at least one recent reviewer has used the phrase ‘mission creep’. More economical methods of preparing and printing copy have permitted greater length too, notably in the two most recent volumes, Medea (2011) and Cyclops and Major Fragments of Greek Satyric Drama (2013). These matters are addressed in the authors’ Preface to this edition, which has become the longest of all. It is my pleasure to thank all the contributors, and my sadness that three of them have not lived to read this Foreword, Desmond Conacher (Alcestis), Kevin Lee (Ion and Select Fragmentary Plays I) and Martin West (Orestes). In turn I and all contributors are grateful to John Aris, and to Adrian and Lucinda Phillips, as Aris and Phillips Ltd of Warminster, for establishing the Series (see the Preface to Hecuba), and subsequently to David Brown and Clare Litt of Oxbow Books for its completion. If I may be allowed a personal satisfaction, it is appropriate: I am myself a last contributor to the Euripides Series, which ends with Euripides’ last play. April 2016

Christopher Collard

Soon after I had written this Foreword, and the Iphigenia had been submitted to Oxbow Books, it was made known that the Aris and Phillips imprint would be transferred to Liverpool University Press, who thereby have become its publishers. I wish LUP every success in continuing the Classical Texts Series. July 2016

C.C.

PREFACE I Those who have glanced at or opened this edition may have been disconcerted by its publication in two volumes, and an explanation is proper in addition to what is said in the General Editor’s Foreword. The IA is a long play; in Euripides’ surviving work it just exceeds Ion, while Helen, Orestes and the fragmentary Hypsipyle, perhaps also the now adulterated Phoenician Women, are a little longer; like IA, all those are from Euripides’ ‘last period’. The play was left unfinished at his death and first produced in haste, and its text is uniquely problematic, because very many parts large and small are in consequence of disputed authenticity: only 200 or so of its 1629 lines have not been suspected or deleted by somebody. This problem often aggravates discussion of the already numerous difficult or corrupt passages. Furthermore, the play is at heart thoroughly good poetic drama (see our Introduction, Reception and Text 2.d). So it is simultaneously unsurprising because of the play’s problems but astonishing in the light of its qualities that the only general commentaries in English remain those of the late 19th Century, F. A. Paley’s second edition of 1880, C. E. S. Headlam’s brief school commentary of 1889 and E. B. England’s predominantly text-critical edition of 1891. In trying to repair the lack of a commentary for English-speaking users, we provide, as are standard in the Series, an introduction, bibliographical matter, an edited Greek text, a facing, unpretentious translation, and indexes. The translation supports a commentary which aims to meet many needs: firstly of those with little or no Greek (so the initial lemmata are from the translation); secondly of those more confident in the language; thirdly, we hope, of teachers and university students and academics. In view of all this, the commentary contains much discussion of plot, characters and dramaturgy, and we have attempted a deal of suggestive interpretation. We have given much more space in the commentary to language than have earlier volumes in the Series, in separate sections headed

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Greek, and to text-critical issues in separate sections headed [Text]; these follow the initial, general notes. It also accords with the singular factors in the play’s survival that our discussions of its textual problems are unavoidably frequent and often lengthy; by the same token these discussions of language and text are inescapable for those whose study of the play is to be soundly based. In our expanded treatment of language we admit to pragmatism, for as teachers of Greek over many years (Collard in universities, Morwood in both school and university), we have experienced a decline in students’ knowledge and sureness. For our notes on grammar and syntax we have set as an approximate starting-level matters which are not treated in Morwood’s Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek (2001); as reference-works we use H. W. Smyth, Greek Grammar (rev. G. M. Messing, Harvard 1956), the best and fullest in the English language, and occasionally R. Kühner and B. Gerth’s irreplaceable repository Griechische Grammatik: Satzlehre (Hanover 18973). We particularly ask users to note that in the Commentary it is our frequent practice to give the Greek wording immediately after the English lemma, and to include other Greek too (but usually with translation) when discussing or illustrating matter of interest to all users. Further: •

•

• •

we are aware of some duplication of matter between our Introduction and Commentary, necessarily between the critical apparatus and the Commentary, and within the Commentary itself, but this is intended to be helpful, and we add frequent cross-references; in the Commentary we often use ‘a’ or ‘b’ after a line-number: ‘a’ means ‘as far as’ the punctuation breaking the line (usually near its centre, but sometimes after a single word); ‘b’ means ‘beginning after’ such punctuation; we have tried to restrict our quotations of comparable material or relevant bibliography to just two or three for almost every usage or topic; like all commentators we are indebted to our predecessors, often without acknowledgement; where we do cite them it is in the common style of ‘x’ on ‘play y, line z’; editors of the text are usually given their bare names, sometimes a page-number;

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•

•

•

xi

we seldom mention rarities of vocabulary, especially single occurrences in Greek literature or single appearances in Euripides, except where they seem important to interpretation or relate to textual problems. Rich linguistic information is to be had in the monograph of D. L. Page (1934) and particularly the commentary of W. Stockert (1992): see the Bibliography; for metre we content ourselves with the brief general discussion in the Introduction and summary notes in the Commentary especially on the lyrics; but we point to the best detailed treatments we have been able to find. for our handling of textual questions users are invited to read the section Text in the Introduction. In the Greek text and Commentary, where papyri are cited, some of the sublinear points which indicate letters insecurely read may not be in true vertical alignment or are half-lost beneath a consonant-descender (a software problem);

Our Translation is into prose, and only the line-by-line dialogue (stichomythia: e.g. 303–33, 819–99) keeps its formal shape. Linenumbers are placed at points corresponding as closely as possible with the end of every fifth Greek line. The Bibliography concentrates upon the play, and so omits many works of reference or studies which were included in the most recent Series Bibliography, published in Martin Cropp’s revised Electra (2013, pp. 263–73). Works of reference which we cite frequently are listed in Abbreviations, which follow the Bibliography. II Our dedication recognises the lengthy but unfinished work towards an edition with commentary by William (‘Bill’) Ritchie, late Professor of Greek in the University of Sydney; he appears to have begun it in the 1960s. (The Greek of the dedication means roughly: ‘We have wished to dedicate this book to the late Bill Ritchie, as a memorial to the one he died without completing; for over the years he had been furnishing the Iphigenia with a commentary, with that careful study he had given long ago to strong defence of the Rhesus.’) Through the kindness of Prof. Ritchie’s literary executor Prof. Peter

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Wilson, copies of his many working papers which survive were made for us; we have prepared a summary of them and lodged it with Prof. Wilson. We record our great pleasure that a munificent bequest to the University of Sydney by Prof. Ritchie himself has been recognised in his name’s attachment to the Chair of Classics, and that Peter Wilson is the first Professor to be so designated. The papers are entirely handwritten, except for those in (1) below, and contain: (1) two lectures on the play and its problems, in typescript (undated); (2) a near final draft of commentary upon lines 919–74 (cf. Ritchie (1978) in the Bibliography); (3) copious preparatory materials, including exhaustive digests of earlier scholarship, especially upon problems of authenticity and constitution of the text; (4) preliminary, partial and variably finished drafts of commentary, and notes, upon lines 1–246, 303–450, 607–901, 977–84, 999–1035, 1098–1275, 1510–1629 but also upon many separate and briefer passages; (5) scattered brief appreciations of the action in progress, as drama and as theatre; of characterization; of mythological aspects; of the sacrifice of Iphigenia; brief general discussions of language and style.

Ritchie made occasional notes from the editions of Jouan (1983), Günther (1988), Stockert (1992) and Diggle (1994), but very seldom from later publications. We cite or acknowledge this material selectively (especially in the Index) according to our best judgement of its value, as ‘Ritchie’ (without date). III We acknowledge with gratitude permission to reproduce as our cover pictures two still photographs from a recent splendid production of Iphigenia, that of the Teatro Greco a Siracusa. 51o Ciclo di Rappresentazioni classiche 2015. Ifigenia in Aulide di Euripide,

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regia Federico Tiezzi. Foto Franca Centaro per Archivio Fondazione Instituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico ( INDA) Siracusa. Our debts to earlier editors are set out in the section Text 4 of our Introduction. Our personal thanks go to many friends and colleagues who have enquired about, encouraged and aided this edition over time; and especially to Dr Almut Fries, who generously found time to read parts of the Introduction and Commentary in a late draft and then a proof of much of the Commentary, when her notes were as valuable as her eye was eagle-sharp. Lastly we are grateful to Clare Litt of Oxbow Books, and now to Alison Welsby of Liverpool University Press, for agreeing to publication in two volumes; and to Tara Evans for skilled setting of the book. The responsibility for the finished work is of course entirely our own. Oxford, July 2016

Christopher Collard, The Queen’s College James Morwood, Wadham College

INTRODUCTION Preliminary Readers may best begin their encounter with the play by observing the paramount aspect of its dramaturgy: all the principal characters – Agamemnon, Old Man, Menelaus, Clytemnestra and Iphigenia – are from one family (and from one household, except for Menelaus) – apart from Achilles, who is the victim of a false design to have him join the family through marriage to Iphigenia. Their motives and interactions are more complex and emotional even than those in Alcestis and Hippolytus, two plays similarly concentrated within one family house (but both feature gods who have already acted, and who have speaking parts). Iphigenia at Aulis illustrates as well as any Greek tragedy Aristotle’s opinion that the best plays technically are those set within prominent and prosperous families, and that in this respect Euripides excelled (Poetics 13.1453a7–30). Yet the play’s plot takes earlier actions by the brothers Menelaus and Agamemnon forward to their consequence not in their family homes but in a military camp, bringing there also the two women, Agamemnon’s wife and daughter. The Greeks are at Aulis to lead a Panhellenic expedition against ‘barbarian’ Troy to recover Menelaus’ wife Helen, who was willingly abducted by Trojan Paris. When they are unable to set sail for reasons unknown to the Greeks, the seer Calchas declares that they are to sacrifice Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis, and they will get both their sailing and their destruction of the Trojans; but if they do not sacrifice her, these things will not be. Such is the outcome firstly of Menelaus’ disastrous marriage to Helen; secondly of Agamemnon’s participation in his brother’s cause; thirdly of Agamemnon’s deceptions, of which he now repents, not only of Achilles, but even more of his own wife and daughter in fetching them into the camp for the girl’s sacrifice. After the Old Man reveals Agamemnon’s deceit to Clytemnestra, she exposes the rotten foundation of Agamemnon’s own marriage; a different exposure accompanies it, confronting the impressionable girl Iphigenia with

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her father’s falseness and her mother’s latent hatred for him, and simultaneously facing her with martial glamour but also war’s cruel imperatives. Critics like to debate a tragedy’s main turning point, especially when it is ‘problematic’. In our play changes of mind turn the action repeatedly; it is distinctive in this respect. The episodes 607–750 and 1098–1275 play out between the same three figures, father, wife and daughter. It is in these family scenes on stage (and in that with his brother Menelaus 303–542, in the course of which the arrival of Clytemnestra and Iphigenia is announced) that Agamemnon is forced to change his mind, from wishing to save his daughter to trying to maintain his deceit, and then to persisting with the sacrifice. He is devious from the outset, ironically like the Odysseus he criticises for just this fault at 526; he continues to be devious until Clytemnestra confronts him, for it is off-stage, between 750 and 1098, that he becomes fully aware of the army’s determination upon Iphigenia’s death. Menelaus changes abruptly to sympathy for his brother, the Old Man betrays Agamemnon’s trust over the deception, Achilles gradually retreats from his promise to keep Iphigenia safe. It is the change of mind in Iphigenia that is notoriously ‘problematic’: she moves quickly from pleading for her young life to its willing sacrifice in the Greek cause (1120–1509). Aristotle used her as a prime example of ‘anomaly’ in a character (Poetics 15.1454a26–33). Though we put forward our own view later in this Introduction (see pp. 27–8), argument will not stop about how far – or whether at all – this change therefore flaws the play; but it reads well, and our experience tells us that it performs better. We do not summarize the action here: a detailed analysis of its progress is given in the Commentary at the start of each formal section, and at places within some sections: 1–163 prologue-scene, 164–302 choral entry-song, 303–542 first episode, 543–89 first choral ode, 590–750 second episode, 751–800 second choral ode, 801–1035 third episode, 1036–97 third choral ode, 1098–1275 fourth episode, 1276– 1335 monody of Iphigenia, 1336–1509 fifth episode merging into exit scene, [1510–1629] inauthentic ending, including a messenger speech.

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The Myth1 The sacrifice of Iphigenia is not explicitly referred to anywhere in the Iliad, though there may be a glance at it at 1.106–8 (see n. 86–93). But the Cypria (7th or 6th century BC), one of a number of complements to Homer’s epics, contains the following version of the story according to Proclus’ epitome (5th century AD; M. L. West, Greek Epic Fragments, 66–81, section 8); it is the earliest surviving account: ‘and when the expedition had been assembled at Aulis for the second time, Agamemnon, after shooting a deer on a hunt,2 said that he was better than even Artemis; and the goddess in her anger3 prevented [the Greeks] from sailing by sending storms; and when Calchas spoke of the anger of the goddess and ordered the sacrifice of Iphigenia to Artemis, they4 undertook to sacrifice her by summoning her as if she was to be married to Achilles. But Artemis snatched her away, took her to the Taurians and made her immortal, and set a deer by the altar in place of the girl.’ To this account pseudo–Apollodorus (1st–2nd century AD: Epit. 3.21, 22) adds that Odysseus (cf. IT 24–5) and Talthybius were sent to negotiate with Clytemnestra, with the plea that Iphigenia should be given in marriage to Achilles (cf. E. El. 1020–1) as the price for gaining his participation in the war. Hyginus (probably 2nd century AD: Fab. 98) tells the same story save for the substitution of Diomedes for Talthybius.5 The sacrifice also appears in Hesiod’s (?) epic Catalogue of Women (c. 700 BC, F 23(a) M-W = Argument 8 West, Greek Epic Fragments); the papyrus narrates in addition the substitution of an image (εἴδωλον) at the altar and the immortality conferred on the girl (Merkelbach’s supplement 21–6). And apparently Stesichorus’ lyric Oresteia (6th 1  For further details and discussion see Gantz (1993) 582–8; M. J. Cropp, Iphigenia in Tauris (Warminster 2000) 31–56. See Addenda. 2  Cf. Hyg. Fab. 98, Schol. E. Or. 858. 3  Cf. S. El. 563–72, Hyg. Fab. 98. 4  ‘We notice immediately that Agamemnon has disappeared from this crucial sentence...’ (Gibert (1995) 208). 5  A. C. Pearson (The Fragments of Sophocles 1 (Cambridge 1917) 219) feels that these extracts give us the outline of Sophocles’ lost Iphigenia. An older suggestion that this play was set in Argos, not Aulis, seems reasonable.

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century BC: PMG Page 38 = Davies/Finglass F 178) also told of the escape of Iphigenia from the sacrifice and her transformation into the goddess Hecate. In Pindar’s Pythian 11.22–3, Clytemnestra’s daughter’s sacrifice is offered as a possible motive for her murder of Agamemnon (5th century BC; cf. IA 1180–4).6 In our play the Greeks are at Aulis in order to avenge the abduction of Helen by Paris. So that Helen’s father Tyndareus could safeguard the outcome of the contest for Helen’s hand in marriage, he had made wooing her conditional upon swearing an oath (IA 57–65). This oath is first found in the literary tradition as early as the Catalogue of Women (F 204.78–84) where we are told that each suitor swears not to try to make Helen his wife without Tyndareus’ consent, and to attack anyone who takes her unilaterally by force. Though, like Achilles, Agamemnon was not himself a suitor (he was already married to Clytemnestra) Catalogue F 197.4–5 has him swearing the oath as a proxy for his brother. In his moulding of the myth in IA Euripides has enriched the dramatic material by bringing Clytemnestra and the infant Orestes to Aulis with her daughter, thus giving poignant emphasis to the family conflict in the tragedy. In addition, the playwright has probably invented the brothers’ quarrel, Achilles’ involvement with Clytemnestra and Iphigenia, and (most strikingly) Iphigenia’s voluntary self-sacrifice. In Euripides’ shaping, the myth serves as a donnée which presents the characters with the tragic dilemmas posed by the ἄπλοια (the inability to sail, 88) and the θέσφατα (‘prophecy’: Artemis’ decree, 498, 529, 879, 1268, 1486, [1556]). These mythical facts precipitate the spiralling reactions and interreactions of the members of Agamemnon’s family as well as of the man whom he has falsely named as his son-in-law. The unexpected developments in the play arise exclusively from this interplay; the action unfolds entirely on the human plane. Some of the original audience will have remembered Euripides’ Iphigenia among the Taurians, probably dating from 413 or 412 BC. In this play, Iphigenia has been stolen away from Aulis by Artemis and is serving as a sacrificial priestess of the goddess among the Taurians 6  Michelakis (2006) 21–5.

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(on the Crimea) (IT 28–41); she makes her escape and will become a priestess of Artemis, at Halai and Brauron in Attica (IT 1449–63), the former not very far from Aulis. Here Iphigenia will be ‘associated with an altered Greek realm which recognizes human sacrifice only in symbols, and where Artemis has chosen to preside over an orderly construction of female lives’.7 The thought of Iphigenia’s survival as a priestess in Attica may have given the Athenian audience of IA a certain consolation; but it must be conceded that there is no reference to such a future for her in the play as we have it. In the considerably earlier Agamemnon (458 BC), Aeschylus introduced the story to what survives of Greek tragedy8 to devastating effect, raising the question of whether the father had any choice but to sacrifice his daughter. The behaviour of the winds sent by Artemis in the relevant plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides is central to the discussion here since, if the weather conditions had allowed Agamemnon to sail home, the sacrifice would have been avoidable. At 88 of our play the king says that ‘we are sitting at Aulis idle, unable to sail’. We must infer from 90–1 that Artemis, who was worshipped there, is in some way involved in the stalling of the fleet. We are not told specifically why the ships could not set out, but even if the silence of the winds in 10–11 may refer mainly to a specific time of night, the audience, knowing the title of the play, would relate it to the myth and assume that the winds have stopped blowing more lastingly (see Commentary ad loc.). Yet the possibility of returning home certainly remains (95, 817). In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, the Chorus sing that Artemis took offence at a sign from Zeus foretelling the Greeks’ success at Troy, viz. the devouring of a pregnant hare (representing ‘teeming’ Troy) by two eagles (representing Agamemnon and Menelaus).9 In her anger she sent winds from the north-east to keep the fleet in Aulis (114–20, 134–7, 192); but here too the expedition could have gone back home (implied by 212–3). In Sophocles’ 7  Cropp (n. 1 above) 50–5, quotation 55. See Addenda. 8  Aeschylus, like Sophocles (see n. 5), wrote a play called Iphigenia, but this too is now almost completely lost. 9  On this portent, see most recently S. Lawrence, Moral Awareness in Greek Tragedy (Oxford 2013) 71–3.

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Electra, Agamemnon’s daughter Electra tells us that Artemis was angered by an unspecified remark by Agamemnon after he had killed a stag in her grove (a variant on the account given in Proclus’ epitome of the Cypria (above, p. 3)) and held back the Greeks so that, in contrast with IA and Agamemnon, they could neither sail to Troy nor return home (566–74) until the goddess was appeased. In Euripides’ Electra neither Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra nor Electra herself say anything about what had impelled him to sacrifice Iphigenia; however, in Euripides’ IT, Iphigenia herself looks back on the crisis and quotes the seer Calchas as saying to Agamemnon that ‘you shall not unmoor your ships from the land before Artemis receives your girl Iphigenia as her slaughtered victim, because you had vowed that you would sacrifice to the goddess the most beautiful thing that the year produced’ (18–21). So we can see that, except in the case of Euripides’ Electra, the dramatists present scenarios in which the sacrifice was either avoidable or unavoidable. Our play is one of the former, though even so it must be added that many of the Greek leaders had sworn an oath to avenge Helen’s abduction and this should have obliged them to sail to Troy.10 Still, it remains the case that in sacrificing his daughter our Agamemnon is doing something that the play in its earlier stages suggests he could have avoided and this will certainly affect the way we view him. As a footnote to this discussion, it is worth remarking that Malcolm Davies argues that the absence of any offence on Agamemnon’s part in our play goes against the pattern of myth, fairy-tale and folk-lore.11 If this is indeed the case, it makes Euripides’ omission of this element in IA particularly telling. Our Agamemnon is confronted with an intolerable situation which he has done nothing to cause: he has been entirely innocent. Thus, since the goddess’ horrific demand is not a response to any human sin, it appears to be chillingly arbitrary. 10  A. H. Stein and I. C. Torrance, ‘Oaths and Swearing in Ancient Greece’ (Berlin/ Boston 2014) 49. Torrance dismisses Agamemnon’s argument that the oath need not be binding (394–5) as ‘weak’ (50). 11  M. Davies, ‘ “Sins of the fathers”: omitted sacrifices and offended deities in Greek Literature and the Folk-Tale’, Eikasmos 21 (2010) 331–55.

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Human and animal sacrifice

ὦ πότνια , θύμασιν βροτησίοις χαρεῖσα ....



O lady, (Artemis), delighted by human sacrifices... IA [1524–5]

Human sacrifice is a common feature of Greek mythology, its first literary appearance being that by Achilles of ‘twelve noble sons of the great-hearted Trojans’ on the tomb of Patroclus at Iliad 23.175–6. The actual killing of humans outside myth is more debatable. In his note on Homer’s lines, N. J. Richardson argues that, although this is the only instance of human sacrifice in Homer, probably ‘the poet of the Iliad was aware that such practices existed in life, whether in the heroic past or (more probably) in recent times’.12 Two German dissertations of the nineteenth century and a monograph of the early twentieth collected the relevant material and came to the conclusion that ancient Greece indeed practised human sacrifice but over the course of time the ritual was replaced by animal sacrifice or the expulsion of the victim.13 However, recent summaries, which have profited from a century of archaeological activity and from the attention to the patterns of myth and ritual as exemplified in the work of W. Burkert, J.-P. Vernant and P. Vidal-Naquet,14 have unanimously come to the conclusion that the actual practice of human sacrifice in ancient Greece is unlikely.15 In the world of tragedy A. Henrichs has no doubt that while ‘animal sacrifice represents normal violence, 12  G. S. Kirk (ed.), The Iliad: A Commentary Vol. VI: Books 21–24 (Cambridge 1993) 188. 13  R. Suchier, De victimis humanis apud Graecos (Diss. Marburg 1848); J. Becker, De hostiis humanis apud Graecos (Diss. Münster 1867); F. Schwenn, Die Menschenopfer bei den Griechen und Römern (Giessen 1915). 14  E.g. Burkert (1983); J.-P. Vernant and P. Vidal-Naquet, Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece (tr. J. Lloyd) (Brighton 1981, New York 1988). 15  J. N. Bremmer, ‘Body politics: Imagining human sacrifice in Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis’, in K. Bielawski (ed.), Mantic Perspectives (Krakow 2016) 15– 56. See Addenda.

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... human sacrifice is considered an aberration’.16 However, Plutarch recounts an episode much closer to the time of our play (Themistocles 13.2–5, Aristides 9.1), on the morning of the Battle of Salamis (480 BC). Themistocles was sacrificing when three very handsome high-born Persians were brought to him. A flame shot up from the animal victims awaiting sacrifice and a sneeze was heard on the right. Thereupon the prophet Euphrantides ordered the Persians to be sacrificed to a god. Themistocles was appalled but the people, ‘ready to find salvation in the miraculous rather than a rational course of action’, dragged the prisoners to the altar and forced the sacrifice to be carried out. This story is seen as a fiction by Henrichs, D. D. Hughes and J. N. Bremmer.17 But it may be supported by a story in Diodorus (11.57.1–5); and Burkert concluded that it was ‘no mere phantasy’ but ‘intrinsically possible’.18 In fact, from our point of view it matters little whether the story is true or false. If it was in circulation at the time IA was written, it offers a template which relates helpfully to our tragedy. The high birth of the three Persians provides an interesting parallel to Iphigenia; and the demand for the fairest or the most noble is a frequent motif in human sacrifice in literature (see e.g. IT 20–1, Cic. De Officiis 3.25.95; Bremmer (n. 15)). In addition, the contrast between the horrified reaction of Themistocles and eagerness for the sacrifice among the mass of soldiers at Salamis finds a strong echo in the action of our play in which the war-mania of the Greek forces makes Iphigenia’s sacrifice inevitable (1262–5). Euripides was clearly fascinated by the subject of human sacrifice. It occurs in five of his extant plays: in addition to IA, it is a feature of Iphigenia among the Taurians (in which the heroine, an involuntary agent of such sacrifice, roundly condemns it (380–91)); his victims are Polyxena in Hecuba, the Maiden (Macaria) in The Children of Heracles 16  A. Henrichs, ‘Drama and Dromena: Bloodshed and Violence, and Sacrificial Metaphor in Euripides’, HSCP 100 (2000) 173–88, 184. 17  A. Henrichs, ‘Human Sacrifice in Greek Religion: Three Case Studies’, in Entretiens Fondation Hardt 25 (1980) 208–24; D. D. Hughes, Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece (London and New York 1991) 112–15; Bremmer (2002) 21–43, 27. 18  ‘Greek Tragedy and Sacrificial Ritual’, GRBS 7 (1966) 113.

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9

(see Allan’s important note at 408–9), and Menoeceus, who commits a sacrificial suicide, in Phoenissae: these sacrifices have a patriotic motive, the safety of a homeland. (In Euripides’ fragmentary Erechtheus, one of the daughters of the eponymous Athenian king sacrifices herself – and her sisters commit suicide, presumably so as to share in the sacrifice – in order to ensure victory over an invading army.19) These young people die willingly, and knowingly forgo the rite of passage to adulthood. In our play, although Iphigenia fervently wishes to cling to life until her famous change of mind, she finally embraces the same values wholeheartedly. In this eagerness to give their lives for what seems to them to be a high ideal, these figures reflect a presumption of Greek religion that a living animal victim’s progress to the altar should be seen as voluntary. However, modern scholars have challenged the concept of what they refer to as the ‘comedy of innocence’ whereby the victim is seen as willing and the killer innocent. It is argued that this is illustrated only by a particular case, the antiquated Attic Dipolieia festival, in which a bull’s willing participation in its sacrifice to Zeus was important.20 In fact, there was no artistic taboo on showing animals vigorously resisting being led to the altar, as naturally they frequently did,21 The appalling picture of the sacrifice of the gagged and terrified Iphigenia at Aeschylus’ Agamemnon 228–41 thus reflects the brutal compulsion of many an animal sacrifice and points to the gap between the cosmetic ideal and the frequently grisly reality.22 19  See p. 149 of Euripides: Selected Fragmentary Plays 1 in this Series where the fragments of Erechtheus are edited by M. J. Cropp. Very differently from the situation in our play, the mother of the victim prevails upon her reluctant husband Erechtheus to go ahead with the sacrifice. 20  H. W. Parke, Festivals of the Athenians (London 1986) 162–7; ‘antiquated’ 162–7. 21  R. Parker, On Greek Religion (Cornell 2011) 129–30; for strenuous resistance to sacrifice, see F. S. Naiden, Smoke signals for the gods: Ancient Greek Sacrifice from the Archaic through Roman Periods (Oxford 2013) 94–5 (with a horrific modern drawing of a sacrifice); cf. Virg. Aen. 2.223–4. For details of the bull-slaying rite to Zeus at the Dipolieia, see A. M. Bowie, Aristophanes, Myth, Ritual and Comedy (Cambridge 1993) 68. In Aristophanes, Clouds 984–5 The Worse Argument mocks the ancient festival. 22  For the knock-out blow with a hammer or axe that preceded the throat-cut, see

10

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There are notable similarities between the sacrifice of Iphigenia and that of animals not only in the actual description of the sacrifice ([1565–79]) but also earlier in the play when different characters visualize its details, i.e. in references to the procession to the altar (1362), the sacrificial knife (875, 1429), the lustral water and the sacrificial barley grains (675, 955, 1111–12, 1470–2, 1479, [1513], [1517–18]). Iphigenia, like Polyxena in Hecuba, is referred to and likened to a young heifer (see Commentary on 1083, 1183), and for her sacrifice she wears a wreath on her head just as sacrificial animals did (1477–8, [1512–13]; cf. 1080–4). A sacrifice as a preliminary to war was standard Greek practice (see above on Salamis). The victim (σφάγιον) would be a goat23 or a ram, and the army would look on as the seer cut the animal’s throat (Parker (n. 21) 155, 159). Animal sacrifice in this context could have been a ‘safe’ reflex of human (self-)sacrifice (the animal would be killed in the hope that the fighters might not be). Before they began their military service, Attic ephebes sacrificed to Artemis and swore an oath in the sanctuary of Aglauros, a king’s daughter who met with a mysterious death (Philochoros, FGrHist 328 F 105, Plut. Alcibiades 15.4). Before the Athenian army set out for war, they sacrificed at the sanctuary of Erechtheus’ daughters, who of their own free will offered themselves up for sacrifice (see above for Euripides’ take on the story in his Erechtheus). The replication of their death in this sacrifice guaranteed success in the subsequent bloodshed and victory in battle.24 Commentary [1581b–3] n. 23  Cf. A. Ag. 232 where Iphigenia is held above the altar for sacrifice like a yearling goat. 24  W. Burkert (1983) 65–6. It has recently been suggested by J. B. Connelly in The Parthenon Enigma (London 2014) that the frieze of the Parthenon, the temple dedicated to the city’s protecting goddess Athena built between 447 and 432 BC, illustrates not the Panathenaic procession as has usually been thought, but the preparations for the sacrifice of one of these daughters. Connelly’s theory has its disbelievers (‘very doubtful’, says M. J. Cropp in the Loeb Euripides 7 (2008) 367, n. 3), but if she is right, a myth that tells a parallel story to that of our play would have been visible on the walls of the greatest public building in Athens.

Introduction

11

A distinction which is significant in the vocabulary of our play can be made between a θυσία, a sacrifice conceived as a food offering which would be followed by a feast, and a σφάγιον, a ritual killing which could be performed for purposes such as to assuage winds (Xen. An. 4.5.4) and to ensure safe passage over a river (Parker (n. 21) 154). The nouns and their related verbs θύω (‘I sacrifice’) and σφάζω (‘I cut the throat’) refer respectively to the sacrificial process as a whole and to the act of slaughtering the victim in a specific manner: thus σφάγιον and σφάζω have associations, beyond the ritual context, of violence and bloodshed (Henrichs (n. 17) 180). While it is important not to make too much of this distinction – as Parker remarks, we find Herodotus applying the verb θύω to a σφάγιον offering (p. 154), and the difference is sometimes blurred in IA –, it clearly offers the tragic dramatists opportunities for exploitation. Bremmer (n. 15) traces Euripides’ handling of these words over the course of our play, pointing out that Agamemnon prefers euphemistic θύω words (91, 93 (×2), 530, 673 (×2), 721 (×3), 1272) while the outraged Clytemnestra almost always uses σφάζω and its correlates (906, 1186, 1200, 1360, 1367). Sacrifice before marriage in IA Euripides plays on the similarities between sacrificial ritual and the marriage ceremony throughout the tragedy.25 The word proteleia means preliminary rites generally as well as the sacrifices before marriage specifically (433, 718); the latter involve baskets (435), garlands (436, 905–6, 1477–8, [1512]), music (437–9, 1036–48, 1467–8), altar-fire (732, 1470–1, [1601–2]), feasting (720, 722–3, 1049–53) and a procession (1362). Marriage is, of course, a major theme of the play, receiving its most extended appearance in the third stasimon about the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, that union having 25  R. Seaford, ‘The Tragic Wedding’, JHS 107 (1987) 106–30 discusses ‘the persistent presentation of [the] sacrifice in terms of marriage’ in our play, commenting on the ‘irony of the bride being transformed from participant in the sacrifice to victim’ (pp. 108–10).

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produced Achilles, the putative groom for Iphigenia (1036–79). The theme’s climactic occurrence comes when Iphigenia triumphantly but tragically conflates the ideas of sacrifice and marriage in her great turn-about speech (1398–9), and admiration for her perceived heroism leads Achilles to an open declaration that he would have been a happy man if he could have won her to wife (1404–5, cf. 1413). And there is an additional tragic charge in the fact that Artemis, the deity who demands the sacrifice, is also the goddess of young girls on the brink of adulthood and marriage.26 The political context A number of features of IA, most obviously Menelaus’ analysis of Agamemnon’s electioneering campaign for the supreme Greek command (337–48), resonate anachronistically, but in a manner characteristic of Tragedy,27 with the world of 5th century Athenian politics. It should accordingly prove illuminating to give some impression of that political world in the last years of the Peloponnesian War when Euripides wrote the play. He died in 407/6 BC. S. Scullion has raised serious doubts, albeit doubts not universally shared, about the tradition of his death in Macedon.28 In Aristophanes’ Frogs, staged early in 405 BC, the poet causes his Euripides to participate in the discussion of the poet’s role in a democracy, and, as Scullion remarks (392), ‘there is no hint that this is in any way inappropriate; the play lends itself naturally to the conclusion that Euripides died in Athens still fully involved in Athenian life’. All the evidence suggests that the vast majority of Athenians cherished their democracy. Established in 508/7 BC and developing along increasingly radical lines, it was interrupted only once before the end of the Peloponnesian War. This occurred in 411 after the catastrophic failure of the Sicilian expedition had undermined 26  Burkert (1985) 149–52. 27  P. E. Easterling, ‘Anachronism in Greek tragedy’, JHS 1985 (105) 1–10; EGT 98–100. 28  S. Scullion, ‘Euripides and Macedon’, CQ 53 (2003) 389–400.

Introduction

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confidence in democratic government, when the assembly was induced to set up the regime of the Four Hundred, conceived as a powerful council of 400 and a notional body of 5,000 citizens ‘able to serve with their wealth and their bodies’, i.e. men of hoplite status and above.29 The Four Hundred have impressed nobody – Thucydides (8.91.3) writes that they would have accepted almost any peace terms with the Spartans as long as they saved their own skins – and after the Spartans had defeated an Athenian fleet in the Euboean Gulf (close to the location of IA),30 an ad hoc assembly deposed them and set up an intermediate regime based on the Five Thousand. At this time the bulk of the Athenian fleet were on the other side of the Aegean on the island of Samos and the sailors committed themselves to the democratic cause. They thought of themselves as the true city of Athens and the fundamental indispensability of the fleet meant that it was their cause that prevailed. Thus the Five Thousand were doomed and were replaced in 410 by the restored democracy; and it was the ναυτικὸς ὄχλος (‘naval mob’)31 who brought this about. They were the champions of democracy. The theatre of Dionysus at Athens was a focal point for the expression of democratic feeling. In 410/9 the city Dionysia witnessed a set of highly politicized rituals, the taking of the oath of Demophantus against anti-democrats by the assembled citizens and the announcement of honours for the assassin of the oligarch Phrynichus, architect and leading agent of the anti-democratic revolution of 411.32 Furthermore a regular feature of the dramatic festival, probably continued through most of the fifth century, was the reading of a decree proclaiming a reward for killing any of the tyrants.33 The morale of the restored democracy was heightened by a number of military successes between 411 and 408, mainly under the inspirational 29  Thuc. 8.65–70; Aristotle, Ath. Pol. 29–32. 30  Thuc. 8.95. 31  For the expression see Thuc. 8.72.2; for the naval mob in IA, see Commentary on 913b–15a, 1000–1, 1357. 32  R. Meiggs and D. M. Lewis, ‘A selection of Greek historical inscriptions to the end of the fifth century BC’ (Oxford 1975) No. 25, 8–13. 33 Ar. Birds 1074–5 with Dunbar’s note.

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leadership of Alcibiades. Euripides was to die before this deeply ambivalent figure fell into disfavour. Nor was he alive to witness the renewed democracy’s most deplorable hour when the assembly legally but reprehensibly condemned to death eight victorious generals after the battle of Arginusae (406) because bad weather had prevented them from saving the living sailors and the dead bodies from the wrecked ships34 – an episode which incidentally illustrates the citizens’ care for the ordinary citizens who made up their fleet. This time of upheaval and triumph but not yet of disaster was the backdrop against which IA was performed. Clearly the question must be raised of how Euripides will have anticipated his fundamentally democratic audience’s reaction in a number of significant instances. How would they have felt about the eagerness of the kings to fix things the way they want in secret (the fact that Agamemnon’s backtracking in the prologue is set in the darkness of night may be relevant here)? What would have been their response to Agamemnon’s view of Odysseus as a dangerous rabble-rouser on the grounds that he always sides with the ὄχλος (526) and that he might communicate the shady dealings of the sons of Atreus to the army (528–33)? When told that Odysseus had been ‘chosen’ to lead Iphigenia to her death but was willing as well (1362–4), would they have seen him as a malevolent abuser of popular feeling or a democratic agent of its expression?35 Above all, would they have viewed the assembled forces with the fear and even contempt with which the play’s royal figures regard them (450, 526, 528–35, 914, 1357; cf. 1264)? These questions are certainly worth asking if we are to stand any chance of seeing the participants in the tragedy at Aulis through the eyes of Euripides’ contemporaries. 34 Xen. Hell. 1.7.34; ‘legally but reprehensibly’: see D. Hamel, The Battle of Arginusae and its Tragic Aftermath in the Final Years of the Peloponnesian War (Baltimore 2015) 89–90. 35  ‘In tragedy Odysseus is always, for good or evil, the representative of the general public...’: H. Vretska, ‘Agamemnon in Euripides’ Iphigenie in Aulis’, WS 74 (1961) 18–39, 19. H. M. Roisman’s view is that ‘Euripides’ Odysseus is a consistently odious character’ (EGT 910–11): such a monolithic approach impoverishes the plays in which he appears.

Introduction

15

Panhellenism Homer’s Iliad is set in the final year of the Greeks’ siege of Troy (12th century BC; the poem dates from c. 700 BC). According to the Catalogue of Ships in Book 2, 29 Greek communities have sailed against the barbarians in 1,186 ships. There is tension in the Greek high command, but fundamentally the Panhellenic force is united. Even Achilles, who withdraws from the fighting for a time with devastating consequences, returns to the battlefield. Thus a rudimentary form of Panhellenism was on display in the first work of Greek literature: indeed, the poet speaks of Panachaeans twelve times and uses the word Panhellenes at 2.530 (though the attribution of the line was doubtful in antiquity and remains so). And as a continuing aspect of the concept and its use, the values of ‘all the Greeks’ were defined in part by their contrast with the barbarian culture of the Trojans.36 The earliest expressions of that Panhellenism as of meaningful political significance date from the mid-6th century.37 However, it was not until the early 5th century that the ideal seemed to later Greeks to have been translated into a reality.38 In 490 a Persian force invaded Greece and was defeated by 10,000 Athenians and 1,000 men from their ally Plataea at Marathon. Ten years later, in 480, the Persians returned in overwhelming force and succeeded in massacring 300 Spartans at Thermopylae and sacking Athens. Subsequently, however, Panhellenic forces under Spartan leadership conquered the Persians in a succession of sea and land battles in 480–479. But in point of fact just how Panhellenic were these forces? We read in Herodotus that many Greek city-states went over to the Persians (6.48–9; 7.138, 172–4) or did not take part at all (e.g. 7.148–53.1, 157–62, 168–9, 8.73). L. Mitchell observes that ‘rather than actually creating unity, 36  The key references here are Hall (1989) and her supplement, ‘Recasting the Barbarian’, in Hall (2005) 184–224. 37 Mitchell (2007) xxi, Chapter 1. 38  The word Πανέλληνες is far from common in 5th and 4th century Greek. Thucydides, Xenophon, Lysias and Isocrates do not use it. But Panhellenism is the most convenient way to refer to this key concept. Euripides uses the word six times, e.g. twice in IA (350, 414) and esp. Supp. 526 ‘the Panhellenic custom’. See also our Commentary on 102.

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Introduction

the Persian Wars came to represent unity and the idealized condition of the Hellenic community’.39 The unified community, in fact, was a ‘utopian ideal’. And indeed even the unity that had been achieved among the Greeks in the Persian Wars soon began to unravel. The Spartan commander Pausanias was recalled because of his tyrannical, indeed Asiatic behaviour and the Athenians were left as the leading members of the Greek fleet. Over the next 25 years what had started out as a league of allied Greek cities (called the Delian League by modern historians because its treasury was initially on the island of Delos) became an Athenian empire from whose members the imperial city extorted money in a protection racket based on the threat – and at times the reality – of force. The second half of the 5th century was marked by more or less continuous warfare between Greek cities, most notably in the Peloponnesian War (431–404), which was a conflict between Sparta and her allies and Athens and hers. The war was in its final decade when Euripides wrote IA. In his lifetime he had witnessed the corruption of an ideal that was unattained until King Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, unified the Greek world by force of arms in the next century. Certainly his presentation in our play of a united Greek force (the choral entry-song echoes Homer’s Catalogue of Ships) will have offered to his audience a stark contrast with the reality of the warring city states that confronted them. For one thing, Euripides’ choice of women from Euboea for his chorus may have reminded the Athenians of the revolt of almost all of that island from their empire in 411 – an event that caused an unprecedented panic in the city (Thuc. 8.95.7–96.1). Iphigenia sacrifices herself for the Panhellenic cause (1378, 1386, 1393, 1446, 1472–3). But was it in reality a mirage, an empty ideal? Panhellenism was to find its most eloquent exponents in the 4th century in the speeches of Lysias and Isocrates (the latter’s espousal of the cause being vitiated by the fact that he saw Philip of Macedon, that enemy of Greek freedom and independence, as the Panhellenic leader). However, Xenophon reports a Spartan admiral 39  (2007) 78.

Introduction

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called Callicratidas complaining in 406 BC that the Greeks were very wretched because they were fawning on the barbarians for the sake of money, and saying that if he got back home safely (he didn’t) he would do his level best to reconcile the Athenians and the Spartans (Hellenica 1.6.7). And if Gorgias’ Olympic Oration (entirely lost) can be dated to 408 as seems probable, it too is contemporary with Euripides’ starting to write his tragedy. Philostratus says that because Gorgias saw that the Greeks were divided among themselves, he advocated concord (homonoia) ‘by turning against the barbarians and persuading them [i.e. the Greeks] to make the prize of arms not each other’s cities, but the land of the barbarians’ (DK 82 B 8a).40 His counsel finds its echo in IA when Agamemnon says that if he runs off to Argos rather than sacrificing his daughter and thus enabling the fleet to sail against the Trojans,41 the Greeks will come to Argos and sack it (533–5). Agamemnon’s fears about abandoning the alliance are in line with what was to become a mantra of the Panhellenic ideal: the Greek cities should stand together.42 However, the Greek/barbarian polarity which is fundamental to the justification of the expedition in the play (65, 370–2, 1264–6, 1378– 82, 1400–1) was being blurred in historical reality at the time that Euripides was creating his tragedy by the fact that the Athenians were vainly hoping for and the Spartans actually receiving Persian (i.e. barbarian) gold in order to pursue the war with their fellow Greeks. Indeed, in 412–411 the Spartans had agreed to return all the Greeks in Asia to Persia in return for Persia’s support against Athens; and the Athenians were prepared to make a not dissimilar arrangement (Thuc. 8.18, 8.56.4 ). Thus at the end of the 5th century Panhellenism could be viewed from a range of approaches, from cynicism about a failed concept that had never in fact existed all the way to hopeful aspiration to make the ideal (again?) a reality. The Greeks in IA have attained the unity to which their leaders swore, if it should prove necessary, in their oath 40  Mitchell (2007) 12. 41  Cf. A. Ag. 212–3 where Agamemnon rejects the idea of becoming a deserter of the fleet and thus failing the alliance. 42  See e.g. Lysias 33 (fragmentary), Xen. Hell. 6.5.33–4.

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to Tyndareus (58–67), even if Agamemnon, who did not take the oath (see p. 4), is threatening that unity at the start of the play. (It is worth remarking again that Achilles did not take the oath either.) And the chorus communicate a glamorous picture of those leaders in their entry song. However, as we reflect not only on the horrific filicide that will make the army’s expedition possible and the reception Achilles meets with when he tries to stop it (1346–57), but also on the expedition’s objective of regaining an adulterous wife who had consensually run off with her lover, we may come to feel that any idealism has been severely tarnished. Dramatis personae43

πλάγια γὰρ φρονεῖς, τὰ μὲν νῦν, τὰ δὲ πάλαι, τὰ δ᾿αὐτίκα.



Your thoughts keep shifting, some now, some long since, some soon to come. (Menelaus at 332)



Aristotle notoriously levelled the charge of inconsistency against Euripides when he complained of IA that ‘the girl who beseeches is in no way like her later self’ (Poetics 1454a31–3). And of course she is not the only character to change radically in the play. Menelaus accuses his brother Agamemnon of constantly shifting (332, above); then at 471 he himself totally reverses his own position and at 511 Agamemnon reverses his. The Old Man assures Agamemnon of his trustworthiness in 45 but then betrays him at 870–87. Achilles’ changing attitude is discussed in n. 1336–1509 at (C) 1404–32. Clytemnestra makes her belief in a sense of shame clear in her first scene with Achilles (see especially 851–2) but later casts it aside (994, 1343–4, cf. 901) and she will be totally transformed after her daughter has been sacrificed, as she foresees at 1171–84. Changes of mind are embedded in the language of the tragedy: see 346, 388, 402–3, 500–1. 43  One actor played Agamemnon and Achilles, another Menelaus and Clytemnestra, and the third the Old Man, Messenger. and Iphigenia: see PickardCambridge (1988) 147.

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Following in the footsteps of B. W. Knox,44 modern scholars have acknowledged the way in which Euripides has by this means prepared the ground for Iphigenia’s famous reversal at 1368. Indeed, we are unlikely to be surprised when Achilles suggests that she may change her mind again when she sees the sword at her throat (1428–9). And if the play’s ending ([1510–1629]), the work of writers later than Euripides,45 reflects his original conception, spanning all is the shift to beneficence from apparent ruthlessness of the goddess Artemis when she saves Iphigenia from the sacrifice she has demanded if the Greeks are to sail to Troy. Morwood has argued that the playwright has also set the scene aptly for these reversals.46 For the play is located by Euripus, the narrow strait which separates the island of Euboea from Boeotia in mainland Greece. The current in this strait changes seven times a day (Strabo 1.3.12) and we know from Aeschines (3.90) and other writers that the strait’s name was used proverbially of an unstable man. The word Euripus recurs throughout the play (11, 166, 804, 813, 1323). Can Euripides be exploiting the name of this strait with its famously shifting currents for dramatic purposes, making it an external symbol – an ‘objective correlative’, to use T. S. Eliot’s term – for the psychological shifts that his characters undergo? If so, the shifting currents of human motivation are an essential feature of the play’s mental geography, finding expression in its many changes of mind. We first see Agamemnon, for instance, agonizing about whether to go ahead with the sacrifice of his daughter and reversing his decision to do so. He laments the burden of high office (16–19), expresses the wish that someone else had been chosen to lead the Greek forces (85–6), and says that his first reaction to Calchas’ horrific pronouncement was to order the Greek fleet to disband (95). Soon Menelaus will challenge 44  B. Knox, ‘Second Thoughts in Greek Tragedy’ in Word and Action (Baltimore and London 1979) 231–49 (the Chapter was first published in 1966). Knox was largely anticipated by Markland in his extended note on 1375 in his 1783 edition of the play. 45  West (1981) 73–8 (see Bibliography). 46  Morwood (2001) 607–8.

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our first impression of his brother, claiming that his initial show of reluctance to be the commander of the Greeks against Troy was a pretence: in reality he wanted the post and campaigned vigorously for it (337–42: cf. Clytemnestra at 1194–5); and his reaction to Calchas’ words was one of joy because now the Greeks could sail; he gladly promised to sacrifice his child (358–60). Menelaus himself then reverses his initial stance that by his change of heart Agamemnon is letting down ‘unhappy Greece’ (370), and now bids Agamemnon not to sacrifice Iphigenia. As early as 1507 AD this later speech (473–503) was declared insincere, by Erasmus.47 While we regard that view as dramatically unfeasible48 and take Menelaus’ change of heart at 471 at face value, the fact that he launches his speech with an oath by Pelops (473) certainly arouses some suspicion, for the latter was a famously treacherous character. When the Chorus comment on his speech that he has spoken words worthy of the equally deplorable Tantalus (504–5), that suspicion may be compounded. Certainly Menelaus’ reversal is set in a destabilizing context. That said, the scene is convincing on a naturalistic level. As A. N. Michelini remarks, ‘The quarrel between two brothers ends as family quarrels usually do, with mutual abuse forgotten and an amicable surface reestablished.’49 Both Agamemnon and Menelaus are highly emotional individuals. We first see the latter passionately eager that Iphigenia should be sacrificed so that the war can go forward and he can get his wife back. Then, having shed tears in response to those of Agamemnon (477), he declares the opposite, as we have seen. Agamemnon’s development is decidedly more complex. Late in the play (1149–52) we discover that he had won (‘taken’) Clytemnestra by force after killing her previous 47  J. H. Waszink (ed.), Euripidis Hecuba et Iphigenia in Aulide, ed. D. Erasmus (1506 and 1507), in Opera Omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami I.i (Amsterdam 1969) 193–359, at 270. 48  England (1891) xvi thinks that Menelaus, in suggesting that the expedition be called off, is in fact pointing out the unrealistic alternative to the sacrifice in order to persuade Agamemnon to go ahead with it. This seems to us perversely ingenious. However, it is the kind of strategy that Agamemnon adopts disastrously in his speech to the Greek army at Hom. Il. 2.110–41. 49  Michelini (1999–2000) 41–57, at 45.

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husband Tantalus as well as her child, having snatched it from her breast, the act of infanticide of course being a grim anticipation of the slaughter of Iphigenia.50 Our first sight of him in the play shows him in a very different light: sympathetic and sensitive, he is in an extreme state of physical and mental agitation, finally bringing himself to make a desperate last bid to save Iphigenia. His love for his daughter comes across strongly in this opening scene and in the subsequent encounter with his brother. However, after hearing of the arrival of Iphigenia and her mother in the camp, Agamemnon, in a speech of considerable pathos (440–68), abandons his efforts to save the girl and laments what he now sees as the necessity of going through with the sacrifice. Now that his daughter is here, he fears that, if he goes back on his decision to kill her, Odysseus and Calchas will expose him (518, 528–31).51 This may in fact be a tragic miscalculation: while they are in on the secret (106–7), there is no evidence in the play that either Odysseus or Calchas would do such a thing; and, if the Myrmidons are anything to go by, the army would be content to abandon the expedition as late as 817. Agamemnon may, of course, be thinking that Helen’s suitors among the Greek chieftains would be unwilling to abandon their oath to attack anyone who abducted her (55–65).52 However, the suddenness with which he goes back on his decision to spare Iphigenia will certainly give an audience pause. The painful scene with his daughter that now ensues (631–85) reveals very clearly on stage the deep love he feels for her which he had earlier expressed in words, and the further family scenes with Clytemnestra and Iphigenia (685–750, 1098–1275) lay bare the agonizing conflict between the father’s devotion to his family and what 50  The political passages in the scene with Menelaus in fact reveal Agamemnon as a figure of the 5th century BC, recognizably human as opposed to the brutal murderer and rapist from the epic world. See ‘The Political Context’ (above) and Felix M. Wassermann, ‘Agamemnon in the Iphigeneia at Aulis: A Man in an Age of Crisis’, TAPA 80 (1949) 174–86, at 176. 51  For a hostile view of Agamemnon at this point, see E. M. Blaiklock, The Male Characters of Euripides (Wellington 1952) 115–16. 52  He questions the validity of the oath at 391–5 while at 66–7 he had praised the cleverness of its instigator; but these are, of course, not incompatible positions.

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Introduction

he sees as the necessity of the sacrifice; and a good actor will convey this by posture and gesture even when Agamemnon is silent. In the speech in which he enunciates for the last time the Panhellenic motive that demands his daughter’s death (1255–75; cf. 514, 747–8), he again declares his love for her (‘I love my children; otherwise, I should be mad’ (1256)); he describes the Greek armada’s determination to sail to Troy not as a noble aspiration but as a mad desire (1264); he adds – perfectly plausibly (see n. 531b–5) – that if he cancels the attack on Troy, the Greeks will kill the whole of his family (1267–8; cf. 533– 5). After such a prelude, there is a decidedly hollow ring to his final declaration that it is Greece that is demanding the sacrifice to ensure its freedom and prevent future rapes (1273–5).53 Agamemnon is a true tragic hero: he has travelled to the heart of darkness.54 Until recently this play’s Clytemnestra has tended to attract unsympathetic criticism. H. Foley55 refers to her ‘narrow and bourgeois point of view’ and S. E. Lawrence draws attention to the fact that commentators have remarked ‘particularly upon her tendency to view the proposed sacrifice chiefly as an offence against herself’.56 It is surely difficult to support such hostile readings from the text. The happy snapshot of the doomed family shortly after their entry (621–30) reveals her as a deeply loving mother and she shows no trace of jealousy of Iphigenia’s close relationship with her father (638–9). She has a strong personality, but she is totally justified in her refusal to accept her husband’s order that she return home (726– 41): the mother’s participation was an essential element in a Greek 53  Cf. A. Markantonatos (2012) 189–218, at 208–10: ‘Agamemnon stands powerless before a situation which has run dangerously out of control, hopelessly seeking release from his bondage to a patriotic cause that he does not fully comprehend’ (210). 54  On the character of Agamemnon see further John Jones, On Aristotle and Greek Tragedy (London 1962) 247–52, H. Siegel, ‘Agamemnon in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Hermes 109 (1981) 257–65, Griffin (1990) 140–5, Michelakis (2006) 33–5. 55  Foley (1985) 96. 56  ‘Iphigenia in Aulis: Characterization and Psychology in Euripides’, Ramus 17 (1988) 91–109, at 99. For a defence of Clytemnestra against this charge, see Commentary on 1146–1275 (at the end of (B)).

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23

marriage and Agamemnon has led her to believe that one is about to take place. When she finds out the truth, her reactions are deeply moving and totally understandable. Her portrayal is convincing and consistent. Yet she too will not prove immune to the play’s tendency to transform. To our previous mention of the way in which she sacrifices her sense of shame (p. 18, cf. 34–5) we can add the following. Despite the violent start of their relationship (1149–52),57 Clytemnestra has proved the model wife to Agamemnon (1157–64: her own account, but he does not demur).58 At 1171–84 it becomes clear that she can see that if Agamemnon kills her daughter, she will be nursing her bitter feelings as she waits at home for the whole duration of the Trojan War. She too will be changed – after the end of the play but the process begins on stage – from a loving champion of life into a murderess. Her response to Iphigenia’s plea that she should not hate her husband is that he has ‘to run a fearsome challenge because of you’ (1454–5). It is only too clear what she means. Yet very soon she reverts to poignant expressions of a mother’s love for her daughter (1459–66): murder and love on the same lips. IA sets the workings of a family caught up in a tragic crisis against an offstage backdrop of warfare. Until the Greeks come to take Iphigenia off to be sacrificed, the crucially important and all-precipitating arrival of Clytemnestra and Iphigenia in the camp is the play’s only significant event. After that members of the family simply talk – and cry – with one another. There is a sense in which Achilles, to whom we now progress, is a member of that family. He has been falsely named as Iphigenia’s bridegroom and comes to wish – impossibly – that he could in reality win her as a wife (1404–13). His high birth and heroic status – and thus his desirability as a husband – are constants in the play (see nn. 625–6, 697–712). His youthful impulsiveness makes him a difficult character to pin down: hence no doubt the totally divergent assessments of J. Gregory and P. Michelakis quoted below. Overall he shifts from anger at Agamemnon for using his name as part of the deception without asking him (962–7) to profound admiration 57  For the scholarly debate on this subject, see Commentary on 1148–50. 58  For J. Gibert (2005) on the subject, see Commentary on 1148–50; see Addenda.

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for Iphigenia (1404–13, 1421–7). Not everybody would go along with Gregory’s high estimate of his character: she concludes her interesting discussion by saying that for Euripides ‘an independent, questioning attitude towards authority is presented not only as a viable option for an idealistic, high-minded youth, but as a positive proof of good character’.59 Yet we increasingly doubt that he will be able to live up to his promise to save Iphigenia (1003–7; see Commentary on 1358– 61a). The play dwells twice on his education (708–10, 926–7) and a less laudatory but nevertheless sympathetic reading might see him still in the process of growing up, of still struggling to find his heroic identity. However, in the most extended study of the character in this play, Michelakis takes a hostile attitude towards him: ‘IA,’ he writes, ‘shows how familiar aspects of Achilles’ mythical personality enter a narrative which scrutinizes them and deprives the dramatic character of the young Achilles of his heroic qualities. .... The girl becomes a woman at the expense of her life, whereas the ephebe becomes a man at the expense of his personality.’60 We would prefer to follow a via media between Gregory and Michelakis, seeing the young man as a fundamentally attractive figure, torn between his pride, his duty to his men and their strong voice, and his admiration for the girl. There is no doubt an element of youthful posturing in his self-presentation: the 2015 production of IA at Syracuse (see pp. 44–5) convincingly portrayed him as ‘un divo del cinema’.61 59  J. Gregory, ‘Euripides as a Social Critic’, G&R 49 (2002) 145–62, discussion 149–50. 60  Michelakis (2002) 84, 112; cf. Blaiklock (cited in n. 51) 118: Euripides portrays Achilles as ‘a spoilt and braggart boy’, a ‘young prig’. For a more positive view of Achilles to supplement Gregory’s, see N. S. Rabinowitz, Anxiety Veiled. Euripides and the traffic in women (Ithaca 1993) 46: the creation of ‘an Achilles who measurably changes under [Iphigenia’s] influence is one of the ways Euripides glorifies Iphigenia. The priggish, egotistic soldier gains heroic stature from her example.’ Achilles is, incidentally, the only main character who does not weep in the play or is not urged to do so (A. Suter, ‘Tragic Tears and Gender’ in T. Fögen (ed.), Tears in the Graeco-Roman World (Berlin and New York 2009) 59–84, at 74–5. 61  For further discussion of Achilles, see Commentary on 801–1035, 900–1035, 919–74, 1017–18, 1028–32, 1336–1509 (A) and (B).

Introduction

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The Old Man, part of the family household, is characterized in a way familiar from Euripides’ other plays.62 He also suffers a seachange. We first see him as loyal to Agamemnon (45) but later he informs Clytemnestra and Achilles of the true state of affairs, breaking his master’s confidence (855–95). Euripides has prepared for this by making it clear that he was part of Clytemnestra’s dowry (46–8) and it will prove that it is to her, not her husband, that his chief loyalty belongs.63 But his disloyalty to Agamemnon is compounded by the fact that he eavesdrops on the conversation between Clytemnestra and Achilles (857). Iphigenia Our first impression of Iphigenia on her appearance is of a naive and innocent girl, a loving daughter to her father as becomes transparent in their scene together (634–85) in which she is blithely uncomprehending of the sour ambiguities of the devoted Agamemnon’s responses. Then the scene which the indisputably loving father has envisaged with horror at 460–6 is played out as Iphigenia begs Agamemnon to spare her (1211–52). Finally, in the transformation that Aristotle found inconsistent, she embraces her fate. At this point we summarize a range of interpretations offered by scholars over the past 40 years or so which aim to counter Aristotle’s objection and discover plausible motivations for Iphigenia’s new-found self-dedication to death. In this we are greatly indebted to J. Gibert’s sensitively calibrated discussion of her change of mind in which he sets out a number of attempts that have been made.64 None of these can be ‘proved’ from the text and some of them seem pretty crazy, but they have their interest, even if it may lie only in showing how various commentators have found her transformation 62  E.g. the Nurse and Tutor in Medea and the Old Man in Electra. See Brandt (1973) 113–24 on our Old Man. 63  Hall (2005) 29 gives too favourable an assessment of the Old Man, calling him ‘an impressive individual who does seem to be capable of independent ethical intuition and steady resolve’. 64  Gibert (1995) 227–48. See also his ‘Change of Mind’ entry in EGT 204–6.

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understandable. A. Lesky feels that she is influenced by two factors: Agamemnon’s Panhellenic justification of the war (1269–75) and the reported threat against Achilles’ life (1373, 1392).65 He shied away, however, from saying what H. Foley (1985) 83 states explicitly (and persuasively): that Iphigenia’s emphasis on Paris and Helen in her monody (1283–1335) shows an ‘awareness of her own dilemma in the larger mythical/historical context’: she accepts the demand of the myth that she must die so that the Trojan War can take place. G. Mellert-Hoffmann argues that Iphigenia is no longer a childish little girl. She has heard the Panhellenic justification for war and achieves maturity.66 H. Siegel finds consistency in her character in that she does not consciously change her mind: she cracks under pressure and goes mad.67 M. A. Harder argues that she is putting on an act in order to bring an end to conflict among the Greeks.68 M. McDonald feels that she has espoused the Aristotelian virtue of φιλία, seen as love of friends and relatives, and this enables her to accept death for her father and her country.69 A. Green even proposes that Iphigenia’s change of mind is the result of her Oedipal love for her father.70 A hardy perennial among would-be solutions, one founded on Lesky’s view, is that Iphigenia is motivated by love for Achilles and chooses 65  A. Lesky, ‘Zur Darstellung seelischer Abläufe in der griechischen Tragödie’ in Antidosis: Festschrift Walther Kraus zum 70. Geburtstag, WS Beiheft 5 (1972) 209–26. For the second motivation, see also D. Sansone, ‘Iphigenia Changes her Mind’, ICS 16 (1991) 161–72, and Michelakis (2002) 84. 66  Mellert-Hoffmann (1969) 86. 67  H. Siegel, ‘Self-delusion and the Volte-face of Iphigenia in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Hermes 108 (1980) 300–21, 315; cf. E. A. M. E. O’Connor-Visser, Aspects of Human Sacrifice in the Tragedies of Euripides (Amsterdam 1987) 123. 68  M. A. Harder, ‘Iphigeneia: naïef, narcotisch of normal?’, Lampas 19 (1986) 21–33, 29 with n. 33. 69  M. McDonald, ‘Iphigenia’s Philia: Motivation in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, QUCC 34.1 (1990) 69–84. 70  A. Green, The Tragic Effect: The Oedipus Complex in Greek Tragedy (Cambridge 1979) 154; Foley (1985) 101 with n. 67; N. S. Rabinowitz, ‘The Strategy of Inconsistency in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Classical Bulletin 59 (1983) 21–7, 24–5.

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to sacrifice herself for her intended husband.71 What strikes us as a more plausible suggestion than any of the above is that Iphigenia has been caught up in the war hysteria that has swept through the army owing to what she has heard from Agamemnon (1264–72) and Achilles (1346–59), lines to which her 1371–3 and 1378–94 plainly look back. All that is speculative. In contrast we can say with certainty that she comes to an acceptance of Artemis’ role in the matter (1395–6, 1444– 6) and goes to her death celebrating the goddess (1467–9, 1480–93). Furthermore, she shows an assertive independence of spirit when she identifies the securing of freedom for the Greeks as the key objective (1384, 1400–1) and views her death not as a marriage to Hades (461) but as the path to glory (1376, 1383–4, 1398–9, 1473, 1502, cf. 1446, 1504). We have considered above (pp. 2, 18–20) how changes of mind are thematic in the tragedy so that Iphigenia’s conforms to a pattern. We now move on to another possible way in which the play may have prepared us to take a view of Iphigenia’s acceptance of her sacrifice. Gibert points to the notable theme of marriage and its link with the motif of sacrifice, both of which we have discussed earlier in this Introduction (pp. 11–12). He formulates the matter thus:72 ‘events are hurtling forward, presumably towards Iphigenia’s sacrifice. It will be better artistically, since Euripides has dwelt on it, if the outcome can be said to have something to do with marriage for Iphigenia, and she alone brings about this superior resolution by her identification of her sacrifice with the marriage for which she has been prepared.’ And even if the stark reality that subverts that illusory equation may appal us,73 she also finds within herself the resources to make a virtue of necessity.74 The Chorus comment on the great speech of Iphigenia’s reversal with a telling ambivalence. ‘Your part is noble, maiden,’ they observe, ‘but that of fortune and that of the goddess – they are where the 71  72  73  74 

See e.g. Smith (1979). Discussion in Gibert (1995) 237–9. (1995) 242. Gibert (1995) 252–3 encourages an ironical reading. Gibert (1995) 244–50.

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sickness lies.’ (1402–3). Iphigenia is noble, and she is sincere. Winning through at the last to the truth the Greeks would have found in her name (Iphigenia, ‘born (-γεν-) with might (ιφι-)’: cf. the Commentary on 1487–90 ‘my name’), she has attained a kind of heroism when she establishes a coherent meaning in her life and death. She has constructed an identity for herself and she goes off to die with this identity fully intact. Off-stage: the army; Troy We now move outside Agamemnon’s family and view the play in a different perspective, for behind all these shifts in the thinking of its characters, there lies another development which is as crucial to the action as any of the others. This is the attitude of the Greek army to the expedition against Troy. The army. Agamemnon says at 95 that when he heard from Calchas about Artemis’ demand he told the herald Talthybius to disband the army. Presumably he had no reason to believe that the soldiers would be reluctant to depart at that stage. At 814–18 Achilles tells us that the Myrmidons are fed up with waiting at Aulis, and want to return home if nothing is going to happen. While he says this, Agamemnon is consulting with Calchas (746–8) and by the time he returns he has become convinced that the army is maddened with desire to sail to Troy (1264–6). When Achilles reappears at 1345, the army has clearly made the discovery that the sacrifice of Iphigenia is necessary to ensure that result and are shouting that she must be slaughtered (1346–8). (Who has told them? Achilles himself? Calchas after consultation with Agamemnon? Odysseus, as Agamemnon has feared at 528–31?) Achilles says that the Greeks were also shouting that he should be stoned for trying to save the girl (1349–53). The army’s movement from indifference to war madness is an important factor in ensuring that her sacrifice is now inevitable.75 75  B. V. Lush, ‘Popular Authority in Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis’, AJP 136.2 (2015) 207–42 argues (208) ‘that the Achaean force dictates the actions and

Introduction

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Troy. The play begins with the army stalled at Aulis and, if the Myrmidons’ feelings as communicated at 817 are typical, not unwilling to return home. Perhaps, we may feel, the Trojan War will not take place and the horror of the murder which alone can bring it about will be avoided. However, the myth will not allow this, and Euripides communicates the accumulating pressure of the inevitable and tragic war by increasingly dwelling upon it in his text. As the play proceeds and especially after Achilles enters the action, Troy seeps ever further into its fabric. The line numbers below refer to passages which either explicitly or implicitly present issues associated with Troy and the expedition or pick up earlier references or refer to anything between Helen’s choice of Menelaus and its inevitable consequence in Iphigenia’s death; we name the speaker (or singer) of each passage:

in the prologue-scene: 71–93 Ag. in the parodos: 171–84, 296–8 the Chorus in Episode 1: 337–72 Men., 410–11 Men. and Ag., 467–8 Ag., 487–8, 494–5 Men., 514–35 Ag. and Men. in Ode 1: 573–89 the Chorus in Episode 2: 662–659 (sic), 672–3 Iph. and Ag., 682–3, 746–8 Ag. in Ode 2: 751–92 (but [773–84] are inauthentic) the Chorus in Episode 3: 804–18 Ach., 879–82 OM and Clyt., 930–1, 955–6, 965–7, 970–1 Ach. in Ode 3: 1067–75 the Chorus in Episode 4: 1168–9, 1197–1202 Clyt., 1236–7 Iph., 1253–4 the Chorus, 1258–75 Ag. in the monody 1284–1311, 1316, 1319–22 Iph. in ‘Episode 5’: (1338–64 Iph., Ach., Clyt. implicitly), 1378–1401 Iph., 1406 Ach., 1421, 1446, 1456, 1459–73 and (lyric) 1475–6, (lyric)1495–7, 1502 Iph. [in the inauthentic ending 1510–31 the Chorus, 1555–8 ‘Iph.’, 1572–6 ‘Ach.’, 1591–1601 ‘Calchas’, 1606 Messenger, 1624–6 Ag., 1627–9 Chorus.]

(ultimately) the decisions of the play’s speaking characters, whose numerous vacillations serve to highlight their lack of agency and, eventually, their forced complicity in troubling violence’.

30

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The progressive increase in mentions of Troy is another small dimension of the dramaturgy, like the smaller increase in the mentions of Helen; the two are often associated (see the Commentary 467–8 n.). The Chorus The Chorus consists of women, with husbands (176) but young (615) and still prone to blushing (187–8 n.). They do not reveal whether they had their husbands’ permission to leave their homes on such a journey, and they do not mention an escort of the kind attending Clytemnestra and Iphigenia when Agamemnon summons his wife and daughter to Aulis (415–17, cf. 99–100 etc.): most improper, if they had neither: for women ‘on the loose’ see e.g. Pentheus at Bacc. 217, 231–2, 487; Ar. Thes. 790–1. Stockert (1992) 176 n. suggests that the husbands may however be already part of the Greek host (as at Iliad 2.537). The women’s motive in coming? – the pleasurable satisfaction of female curiosity (233–4: n.). Women in a military camp, too, who are not fellow-captives with their former mistress (e.g. with Hecuba in her name-play and in Trojan Women)? – note Agamemnon’s belated concern for Clytemnestra at 735, Achilles’ astonishment over her at 825–6, cf. 1029–30. This identity of the chorus is implausible even to us, and would have been a surprise, if not a shock, in 5th century Athens,76 more so than the terrified wives so troublesome to Eteocles as he defends their city in Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes, or than the maiden girls who are trapped in Thebes in the same emergency in Phoenician Women and as ‘foreign women’ nevertheless are anxious for its safety (239–60), as our chorus are over the kings’ crisis at 469– 70: see Commentary. (Euripides’ choruses indeed can give unexpected circumstances or reasons for their arrival, e.g. Hipp. 121–9 the women’s laundry-work is abandoned for sympathetic curiosity when they hear of Phaedra’s ‘illness’; at Hel. 179–84 the chorus of Helen’s 76  It is possible that Ennius in his Latin version of the play has a decidedly more plausible chorus of Greek soldiers (Iphigenia 200 Jocelyn), but Jocelyn suggests (p. 335) that they may have been a secondary chorus only. For the revolt of Euboea from the Athenian empire in 411 BC, see p. 16.

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fellow-captive Greek women were also at their laundry.) Concerned curiosity also motivates the female chorus at PV 128–30, overcoming their modesty 134 (again, see Commentary on 187–8). Sometimes, as in IA, the chorus has crossed water – wide waters in Pho. – and much land in Bacc. For other choral ‘leaving an activity behind’ see Commentary on 168. The Chorus’ identity is so surprising that we might expect a better ‘explanation’ from the poet. We can ourselves at once foresee that in this myth and plot a chorus of women will later side, or at least sympathize, with women who have been brought by deception to the Greek encampment and are now alone and endangered; and sympathize also with the women not in the play, even Helen perhaps (782?), and the expected captives from Troy certainly (785–93 – if authentic). Such mutual support is naturally very frequent in Tragedy, from Aeschylus’ Choephori through Sophocles’ Women of Trachis to our play. Accordingly the Chorus will later provide a different observation of background and developing action and its consequence, which Agamemnon’s narrative and torment in the prologue-scene prefigure. Thus they establish a natural polarity between women’s priorities and the brutal world of masculine Realpolitik. In their entry-song, the women’s desire to view the Greeks is fired by their husbands’ account (168–84, cf. 301–2); they have been told of the expedition’s purpose to punish Trojan Paris for abducting Helen (270–2, cf. 68–77) after the Judgement when Aphrodite ‘gave’ her to him (181); they appear disturbed by this story, and its consequences recur with greater point in their first choral ode (572–89) and in Iphigenia’s monody (1283– 1310), helping to highlight the unusual and wretched experiences of women which come to dominate the play. It is worth noting too that these young wives find themselves poised in age between the maiden Iphigenia and the motherly wife Clytemnestra; they can easily sympathize with both. Never lending their support to the reasons given for the sacrifice, they approve the sparing of children at 402–3. Furthermore they criticize Artemis in 1403, though they do respond to Iphigenia’s demand that they should sing a paean to the goddess (1467–8) and do so ‘as if in good fortune’ (1510–31, 1523).

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As well as their entry-song 164–302, they sing three odes 543– 89, 751–800 and 1036–97; in these they enlarge upon what they see and hear, and in the first two forebode Troy’s sack as the sacrifice of Iphigenia becomes certain; but in comparison with most other tragedies they draw ‘moral lessons’ only seldom (543–72, 1090–7). Their spoken part during the characters’ dialogue (voiced by their leader, the coryphaeus) amounts to as few as twenty lines, in ten couplets. We can categorize their function and significance against criteria appropriate to IA in particular which were sketched long ago by Headlam and recently by Stockert, and against those formulated in detail for general application to Euripides by Hose.77 Thus: (1) couplets serving principally to mark the end of long formal speeches: 376–7, 402–3, 469–70, 504–5 in the confrontation of Menelaus and Agamemnon (this is a regular choral function); 917–18, 975–6 in the exchanges of Clytemnestra and Achilles; 1209–10, 1253–4 in the supplication scene of Clytemnestra, Iphigenia and Agamemnon; (2) couplets endorsing a speaker’s position or attitude, 402–3, 469–70, 917–18 by implication; 504–5, 975–6, 1209–10 with address by name. 1336–7 mark Iphigenia’s monody, with sympathy; (3) couplets of comment on the entire action: 402–3, 917–18, 1209–10 the sparing of children’s lives; 469–70 the ill-fortune of rulers. Only two couplets carry a really potent charge, 1253–4 Helen’s marriage is disastrous to the Atreid family-line, and 1402–3 Iphigenia’s nobility contrasts with the joint malaise of fortune and the goddess.

That said, many of IA’s intensely personal exchanges effectively limit much of the Chorus’ spoken comment to the blandness in the citations in (1) and most of those in (2) above. Indeed they stay silent throughout the Second Episode (607–750). Phoenissae is comparable not only in its foreign female chorus, but in the limiting of the chorus to just over twenty spoken lines (some are certainly, some probably interpolated): perhaps only 497–8, 586–7 and 960–1 fall into category (3). 77  Headlam 1253–4 n.; Stockert p. 39; Hose I (1990) 182–90. Hose’s discussion is praised and illustrated from and for Hecuba 846–9 in a paper by M. J. Cropp which will appear in a Festschrift for A. J. Podlecki. For the Tragic chorus in its lyrics see the recent survey by Rutherford (2012) 217–61.

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For further discussion of the Chorus, see Commentary on 164–302 where we concentrate (a) on matters relevant to the parodos and (b) on how our Chorus relates to other Euripidean choruses. Themes and Motifs In this Introduction we have already met with a number of the themes of the play: sacrifice, marriage, politics, Panhellenism, shifts of character and changes of mind, and the family. We now briefly discuss four others.78 We comment in n. 164–302, 3.2 on the accumulation of words of looking in the parodos. These continue to be a feature of the play, and they gain significant dramatic force when they go beyond simple watching and show the eyes as the means of non-communication, i.e. when a character is reluctant to look directly at another in a scene of confrontation. J. Gibert notes that at 320 ‘Menelaus challenges his brother to look him in the eye: this presumably means that he has not been doing so.’79 As their scene continues, eye references prove psychologically illuminating, at 354, 378–81, 477–8, 496. At 455 Agamemnon wonders how he will be able to look at his wife on her arrival, and the way that he looks at his daughter is a telling feature at the start of their first scene together (640–1, 644, 648–9, cf. 678–9). The excruciating embarrassment of the first scene between Achilles and Clytemnestra is reflected in their attitudes to looking at each other (821, 840, 851, cf. 830). Then at 998 Agamemnon asks 78  These four are certainly not exhaustive: we track a number of other themes in our notes on 1–163, pp. 243–4 (e.g. the Greeks’ inability to set sail, high office and its burdens, the gulf between the divine and the mortal human). Among these ‘the name, not the reality’ is part of the obvious motif of deception. C. L. Caspers, ‘Diversity and Common Ground: Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis and Bacchae as Companion Plays’, in D. Rosenbloom and J. Davidson (eds), Greek Drama IV, Texts, Contexts, Performance (Oxford 2012), 127–48 argues that the deception plans of Dionysus and Agamemnon in Bacchae and IA, staged together at their first performances, mirror each other. For the theme of philia in the play, see n. 303–414a. 79  Gibert (1995) 215.

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Clytemnestra to bring Iphigenia into his sight. In Agamemnon’s final scene with his wife and daughter, the way that they look at him proves cause for confusion (1122–3, 1128). Clytemnestra asks which of his children will be able to bear to look at him on his return home if he goes through with the sacrifice (1192). In her great pleading speech, Iphigenia urgently begs her father to look at her (1238) and then at Orestes (1245).80 We are in a world where words are insufficient: they need to be authenticated by the language of the eye. The fact that Agamemnon finds it ever more difficult to give this confirmation is a powerful reflection of his increasingly urgent tragic dilemma. A sense of shame (αἰδώς) plays an important part in the scene of initial misunderstanding between Achilles and Clytemnestra where the former encounters in the latter a woman who wrongly believes that he is her future son-in-law (αἰδώς 821 (his shame), αἰδέομαι 833 (his), 839 (his), 848 (hers)): the scene escalates to their reciprocal shame at 851 and 853.81 But it is more widely thematic in the play as a whole: αἰδώς 994, 1089, 1342; αἰδέομαι 380, 451, 563 (τό τε γὰρ αἰδεῖσθαι σοφία ‘a sense of shame is itself wisdom’), 997 (L), ἐπαιδέομαι 900, ἀναιδής 379, and from a different word-root αἰσχρός (shameful) 830, 1187, αἰσχύνη 188, αἰσχύνω 981, 1031, 1341, ἀναίσχυντος 327, 329, 1144. αἰδώς, which was worshipped at an altar on the acropolis in classical Athens,82 is defined by Barrett in his note on Hipp. 78 as a feeling ‘which inhibits [a man’s] natural self-assertion or self-seeking in the face of the requirements of morality and the like’. It ‘prevents a man from breaking a taboo’. In Protagoras’ mythical account of the origin of civilization in Plato’s dialogue of that name, he relates that Zeus sent Hermes with the gifts of αἰδώς and δίκη (justice) as the two virtues necessary to enable men to live together in civic harmony (Prot. 320cff.).83 The characters in IA are highly conscious of the conventional demands for appropriate behaviour but these become irrelevant in a situation where 80  For the theme of looking, see also Smith (1979) 176. 81  There is an excellent analysis of this scene in Cairns (1993) 309–13. It is part of a wider discussion of the role of αἰδώς in the play (309–14). See also his entry ‘Honor and Shame’ in EGT 694–7. 82  R. Parker, Athenian Religion, A History (Oxford, 1996) 234–5. 83  Conacher (1998) 30–1.

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Agamemnon, who employs shame-words six times (327, 329, 379, 380, 451, 1144), nevertheless feels compelled to sacrifice his own daughter. Clytemnestra, for example, who uses shame-words seven times (839, 848, 900, 981, 994, 997 (L), 1187), finds in extremis that she cannot abide by them (900–1, 994) and is impatient with Iphigenia’s double expression of αἰδώς as Achilles approaches (1341–4). The decencies implicit in αἰδώς no longer apply. Agamemnon’s tragic dilemma is rammed home by a string of references to fortune or chance (τύχη)84 or necessity (ἀνάγκη).85 The words and their cognates occur in significant contexts 31 times and Agamemnon speaks 11 of them.86 (Interestingly, the independentlyminded Achilles is given only one (1409).) The king’s strong feeling that he is subject to these forces comes over with especial emphasis when the two concepts are combined in 511 (ἀλλ᾿ ἥκομεν γὰρ εἰς ἀναγκαίας τύχας, ‘However, I have come under compulsion in my fortunes’) and in 1136 when τύχη is linked with other controlling forces (ὦ πότνια μοῖρα καὶ τύχη δαίμων τ᾿ ἐμός, ‘O mistress Fate and my fortune and destiny!’). Line 443, in which Agamemnon feels that he has fallen under the yoke of necessity, has a powerful resonance because of the clear reference to his Aeschylean counterpart who, the chorus sing, ‘put on the yoke-strap of necessity’ (ἀνάγκας ἔδυ λέπαδνον) at 218 of Agamemnon.87 These themes of fortune or chance 84  On τύχη in our play, see J. Ferguson, ‘Iphigenia at Aulis’, TAPA 99 (1968) 157– 68, 159–60. The word itself occurs 11 times and there are 8 significant cognates (see n. 86 below). On τύχη generally, see the excellent article under Tyche in OCD3, p. 1566 (N. Robertson and B. C. Dietrich). 85  On ἀνάγκη in general, see H. Schreckenberg, Ananke: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Wortgebrauchs (Munich 1964). Only Hecuba and Orestes outdo our play in instances of ἀνάγκη words, with 12 and 10 respectively: IA has 9. 86  He makes significant use of τύχη words at 56, 390, 441, 511, 717 (L), 719, 747, 1136, 1557 and ἀνάγκη words at 443, 511, 513–4 (word understood from the previous line), cf. χρή (‘must’, i.e. in accordance with Calchas’ prophecy) in 721. 87  Awareness of Aeschylus’ Oresteia, of which Agamemnon is the first part, is required of the audience at Aristophanes, Frogs 1124, 1128 at or about the time of the first performance of IA. See also TrGF 3, pp. 56–8. A further comparison can be made with Hec. 346–7 when Polyxena, another virgin princess who becomes a sacrificial victim, says that she will go to her death both from necessity (τοῦ

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or necessity add force to the king’s belief that he is helpless to resist the impact of the circumstances in which he is placed.88 The fourth theme that we wish to draw attention to here is glory (κλέος, δόξα) (see above, p. 27). This is what Iphigenia hopes to win by her sacrifice. The Maiden in The Children of Heracles and Menoeceus in Phoenissae are, like Iphigenia, virgins who give their lives for a city (see above, pp. 8–9), but they are very different from her in that their courage is unwavering.89 In the case of Iphigenia, the innocent and ingenuous daddy’s girl whom we see in her first scene (634–85), scarcely seems the stuff of which heroines are made; and our initial impressions are confirmed as she supplicates Agamemnon when she declares, in a sentiment that astonishes as it falls from the lips of a Euripidean princess, that ‘the one who prays to die is mad. To live ignobly is better than to die nobly’ (1250–2: see n.). This final sentence detonates like a bomb. However, after that inglorious appeal, she reflects on the matter (1374–5), and through her famous reversal proves that the Chorus were right when they had sung at 563–7 in a different context that a sense of shame ‘has the exceptional grace of discerning duty through reason when reputation brings ageless glory (κλέος)’. Late in the day the theme now comes into its own. Iphigenia wants to die gloriously (εὐκλεῶς), putting aside all meanness of spirit (τὸ δυσγενές) (1376). The prevention of future rapes that she will achieve by her death will be her glory (κλέος, 1383) ‘These,’ she says at 1398–9, ‘and my children and marriage, and my fame (δόξα).’90 At 1504 the chorus assert that glory (κλέος) will never leave her, evoking the Homeric Achilles’ talk ἀναγκαίου) and because she desires to die. 88  U. von Wilamowitz Moellendorff, Griechische Tragödien (Berlin, 1919) 2.26 remarks that ‘ἀνάγκη is much more the compulsion imposed on men in concrete circumstances than predestined rigid necessity’. 89  Menoeceus’ pretence to his father that he is willing to flee from Thebes is intended to enable him to do what he wishes and to save the city by his death (991–2). For the contrast between Iphigenia and Menoeceus, see H. Foley, Female Acts (Princeton 2001) 124–5. 90  Cf. the Maiden at Hcld. 533–4, who makes the splendid discovery that her death will bring her glory.

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of κλέος ἄφθιτον at Il. 9.413 (‘undying glory’, cf IA [1606]), and at [1530–1] they pray that the sacrifice may cause Agamemnon to win glory (κλέος) ever to be remembered. Iphigenia feels that her own glory will reach to her mother as well as herself (1440, εὐκλεὴς ἔσῃ). The Messenger tells Clytemnestra of the undying glory (δόξα) that her daughter has won [1606]. Iphigenia triumphantly asserts her claim to that glory in a tawdry masculine world characterized by the weakness of Agamemnon and the ineffectiveness of Achilles. Agamemnon may be the play’s protagonist but Iphigenia is indubitably its hero. Early Performance and Late Reception The posthumous first performance of Euripides’ IA together with its accompanying plays, which included Bacchae,91 was staged at the Great Dionysia by his son or nephew92 in or around 405 BC and won first prize. Even if there is little hard evidence, we have no reason to disbelieve that it was revived on occasion during the two following centuries.93 Awareness of IA in the 4th century is indicated by the verbal borrowing from the play and the similarities especially of wording in the Rhesus;94 and in 341 BC the celebrated actor Neoptolemus won the first prize at that competition with ‘Euripides’ Iphigenia’;95 while this could refer to the dramatist’s earlier Iphigenia among the 91  The third play was the lost Alcmeon in Corinth (scholiast at Ar. Ran. 66–7). For discussion of the interaction between the three plays, see the essays of E. Hall and I. Karamanou in D. Stuttard (ed.), Looking at Bacchae (London 2016), esp. pp.14–17, 19–25, 49–55. 92  Son – Scholia to Ar. Frogs 67; nephew (Suda ε 3695 Adler: see Eur. T3 TrGF). 93  For an overview of the reception of the myth in antiquity and in the modern world, see S. Aretz, Die Opferung der Iphigeneia in Aulis: die Rezeption des Mythos in antiken und modernen Dramen (Stuttgart 1999); G. A. Kovacs, Iphigenia at Aulis: Myth, Performance and Reception (PhD Thesis, University of Toronto, 2010: see our Bibliography), whose chs 4–6 give the fullest recent account of the play’s reception, including on pp. 181–96 an illustrated discussion of the ‘Homeric’ bowls mentioned below; M.-K. Gamel, ‘Iphigenia at Aulis’ in R. Lauriola, K. M. Demetriou (eds), Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Euripides (Leiden, New York 2015, 15–43). 94  Gathered by Fries (2014) 34, 36, 37, 116, 124. 95 Inscription TrGF vol. 5 DID A 2a.2–3.

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Taurians, Michelakis (2006) 119 suggests that, if it was IA, ‘both the theme of panhellenism [in IA] and the dramatic impact of what Aristotle perceived as inconsistency in the behaviour of Iphigenia may have appealed to fourth-century audiences’. Interest in the play in the 3rd century BC is shown by a badly damaged papyrus fragment from that era (Pap. Leiden inv. 510), which carries a section of the sung dialogue between Iphigenia and the chorus at 1500–9 as well as 784–94 of a choral song, both with musical notation (for discussion of this and two other papyri, see p. 53 ‘Text’ and on P. Leiden the Commentary on 784–94). Interest in the play in the 2nd century BC is indicated by the existence of six so-called Homeric bowls from the first half of the century found in Attica, Boeotia and elsewhere, which are decorated with scenes from it.96 Though there are differences between what some of the illustrations show and the stage-picture indicated by Euripides’ text, half of the bowls identify them as being from Euripides’ Iphigenia, and the characters named on them make it clear that the play is IA.97 The divergences have been used to suggest that alterations had been made to the text; more probably they reflect iconographical freedom. Relevant details of these bowls are given in the Commentary on 111–4, 303–16, 320–6, 414–41, 590, 623– 80, 819–54, 866–95, 1098–1275, 1342–4. L. Bouke van der Meer98 reviews the bowls, and renews discussion of ten 2nd century BC urns from ?Macedonia, now in Perugia, which can be loosely associated with scenes from the play and seem to indicate knowledge of it.99 The Roman epic and dramatic poet Ennius, who dates from the 3rd–2nd century BC, wrote a Latin adaptation of the play which 96  Michelakis (2006) 119–21. One set of illustrations (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 13.11.2) is shown on his p. 120. LIMC V.1.711–2. 97  Differences: for example, in the scene of supplication (1211–52) both Agamemnon and Clytemnestra are veiled (unlikely to reflect the performance of the text as we have it) and Orestes, a child, not an infant, is in a supplicatory posture supporting his sister. Orestes is also on the vehicle on which Iphigenia and Clytemnestra arrive in the camp. 98  In ‘Iphigenia Aulidensis on Etruscan Urns from Perugia’, Studi Etrusci 57 (1991) 119–36. 99  They are LIMC V.1. 729–31 nos 3–12.

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survives only in a very few fragments. We have mentioned above (p. 30 n. 76) his innovation of having a main or secondary chorus of Greek soldiers. In the 1st century BC the Roman philosopher poet Lucretius wrote a devastating account of the sacrifice of Iphigenia to show the evil wrought by religion (De Rerum Natura 1.82–101).100 And then a famous wall-painting from Pompeii of about 70 AD, based on a now lost picture by Timanthes dating from either before or after the time of the play’s first production, shows the Greek army lowering its eyes and Agamemnon covering his face with his cloak, just as the Messenger describes them at [1547–50], [1577] (see [1510–1629n.] under ‘Art’). IA made an early entry into the modern world.101 After seventeen surviving Euripides plays (all except Electra) and the Rhesus had been printed, for the first time, by Aldus Manutius in Venice in 1503, it was translated into Latin by Erasmus (1506) and became the first Greek tragedy to be translated into English, by Lady Jane Lumley (1558);102 French and Italian translations were made in the 1550s as well. The play’s fame was given momentum by the success of the first performance of Jean Racine’s Iphigénie en Aulide at Versailles in 1674.103 An open-air theatre had been set up especially for its 100 At Satires 12.118–22 Juvenal (2nd century AD) uses the Iphigenia myth to illustrate how a legacy-hunter will sacrifice a marriageable daughter if it means being included in someone’s will, even though there is no hope of his receiving the deer of tragedy. A thousand ships are nothing compared with a will! Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.24–38 and 13.181–95 tells the story with the reported substitution of the hind at the last moment. 101  For an invaluable list of works of art, literature, music and theatre on the IA theme from the 14th century AD to the 1990s, see J. D. Reid, Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1330–1990s (Oxford 1993) 599–605. See also H. Flashar, Inszenierung der Antike. Das griechische Drama auf der Bühne der Neuzeit 1585–1988 (Munich 1991). 102  D. H. Greene, CJ 36 (1941), 537–47 and (Lumley was translating Erasmus) F. D. Crane, CJ 39 (1943–1944) 223–8. E. Hall and F. Macintosh, Greek Tragedy and the British Theatre 1660–1914 (Oxford 2005) discuss the reception of Euripides’ Iphigenia plays between 1660 and the early 1730s on pp. 30–63. 103  See C. Barone, Euripide, Racine, Goethe, Ritsos. Ifigenia: variazioni sul mito (Venice 2014). See Addenda.

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performance as part of a celebration of a military victory by Louis XIV and it proved the most popular of his plays in its own day. Racine has followed Euripides closely in some parts of his adaptation, but the innovations are radical. Agamemnon changes his mind five times; Menelaus has been written out; Odysseus appears, as a subtle proponent of war; Achilles is straightforwardly – and thrillingly – heroic; and Racine has imported an illegitimate daughter of Helen called Eriphyle who is a rival with Iphigenia for the heart of Achilles. She is an unappealing and emotionally uncontrolled character, an antitype of her cousin Iphigenia. At the play’s conclusion, Calchas conveniently proclaims that it is not Iphigenia but Eriphyle who must be sacrificed, a fate that she anticipates by killing herself. Thus the innocent Iphigenia is spared and, in the spirit of IA [1610–11], Racine can show that Fortune, ‘deceptive, capricious, even cruel ... is at bottom kindly, providential, or at least an instrument of Providence’.104 Thus, in the context of a Christian court, official religion is endorsed. Even so, the wavering and easily influenced Agamemnon is surely not the most diplomatic pattern of monarchy to set before the Sun King. In the wake of Racine’s triumphant Iphigénie, many playwrights, librettists and composers produced their own variations on the play. Over the next hundred years, operas on its subject appeared in French, German and Italian. The greatest – or at least the most durable – of these is Iphigénie en Aulide by the Bohemian-Austrian Gluck and his librettist (‘after Racine’) du Roullet, a major masterpiece which reached the stage, with the support of Gluck’s former singing pupil the Dauphine Marie Antoinette (herself to prove the victim of an execution), in Paris in 1774. It has been performed ever since. Wagner conducted the work in Dresden in 1847, Mahler in Vienna in 1907. The opera gives sympathetic portrayals of all the royal characters, Agamemnon being granted a particularly poignant aria at the end of Act 2. At the first performance Achilles’ bravura Act 3 aria with its prominent horns and trumpets roused the gentlemen in the audience to such a state of excitement that they ‘could hardly refrain from drawing their swords and joining him on the stage in his attempt to 104  P. Butler, Classicisme et baroque dans l’oeuvre de Racine (Paris 1959) 248.

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rescue the Princess’.105 The opera concludes with the goddess Diana (Artemis) changing her mind and no longer requiring a sacrifice. In Gluck’s first version Calchas imparts this information; in the 1775 revision Diana actually appears. Thus, as in Racine’s play, the deity is portrayed as ultimately benign. Yet the original version ‘ended with a sinister war chorus, “Partons, volons à la victoire” (cf. IA [1627–9]), with stark, bare octaves and crude thumps on the bass drum’.106 Is there subversion of ‘the happy ending’ here? Apart from Gluck’s opera, performances of IA disappeared almost totally from the 19th century stage outside Greece, at least after 1820.107 Interest in the play seems to have been largely restricted to the study, with three English individual commentaries, those of Monk, Headlam and England, dating from this century. The play did not in fact come back to the professional stage until the final decade of the twentieth century. Details of student productions can be found on the website of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford: we should like to pay particular tribute to the Oxford University Classical Drama Society’s effective production of the play in 1999.108 The play’s revival in the professional theatre towards the end of the twentieth century was anticipated by Michael Cacoyannis’ masterly film Iphigenia (1976).109 As Marianne McDonald has shown, it was influenced by the invasion of the director’s homeland Cyprus by the 105  The Earl of Harewood (ed.), Kobbé’s Complete Opera Book (London 1976) 75. 106  Jeremy Hayes, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (Oxford University Press, 1997) Vol 2, p. 818. 107  E. Hall, ‘Iphigenia and Her Mother at Aulis: A Study in the Revival of a Euripidean Classic’ in J. Dillon and S. E. Wilmer (eds), Rebel Women: Staging Ancient Greek Drama Today (Methuen, London 2005) 3–41, at 5–7. 108  Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama. Ioannou Classics Centre, University of Oxford (www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk); it holds printed, visual and aural documentation of performances since antiquity. A selective list of relevant poems, plays and stage productions and adaptations is given by Michelakis (2006a) 169–71. 109  Morwood was at the first showing of the film in the UK, in the National Film Theatre, and vividly remembers the director bounding onto the platform and exclaiming, ‘Euripides is alive!’

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Turks in 1974.110 It conveys powerfully the menacing power of the mob, and the demagogic Odysseus and the seer Calchas are spookily manipulative figures. After a group of men led by Agamemnon have slaughtered animals including a sacred deer in a holy grove, the latter invents the demand of Artemis which precipitates the action. The protagonists are viewed in agonizing close-up: Iphigenia, beautifully played by the twelve-year-old Tatiana Papamoskou, is affectingly vulnerable; Irene Pappas is tremendous in outrage and pain as her mother: The film ends by focusing on her face while she surveys the scene of the drama, her eyes black with baleful threat; and as Agamemnon Kostas Kazakos is deeply moving as his profound love of his daughter struggles with the horror of her inevitable sacrifice. Cacoyannis does not judge these three characters: he makes us live through their tragic ordeals. There is, of course, no substitution of a deer for the victim: Iphigenia is brutally killed even though the wind has already started to blow.111 Then in the 1990s there was a flood of performances of the play in the USA, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland which continued into the 21st century. Particularly interesting are a cluster of performances or performed adaptations of IA in the professional theatres of England and Ireland between 1999 and 2004 made up of Colin Teevan’s stage adaptation Iph... (Belfast 1999), Katie Mitchell’s two productions (Dublin 2001 and London 2004), Marina Carr’s Ariel (Dublin 2002) and Edna O’Brien’s Iphigenia (Sheffield 2003).112 The Irish adaptors (Teevan, Carr and O’Brien) were all interested in the maltreatment 110  M. McDonald, ‘Eye of the Camera, Eye of the Victim: Iphigenia by Euripides and Cacoyannis’ in M. M. Winkler (ed.), Classical Myth and Culture in the Cinema (Oxford 2001) 90–117, at 91–2. 111  In his Greek Tragedy on Screen (Oxford, 2013) 140–8 P. Michelakis conducts an interesting discussion of the film as melodrama. More recently Diego Pellizzari has set out to analyse the film ‘as an actual cinematographic translation of the ancient drama’: ‘L’Ifigenia in Aulide sul grande schermo’, Dioniso NS 5 (2015) 89–107. 112  See L. Salis, Miti antichi, storie d’oggi: la tragedia e il teatro irlandese contemporaneo (Cosenza 2009). Mitchell’s 2004 production is sensitively discussed by S. Goldhill, How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today (Chicago 2007) 54–5, 107, 132–3.

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of Clytemnestra by Agamemnon. They build on the psychological motivation of the Aeschylean murderess that is undoubtedly suggested in the Euripidean text (see p. 23) and see as centrally important the lines in which Clytemnestra foresees what will happen to her emotionally if Agamemnon kills his daughter (1171–84). Indeed, Teevan’s play ends (as it begins) ‘Ten years later’ with her murder of Agamemnon, and in O’Brien’s closing scene Clytemnestra, drenched in a shower of bloodied rain, echoes the triumphant lines of the Aeschylean figure over her murdered husband (Ag. 1391–2). Euripides’ play thus becomes a prelude to the Oresteia, as indeed it was in the famous production by Ariane Mnouchkine of Les Atrides for the Théâtre de Soleil (1990).113 A further example of what modernism can make of Euripides’ tragedy is Caridad Svich’s multimedia play Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart (‘a rave fable’) (Atlanta, Georgia, 2004, revived Chicago 2011). It is set in ‘the present’ in a Latin American narcokleptocracy. As Cecelia A. E. Luschnig puts it, ‘Extremes of brutality and poverty are mixed with material extravagance and drug chic’.114 Iphigenia is ‘a spinning girl of privileged means, slightly feral’;115 Achilles is ‘an androgynous rock star, beautiful and damaged’; Orestes is ‘an addicted, spewing child with an adult voice’; Camilla, the Clytemnestra figure, is ‘a narcotized prop wife possessed of a fierce hauteur’ who hates her daughter because of the violent circumstances of her conception: her future husband had raped her after killing her baby. Adolfo, the Agamemnon equivalent, is a general who countenances the killing of his daughter because ‘if some great personal tragedy were to befall him, it is possible the country would embrace him again’ and re-elect him. Iphigenia flies away from her sacrifice. Svich’s play may seem a long way ‘after’ Euripides (she calls it ‘a socio-sexual-political 113  Hall (2005: p. 41 n. 107 above) 12–19. Some of the encounters in IA were used in the lengthy prelude to Robert Icke’s version of the Oresteia (a chorus-free zone), performed at the Almeida Theatre and Trafalgar Studios in London in the summer of 2015. On Mnouchkine see also Addenda. 114  C. E. E. Luschnig, EGT 434. 115  Quotations from play-text.

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riff’ chiefly on the IA) but quotations from the Greek original occur throughout. Despite (or perhaps in part because of) its modish exterior, Svich’s work ‘creates a transfixing vision of hell on earth’.116 A major production of IA was staged in the summer of 2015 by L’Instituto Nazionale del Drama Antico (INDA) in the ancient Greek theatre at Syracuse as part of its 51st season.117 It was directed by Federico Tiezzi. The choice of play seemed to have been dictated simply by the fact that it is a great one, dealing with themes of universal and undying importance, above all with the dynamics within a family when confronted by intolerable pressures, both divine and political. It was inspiring to see the play working so powerfully on its own terms without any imported agenda. The text, including the ersatz conclusion, was delivered with superb responsiveness; the rhetoric came over particularly well, the great speeches eliciting applause from an intelligently appreciative – and huge – audience.118 Two small but significant details must serve to illustrate the insight and thoughtfulness of the production: at the end of the first episode Menelaus flung the tablets which he had intercepted to the ground and smashed them, vividly illustrating the failure of Agamemnon’s attempt to rewrite mythology; and during the urgent dialogue between Clytemnestra and Achilles before her change-of-mind speech, Iphigenia’s facial expression made it clear that she was thinking hard (1374). Furthermore, the text being allowed to speak for itself, there was some humour, e.g. with Menelaus’ taunting of the Old Man over the tablets and with Agamemnon’s reflection on marriage at [749– 50]; the director rightly felt that the drama transcended the distinction 116  Kerry Reid, Chicago Tribune, 24.2.2011. Justine McConnell and Patrice Rankine discuss another attempt to ‘translate’ the contemporary nature of Euripides’ Iphigenia plays into modern day America, that of Nicholas Rudall for the Chicago Stage at Court Theatre in 1997 (K. Bosher, F. Macintosh, J. McConnell and P. Rankin (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Greek Dramas in the Americas (Oxford 2015) 767). 117  The play has been staged previously at Syracuse in 1930 and 1974. 118  Three Greek ships provided the backdrop and the Greek army were a significant presence. The Chorus wore brightly coloured costumes and brought girlish enthusiasm as well as deep emotion, as when they sang of the future fate of the women of Troy (773–93).

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between the comic and the tragic. Clearly it is not possible to stage a play without in some way interpreting it, but Tiezzi’s production was supremely intelligent as well as infused with deep passion throughout. The pictures on our covers are taken from this production and illustrate the first meeting of Iphigenia and her tormented father after she has arrived at Aulis (634–85) and the distressed mother and daughter from their second scene. Metre Greek verse consists of rhythmically different units or ‘measures’ (Greek metra, singular metron). The name shows that they were based on syllabic length or weight (‘quantity’), and not on stress (‘dynamic’ rhythm, characteristic of most English verse); equivalent Latin terms were modi (‘measures’) and numeri (‘numbers’). ‘Measures’ consist of syllables, ‘l(ong)’ (or ‘heavy’), symbolised as l, ‘s(hort)’ (or ‘light’), symbolised as s, or ‘variable’ (Latin term anceps: either long or short), symbolised as x, which combine to create differing rhythmic units, usually called ‘metres’. Metres were spoken, chanted or sung. In IA spoken metres are the iambic trimeter, the form predominant in dialogue (‘three-measure’, basic metron x-l-s-l); and the far less common trochaic tetrameter, (‘four-measure’, basic metron l-s-l-x), in 316–75 and 378–401, 855–916, 1336–1401. These metres repeat from line to line, as in Shakespearean pentameters. Variety comes from small freedoms of syllabic quantity and of resolved syllables (‘resolutions’) within metra (s-s replacing either single l or, rarely, x) or very rarely substitutions of s-s for single s; and from regular division between words near mid-verse, termed caesura (‘cut’); or in other places chosen in relation to the caesura or syntax or sense. In the tetrameter the penultimate syllable (l) is suppressed in catalexis (‘cessation, close’), so that the verse ends with a metron shaped l-s-x. [Some scholars have thought that tetrameters were chanted or intoned, e.g. Pickard-Cambridge (1988) 158–60, Webster (1967) 286; Xenophon, Symposium 6.3 writes of them as delivered to the accompaniment of a pipe, aulos.]

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chanted metres (delivered in ‘recitative’) in IA are anapaestic dimeters (‘two-measure’), the most regular of rhythms (single metron s-s-l-s-s-l, with few internal freedoms, most commonly substitution of l for s-s); dimeters regularly divide internally between the two metra. A system of such dimeters closes with catalexis, suppression of the final s-s, the final metron having the form s-s-l-x. In IA they occur at 1–48, frequently in 115–63, and at 590–606. [Note on spoken and chanted metres: ancient metricians used also the term ‘foot’ (Greek pous) as a unit of analysis, dividing into two parts each metron of the trimeter, tetrameter and chanted anapaests. Modern metricians still use the term in addition to metron for convenience, to locate phenomena precisely within a verse, especially in the trimeter, whose 12 metrical syllables are divided into 6 feet. (These two sentences condense a paragraph in West (1982) 6.)] sung or lyric metres frequently vary their rhythm from verse-line to verse-line (colon ‘limb’); a particular feature is suppression of single syllables, most often the penultimate syllable of a colon in catalexis. They are used in groups of lines or ‘periods’ (periodoi); lyric metres of different kinds can combine within periods and in successive identical ones. They form systems which are in ‘responding’ stanzas of the same metrical form (strophe and antistrophe, ‘turn’ and ‘reverse-turn’, terms deriving it is believed from musical dance); or in single, continuous spans not divided into stanzas (astrophic lyrics) which follow one or more pairs of stanzas as epodes or stand on their own. These systems are used in a choral entry-song (parodos) and in choral odes (stasima ‘(things) performed in position’, i.e. in the theatre’s orchestra ‘dance-place’); and in lyric exchanges of all kinds, and in monodies by characters (‘solo songs’). The principal lyric metres found in IA are: (1) Anapaestic (but with considerable internal freedoms, differently from chanted anapaests; they occur occasionally within 115–63, and at 1277–82, 1320–9). (2) Iambo-trochaic, combining elements of both rhythms, with considerable freedoms. The metre is typical of late Euripides (see e.g. Parker (1997) 37–8). In IA it carries descriptive narrative in 231– 302, as at Pho. 638–89, 1019–66; it recurs markedly in Iphigenia’s

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lamentatory lyrics 1283–1335 and 1475–1509 (compare Hel. 348– 74), and in her sung exchange with the chorus [1510–31]. Its use in laments and dirges is traditional, first at A. Pers. 1002–77, cf. e.g. Or. 960–1012. (3) Aeolo-choriambic (basic units l-s-s-l and l-s-s-l-s-l), found more widely in the play than any other metre. In its extreme rhythmic variety the metre came to dominate Euripides’ later musical and poetic style: descriptive and pictorial, colourful and often florid, and emotionally expressive. The beginning of the IA’s parodos (164230) and all three ‘set’ choral odes (stasima) 543–89, 751–800 and 1035–97 have this flexible rhythm, associated in particular with the ‘New Music’ and its ‘dithyrambic’ character; its major surviving text is Timotheus’ melodic poem Persians of the end of the 5th century (F 788–91 PMG; see J. H. Hordern, Timotheus (Oxford 2002) 56–7). For Eur. see e.g. Hel. 1301–68, 1451–1511, (Mastronarde on) Pho. 202–60; E. Csapo, ‘Later Euripidean Music’, ICS 24–5 (2000) 399– 426, and in his ‘The Politics of the New Music’, in P. Murray and P. Wilson (eds), Music and the Muses (Oxford 2004) 207–48 and ‘New Music’s gallery of images: the “dithyrambic” first stasimon of Euripides’ Electra’, in Cousland and Hume (eds) (2009) 95–109; D. Mastronarde, Medea (Cambridge 2010) 104; Rutherford (2012) 267–77. (4) Other rhythms: dactylic, basic metron l-s-s; ionic, basic metron s-sl-l; and dochmiac, basic metron s-l-l-s-l (its name means ‘slanting, aslant’, from its uneven metrical shape, and it is chameleon-like in variety); these three are very infrequent in IA.

Note. We do not attempt detailed technical analyses or descriptions of any metre, which are readily available in West (1982 – or in his shorter Introduction to Greek Metre, Oxford 1987), L. P. E. Parker in OCD3 970–5 or OCD4 943–7, L. Battezzato in EGT (2014) 822–39 or, for sung metres alone, in Parker, Songs (1997) and Alcestis (Oxford 2006) lxvii–lxxix (see Addenda). We use the terms above, and sometimes the metrical symbols l, s and x, occasionally in the commentary, chiefly in relation to textual problems. In our Greek text the lyrics are set out as in Diggle’s OCT, and in the commentary we refer to other works where they are schematized, in some places differently.

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Lyric Metres in Tragedy The following general paragraphs serve all our notes upon lyric in the commentary, where we offer summary notes upon structures, and modest appreciations. It is one holy grail of metricians to discern generic relationships in Tragedy between the principal types of lyric metre (above), and the poetic context, content, style and mood of their systems. The two chief difficulties of such interpretation, often termed ‘ethical’, were set out with detachment by A. M. Dale (19682) 13–14: (1) the limited number and extremely diverse nature of surviving texts; and (2) the nearly total loss in knowledge of both music and dance, and of ancient commentary upon them. Dale stressed that there is always room for subjective reaction, but that it must be formed upon accurate perceptions of prosody and rhythm in the multiplicity and combination of metrical units, from metra to cola, to ‘periods’, and to entire systems. What Dale thought possible is expressed in one sentence of the Preface to her book: ‘I have tried to indicate what I take to be the prevailing movement of each type of rhythm and any characteristic uses by particular poets.’ This book and her Collected Papers (Cambridge 1969), most of them preparatory to it, teem with examples from both Tragedy and Aristophanes’ Comedy; her path has been followed for Aristophanes, correspondingly with much Tragic material, by Parker, Songs (1997): see her Preface too. Commentators particularly of Euripides handle this issue in varying ways. While some have been encouraged by his more extensive remains to ambitious generalisations, not one has gone convincingly further than the limits sets by Dale and Parker; too much sophistication is sometimes attempted. Dale herself hardly ventured upon ‘ethical’ commentary in her Alcestis (Oxford, 1954) and Helen (Oxford 1967), and Parker is restrained in her Alcestis (Oxford 2007) – but her pp. lxxi–ii link use of rhythm to dramatic progression (see Addenda). West in his Orestes (1987: this Series) 12–13 writes of Tragedy that its lyric metres ‘act as a kind of register of emotion’, and of ‘the subtle blend and changes of rhythms which create special effects’. It is nevertheless common ground among metricians and commentators to

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associate a few metres with particular moods or contexts; of the three dominant in IA, (1) sung anapaests are associated with heightened emotion; (2) iambo-trochaic, esp. when syllables are resolved or syncopated, with intense emotions; (3) aeolo-choriambic with ‘pure’ lyric, often employing more colourful language, with deeper and still more powerful feelings. [Note. Since we lack all but a very few scraps of lyric with ancient musical annotation – one papyrus happens to contain IA 784–92 and 1500–9 (see the Commentary) – it is almost impossible to use the surviving discussions of music and melody in their emotive qualities for interpreting Tragic texts: see in particular M. L. West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 1992) 157–9 (ethos) and 246–53 (ethos: character and emotional effect), and 350–5 (Tragedy), with full references and bibliography. Also: Stanford, Emotions (1983) 49–54, 166–8; A. D’Angour in EGT (2014) 868–9.] There is in fact a wide range between confidence and diffidence among interpreters of Euripides. Webster (1967) used the distinctive diachronic evidence from the many plays and fragments most fully and most adventurously in ‘ethical’ interpretation (repeating the approach of his An Introduction to Sophocles (London 19361 = 19692) 135–62). Then Stanford, Emotions (1983) 65–8, for example, was close to Webster, but offered a very balanced discussion of the issues, arguing that ‘Modern metricians … have tended to depreciate theories that particular metres are intended to have, or can have, specific psychological effects’ (65). Conversely, Stockert’s appreciations of lyric structures in IA are detailed but restrained in judgement, like those of R. Kannicht, Helena (Heidelberg 1969); caution in the whole exercise has again been urged by e.g. W. Allan, Helen (Cambridge 2008) 38 n. 165. Here are two recent voices for English readers: First, R. Rutherford (2012) 217–82 (‘The dramatists at work: lyrics’) concentrates upon form, structure, language, characterization and function. He assesses the ‘New Music, New Styles’ of the closing 5th century with commendable restraint, although its florid character may seem to be specially susceptible to ‘ethical’ interpretation (see his pp. 267–77). Second, F. Budelmann, ‘Lyric Poetry and Tragedy’ in EGT (2014)

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780–4 proposes a comprehensive approach. He stresses that Tragic lyric interacted widely with earlier genres of non-dramatic lyric, adopting and developing its metres, notably in changing the rhythmic pattern for each fresh pair of strophes within a passage, choral or monodic, and in making much greater use of wholly or partially sung lyric dialogue. Tragedy is however fundamentally different from nondramatic lyric: it personifies its performers. So it evokes traditional genres such as celebratory and lamentatory odes, but transposes their functions for a representational theatre. Tragic lyric is complex in its dynamics, moods and allusiveness, Budelmann asserts, and as musical poetry; he cites esp. L. A. Swift, The Hidden Chorus. Echoes of Genre in Tragic Lyric (Oxford 2010). For Budelmann the poetry of the ‘New Music’ is particularly interesting as an innovative variation of the dithyramb, the older genre from which it had its own birth. In sum, he states ‘Each passage requires examination on its own terms.’ The Greek Text (1) The text and its basis. (2) Issues of authenticity and interpolation. (3) Editions and commentaries. (4) Text and apparatus criticus in this edition. (1)  The text and its basis. The basis for the text, and the question of its integrity, are the most problematic such issues for any Euripidean play; we present them as concisely as is practicable. There are further discussions in the commentary, particularly for 1–163, 231–302 and 1510–1629. 1.a  The complete text survives in only one medieval manuscript of authority: Florence, Laurentian Library pluteus (‘bookcase’) 32.2, written about or soon after 1310 (symbol: L).119 The manuscript has 119  This date, and that of ‘about 1315’ for ms. P, are a little more precise than those given by most recent editors, the beginning of the 14th century. The dates stem from a neglected observation by Aleksander Turyn that Demetrius Triclinius, the reviser of L, changed his writing of ‘round breathings’ to ‘angular’ ones between 1316 and 1319 (The Byzantine Manuscript Tradition of the Tragedies of Euripides (Urbana 1957) 26–7, 26–8 n. 43, 223–4, 257–8). All Triclinius’ revisions in L show

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been available in facsimile in a few major libraries since 1920; it has recently become widely accessible in electronic reproduction (http:// teca.bmlonline.it; search successively for manoscritti, plutei, and 32.2). L is famous as alone containing all 19 plays which survive complete and are attributed to Euripides (except Troades and Bacchae 756–end), from his total output estimated at about 90. Nine of the plays, with marginal scholia (ancient commentaries), stand in the other, older and richer branch of the poet’s manuscript tradition, which dates from about 1000. The ten plays which stand only in L have no scholia, including Bacchae (although there is evidence to suggest that it once belonged to the richer manuscript tradition and possessed scholia); nine however have titles which begin with only four letters of the Greek alphabet, epsilon, eta, iota and kappa. They are taken to be part-survivors of an ancient, alphabetically ordered but perhaps not complete edition which had separated and fractured at an early and indeterminable date, probably after papyrus rolls had given way to parchment books. Their titles are no longer in alphabetical order in L; and other Euripidean titles with the same four initial letters are known, e.g. the now fragmentary Erechtheus and Ixion, while two titles, the fragmentary Theseus and Thyestes, begin with the theta unrepresented in L between eta and iota. The plays are Helen, epsilon; Electra, Heracles, Heraclidae (Children of Heracles), eta; Hiketides (Suppliant Women), Ion, Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia among the Taurians, iota; Kyklops (Cyclops), kappa. How and where these nine plays survived is not to be discovered, but the first scholar since late antiquity to cite from them was Eustathius, Archbishop of Thessalonica in the last quarter of the 12th century (from Ion indisputably and from Cyclops possibly; his citations of IA 84–5 and 1149–50 appear to have been drawn from the Homeric scholia). It is almost certainly ‘his’ copy of the nine plays which has reached us in L, after at least one intervening transcription. L is remarkable in another way. Its text and scribes, two or more likely three in number, were master-minded by the most accomplished ‘round’ breathings; and since P was copied from L between his first and second revisions, both mss. must predate those years of change. See A. Fries, GRBS 55 (2015) 538.

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late Byzantine editor of Greek drama (including Aristophanes), Demetrius Triclinius, who worked in Thessalonica, as had Eustathius. Triclinius’ brother Nicolaus was one of the scribes and copied four plays – of which IA was one. Triclinius first corrected the whole text of L against its exemplar, e.g. at IA 39, 72, 335, 513; then on two later occasions he revised it, making individual textual emendations and conjectures, seldom at the second, e.g. 653, 1369, and at the third, more frequently, e.g. 42, 177, 260, 354. The three occasions are almost always clearly distinguishable by the predominant and differing colour of the ink used for each (Zuntz (1965) 57–62). Chiefly on the third occasion Triclinius analysed and wrote metrical notes upon the lyrics (those in IA are transcribed and printed by Günther (1988) in his critical apparatus). L’s singularity almost certainly caused its speedy transcription into a very handsome copy, ms. P of about 1315, also written at Thessalonica. It is now in two long-separated parts: the larger is Rome, Vatican Library Palatinus graecus 287, and contains IA; the smaller part is Florence Laurentian Library conventi soppressi 172. The complete manuscript has been accessible in facsimile in a few major libraries since 1946. The exact relationship between L and P has been a matter of hot dispute since the mid-19th century, and still smoulders; some scholars argue that P may have drawn independently on L’s exemplar, or on another copy of it made at about the same time as L. The very great majority of experts, however, now believe that P was copied from L after Triclinius’ initial correction of L but before his two later and independent interventions: the argument was made by Zuntz (1965), summarily on his p. 3, in detail on pp. 1–192. P nevertheless makes an occasional small contribution to establishing the text; it preserves the readings of L as edited by Triclinius 1 where Triclinius 2 or 3 later obscured them, e.g. IA 43, 177, 193, 552. There are one or two places throughout L where P may have made small corrections or conjectures of his own in the nine plays (in IA only 4 and 508 are possible instances). A second and much later hand in P, writing after the manuscript was brought to Italy, made some apparently original corrections and conjectures, e.g. 45, 109, 378, 524.

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A few further copies of L as finished by Triclinius (but without his metrical notes) were made in Italy about 1500; they too offer a few independent but minor improvements, e.g. two copies now in Paris at 846, 858, 1406. 1.b  Very brief parts of IA survive elsewhere. First, there are three scrappy papyri listed on pp. 79–80. Only one other ‘alphabetical’ play boasts more than two papyri (IT, five), and some have none; while this in itself may suggest that the IA was read more widely and for longer in antiquity, it is more likely a simple accident of survival. The three papyri are listed in Note on the Greek Text and Critical Apparatus pp. 79–80. They range in date from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd AD, and offer slightly variant readings, or better readings, in some places, e.g. 308–9, 570–2, 577–8, 581, 804. The earliest papyrus is significant for its rare musical notation in the two short spans of lyric it carries (1500–9 and 784–93); it also predates and differs, especially in 790–2, from the division of verselines which was introduced to tragic texts by the Alexandrian editor Aristophanes of Byzantium about 200 BC and was almost totally perpetuated in the later manuscript tradition. These papyri, though very brief, are continually re-examined. Second, not a few quotations from the play, and a few evident reflections of its content and text, are found in other ancient authors; these are known respectively as ‘book-fragments’ and ‘testimonies’ (testimonia). They are sometimes disfigured by accidental or perhaps deliberate alteration by their host-authors, or by corruption in their manuscript traditions. One book-fragment is nevertheless very important for IA, for it contains two and a half spoken verses attributed to Iphigenia but not found in the text of our play carried by L (nor in Iphigenia in Tauris): see 2.a.ii below. A full record of such bookfragments and testimonies of the play is given by Günther (1988) in his critical apparatus (enlarging the list of Page (1934) 128–9); they number about 30, and no book-fragment is of more than 6 lines (28– 33); those at e.g. 6–7, 380, 394a (a line missing in L), 449–50 and 1400 are important to improving the text.

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1.c  Such is the surviving ancient and medieval evidence for the text; we tabulate details of the manuscripts and papyri before our Greek text and apparatus. The basis of the text is thus very limited. Furthermore, the question of the L : P relationship makes little difference to textual critics’ decisions, for only minor differences are at issue. L’s text is of quite good quality overall, possibly as a result of comparatively few transcriptions since antiquity. The text is defective in a few places, almost certainly because in this and other plays L’s exemplar lacked words or even lines rather than because its scribes could not read difficult or damaged writing (see Zuntz (1965) 92); in IA the places are 109 (one word missing), 261 and 273 (loss of verses revealed by discrepant metrical responsion between lyric strophes), 394a (a line recovered from an ancient quotation), 1034 (one word missing) and 1416 (part-line missing): on all these places, of which the last is the most important to interpretation, see the Commentary. There are many straightforward scribal errors which years of good sense and exact scholarship have reversed, and there are many faults which critical acumen has uncovered and for which sure or very attractive emendations have been made. The number of places in IA where editors despair altogether and apply ‘daggers’ (obeli: † ... †) surrounding a damaged word, words or even passage so far uncured or judged incurable is not greatly higher than the average for the other ‘alphabetical’ plays; for example, Diggle’s edition of the Ion (Euripides II, 1981), the ‘alphabetical’ play closest in length (1622 lines) to the IA (1629) and written in L by the same scribe Nicolaus Triclines, shows obeli in 29 places. Of the three most recent editors of IA, Günther (1988) obelizes in 35 places, but in five of them both Stockert (1992) and Diggle (1994) do not; Stockert obelizes in 39, but in 16 on his own; and Diggle in 40, but in ten on his own. Kovacs’s text of the play (2002) obelizes in only eight, but he is following the Loeb Library’s conventional practice of presenting as readable a text as possible: see his Vol. 1 p. 38.

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Bibliographical Note on the text. Principal accounts in English of Euripides’ tradition are: W. S. Barrett, Euripides. Hippolytos (Oxford 1964), 45–90 and Zuntz (1965) 249–88 (who made the first convincing demonstration of P’s relationship with L, 1–192). N. G. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium (London 1983) 249–56 evaluates Triclinius as scholar. A brief survey by Collard (2014) documents recent scholarship in this field, and the history of printed editions; a study of Euripides’ tradition by P. J. Finglass will appear in A. Markantonatos (ed.), Brill’s Companion to Euripides. German readers have a fine summary account in Matthiessen (2002) 18–26. For IA the prefaces of the three recent editors Günther (in Latin), Stockert (German) and Diggle (Latin) should be added to these works. See too D. Kovacs, ‘Text and Transmission’ (of Tragedy as a whole) in Gregory (2005) 379–93. See Addenda. (2)  The issues of authenticity and interpolation. 2.a   An official Athenian production record for a year between 405 and perhaps 400 stated ‘that after Euripides’ death his son of the same name produced in the city Iphigenia in Aulis, Alcmeon (in Corinth), Bacchae’: Scholia on Aristophanes, Frogs 67 = DID C 22 TrGF 1.49 = Alcmeon in Corinth test. 1a TrGF 5.211 = Testimonia 40 Kovacs (Euripidea: Leiden etc. 1994) 48–9; the Suda Lexicon ε 3695 = TrGF vol. 5 T 3.5 attributes this posthumous production to Euripides’ nephew (see also above p. 37). TrGF is however cautious where many scholars infer that these three plays were performed in the same year as Frogs, 405. This statement, together with: (i) inference that the posthumously produced play therefore almost certainly suffered further and later interference by producers and actors of the kind attested particularly for Euripides’ Orestes in reperformance during the 4th century (see the scholia on Or. 57, 174, 268, 643 and 1366–8, cited by Page 1934, 41–3). A performance at Athens of an Iphigenia by Euripides, perhaps the IA, is recorded for 341 BC: DID A 1, 292 A 2a, 1 TrGF 1.13 (see also above pp. 37–8).

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(ii) the attribution of two and a half lines to the play by the 2nd century scholar Aelian, On the Nature of Animals 7.39 which are not found in the text of L, ‘All those who say that a female deer does not grow horns, have no respect for witnesses to the contrary ... Euripides in the Iphigenia (has) “I shall put a horned doe in the Achaeans’ own hands; while sacrificing it they will claim that they are sacrificing your daughter” ’ (= Fragment 1 in the editions of Günther, Diggle and Stockert, which we print at the play’s end). Moreover, the two and a half lines of the fragment could only have been addressed to Clytemnestra by Artemis as dea ex machina; if authentic, they appear to stem from a different ending to the play which may have been Euripides’ original one, or his conception (see the Commentary on 1510–1629, Text); (iii) established and putative linguistic and metrical phenomena throughout the play which are discrepant with Euripides’ habitual style, as well as dramaturgical inconsistencies –

all of (i–iii) have prompted editors since the mid-18th century to suspect widespread interpolation, whether by actors or theatrical producers and their copy-writers or less frequently by literary and scholarly intervention, sometimes integrated into the text without much thought by scribes. 2.b  In his OCT of 1994 (Euripides III. 423–5) Diggle listed scholars since the mid-18th century who first strongly suspected or athetized particular lines and passages in the play. Of its 1629 lines, only about 200, scattered throughout its whole central part, had escaped by 1994; the further suspicions of Kovacs (2002, 2003) must now be taken into account. These figures may be presented in a different way: interpolation or questionable authenticity has been at some time suggested for the whole of the prologue 1–163 and parodos 164–302; for great stretches of all four dialogue episodes 303–542, 607–750, 801–1035, 1098–1275; for the presence of the baby Orestes at all (first mentioned at 418); for all the three choral odes 543–606, 751–800 and 1036–97; and for the entire end of the play after Agamemnon’s final speech at 1275. Conversely, Page (1934) 207–8 identified the probable content and extent of the play

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left unfinished by Euripides at his death: they are greater than a reader might have expected from Page’s earlier commentary upon its suspected parts. 2.c  In fact, editors of the later 20th century have been unanimous (almost) in deleting firmly only 1532–1629; their other deletions and suspicions have been concentrated in 1–163 (most heavily), 164–230, 231–302 (heavily), 363–70, 404–42, 590–606 (heavily), 607–37 (heavily), 741 (this single verse, very heavily), 773–83, 919–1035, 1098–1119, 1276–1336, 1407–32, 1510–31 (very heavily). In many of these places the presence of the baby Orestes is doubted: see (B) 414b–41n. in the Commentary. It is apparent from Diggle’s list of ‘first deleters’ that study of the text was dominated more and more by interpolation-hunting editors from the 1820s to the 1930’s: initially by the brothers L. Dindorf (1825) and W. Dindorf (18321–18695); then principally by Hartung (1837), Monk (18401), Hermann (edition of 1831, and a two-part article 1847–1848), Paley (18601), Hennig (1872, a journal article responding to another criticising his dissertation of 1870), England (1891), Harberton (1903),120 and finally Page (1934), a study: see also 2.b) above).121 Between times however came three more moderate editors: Nauck (18541–18713), Paley in his second edition, a notable retreat from his 120  A volume of text-critical suggestions, with a corrected edition of 1910–1912, was privately published under the name of ‘Unus Multorum’ (‘One of Many’ – but the author (J. S. Pomeroy) was in fact Viscount Harberton). It is worth observing that Harberton’s name is in Diggle’s list as the first deleter of about 220 lines in total; following the fashion of his day, he rode hard on the heels of earlier scissorwielders, and many of his suggestions simply filled in the gaps (or took out the lines) they had left. In consequence he is very seldom if ever named in any subsequent editor’s apparatus; Page (1934) had ignored him altogether. 121  Page (1934) and Kovacs (2003) have subjected the whole play to the most detailed examinations yet of language (Page especially) and dramatic coherence and integrity (Kovacs especially); they attempt to identify those parts attributable respectively to Euripides, to his son or nephew in an immediate completion for the first performance, and to later interventions by producers and actors, particularly in the 4th century BC.

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first (18802: 18601), Wecklein (1899 and his school edition of 1914) – and two much more conservative, Weil (18681–18993) and Murray (19091–19132). The most recent editors vary: Diggle (1994) and particularly Kovacs (2002, 2003) are most suspicious (there is a useful survey and assessment of Kovacs’s 2003 article by C. A. E. Luschnig in EGT 430–1); Günther (1988) is more cautious, despite many suspicions; Stockert (1992) is moderate; Jouan (1983) was deliberately very cautious indeed; Turato (2001) reprinted Jouan’s text, but with reservations. An extremely experienced and distinguished Euripidean scholar compared the editions of Günther, Stockert and Diggle in a review (Matthiessen 1999); he declared himself on the side of great caution (see also 2.d below). There is an assessment of interpolation as an issue in textual, poetic and dramatic criticism of IA by Michelakis (2006) 105–14; cf. Gurd (2005), esp. 61–72, a consciously theoretical discussion of editors’ historical practice with the play. 2.d  Our own attitude has inclined strongly to editorial tolerance. We have read the play very many times, sometimes with students, and Morwood has both published an annotated translation and written about it elsewhere. We have learned to appreciate the greater part of it as a practicable performance-text of considerable dramatic and theatrical power; and we have experienced how well it can work on the stage: cf. pp. 44–5. We see much in it that is Euripidean in origin and spirit, and not a little that is likely to stem from his own hand. We observed with pleasure the similar impression of the play stated by Matthiessen (1999, 396–8), which he claimed to be that of ‘most readers and spectators’ (396); Turato (2001) 81 inclines this way; Michelakis (2006) 110 comments particularly on the performability of the prologue largely in its transmitted form. At the same time we have respected, and noted with reasonable fullness in our apparatus and commentary, the arguments of our predecessors for ‘inauthentic’ parts. Even if our tolerance is ‘wrong’, and the text as we have it can be shown to be in the main a progressive expansion of a Euripidean outline, initially into the 4th and possibly

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3rd century BC, it will remain of great interest as illuminating the taste and practice of that period: as such it stands with: (i) original compositions like the Rhesus transmitted as Euripidean but almost certainly from the 4th century BC (there are some similarities of vocabulary between Rhesus and IA: see e.g. 16, 274, 405, 529– 30 in A. Fries, Rhesus (Berlin 2014); cf. above p. 37), and a few substantial papyri both attributed to individuals or anonymous (see TrGF vols 1, 2 and 5); (ii) parts of Euripides’ Phoenician Women and Orestes, and Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes, the three other surviving tragedies most suspected of interpolation after the 5th century, if to a much lesser extent.

Some interpolation into IA occurred in very late antiquity, particularly the last 50 lines. 2.e  Afterword. Many of our readers will be aware of the complex and long-contentious issues which surround the textual status of Shakespeare’s 18 plays printed during his life-time in the individual quarto editions and of the 36 collected posthumously in the famous First Folio of 1623. A review during 2013, by a distinguished scholar, of two important studies of these issues prompted us to observe the potentially suggestive comparison mutatis mutandis with those discussed above for our play; we reproduce below a paragraph of this review. Page (1934) 19–20 had adduced actors’ and particular later producers’ ‘alterations’ in Shakespeare, but only on 216 with implicit reference to IA. “The most influential complete edition of recent times, the Oxford Shakespeare of 1986, was interested in performance texts. Its editors departed from the tradition of producing, when more than one text survives, a conflated “best” text. Instead they sought the text of the play as it was acted. A difficult task, but a correction to an over-literary approach. Debunkers of the Bard urged that the play was a “social text”, collaboratively produced between scriptwriter, players and a south London audience.” Michael Alexander, on Lukas Erne, Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist and Shakespeare and the Book Trade (both, Cambridge 2013), in The Tablet (8 June 2013) 17.

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(3)  Editions and Commentaries. We begin our Bibliography to IA with a select list of editions and commentaries, from the first printed edition of the bare text of Euripides, of 1503 (the ‘Aldine’), to the most recent known to us, Turato (2001) and Kovacs (2002). The Aldine is named after its scholarly publisher, Aldus Manutius, who may have been one of the editors. We refer our readers who wish to know more about the history of Euripidean textual scholarship to the excellent surveys printed by R. Kannicht, Helena (Göttingen 1969, in German) 1.109– 29 and J. Diggle, Euripides I (Oxford 1984; in Latin) v–xi; for the IA in particular see Gurd (2005) 61–171. See also Collard and Finglass in (1) c Bibliographical Note above. Here we offer a brief evaluation of the more significant individual editions of IA with commentary. The first, with an almost exclusively text-critical commentary, was by J. Markland (17711, 17832, reprinted 1811 and 1822; in Latin). The first straightforward, sound and wider commentator in a vernacular appears to have been J. H. Monk (18401, revised with a more academic cast in Latin in 18572; see Addenda). A fuller commentated edition was by K. G. Firnhaber (1841, in German). A complete commentary to Euripides deserves mention here, because that of F. A. Paley (IA in Vol. 3, 18601, 18802) remains of use.122 Also in England a small-scale, chiefly linguistic commentary for students came from C. E. S. Headlam (1889) and a larger one, preoccupied with interpolation, from E. B. England (1891); in this respect England’s book was overtaken by D. L. Page’s monograph of 1934 (which nevertheless contained a good deal of linguistic and stylistic matter in a ‘commentary’, pp. 130–206). N. Wecklein’s German commentary of 1914, directed at students very competent in Greek, was concisely thorough. F. Jouan’s volume (1983) broke new ground in the French ‘Budé’ complete Euripides with the fullness of its explanatory notes. K. Cavander’s translation (1973) contains in its commentary some very stimulating observations on the dramaturgy. W. Stockert’s large German 122  Paley’s was the first and last complete commentary upon Euripides in English, and no individual scholar, in any language, has since repeated his achievement on the same scale. N. Wecklein finished separate commentaries on twelve plays.

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edition in two volumes (1992) is the first comprehensive modern commentary, rightly well received. F. Turato’s edition, with Jouan’s text, and Italian translation and notes, is particularly useful and suggestive for interpretation (2001); it is shaped much like this volume and others in our Series. Both Stockert’s and Turato’s editions have exceptionally full introductions. (4)  We print our own Greek text and critical apparatus. For the evidence of papyri, manuscripts and ancient quotations, we have relied principally on the editions of Günther, Stockert and Diggle; we have consulted the facsimile of ms. L, but its value is sometimes limited where the original script has been overwritten, ink is faint or there is underlying erasure. We owe our greatest debt, as all who study this play must, to Diggle’s work: his internationally standard critical edition depends upon expert examination of manuscripts, papyri and book-fragments, on exhaustive scrutiny of all previous textual scholarship, and above all on unparalleled sensitivity to Euripides’ language and metre. For the IA Diggle’s textual conjectures, whether in his text or apparatus alone, are listed by R. Renehan, CPh 93 (1998) 165. Principal differences between our Greek text and: Diggle, OCT (but note that Diggle seldom obelizes in passages he judges ‘scarcely Euripidean’ or ‘not Euripidean’). Reference is in short form to our apparatus. 1–163 suspect in parts: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 5 Wecklein 105 Markland 107 †Κάλχας ... Μενέλεως θ’†: not obelized 149–50 Günther 167 Wilamowitz 231–302 suspect in parts: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 251 †θετόν†: not obelized 263 Matthiae 275 Diggle (apparatus) 291 not obelized 293 ὣς ?Murray 368–9 del. Hartung 373–5 del. Page 373 †ἂν χρείους† 375 †πόλεος ὡς ἄρχων† 404–12 retained:‘scarcely Euripidean’ 407 Nauck 413–39 retained: ‘not Euripidean’ 449 ταῦτα (L) 481 Elmsley 508–10 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 520–1 del. Hartung: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 564–5 not obelized 571 Markland: 571–2a obelized 573 ᾇτε Willink: verse (L) obelized 578 W. Dindorf: †πνέων† 580 ὅθι σε κρίσις ἔμενεν θεᾶν Diggle (apparatus) 589 Blomfield; verse obelized 590–7 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 592 †ἐμήν†: not obelized 602–4 obelized

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Introduction

607–34 suspect in parts: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 614 Hermann 627–30 obelized 636 Porson 657 England 694 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 710 L 723–6 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 724 †καλῶς ἀναγκαίως τε†: not obelized 731 Herwerden 740–50 retained, but 741 del. Monk and 749–50 del. Hartung: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 751–800 retained, but 773–83 del. Hartung:‘scarcely Euripidean’ 775 Höpfner 783 †ἐσεῖται†: not obelized 792 Hermann: verse obelized 801–18 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 813 πνοαῖς L 844 θαύμαζ’ L and 845 εἴκαζε L 915–16 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 919–1035 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 924–5 del. Paley 947 †σῷ πόσει†: not obelized 963–4 del. Hermann 970 †φόνου κηλῖσιν αἵματι†: only αἵματι obelized 1013 Monk 1041 †ἐν δαιτὶ†: †ἐν δαιτὶ θεῶν† 1082 obelized 1084 αἱμάξοντες Diggle (apparatus) 1087–8 obelized: susp. Diggle 1098–1119 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 1151 Jacobs/Musgrave and Scaliger 1168 Fix 1214 ἐμοὶ Diggle (apparatus) 1249 obelized: ‘perhaps corrupt’ 1276–82 retained: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 1276 †ὤ ξέναι†: not obelized 1320–2 †ἅδ’ Αὐλὶς ... πομπαίαν†: 1321–2 †εἰς Τροίαν ... πομπαίαν† 1346 L 1416 λέγω τάδ’ Tr3 in L: †λέγω τάδε < ... >† 1424 γὰρ Hermann 1425 del. Hermann: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 1430– 2 del. Monk: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 1437 Elmsley 1458 P2 1510–31 del. Kirchhoff: ‘scarcely Euripidean’ 1514–18 obelized: only 1516–18 obelized 1516 Markland 1532–1629 del. Porson: 1532–77 ‘scarcely Euripidean’ and 1578–1629 del. (Porson) West

BIBLIOGRAPHY We do not reprint in this volume (for reasons of space) the General Bibliography for the Series, which was last revised and printed in Electra (M. J. Cropp, 2nd edn 2013, pp. 263–73); but we have included under Secondary Works below a few items from it to which we make reference in our Introduction and Commentary. For general purposes we recommend English and American readers in particular to use Michelakis (2006) and Roisman (2014) in the subsidiary section ‘Bibliography’ below. Editions and Commentaries mentioned in the critical apparatus and commentary (of Euripides’ complete plays; editions of the individual play are asterisked) T = Text, Tr = Translation, C = Commentary, N = Notes Aldus Manutius (publisher: the ‘Aldine’ edition), Venice 1503 (T) editio Hervagiana, Basel 15442 (T) editio Brubachiana, Frankfurt 1558 (T) W. Canter, Antwerp 1571 (TN) editio Commeliniana, Heidelberg 1597 (TN) J. Barnes, Cambridge 1694 (TTrC) *J. Markland, London 17711, 17832, repr. edn T. Gaisford, Oxford 1811 and Leipzig 1822 (TC): the 1822 edn contains reprinted reviews by C. J. Blomfield (1814) and P. Elmsley (1811–1812) S. Musgrave, Oxford 1778 (TTrC) A. Matthiae, Leipzig 1813–1836 (TC) L. Dindorf, Leipzig 1825 (T) F. H. Bothe, Leipzig 1825–1826 (TN), preceded by TrN (Berlin and Stettin 1800–18031 and Mannheim 1823–18242): see Diggle, Euripidea (1994) 518 *G. Hermann, Leipzig 1831 (TC) W. Dindorf, Leipzig 18321, Oxford 18695 (TN) *J. A. Hartung, Erlangen 1837, repr. Leipzig 1844 (TC) *J. H. Monk, Cambridge 18401, 18572 (TC)

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*C. G. Firnhaber, Leipzig 1841 (TC) A. Nauck, Leipzig 18541, 18713 (T); see Nauck (4) in Secondary Works below A. Kirchhoff, Berlin 18551, 18672 (T) F. A. Paley, London 1857–18601, 18802 (vol. 3) (TC) H. Weil, Paris 18681, 18993 (TC) R. Prinz and N. Wecklein, Leipzig 1878–1902 (IA 1899) (T) *C. E. S. Headlam, Cambridge 1889 (TC) *E. B. England, London 1891 (TC) G. Murray, Oxford 1902–19091, 19132 (vol. 3) (T) *N. Wecklein, Berlin 1914 (TC) D. L. Page, Actors’ Interpolations in Greek Tragedy (Oxford 1934): pp. 122–216 include a ‘Commentary’ on the text of IA (C) *F. Jouan, Paris 1983 (vol. 7 of the ‘Budé’ edition) (TTrN) *H.-C. Günther, Leipzig 1988 (T); see also Secondary Works below *W. Stockert, Vienna 1992 (TC); see also Secondary Works below J. Diggle, Oxford 1981–1994 (IA in tom. 3) (T); see also Secondary Works below K. Matthiessen (1999) (N, but in effect a mini-edition); see also Secondary Works below *F. Turato, Venice 2001 (T reprinted from Jouan 1983; TrC) D. Kovacs, Cambridge MA and London 1994–2002 (‘Loeb’ edn; IA in vol. 6) (TTrN); see also Secondary Works below Reference to all the works above is by author’s name; in a few places a year-number and/or a page-number are also given. Some English Translations C. R. Walker, Iphigenia in Aulis (with an introduction), in D. Grene, R. Lattimore (eds), The Complete Greek Tragedies, Euripides vol. 4 (Chicago 1958) (much reprinted). K. Cavander, Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides. A translation with commentary (Englewood Cliffs NJ 1973). W. S. Merwin, G. E. Dimock Jr, Euripides. Iphigenia at Aulis. With an introduction (Oxford and New York 1978). Also in P. Burian and A. Shapiro (eds), The Complete Euripides. Volume II (Oxford 2010).

Bibliography

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E. Terranova, in D. R. Slavitt and P. Bovie (eds), Euripides vol. 3 (Philadelphia 1998). J. Morwood, in Euripides, Bacchae and Other Plays. With explanatory notes, and an introduction by E. Hall (Oxford 1999). D. Kovacs (2002): see Editions and Commentaries above. J. Davie, in Euripides. The Bacchae and Other Plays. With an introduction and notes by R. Rutherford (London 2005). Bibliographical Guidance Older works (until 1940) in W. Schmid, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur III.1 (München 1940) 631–56; (until 1970) in Lesky (1983) 354; (until 1990) in Stockert (1992) I. xi–xxi. Then: M. Hose, ‘Euripides, Iphigenie in Aulis, 1970–2000’, in Lustrum 47 (2005: ed. M. Hose), 651–80, 725–6, with evaluative summaries. The volume has only bibliographies for the individual plays, but a further issue of Lustrum has been promised, dealing with general works upon Euripides. For works since 2000 see L’Année Philologique. For text-critical issues and discussions see esp. the listings in Günther (1988) and Stockert (1992) in Editions and Commentaries above, and Gurd (2005) in Secondary Works below. For general monographs on the play see Schreiber (1963), Luschnig (1988) and Michelakis (2006) in Secondary Works below. Michelakis 145–68 has a comprehensive bibliography to Euripides as well as to the play since 1960. The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy, ed. H. Roisman (2014), on 1495–1628 offers a huge general bibliography of references; selective access to it is through the Index of topics, 1629–1716. Secondary Works This list contains all items which are particular to the play and which we cite, except for some discussions of specific points in the Commentary, particularly textual problems. It contains too some items which we have been unable to see first-hand, and some which we do

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Rabinowitz, N. S. 1983. ‘The strategy of inconsistency in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Classical Bulletin 59, 21–6. Rauchenstein, R. 1871. ‘Des Euripides Iphigeneia in Aulis’, JbClassPhil 103, 152–71 Rehm, R. 1994. Marriage to Death. The conflation of wedding and funeral rituals in Greek tragedy (Princeton). Renehan, R. 1998. ‘The Euripidean Studies of James Diggle’, CPh 93, 161–91 and 249–70 (review of Diggle 1981–1994; IA on 264–66). Ritchie, W. 1978. ‘Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 919–74’, in Dionysiaca. Studies ... Sir Denys Page (Cambridge) 179–203. Ritchie, W. (abbreviated as ‘Ritchie’): papers and notes preparatory to an edition and commentary on the play, held in the Classics Department of the University of Sydney: see our Preface II. Roisman. H. (ed.) 2014. The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy (Malden MA, Oxford). Rutherford, R. 2007. ‘ “Why should I mention Io?” Aspects of choral narrative in Greek Tragedy’, CCJ 53, 1–39. Rutherford, R. 2012. Greek Tragic Style: Form, language and interpretation (Cambridge). Said, S. 1989–1990. ‘Iphigénie à Aulis: une pièce panhellénique?’, SEJG 31, 359–78. Sansone, D. 1991. ‘Iphigeneia Changes her Mind’, ICS 16, 161–72. Savignagno, L. 2008. ‘La chiusa della parodo dell’ Ifigenia in Aulide in P. Köln 67’, Incontri triestini di filologia classica 7, 37–51 (not seen by us). Schmidt, J. 1999. ‘Iphigenie in Aulis – Spiegel einer zerbrechenden Welt und Grenzpunkt der Dichtung?’, Philologus 143, 211–248. Schreiber, H. M. 1963. Iphigenies Opfertod (Frankfurt). Schwinge, E. R. 1968. Die Verwendung der Stichomythie in den Dramen des Euripides (Heidelberg). Siegel, H. 1980. ‘Self-delusion and the volte-face of Iphigenia in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Hermes 108, 300–21. Siegel, H. 1981. ‘Agamemnon in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Hermes 109, 257–65. Silva, M. de F. S. 2007. ‘ “Philia” e “kléos” em Ifigenia em Áulide’, Euphrosyne 35, 13–26 (not seen by us).

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Smith, W. D. 1979. ‘Iphigenia in love’, in Arktouros: Hellenic Studies Presented to B. M. W. Knox on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, G. W. Bowerstock et al. (eds) (Berlin and New York). Snell, B. 1928. ‘Euripides’ Aulische Iphigenie’, in B. S., Aischylos and das Handeln im Drama, Philologus. Supplement 20.1. 148–60 (repr. E. Segal (ed.), Oxford Readings in Greek Tragedy, Oxford 1983, 396–405). Sommerstein, A. 2010. The Tangled Ways of Zeus (Oxford). Sorum, C. E. 1992. ‘Myth, choice, and meaning in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, AJPh 113, 527–42. Stanford, W. B. 1983. Greek Tragedy and the Emotions (London). Stevens, P. T. 1976. Colloquial Expressions in Euripides. Hermes Einzelschriften 38 (Wiesbaden). Stieber, M. C. 2009. Euripides and the Language of Craft (Leiden). Stinton, T. C. W. 1965. Euripides and the Judgement of Paris (London, illus.) (repr. in T.C.W.S., Collected Papers on Greek Tragedy, ed. H. Lloyd-Jones (Oxford 1990) 17–75); cited from the 1965 edn. Stinton, T. C. W. 1990: see above. Stockert, W. 1982a. ‘Zum Schlussteil der Parodos der Euripideischen Iphigenie in Aulis (v. 277ff.)’, Prometheus 8, 21–30. Stockert, W. 1982b. ‘Eine Komödieszene in Euripides’ Aulischer Iphigenie’, WS 16, 71–8. Stockert, W. 1984–1985. ‘Zu Klytaimestras Dankesrede an Achill (Euripides Iph. Aul. 977ff.)’, in Studi in onore di ... A. Barigazzi, Sileno 10–11, 227–35. Stockert, W. 1994/95. ‘ἀνώμαλα οὐκ ἀεὶ χείρονα (Zu Iph. Aul. 1375f., Vesp. 486 und Ant. 577)’, WS 107/108, 221–4. Strohm, H. 1957. Euripides. Interpretationen zur dramatischen Form (Mainz). Synodinou, K. 2013. ‘Agamemnon’s change of mind in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Logeion 3, 51–65. Taplin, O. P. 1977. The Stagecraft of Aeschylus: The dramatic use of exits and entrances in Greek tragedy (Oxford). Taplin, O. P. 1993. Comic Angels and Other Approaches to Greek Drama through Vase-Paintings (Oxford).

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Taplin, O. P. 2007. Pots and Plays. Interactions between tragedy and Greek vase-painting of the fourth century BC. (Malibu). Torrance, I. 2013. Metapoetry in Euripides (Oxford). Vitelli, G. 1877. Intorno al alcuni luoghi della Ifigenia in Aulide di Euripide (Florence). Vretska, H. 1961. ‘Agamemnon in Euripides’ Iphigenie in Aulis’, WS 74, 18–39. Walsh, G. W. 1974. ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’ third stasimon’, CPh 69, 241–8. Wassermann, F. M. 1949. ‘Agamemnon in the Iphigeneia at Aulis: a man in an age of crisis’, TAPA 80, 174–86. Webster, T. B. L. 1967. The Tragedies of Euripides (London). Weiss, N. 2014. ‘The antiphonal ending of Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis (1475–1532)’, CPh 109, 119–29. West, M. L. 1981. ‘Tragica V’, BICS 28, 71–8, including ‘The end of Iphigenia in Aulis’ 73–8 = M. L. W., Hellenica, Volume II: Lyric and Drama (Oxford 2013) 318–25. West, M. L. 1982. Greek Metre (Oxford). West, M. L. 1992. Ancient Greek Music (Oxford). von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. 1921. Griechische Verskunst (Berlin). Wiles, D. 1997. Tragedy in Athens. Performance space and theatrical meaning (Cambridge). Willink, C. W. 1971. ‘The Prologue of Iphigenia at Aulis’, CQ 21, 343–64. Willink, C. W. 2002. Conjectures published in Kovacs (2002). Wright, M. 2005. Euripides’ Escape-tragedies (Oxford). Zeitlin, F. 1994. ‘The artful eye: vision, ecphrasis, and spectacle in Euripidean theatre’, in S. Goldhill and R. Osborne (eds), Art and Text in Ancient Greek Culture (Cambridge) 138–96. Zeitlin, F. 1995. ‘Art, memory, and Kleos in Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis’, in B. Goff (ed.) History, Tragedy, Theory: Dialogues on Athenian drama (Austin, Texas) 174–201. Zuntz, G. 1965. An Inquiry into the Transmission of the Plays of Euripides (Cambridge).

ABBREVIATIONS Reference-works DK H. Diels, W. Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (Berlin 19526) DELG P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Grecque. Histoire des Mots (Paris 1968; avec un Supplément 1999) EGT H. M. Roisman (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy (Malden MA and Oxford, 2014) Gantz T. Gantz, Early Greek Myth. A guide to literary and artistic sources (Baltimore 1993) J. D. Denniston, The Greek Particles, 2nd edn by K. J. Dover GP (Oxford 1954) KG R. Kühner, B. Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache. Satzlehre (Hannover 18973) LIMC Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (Zürich and München 1981–2009) LSJ H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon. With a revised supplement (Oxford 1996) OCD The Oxford Classical Dictionary, eds S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, 3rd edn (Oxford 2003), 4th edn (Oxford 2012) PCG R. Kassel and C. Austin, Poetae Comici Graeci (Berlin and New York, 1983–) PMG D. L. Page, Poetae Melici Graeci (Oxford 1962) Smyth H. W. Smyth, Greek Grammar, rev. G. M. Messing (Harvard 1956) TrGF B. Snell, R. Kannicht, S. L. Radt, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (Göttingen 1981–2004, in 5 volumes; vol. 1 19811, 19862) Periodicals are abbreviated in accordance with L’ Année Philologique, and ancient authors and works for the most part in accordance with LSJ, but note A/Aesch(ylus), S/Soph(ocles), E/Eur(ipides),

78

Abbreviations

Ar(istophanes). We do not attribute the Prometheus Vinctus to Aeschylus or the Rhesus to Euripides and cite them simply as PV and Rhesus. Fragmentary plays of Euripides are given their full title followed by a fragment-number (‘F’) and line-number; those of Aeschylus and Sophocles are cited mostly without title, and by ‘F’ and line-number; all Tragic fragments unattributed to any play, or to any poet (adespota, ‘ownerless’) are cited by ‘F’ and line-number. All fragment-numbers are those of TrGF. After their first appearance in the Translation and Commentary the dramatis personae are usually abbreviated, to (Ag)amemnon, O(ld)M(an), Cho(rus), Men(elaus), M(essenger), Clyt(emnestra), Iph(igenia), Ach(illes). Abbreviations of grammatical terms are those in common English use, but note part(iciple), pers(on/onal), subj(unctive); ‘subject’ and ‘object’ are not abbreviated.

NOTE ON THE GREEK TEXT AND CRITICAL APPARATUS The apparatus omits many minor details, generally straightforward corrections of orthographic errors in the manuscript tradition, supply or deletion of ‘movable’ nu, and other small and longaccepted editorial corrections. Not all manuscript readings or editors’ interventions and conjectures recorded in the apparatus are discussed in the commentary, especially when the latter are undisputed elements of the ‘received’ text; they are included simply for information. Abbreviations used in the Apparatus L = Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana 32.2 (about 1310 AD) Lcorr = L’s reading after correction by the orginal scribe L* = L’s reading before its original correction; (L*) such a reading when inferred from ms. P Trl, Tr2, Tr3 = Demetrius Triclinius, corrector of ms. L; Trl = his corrections against L’s exemplar; Tr2 and Tr3 = his two subsequent revisions of L, chiefly his own conjectures and notes; bare Tr = Triclinius when distinction between his first and a later hand is uncertain P P2

= Rome, Vatican Library Palatinus Graecus 287 (about 1315 AD); a copy of L made after its corrections by Trl but before its revisions by Tr2 and 3 a correcting hand in P, working in Italy in the later 15th century

apogr. Par. = Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale grec 2817 and 2887 (both about 1500 AD): copies of L made after its revisions by Triclinius, with occasional corrections and (apparently) independent conjectures

80

Notes

P. Leid. = P. Leiden inv. 510 (3rd century BC); contains vv. 1500– 1509, 784–92, all damaged; re-edited by E. Pöhlmann and M. L. West, Documents of Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 2001) 18–21; L. Prauscello, ZPE 144 (2003) 1–14 P. Köln = Kölner Papyri II 67 (2nd century BC); contains vv. 301–9, 390–2, 569–83, 796–806, 819–20, all damaged or defective; re-edited by H.-C. Günther, ZPE 63 (1986) 4–6. P. Oxy. = Oxyrhynchus Papyri 3719 (3rd century AD), damaged; contains 913–16 Aldine = Editio Aldina (the ‘Aldine Edition’, published by Aldus Manutius, Venice 1503): the first printed edition of all Euripides’ plays (but omitting Electra), based it appears on a now lost copy of L. The editor(s) made a small number of minor corrections and conjectures. * † ... † [ ... ] < ... >

each asterisk indicates a letter erased in a manuscript, and usually then overwritten, the original being now illegible ‘daggers’ (obeli) enclose a word or words deemed incurably corrupt letter(s), word(s), line(s) deleted by editors letter(s) or word(s) added, or lacunae identified, by scribes or scholars add(ed), beg(inning(s)), conj(ectured), corr(ected), def(ended), del(eted), om(itted), punct(uated), susp(ected)

A colon separates details of individual readings or conjectures (letter, word, phrase, clause, line) in the numbered Greek line(s); a semicolon separates such information from that relating to another place in the same line(s). When a correction or conjecture is followed by two scholars’ names, it appears to have been their independent suggestion.

ΙΦΙΓΕΝΕΙΑ Η ΕΝ ΑΥΛΙΔΙ

IPHIGENIA AT AULIS

82

Euripides

The Play’s First Performance

οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αἱ Διδασκαλίαι φέρουσι, τελευτήσαντος Εὐριπίδου τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ δεδιδαχέναι ὁμώνυμον ἐν ἄστει ᾿Ιφιγένειαν τὴν ἐν ᾿Αυλίδι, ᾿Αλκμαιῶνα, Βάκχας.

Scholia on Ar. Frogs 67 = TrGF vol. 1 DID C 22 = TrGF vol. 5 Eur. Alcmeon in Corinth test. 1a

νίκας ... ἀνείλετο ε΄, τὰς μὲν δ΄ περιών, τὴν δὲ μίαν μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν, ἐπιδειξαμένου τὸ δρᾶμα τοῦ ἀδελφιδιοῦ αὐτοῦ Εὐριπίδου.

Suda ε 3695 = TrGF vol. 5 Euripides T 3.5 τὰ τοῦ δράματος πρόσωπα ᾿Αγαμέμνων, πρεσβύτης, χορός, Μενέλαος, , Κλυταιμήστρα, ᾿Ιφιγένεια, ᾿Αχιλλεύς, [θεράπων], ἄγγελος

τὰ τοῦ δράματος πρόσωπα: Markland; θεράπων del. Markland; Markland

Iphigenia at Aulis

83

The Play’s First Performance

The Production Records also attest this, that after Euripides had died his son of the same name produced in the city Iphigenia at Aulis, Alcmeon, Bacchae.

Scholia on Ar. Frogs 67 = TrGF vol. 1 DID C 22 = TrGF vol. 5 Euripides, Alcmeon in Corinth test. 1a, where TrGF cites Suda ε 3695 = vol. 5 Euripides T 3.5: ‘He won five victories, four in his life-time, and one after his death, when his nephew, himself named Euripides, was the producer.’ Characters AGAMEMNON, king of Mycenae/Argos and commander of the Greek expedition against Troy, which is at Aulis but prevented from sailing OLD MAN, the slave of Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra MENELAUS, king of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon MESSENGER from the retinue of Clytemnestra CLYTEMNESTRA, wife of Agamemnon IPHIGENIA, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra ORESTES, infant son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra (mute) ACHILLES, a Greek warrior, leader of the Myrmidons [MESSENGER from the Greek army to Clytemnestra] CHORUS of young married women from Chalcis, a city on the island of Euboea across the strait of Euripus and opposite Aulis ATTENDANTS of Clytemnestra and SOLDIERS of Achilles, all played by mutes

84

Euripides

ΑΓΑΜΕΜΝΩΝ Ὦ πρέσβυ, δόμων τῶνδε πάροιθεν στεῖχε. ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΗΣ στείχω. τί δὲ καινουργεῖς, Ἀγάμεμνον ἄναξ; Αγ. σπεῦδε. Πρ. σπεύδω. μάλα τοι γῆρας τοὐμὸν ἄυπνον κἄτ’ ὀφθαλμοῖς τοὐξὺ πάρεστιν. Αγ. τίς ποτ’ ἄρ’ ἀστὴρ ὅδε πορθμεύει σείριος ἐγγὺς τῆς ἑπταπόρου Πλειάδος ᾄσσων ἔτι μεσσήρης; οὔκουν φθόγγος γ’ οὔτ’ ὀρνίθων οὔτε θαλάσσης· σιγαὶ δ’ἀνέμων τόνδε κατ’ Εὔριπον ἔχουσιν. Πρ. τί δὲ σὺ σκηνῆς ἐκτὸς ἀΐσσεις, Ἀγάμεμνον ἄναξ; ἔτι δ’ ἡσυχία τήνδε κατ’ Αὖλιν κἀκίνητοι φυλακαὶ τειχέων.

5

10

15

1–163 integrity and authenticity impugned (see below), but defended esp. by Mellert-Hofmann (1969), Knox (1972), Jouan (1983), Erbse (1984), Matthiessen (1999), Turato (2001), and 49–96, 1–48, 97–115, 116–63 in that order by Willink (1971); strongly doubted esp. by Diggle (1994) 48–50 and in OCT, Bain (1977a); less strongly by Günther (1988). The anapaestic 1–48 were condemned first by Blomfield (1814) and 115–63 by Bremi (1819), and both esp. by Murray (1909), Page (1934). In the iambic 49–114 49–109 were condemned first by W. Dindorf (1830), 110–14 by Hartung (1837); defended as a whole esp. by Murray, Page, Fraenkel (1955), and 49–105 by Kovacs (2003). Partial suspicions or deletions by these and others scholars are noted in their place. See the fuller discussion in the Commentary 1–163 n. 2.1–3. 1 δόμων τῶνδε: Tr1: τῶνδε δόμων L 3 σπεῦδε Porson: πεύσει L πεύσῃ Tr1: σπεύσεις; (i.e. a question) Dobree 4 τοι Livineius, Barnes: τὸ (L*?), P, Tr3: del. Trl; γῆρας in erasure Tr 4–5 4 τό (del. Tr1) and 5 del. (Bothe) Günther 5 κἄτ’ (i.e. καὶ ἔτ’) ... τοὐξὺ Wecklein: καὶ ἐπ’ ... ὀξὺ L 6–11 Αγ. Bremi, citing Theon (below): 6 Αγ., 7–8 Πρ., 9–11 Αγ. L 6–7 τί ποτ’ ... | σείριος; Theon of Smyrna, On Stars p. 147 ed. Hiller 14 τήνδε Blomfield, Kassel: τῆδε (i.e. τῇδε) L

Iphigenia at Aulis

85

The action is set before Agamemnon’s hut at Aulis. Stage-right is the road to the rest of Greece, stage-left the way to the body of the Greek army and its ships. It is towards the end of night. Enter AGAMEMNON, holding a lantern and a writing tablet, and then the OLD MAN. Both chant their lines. AGAMEMNON Old man, come here, in front of the hut! OLD MAN I’m coming! But what strange activity is this, lord Agamemnon? Ag. Hurry! OM I’m hurrying! My old age is very wakeful, and my eyes remain keen-sighted. (5) Ag. Whatever is this star that passes with blazing light, still gliding in mid-heaven near the Pleiades on their seven paths? At all events there is no voice from birds or sea. Silence from the winds (10) holds the strait of Euripus. OM Why are you pacing quickly about outside your hut, lord Agamemnon? Still there is silence over Aulis here, and the guards on the walls do not stir. (15) Let us go inside.

86

Πρ. Αγ. Πρ.

Euripides

στείχωμεν ἔσω.  Αγ. ζηλῶ σέ, γέρον, ζηλῶ δ’ ἀνδρῶν ὃς ἀκίνδυνον βίον ἐξεπέρασ’ ἀγνὼς ἀκλεής· τοὺς δ’ ἐν τιμαῖς ἧσσον ζηλῶ. καὶ μὴν τὸ καλόν γ’ ἐνταῦθα βίου. τοῦτο δέ γ’ ἐστὶν τὸ καλὸν σφαλερόν, καὶ τὸ πρότιμον γλυκὺ μέν, λυπεῖ δὲ προσιστάμενον. τοτὲ μὲν τὰ θεῶν οὐκ ὀρθωθέντ’ ἀνέτρεψε βίον, τοτὲ δ’ ἀνθρώπων γνῶμαι πολλαὶ καὶ δυσάρεστοι διέκναισαν. οὐκ ἄγαμαι ταῦτ’ ἀνδρὸς ἀριστέως. οὐκ ἐπὶ πᾶσίν σ’ ἐφύτευσ’ ἀγαθοῖς, Ἀγάμεμνον, Ἀτρεύς. δεῖ δέ σε χαίρειν καὶ λυπεῖσθαι· θνητὸς γὰρ ἔφυς. κἂν μὴ σὺ θέλῃς, τὰ θεῶν οὕτω βουλόμεν’ ἔσται. σὺ δὲ λαμπτῆρος φάος ἀμπετάσας δέλτον τε γράφεις τήνδ’ ἣν πρὸ χερῶν ἔτι βαστάζεις, καὶ ταὐτὰ πάλιν γράμματα συγχεῖς

20

25

30 33–4 35

16b ζηλῶ ... 19 end Alexander of Aphrodisias on Aristotle, Topics 116a13 p. 223 ed. Wallies, Stobaeus 4.16.4 16 ζηλῶ ...  18 ἀκλεής Plutarch, Moralia 471c  17 δ’ L, Plut., Alex.: σε Stob. 18 ἐξεπέρασ’ ἀγνὼς L, Plut.: ἕξει πέρας ἀγνὼς Alex.: ἐξεπέρασας ἀγνώστως Stob. 19 ζηλῶ L, Alex.: ἐπαινῶ Stob. 22 καὶ τὸ πρότιμον Conington, Nauck: καὶ τὸ φιλότιμον L: καὶ φιλότιμον Markland: also [καὶ] τό φιλότιμον Markland; 22 del. Bothe 23 adapted in Machon fr. 4.24 Gow γλυκὺ μὲν προσιστάμενον δὲ λυπεῖ πανταχοῦ 28–33 Stobaeus 4.41.6, with order of lines disturbed 28 Chrysippus, Stoic.Vet.Fragm. II 180.5 ed. von Arnim 29–33 Plutarch, Mor. 103b and 29–31 33e 29 πᾶσίν σ’ Plut. 103b, without σ’ some mss. 33e and Stob.: πᾶσι σ’ L; ἔφυσεν Plut. 33e, some mss. 103b; ἔφυς Stob. 33 βουλομένων ἔσται Plut. 103b: νενόμισται Stob.

Iphigenia at Aulis

Ag. OM Ag.

OM

87

I envy you, old man, I envy any man who passes through life with no risk, no name, no glory. Those in places of honour, I envy less. And yet it is they who have success in life. (20) But that success is an unsteady thing, and while preferment has its sweetness, it brings pain to the man it attends. Now the will of the gods comes right and overturns his life, now it is mankind (25) whose many counsels arising from discontent crush it. I do not admire this in a great man. It was not so that you should find success everywhere, Agamemnon, that Atreus fathered you. (30) You must meet with joy and sorrow, for you are mortal. Even if you do not wish it, what the gods will, must be. No, you shed lamp-light around and are writing on this tablet (35) which you still hold in your hands, and you keep erasing what you

88

Euripides



καὶ σφραγίζεις λύεις τ’ ὀπίσω ῥίπτεις τε πέδῳ πεύκην, θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυ χέων, κἀκ τῶν ἀπόρων οὐδενὸς ἐνδεῖς μὴ οὐ μαίνεσθαι. τί πονεῖς; τί νέον παρὰ σοί, βασιλεῦ; φέρε κοίνωσον μῦθον ἐς ἡμᾶς. πρὸς ἄνδρ’ ἀγαθὸν πιστόν τε φράσεις· σῇ γάρ μ’ ἀλόχῳ ποτὲ Τυνδάρεως πέμπει φερνὴν συννυμφοκόμον τε δίκαιον.

Αγ.

ἐγένοντο Λήδᾳ Θεστιάδι τρεῖς παρθένοι, Φοίβη Κλυταιμήστρα τ’, ἐμὴ ξυνάορος, Ἑλένη τε· ταύτης οἱ τὰ πρῶτ’ ὠλβισμένοι μνηστῆρες ἦλθον Ἑλλάδος νεανίαι. δειναὶ δ’ ἀπειλαὶ καὶ κατ’ ἀλλήλων φθόνος ξυνίσταθ’, ὅστις μὴ λάβοι τὴν παρθένον. τὸ πρᾶγμα δ’ ἀπόρως εἶχε Τυνδάρεῳ πατρί, δοῦναί τε μὴ δοῦναί τε, τῆς τύχης ὅπως ἅψαιτ’ ἄριστα. καί νιν εἰσῆλθεν τάδε· ὅρκους συνάψαι δεξιάς τε συμβαλεῖν μνηστῆρας ἀλλήλοισι καὶ δι’ ἐμπύρων σπονδὰς καθεῖναι κἀπαράσασθαι τάδε· ὅτου γυνὴ γένοιτο Τυνδαρὶς κόρη,

40–1 41–2 45

50

55

60

39 πέδω (i.e. πέδῳ) πεύκην Tr1: πεύκην πέδω L 41 κἀκ Naber: καὶ L 42 μὴ οὐ μαίνεσθαι Tr3, P2: μὴ θυμαίνεσθαι (L*)P 43 τί πονεῖς; τί νέον Blomfield: τί π.; | τί π.; τί ν. (L*)P: τί π.; | τί π.; τί ν. Tr?2: τί πονεῖς; τί π.; | τί ν.; τί ν. Tr3, P2; παρὰ Porson: περὶ L 45 P2 46 ποτὲ Barnes: τότε L 47 πέμπει Porson: πέμπεν L 53 φθόνος Markland: φόνος L 54 δὴ Nauck (4) 57 ἄριστα] ἄθραυστα Hemsterhuys: see Doubtful Fragments ii, after the play-text

Iphigenia at Aulis

89

have written, seal the pine-tablet up and break it open again, and fling it on the ground, shedding big, rich tears, (40) and in your helplessness you’re nothing short of going mad. What troubles you? What’s new with you, my king? Come, talk it over with me. You will be speaking to a good and trustworthy man; (45) for Tyndareus sent me to your wife as part of her bridal dowry long ago; and I am an upright man. Ag.

(speaking now) Leda, the child of Thestius, had three daughters, Phoebe and Clytemnestra, my wife, (50) and Helen. To woo Helen there came the young men who were most blest by wealth in Greece. Terrible threats and jealousy arose between them at the prospect of failing to win the maiden, and her father Tyndareus was in a quandary over this. (55) Should he give her or not, to deal best with what was happening? And the idea came to him that the suitors should join in an oath, clasp one another’s right hands, burn sacrifices and pour libations, and swear to this (60) – that whichever of them should have the daughter of Tyndareus as

90



Euripides

τούτῳ συναμυνεῖν, εἴ τις ἐκ δόμων λαβὼν οἴχοιτο τόν τ’ ἔχοντ’ ἀπωθοίη λέχους, κἀπιστρατεύσειν καὶ κατασκάψειν πόλιν Ἕλλην’ ὁμοίως βάρβαρόν θ’ ὅπλων μέτα. ἐπεὶ δ’ ἐπιστώθησαν – εὖ δέ πως γέρων ὑπῆλθεν αὐτοὺς Τυνδάρεως πυκνῇ φρενί –, δίδωσ’ ἑλέσθαι θυγατρὶ μνηστήρων ἕνα, ὅποι πνοαὶ φέροιεν Ἀφροδίτης φίλαι. ἡ δ’ εἵλεθ’, ὅς σφε μήποτ’ ὤφελεν λαβεῖν, Μενέλαον. ἐλθὼν δ’ ἐκ Φρυγῶν ὁ τὰς θεὰς κρίνας ὅδ’, ὡς ὁ μῦθος ἀνθρώπων ἔχει, Λακεδαίμον’, ἀνθηρὸς μὲν εἱμάτων στολῇ χρυσῷ τε λαμπρός, βαρβάρῳ χλιδήματι, ἐρῶν ἐρῶσαν ᾤχετ’ ἐξαναρπάσας Ἑλένην πρὸς Ἴδης βούσταθμ’, ἔκδημον λαβὼν Μενέλαον. ὁ δὲ καθ’ Ἑλλάδ’ οἰστρήσας δρόμῳ ὅρκους παλαιοὺς Τυνδάρεω μαρτύρεται, ὡς χρὴ βοηθεῖν τοῖσιν ἠδικημένοις. τοὐντεῦθεν οὖν Ἕλληνες ᾄξαντες δορί, τεύχη λαβόντες στενόπορ’ Αὐλίδος βάθρα ἥκουσι τῆσδε, ναυσὶν ἀσπίσιν θ’ ὁμοῦ ἵπποις τε πολλοῖς ἅρμασίν τ’ ἠσκημένοι.

65

70

75

80

62 συναμυνεῖν Heath: συναμύνειν L 64 κἀπιστρατεύσειν Markland: κἀπιστρατεύειν L 69 ὅποι Lenting: ὅτου L: ὅπου Heath 70 ὅς σφε Monk: ὥς γε L 71b ἐλθὼν ...  77a Μενέλαον Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus III 2.13.1 Stählin 72 κρίνων Clem.; ὡς ὁ Tr1, Clem.: ὡς L; ἀνθρώπων] Ἀργείων Clem. 73 στολὴν Clem. 74 τε L, Clem.: δὲ Markland 77 δρόμῳ Markland: μόρῳ L: μόνος P2 (μου P): χόλῳ Stockert: ἔρῳ Willink 79 ἠδικημένοις Tr: ἀδικουμένοις L* 80 τοὐλευθερὸν δ’ Ἕλληνες ᾄξαντες ποσίν Aristotle, Rhetoric III.11 1411b30 83 ἅρμασίν τ’ Reiske: θ’ ἅρμασιν L

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his wife, they should all join to help him if anyone took her from her home and went off with her, ousting her husband from his marriage-bed; and they should go on campaign and by force of arms raze his city, Greek or barbarian alike. (65) And when they had pledged themselves – it was a neat scheme with which the crafty invention of old Tyndareus caught them – he allowed his daughter to choose whichever of the suitors the sweet winds of Aphrodite should carry her towards. And she chose – if only he had never taken her! (70) – Menelaus. And to Sparta there came from the Phrygians this man who judged the goddesses – as men tell the tale – dazzling in the finery of his robes, a-glitter with gold, with all the luxury of barbarians. He fell in love with Helen and she with him, and finding Menelaus away from home, (75) he snatched her up and went off to his ox-stalls on Mount Ida. So Menelaus raced the length and breadth of Greece in a frenzy, calling in witness the old oath they had sworn to Tyndareus – that they must help those wronged. After that the Greeks rushed to war. They took their arms and came, (80) equipped with ships and shields together, to Aulis

92



Euripides

κἀμὲ στρατηγεῖν †κἆτα† Μενέλεω χάριν εἵλοντο, σύγγονόν γε· τἀξίωμα δὲ ἄλλος τις ὤφελ’ ἀντ’ ἐμοῦ λαβεῖν τόδε. ἠθροισμένου δὲ καὶ ξυνεστῶτος στρατοῦ ἥμεσθ’ ἀπλοίᾳ χρώμενοι κατ’ Αὐλίδα. Κάλχας δ’ ὁ μάντις ἀπορίᾳ κεχρημένοις ἀνεῖλεν Ἰφιγένειαν ἣν ἔσπειρ’ ἐγὼ Ἀρτέμιδι θῦσαι τῇ τόδ’ οἰκούσῃ πέδον, καὶ πλοῦν τ’ ἔσεσθαι καὶ κατασκαφὰς Φρυγῶν θύσασι, μὴ θύσασι δ’ οὐκ εἶναι τάδε. κλυὼν δ’ ἐγὼ ταῦτ’, ὀρθίῳ κηρύγματι Ταλθύβιον εἶπον πάντ’ ἀφιέναι στρατόν, ὡς οὔποτ’ ἂν τλὰς θυγατέρα κτανεῖν ἐμήν. οὗ δή μ’ ἀδελφὸς πάντα προσφέρων λόγον ἔπεισε τλῆναι δεινά. κἀν δέλτου πτυχαῖς γράψας ἔπεμψα πρὸς δάμαρτα τὴν ἐμὴν πέμπειν Ἀχιλλεῖ θυγατέρ’ ὡς γαμουμένην, τό τ’ ἀξίωμα τἀνδρὸς ἐκγαυρούμενος, συμπλεῖν τ’ Ἀχαιοῖς οὕνεκ’ οὐ θέλοι λέγων, εἰ μὴ παρ’ ἡμῶν εἶσιν ἐς Φθίαν λέχος· πειθὼ γὰρ εἶχον τήνδε πρὸς δάμαρτ᾽ ἐμήν, ψευδῆ συνάψας ἀμφὶ παρθένου γάμον. μόνοι δ’ Ἀχαιῶν ἴσμεν ὡς ἔχει τάδε

85

90

95

100

105

84–5 Scholia on Iliad 1.102, 2.108, 7.180, whence (?) Eustathius, Iliad in these places (57.31–32, 185.4–6, 674.53–54 van der Valk) 84 κἆτα (i.e. καὶ εἶτα)] δῆτα Elmsley, Nauck: κάρτα Heath: πάντα Renehan; στρατηγὸν (Conington) Μενέλεῳ μὲν εἰς χάριν Stockert 85 συγγόνου Diggle 89 κεχρημένοις Heath: κεχρημένος L 92 κατασκαφὰς Heath: κατασφαγὰς L 93 del. Conington 100 πέμπειν] στέλλειν Markland 104–14 del. Klinkenberg (104–10 Willink, 111–14 England) 105 ἀμφὶ παρθένου Markland: ἀντὶ παρθένου L: ἀμφὶ παρθένῳ Hennig; τόνδε παρθένῳ γάμον Günther 106 lacuna after this verse Stockert

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here, built by its narrow strait. And †and then† they chose me to be general, as a favour to Menelaus, as his brother, of course. If only someone else had won this honour and not me! (85) With the expedition gathered together and all assembled, we are sitting at Aulis idle, unable to sail. And Calchas the seer announced the divine will to us in our helplessness: I had to sacrifice Iphigenia, my own daughter, (90) to Artemis who dwells in this place. And we would sail and sack the Phrygians’ city if we performed this sacrifice; but if we did not sacrifice her, this was not to be. When I heard this, I told Talthybius to make a loud proclamation, to dismiss the whole army (95) – for I would never bring myself to kill my daughter. At that point, my brother put all kinds of argument and persuaded me to bring myself to a terrible deed. So I wrote on folded tablets which I sent to my wife, to send my daughter here to be married to Achilles. (100) I boasted of the man’s high worth and said that he was not willing to sail with the Achaeans unless a bride from my family were to go to Phthia. For I used this means of persuasion upon my wife – putting together a false marriage for the girl. We alone of the Achaeans

94

Euripides



†Κάλχας Ὀδυσσεὺς Μενέλεώς θ’†. ἃ δ’ οὐ καλῶς ἔγνων τότ’, αὖθις μεταγράφω καλῶς πάλιν ἐς τήνδε δέλτον, ἣν κατ’ εὐφρόνης < ... > λύοντα καὶ συνδοῦντά μ’ εἰσεῖδες, γέρον. ἀλλ’ εἷα χώρει τάσδ’ ἐπιστολὰς λαβὼν πρὸς Ἄργος. ἃ δὲ κέκευθε δέλτος ἐν πτυχαῖς, λόγῳ φράσω σοι πάντα τἀγγεγραμμένα· πιστὸς γὰρ ἀλόχῳ τοῖς τ’ ἐμοῖς δόμοισιν εἶ.

Πρ. Αγ. Πρ. Αγ.

λέγε καὶ σήμαιν’, ἵνα καὶ γλώσσῃ σύντονα τοῖς σοῖς γράμμασιν αὐδῶ. πέμπω σοι πρὸς ταῖς πρόσθεν δέλτους, ὦ Λήδας ἔρνος, μὴ στέλλειν τὰν σὰν ἶνιν πρὸς τὰν κολπώδη πτέρυγ’ Εὐβοίας Αὖλιν ἀκλύσταν. εἰς ἄλλας ὥρας γὰρ δὴ παιδὸς δαίσομεν ὑμεναίους. καὶ πῶς Ἀχιλεὺς λέκτρων ἀπλακὼν οὐ μέγα φυσῶν θυμὸν ἐπαρεῖ σοὶ σῇ τ’ ἀλόχῳ; τόδε καὶ δεινόν. σήμαιν’ ὅτι φῄς. ὄνομ’, οὐκ ἔργον, παρέχων Ἀχιλεὺς

110

114 117 118 115 116 119 120

125

107–8 Μενέλεως . ἃ δ’ οὐ | καλῶς [ἔγνων] τότ’, αὖθις Vitelli 109 εὐφρόνην Tr?2; (σκ- in erasure) P2: Wecklein: Barrett 115–16 transferred after 118 by Reiske; ταῖς (L) ... δέλτους Monk, also τὰς ... δέλτους: ταῖς ... δέλτοις L 119 τὰν σὰν ἶνι[ν] Inscr. Délos 2459 II BCH Supp. I (1973) 410–11 120 τὰν del. Monk 121 susp. Günther; ἄκλυστον Blaydes 122–3 εἰς ἄλλας γὰρ δὴ παιδὸς | δαίσομεν ὥρας ὑμεναίους Herwerden 124 λέκτρων (earlier Scaliger) ἀπλακὼν Burney: λέκτρ***πλακὼν L*: λέκτρ’ ἀμπλακὼν Lcorr (or Tr1?) 125 ἐπαρεῖ Reiske: ἀπαίρει L 128 ὄνομ’ ἀντ’ ἔργου (conj. Unger: ὄνομα ἓν τέρπου mss.) παρεχομένου Libanius, Letters 1322 Förster

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OM Ag.

OM

Ag.

95

know of this situation, †Calchas, Odysseus and Menelaus.† (105) My decision then was dishonourable, and now I am writing an honourable countermand on this tablet which you have seen me tying and untying in the night (a word missing), old man. (110) But come now, take this letter, and off you go to Argos! I shall tell you all that is written and lies concealed in these folded tablets; for you are faithful to my wife and my house. (chanting) Speak and make it plain, so that what my tongue says (117) may be in harmony with what you have written. (118) (singing) I send you a tablet in addition to the former one, (115) O daughter of Leda, (116) (to tell you) not to send your child (119) to the bay enfolded by Euboea’s wing, (120) to sheltered Aulis. It will be at another time that we shall feast our daughter’s wedding. (chanting) And what of Achilles? If he is robbed of the marriage, will he not burst out in indignation and stir up his resentment (125) against you and your wife? This is a real danger! Make plain what you mean. (singing) Achilles has provided his name, nothing substantial; he does not know about the marriage or what we are getting up

96

    Πρ. Αγ. Αγ. Πρ. Αγ. Πρ.

Euripides

οὐκ οἶδε γάμους, οὐδ’ ὅτι πράσσομεν, οὐδ’ ὅτι κείνῳ παῖδ’ ἐπεφήμισα νυμφείους εἰς ἀγκώνων εὐνὰς ἐκδώσειν λέκτροις. δεινά γ’ ἐτόλμας, Ἀγάμεμνον ἄναξ, ὃς τῷ τῆς θεᾶς σὴν παῖδ᾽ ἄλοχον φατίσας ἦγες σφάγιον Δαναοῖς. οἴμοι, γνώμας ἐξέσταν, αἰαῖ, πίπτω δ’ εἰς ἄταν. ἀλλ’ ἴθ’ ἐρέσσων σὸν πόδα, γήρᾳ μηδὲν ὑπείκων.  Πρ. σπεύδω, βασιλεῦ. μή νυν μήτ’ ἀλσώδεις ἵζου κρήνας μήθ’ ὕπνῳ θελχθῇς. εὔφημα θρόει. πάντῃ δὲ πόρον σχιστὸν ἀμείβων λεῦσσε, φυλάσσων μή τίς σε λάθῃ τροχαλοῖσιν ὄχοις παραμειψαμένη παῖδα κομίζουσ’ ἐνθάδ’ ἀπήνη Δαναῶν πρὸς ναῦς. ἔσται.  Αγ. κλῄθρων δ’ ἐξόρμοις ἢν ἀντήσῃς πομπαῖσιν, †πάλιν ἐξορμάσεις χαλινούς,† ἐπὶ Κυκλώπων ἱεὶς θυμέλας.

130

135

140

145

150

130–2 susp. Günther 130 οὐδέ τι Willink; ἐπεφήμισα Markland: ἐπέφησα L 131 νυμφείοις Diggle 132 ἐκδώσειν Markland: ἐνδώσειν L; λέκτρον Monk 133 γ’ ἐτόλμας Markland: γε τολμᾷς L 134 ὃς τῷ Canter: οὕτω L 145 τίς Markland: τι L; λάθη Lcorr from λάβη 148 ναῦς Tr3: ναούς L 149–52 del. Monk, W. Dindorf 149 ἔσται Tr3; ἐξόρμοις Bothe: ἐξόρμα Lcorr (Tr1?): ἐξώρμα L: ἐξορμώσαις Wecklein 149–50 ἐξόρμοις (Bothe) | ἢν ἀντήσῃς πομπαῖσιν Günther: | ἤν νιν πόμπαις ἀντήσῃς L 151 ἐξορμάσεις] ἐξόρμα, σεῖε Blomfield: εἰσόρμα, σεῖε (Blomfield) Wecklein

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OM

Ag. OM Ag. OM Ag.

OM Ag.

97

to – nor that I promised my child to him (130) to embrace as a bride in the marriage-bed. (chanting) That was a terrible deed you brought yourself to do, lord Agamemnon, promising your child as wife to the son of the goddess when you meant to bring her here as a blood-sacrifice for the Danaans. (135) (singing) Ah, me! I was out of my mind. Oh, what have I done? I am falling into utter ruin. Now go, move fast on your feet! No submitting to old age! (chanting) I’ll hurry, my king! (140) (singing) No sitting by woodland springs, or falling beneath the spell of sleep! (chanting) Quiet! Say no more. (chanting now) As you pass any place where roads diverge, keep your eyes open in case you fail to spot (145) passing you on rolling wheels, bringing my daughter here, a carriage on its way to the ships of the Danaans. (chanting) I shall. (singing, or perhaps again chanting) If you meet the escort setting out from her chamber-doors, (150) †set the horses’ bridles off back again,† and send her to the Cyclopean hearth-altars.

98

Πρ. Αγ.

Euripides

πιστὸς δὲ φράσας τάδε πῶς ἔσομαι, λέγε, παιδὶ σέθεν τῇ σῇ τ’ ἀλόχῳ; σφραγῖδα φύλασσ’ ἣν ἐπὶ δέλτῳ τῇδε κομίζεις. ἴθι· λευκαίνει τόδε φῶς ἤδη λάμπουσ’ ἠὼς πῦρ τε τεθρίππων τῶν Ἀελίου. σύλλαβε μόχθων. θνητῶν δ’ ὄλβιος ἐς τέλος οὐδεὶς οὐδ’ εὐδαίμων· οὔπω γὰρ ἔφυ τις ἄλυπος.

ΧΟΡΟΣ ἔμολον ἀμφὶ παρακτίαν ψάμαθον Αὐλίδος ἐναλίας, Εὐρίπου διὰ χευμάτων κέλσασα στενοπόρθμου, Χαλκίδα πόλιν ἐμὰν προλιποῦσ’, ἀγχιάλων ὑδάτων τροφὸν τᾶς κλεινᾶς Ἀρεθούσας, Ἀχαιῶν στρατιὰν ὡς ἐσιδοίμαν Ἀχαιῶν τε πλάτας ναυσιπόρους ἡ μιθέων, οὓς ἐπὶ Τροίαν

155

160–61

στροφὴ α 165

170

156 τήνδε L, with -ῆ- (i.e. τῆδε) written above the line, L or Tr2 161 θνητῶν ...  163 ἄλυπος Clement of Alexandria, Stromata III 2.13.1 Stählin and Orion, Anthology 8.8 161 ἐς (εἰς L) τέλος om. Clem. 164–302 integrity and authenticity suspected: 164–230 del. first Hermann, 231–302 del. first Boeckh; 164–230 def. most eds, and 231–302 condemned by many, since Monk; 231–302 def. e.g. Wilamowitz, Günther, Stockert; some interference suspected, e.g. Jouan, Lesky. See Commentary 164–302 n. 4. 164 παρακτίαν ed. Brubachiana: παρ’ ἀκτίαν Tr2/3: παρ’ ἀκτὰν L 167 στενοπόρθμου Wilamowitz: στενόπορθμον L: στενοπόρθμων Weil 169 ἀγχίαλον Monk 171 ἐσιδοίμαν Elmsley: ἴδοιμ’ ἂν L 172 Ἀχαιῶν] Ἀτρειδᾶν Camper; δὲ Monk 173 οὓς Scaliger: ὡς L

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OM Ag.

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(chanting) But if I say this, how shall I win belief, tell me, with your daughter and your wife? (chanting) Keep safe the seal which you carry (155) on these tablets. Go! The glimmering dawn and the fiery four-horsed chariot of the Sun already bring a gleam of whiteness here to the sky. Share my troubles! (160) No mortal is prosperous or fortunate till the end. No one has yet been born free from sorrow.

AGAMEMNON goes into the hut and the OLD MAN leaves stage-right for Mycenae. The CHORUS of women from Chalcis in Euboea enter stage-left. CHORUS (singing and dancing; strophe 1) I came along on the sandy shore of Aulis that lies by the sea (165), after putting in across the currents of Euripus’ narrow strait, leaving my city of Chalcis, nurse of the waters of famous Arethusa close by the sea. (170) To view the army of the Achaeans was my purpose, and the seafaring vessels of the Achaean demi-gods, whom, our husbands

100

Euripides



ἐλάταις χιλιόναυσιν τὸν ξανθὸν Μενέλαόν ἁμέτεροι πόσεις ἐνέπουσ’ Ἀγαμέμνονά τ’ εὐπατρίδαν στέλλειν ἐπὶ τὰν Ἑλέναν, ἀπ’ Εὐ ρώτα δονακοτρόφου Πάρις ὁ βουκόλος ἃν ἔλαβε δῶρον τᾶς Ἀφροδίτας, ὅτ’ ἐπὶ κρηναίαισι δρόσοις Ἥρᾳ Παλλάδι τ’ ἔριν ἔριν μορφᾶς ἁ Κύπρις ἔσχεν.



πολύθυτον δὲ δι’ ἄλσος Ἀρ- τέμιδος ἤλυθον ὀρομένα, φοινίσσουσα παρῇδ’ ἐμὰν αἰσχύνᾳ νεοθαλεῖ, ἀσπίδος ἔρυμα καὶ κλισίας ὁπλοφόρους Δαναῶν θέλουσ’ ἵππων τ’ ὄχλον ἰδέσθαι. κατεῖδον δὲ δύ’ Αἴαντε συνέδρω, τὸν Οἰλέως Τελαμῶνός τε γόνον, τὸν Σαλαμῖνος στέφανον, Πρω τεσίλαόν τ’ ἐπὶ θάκοις πεσσῶν ἡδομένους μορ φαῖσι πολυπλόκοις Παλαμήδεά θ’, ὃν τέκε παῖς ὁ Ποσειδᾶνος, Διομήδεά θ’ ἡδοναῖς δίσκου κεχαρημένον,

175

180

ἀντιστροφὴ α 186

190

195

200

175 Fritzsche 186 ὀρομένα Canter: ὁρωμέναν L 188 νεοθαλῆ Blaydes 190 θέλουσ’ Tr2/3: ἐθέλουσ’ (L*P) 191 τ’ ὄχλον Heath: ὄχλον τ’ (L*P): ὄχλον Tr2/3 193 τε γόνον Tr2/3: τε*γονον L: perhaps τ’ ἔκγονον L*: ἔκγονον P; line-end τὸν Monk: τοῖς L 194 σαλαμῖνος P2: σαλαμινίοις L

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say, the fair-haired Menelaus (175) and the nobly-born Agamemnon are leading a fleet of a thousand ships to Troy to get Helen: Paris the oxherd took her (180) from Eurotas’ reedy river, as the gift of Aphrodite when by the dewy waters of a spring the Cyprian goddess joined in strife, strife with Hera and Pallas over beauty. (antistrophe 1) I came in haste through the sacred grove of Artemis, (185) place of many sacrifices, my cheeks turning red with the bashfulness of a young woman, wishing to see the guarding shields and armed encampment of the Danaans, (190) and their mass of horse-chariots. And I saw the two Ajaxes sitting together, the son of Oileus and the son of Telamon, the glory of Salamis; and Protesilaus (195) and Palamedes whom the son of Poseidon fathered, as they sat taking delight in the intricate patterns of draughts; and Diomedes enjoying (200) the pleasures

102

Euripides



παρὰ δὲ Μηριόνην, Ἄρεος ὄζον, θαῦμα βροτοῖσιν, τὸν ἀπὸ νησαίων τ’ ὀρέων Λαέρτα τόκον, ἅμα δὲ Νι ρέα, κάλλιστον Ἀχαιῶν.



τὸν ἰσάνεμόν τε ποδοῖν λαιψηροδρόμον Ἀχιλλέα, τὸν ἁ Θέτις τέκε καὶ Χείρων ἐξεπόνησεν, ἴδον αἰγιαλοῖς παρά τε κροκάλαις δρόμον ἔχοντα σὺν ὅπλοις· ἅμιλλαν δ’ ἐπόνει ποδοῖν πρὸς ἅρμα τέτρωρον ἑλίσσων περὶ νίκας· ὁ δὲ διφρηλάτας ἐβοᾶτ’ Εὔμηλος Φερητιάδας, οὗ καλλίστους ἰδόμαν χρυσοδαιδάλτοις στομίοις πώλους κέντρῳ θεινομένους, τοὺς μὲν μέσους ζυγίους λευκοστίκτῳ τριχὶ βαλιούς, τοὺς δ’ ἔξω σειροφόρους ἀντήρεις καμπαῖσι δρόμων πυρσότριχας, μονόχαλα δ’ ὑπὸ σφυρὰ ποικιλοδέρμονας· οἷς παρεπάλλετο Πηλεΐδας σὺν ὅπλοισι παρ’ ἄντυγα καὶ σύριγγας ἁρματείους.



206 δὲ Monk 207 Ἀχιλλέα Hermann: Ἀχιλῆα L 210 ἴδον Hermann: εἶδον L, cf. 218 215 ἐρίζων Pikkolos 216 ἐβοᾶτ’ Bothe, W. Dindorf: βοᾶτ’ L 218 οὗ Hermann: ὧ (i.e. ᾧ) L; ἰδόμαν Bothe: εἰδόμαν L

205 ἐπῳδός

210

215

220

225–26 227–28 230

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of the discus, and beside him Meriones, scion of Ares, a wonder to men; and the son of Laertes from his mountainous island, and together with him Nireus, handsomest of the Achaeans. (205) (epode) And I saw, his feet the equal of the wind, light-running Achilles whom Thetis bore and Chiron trained to perfection, running in armour over beach, (210) over shingle, as he raced hard on foot against a four-horsed chariot, rounding (the course) in pursuit of victory. (215) And the charioteer was shouting, Eumelus, Pheres’ grandson; I saw his horses – most beautiful, their bits gold-chased – as he struck them with his goad, (220) the middle ones which carried the yoke dappled with flecks of white on their coats, the trace-horses outside them countering the turnings of the race-track, roans with spotted fetlocks at their hooves below. (225) Along by their side went bounding the son of Peleus, beside the chariot’s rail and its wheel-naves. (230)

104

Euripides



ναῶν δ’ εἰς ἀριθμὸν ἤλυθον καὶ θέαν ἀθέσφατον, τὰν γυναικεῖον ὄψιν ὀμμάτων ὡς πλήσαιμι †μείλινον† ἁδονάν. καὶ κέρας μὲν ἦν δεξιὸν πλάτας ἔχων Φθιωτίδας ὁ Μυρμιδὼν Ἄρης πεντήκοντα ναυσὶ θουρίαις· χρυσέαις δ’ εἰκόσιν κατ’ ἄκρα Νη ρῇδες ἕστασαν θεαί, πρύμναις σῆμ’ Ἀχιλλείου στρατοῦ.

στρ. β



Ἀργείων δὲ ταῖσδ’ ἰσήρετμοι νᾶες ἕστασαν πέλας, ὧν ὁ Μηκιστέως στρατηλάτας παῖς ἦν, Ταλαὸς ὃν τρέφει πατήρ, Καπανέως τε παῖς Σθένελος. Ἀτθίδας δ’ ἄγων ἑξήκοντα ναῦς ὁ Θησέως παῖς ἑξῆς ἐναυλόχει, θεὰν Παλλάδ’ ἐν μωνύχοις ἔχων πτερω- τοῖσιν ἅρμασιν †θετόν†, εὔσημόν γε φάσμα ναυβάταις.

ἀντ. β



Βοιωτῶν δ’ ὅπλισμα πόντιον

στρ. γ

235

240

245

250

231–302 see 164–302 above 232 ἀθεσφάτων Willink 233 γυναικεῖον Boeckh: γυναικείαν L 234 μείλιχον Markland: λίχνον Wilamowitz: μᾶλλον ἁδονᾶν Hermann 237 Φθιωτίδας Wilamowitz: φθιώτας L; Μυρμιδὼν Hermann: μυρμιδόνων L 239 ἄκρα Pierson: ἄκραν L 247 Ἀτθίδας Dobree: ἀτθίδος L 249 θοὰν and 251 θεάν (for θετόν) Weil: κόραν ... θεόν Stockert 251 ἅρμασιν (Tr2/3) θετάν Bothe: ἄρμασιν θοάν Firnhaber: ἅρμασι (L) τ’ εὔθετον Madvig: ἅρμασ’ ἔνθετον Burkert 252 γε Musgrave: τε L: τι Markland 253 Βοιωτῶν Tr3; πόντιον Weil, England: ποντίαν L

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(strophe 2) And I went on to counting their ships, and a spectacle beyond words to describe, so that I could fill my woman’s eyes with seeing, a †honey-sweet† pleasure. Holding the right wing (235) of the fleet was the warrior force of Myrmidons from Phthia with fifty fierce ships. In golden images high up stood the Nereid goddesses, (240) the emblem on the sterns of Achilles’ armament. (antistrophe 2) And the Argives’ ships, equal in number to these, stood nearby; their commander was Mecisteus’ son whom his grandfather Talaus brought up, (245) and with him was Sthenelus son of Capaneus. Leading sixty Attic ships the son of Theseus lay at anchor next in line; he had the goddess Pallas †made† in a winged chariot (250) and horses with uncloven hoofs, indeed an omen of good fortune to sea-farers. (strophe 3) And the Boeotians’ sea armament I saw, fifty ships

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πεντήκοντα νῆας εἰδόμαν σημείοισιν ἐστολισμένας· τοῖς δὲ Κάδμος ἦν χρύσεον δράκοντ’ ἔχων ἀμφὶ ναῶν κόρυμβα· Λήϊτος δ᾽ ὁ γηγενὴς ἆρχε ναΐου στρατοῦ. Φωκίδος δ’ ἀπὸ χθονὸς < > Λοκρὰς δὲ ταῖσδ’ ἴσας ἄγων ναῦς Οἰλέως τόκος κλυτὰν Θρονιάδ’ ἐκλιπὼν πόλιν.



ἐκ Μυκήνας δὲ τᾶς Κυκλωπίας παῖς Ἀτρέως ἔπεμπε ναυβάτας ναῶν ἑκατὸν ἠθροϊσμένους· σὺν δ’ ἀδελφὸς ἦν ταγός, ὡς φίλος φίλῳ, τᾶς φυγούσας μέλαθρα βαρβάρων χάριν γάμων πρᾶξιν Ἑλλὰς ὡς λάβοι. ἐκ Πύλου δὲ Νέστορος Γερηνίου κατειδόμαν < >



255

260

ἀντ. γ 266

270

255 ἐστολισμένας Scaliger: εὐστολισμένας L 260 ἆρχε Tr3: ἄρχει (L*)P: ἄρχε Diggle, cf. 279 261 space for two verses left in L after this line, with note λείπει (‘there is a deficiency’); Tr3 deleted the note and ran 261 into 262: cf. 274 262 Λοκρὰς Markland: λοκροῖς L; ταῖσδ’ Markland: τοῖσδ’ L 263 ναῦς Matthiae: ναῦς Hermann: ναῦς Nauck 265 ἐκ del. Nauck 268 ἀδελφὸς Markland: ἄδραστος L 274 lacuna of two verses after this line Weil, cf. 261

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fitted out with emblems. (255) For them it was Cadmus with the golden dragon on their ships’ curving sterns; the earth-born Leïtus led their naval host. (260) And from the land of Phocis (text missing) ... And the Locrian ships, equal to these, were led by the son of Oileus; leaving the famous city of Thronium. (antistrophe 3) And from Cyclopean Mycenae (265) the son of Atreus led the mustered crews of a hundred ships. With him was his brother as a commander, as kin supporting kin, so that Greece should exact reparation for the woman who fled her home (270) for a barbarian marriage. From Pylos I saw (text missing)

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πρύμναις σῆμα ταυρόπουν ὁρᾶν, τὸν πάροικον Ἀλφεόν.



Αἰνιάνων δὲ δωδεκάστολοι νᾶες ἦσαν, ὧν ἄναξ Γουνεὺς ἆρχε· τῶνδε δ’ αὖ πέλας Ἤλιδος δυνάστορες, οὓς Ἐπειοὺς ὠνόμαζε πᾶς λεώς· Εὔρυτος δ’ ἄνασσε τῶνδε· λευκήρετμον δ’ Ἄρη Τάφιον †ἦγεν ὧν Μέγης ἄνασσε†, Φυλέως λόχευμα, τὰς Ἐχίνας λιπὼν νήσους ναυβάταις ἀπροσφόρους.







Αἴας δ’ ὁ Σαλαμῖνος ἔντροφος †δεξιὸν κέρας πρὸς τὸ λαιὸν ξύναγε† τῶν ἆσσον ὥρμει πλάταισιν ἐσχάταισι συμπλέκων δώδεκ’ εὐστροφωτάταισι ναυσίν. ὣς ἄϊον καὶ ναυβάταν εἰδόμαν λεών· ᾧ τις εἰ προσαρμόσει βαρβάρους βάριδας, νόστον οὐκ ἀποίσεται, ἐνθάδ’ οἷον εἰδόμαν

275

280

285

290

295

275 πρύμναις Diggle (πρύμναισι earlier Markland): πρύμνας L: πρυμνᾶν Murray 277–87 and 288–302 brought into strophic responsion by Hermann 279 ἄρχε Diggle 282–3 Εὐρύτου ... τῶνδ’ | Hermann (with further supplements) 284 ἡγεμὼν Μέγης Musgrave, Tyrwhitt; ἄνασσε del. Hermann 286 ᾿Εχίνας Brodaeus: ἐχίδνας L: Ἐχινάδας Voss (ἐχίδνας (P) glossed with τὰς ᾿Εχινάδας φησί P2) 290 ξυνᾶγε Hermann 293–4 εὐστροφωτάτας | ναῦς Blaydes; ὣς ?Murray: ὡς L 299 οἷον Hermann: ἄιον L

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of Gerenian Nestor (text missing) ... the emblem on their stern, with a bull’s feet visible, (275) their neighbouring Alpheus. The Aenians had a fleet of twelve ships which lord Gouneus commanded. Then, near these were the masters of Elis, (280) whom the whole army called Epeians; Eurytus was their lord. The warrior Taphians with their white oars †were led by Meges their lord†, child of Phyleus; (285) he had left the Echinae islands, unsuitable for sea-faring men. And Ajax, nursling of Salamis, †united the right wing to the left (290) – he was moored near its furthest vessels – †, linking (them) with his twelve very manoeuvrable ships. That was the way I heard and saw the seafaring host. (295) If anyone sets his barbarian boats against it, he

110

 

Euripides

νάϊον πόρευμα, τὰ δὲ κατ’ οἴκους κλύουσα συγκλήτου μνήμην σῴζομαι στρατεύματος.

Πρ. Μενέλαε, τολμᾷς δείν’, ἅ σ’ οὐ τολμᾶν χρεών. ΜΕΝΕΛΑΟΣ ἄπελθε· λίαν δεσπόταισι πιστὸς εἶ. Πρ. καλόν γέ μοι τοὔνειδος ἐξωνείδισας. Με. κλαίοις ἄν, εἰ πράσσοις ἃ μὴ πράσσειν σε δεῖ. Πρ. οὐ χρῆν σε λῦσαι δέλτον, ἣν ἐγὼ ’φερον. Με. οὐδέ γε φέρειν σὲ πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν κακά. Πρ. ἄλλοις ἁμιλλῶ ταῦτ’· ἄφες δὲ τήνδ’ ἐμοί. Με. οὐκ ἂν μεθείμην.  Πρ. οὐδ’ ἔγωγ’ ἀφήσομαι. Με. σκήπτρῳ τάχ’ ἆρα σὸν καθαιμάξω κάρα. Πρ. ἀλλ’ εὐκλεές τοι δεσποτῶν θνῄσκειν ὕπερ. Με. μέθες· μακροὺς δὲ δοῦλος ὢν λέγεις λόγους. Πρ. ὦ δέσποτ᾽, ἀδικούμεσθα· σὰς δ᾽ ἐπιστολὰς ἐξαρπάσας ὅδ’ ἐκ χερῶν ἐμῶν βίᾳ, Ἀγάμεμνον, οὐδὲν τῇ δίκῃ χρῆσθαι θέλει. Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με.

ἔα· τίς ποτ’ ἐν πύλαισι θόρυβος καὶ λόγων ἀκοσμία; οὑμὸς οὐχ ὁ τοῦδε μῦθος κυριώτερος λέγειν. σὺ δὲ τί τῷδ’ ἐς ἔριν ἀφῖξαι, Μενέλεως, βίᾳ τ’ ἄγεις; βλέψον εἰς ἡμᾶς, ἵν’ ἀρχὰς τῶν λόγων ταύτας λάβω. μῶν τρέσας οὐκ ἀνακαλύψω βλέφαρον, Ἀτρέως γεγώς; τήνδ’ ὁρᾷς δέλτον, κακίστων γραμμάτων ὑπηρέτιν;

300

305

310

315

320

301–9 fragmentary line-beginnings in P. Köln 67 301 συγκλήτου] συλλόγου W. Dindorf: [P. Köln defective] 308 γε φερειν σε P. Köln, γε φέρειν σὲ conj. Kirchhoff: γε φέρειν σε δεῖ (L)P: σε φέρειν δεῖ Tr2/3, P2 309 αλλοις P. Köln, ἄλλοις conj. Markland: ἄλλως L 317 ποτ’ Anecdota Bekker I 369.8, Photius α 829 Theodoridis, and other citations: δήποτ’ ?L: δῆτ’ Tr1; πύλαισι] θύραισι Anecdota; θόρυβος Tr1, Anecdota, Photius: θόρυβος ἐστὶ L* 318 Με. Hermann: πρ. L

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will not win a return home – such an armada have I seen here; (300) and from hearing some things at home I keep a memory of the host called together. The OLD MAN and MENELAUS come in stage-right, for the road out of Aulis. They are quarrelling angrily over the writing-tablet which Menelaus holds and the Old Man is trying to seize back. OM

Menelaus, you are committing an outrage, one you must not commit! MENELAUS Away with you! You are all too faithful to your master. OM What you reproach me with brings me honour! (305) Men. You’ll be sorry if you do what you must not do. OM. You shouldn’t have undone the tablet which I was carrying. Men. And you shouldn’t be bringing disaster to all the Greeks. OM Quarrel about this with someone else. Give this tablet up to me! Men. I won’t let it go. OM Neither will I give it up! (310) Men. Then I’ll soon bloody your head with my staff. OM Well, it’s a glorious thing to die for one’s master. Men. Let it go! For a slave, you’re talking far too much. OM. (crying out) Master! We are being wronged! AGAMEMNON comes out from his hut.

This man has used force on me, Agamemnon, and snatched your letter from my hand; (315) he’s wholly unwilling to deal justly with us. Ag. What’s going on? What’s this noisy argument at my gates? Men. My words have a better right to be spoken than his. Ag. But why have you got into strife with this man, Menelaus? Why are you pulling him about so violently? The OLD MAN goes silently into the hut. Men. Look at me, so that I can have this start to what I have to say. (320) Ag. Do you think that I, the son of Atreus, am going to tremble and not look you in the eye?

112

Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με. Αγ. Με.

Euripides

εἰσορῶ· καὶ πρῶτα ταύτην σῶν ἀπάλλαξον χερῶν. οὔ, πρὶν ἂν δείξω γε Δαναοῖς πᾶσι τἀγγεγραμμένα. ἦ γὰρ οἶσθ’ ἃ μή σε καιρὸς εἰδέναι, σήμαντρ’ ἀνείς; ὥστε σ’ ἀλγῦναί γ’, ἀνοίξας ἃ σὺ κάκ’ ἠργάσω λάθρᾳ. ποῦ δὲ κἄλαβές νιν; ὦ θεοί, σῆς ἀναισχύντου φρενός. προσδοκῶν σὴν παῖδ’ ἀπ’ Ἄργους εἰ στράτευμ’ ἀφίξεται. τί δέ σε τἀμὰ δεῖ φυλάσσειν; οὐκ ἀναισχύντου τόδε; ὅτι τὸ βούλεσθαί μ’ ἔκνιζε· σὸς δὲ δοῦλος οὐκ ἔφυν. οὐχὶ δεινά; τὸν ἐμὸν οἰκεῖν οἶκον οὐκ ἐάσομαι; πλάγια γὰρ φρονεῖς, τὰ μὲν νῦν, τὰ δὲ πάλαι, τὰ δ’ αὐτίκα. εὖ κεκόμψευσαι πονηρά· γλῶσσ’ ἐπίφθονον σοφή. νοῦς δέ γ’ οὐ βέβαιος ἄδικον κτῆμα κοὐ σαφὲς φίλοις. βούλομαι δέ σ’ ἐξελέγξαι, καὶ σὺ μήτ’ ὀργῆς ὕπο ἀποτρέπου τἀληθὲς οὔτ’ αὖ κατατενῶ λίαν ἐγώ. οἶσθ’, ὅτ’ ἐσπούδαζες ἄρχειν Δαναΐδαις πρὸς Ἴλιον, τῷ δοκεῖν μὲν οὐχὶ χρῄζων, τῷ δὲ βούλεσθαι θέλων, ὡς ταπεινὸς ἦσθα, πάσης δεξιᾶς προσθιγγάνων καὶ θύρας ἔχων ἀκλῄστους τῷ θέλοντι δημοτῶν καὶ διδοὺς πρόσρησιν ἑξῆς πᾶσι, κεἰ μή τις θέλοι, τοῖς τρόποις ζητῶν πρίασθαι τὸ φιλότιμον ἐκ μέσου, κᾆτ’, ἐπεὶ κατέσχες ἀρχάς, μεταβαλὼν ἄλλους τρόπους τοῖς φίλοισιν οὐκέτ’ ἦσθα τοῖς πρὶν ὡς πρόσθεν φίλος, δυσπρόσιτος ἔσω τε κλῄθρων σπάνιος; ἄνδρα δ’ οὐ χρεὼν

325

330

335

340

345

326 ἠργάσω Wackernagel: εἰργάσω L 329 τἄμ’ ἔδει Herwerden 333 εὖ κεκόμψευσαι Ruhnken: ἐκκεκόμψευσαι L; πονηρά Monk, with punct. following: πονηρὸν L, with punct. preceding: πονηρῶν Bothe 334 δέ γ’ Tr3: δ’ L 335 ἐξελέγξαι Tr3: ἐλέγξαι L 336 ἀποτρέπου Tr3: ἀποστρέφου (L*)P; οὔτ’ αὖ Blomfield: οὔτοι L: οὔτε Hermann; κατατενῶ λίαν Boeckh: καταινῶ λίαν σ’ L 338 del. Hennig 339 ἦσθα, πάσης ?L*, conj. Markland: ἦς, ἁπάσης Tr1 345 ἔξω Portus

Iphigenia at Aulis

Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men.

113

Do you see this tablet, the servant of a most disastrous message? I see it. First of all, let go of it from your hands. No, not before I show what is written there to all the Danaans. Why, have you really opened the seal? Do you know what it is not the time for you to know? (325) Yes, to your cost! I opened it; I have revealed your underhand mischief. Just where did you get it? By the gods, what a shameless mind you have! While I waited to see whether your child would come to the army from Argos. Why must you keep watch on my business? Isn’t that the action of a shameless man? Because the wish kept chafing me; and I’m not your slave. (330) Is this not outrageous? Am I not to be allowed to manage my own affairs? No, for your thoughts keep shifting, some now, some long since, some soon to come. What a smart gloss you have put on your ill-doing! A clever tongue is a hateful thing. Yes, but a mind not steadfast is a possession without justice and unreliable for friends. I wish to prove you in the wrong, however; and you must not turn the truth away in a passion, (335) and I for my part shall not press too hard. You know, when you were eager to command the Danaans against Ilium – to all appearance not desiring this, but willing it as your wish – you know how humble you were, clasping every hand, keeping doors open for any common man who wanted (340) and allowing all in turn to talk to you even if they did not want to. In behaving like this, you sought to buy your ambition openly. And then, when you had secured the command, you changed your ways. You were no longer as friendly as before to your one-time friends. It was hard to approach you since you stayed behind barred doors and were rarely to be seen. Do you

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τὸν ἀγαθὸν πράσσοντα μεγάλα τοὺς τρόπους μεθιστάναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ βέβαιον εἶναι τότε μάλιστα τοῖς φίλοις, ἡνίκ’ ὠφελεῖν μάλιστα δυνατός ἐστιν εὐτυχῶν. ταῦτα μέν σε πρῶτ’ ἐπῆλθον, ἵνα σε πρῶθ’ ηὗρον κακόν. ὡς δ’ ἐς Αὖλιν ἦλθες αὖθις χὠ Πανελλήνων στρατός, 350 οὐδὲν ἦσθ’, ἀλλ’ ἐξεπλήσσου τῇ τύχῃ τῇ τῶν θεῶν, οὐρίας πομπῆς σπανίζων· Δαναΐδαι δ’ ἀφιέναι ναῦς διήγγελλον, μάτην δὲ μὴ πονεῖν ἐν Αὐλίδι. ὡς ἄνολβον εἶχες ὄμμα σύγχυσίν τ’, εἰ μὴ νεῶν χιλίων ἄρχων τὸ Πριάμου πεδίον ἐμπλήσεις δορός. 355 κἀμὲ παρεκάλεις· “Τί δράσω; τίνα πόρον εὕρω πόθεν;” ὥστε μὴ στερέντα σ’ ἀρχῆς ἀπολέσαι καλὸν κλέος. κᾆτ’, ἐπεὶ Κάλχας ἐν ἱεροῖς εἶπε σὴν θῦσαι κόρην Ἀρτέμιδι, καὶ πλοῦν ἔσεσθαι Δαναΐδαις, ἡσθεὶς φρένας ἄσμενος θύσειν ὑπέστης παῖδα· καὶ πέμπεις ἑκών, 360 οὐ βίᾳ – μὴ τοῦτο λέξῃς – σῇ δάμαρτι παῖδα σὴν δεῦρ’ ἀποστέλλειν, Ἀχιλλεῖ πρόφασιν ὡς γαμουμένην. κᾆθ’ ὑποστρέψας λέληψαι μεταβαλὼν ἄλλας γραφάς, ὡς φονεὺς οὐκέτι θυγατρὸς σῆς ἔσῃ; μάλιστά γε. οὗτος αὑτός ἐστιν αἰθὴρ ὃς τάδ’ ἤκουσεν σέθεν. 365 μυρίοι δέ τοι πεπόνθασ’ αὐτό· πρὸς τὰ πράγματα ἐκπονοῦσ’ ἔχοντες, εἶτα δ’ ἐξεχώρησαν κακῶς.

349 ηὗρον (εὗρον Reiske) Elmsley: εὕρω L 350 ἦλθες Aldine: ἦλθεν L 354 Tr3; τ’, εἰ Musgrave: τε, L 355 τὸ Πριάμου Elmsley: τὸ πριάμου τὲ (sic) L: πριαμου τὲ Tr3; ἐμπλήσεις Musgrave: ἐμπλήσας L 356 Tr3 359 del. Nauck 364 ἔσῃ] γένῃ Kovacs; punct. as question Diggle: without punct. L 365 transferred after 362 Monk; αὑτός Markland: αὐτός L 366–75 variously susp. and del. by eds: 368–69 del. Hartung, 373–75 del. Page (370–75 L. Dindorf) 366 punct. after αὐτό Bothe, Madvig 367 ἐγκονοῦσ’ Wecklein; ἕκοντες Canter: ἐκπονοῦσιν, εἶτ’ ἔχοντες West

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remember? A good man (345) should not change his ways when busy with great matters. Rather, it is then most of all that he should prove steadfast to his friends, at the time when his success enables him to help them most. This is the first point on which I attack you, the first where I found you base. Then again, when you and the united army of the Greeks came to Aulis, (350) you were nothing. You were panic-stricken by the fortune the gods gave us when you lacked a favourable wind to send us off. The Danaans spread the word that you should disband the ships – no wasted effort at Aulis for them. How helpless you looked, how confused at the thought that, though you ruled a thousand ships, you would not fill the plain of Priam with war. (355) And so you called for my help. ‘What am I to do?’ you said. ‘What solution can I find? or where?’ – so that you shouldn’t lose your command and forfeit splendid glory. And then when Calchas amid the holy offerings bade you sacrifice your daughter to Artemis and said that if you did, the Danaans could sail, your heart rejoiced. You gladly promised to sacrifice your child. And you willingly sent (360) to your wife – not through compulsion, don’t say that – telling her to send your child off here on the pretext of marriage with Achilles. And then you did an about-turn and have been caught sending a different message, that you will no longer be the killer of your daughter. Most certainly you have been caught! This is the same sky above us as heard your former words! (365) Countless men have shared your experience. They keep toiling

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Χο. Αγ.

Euripides

[τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ γνώμης πολιτῶν ἀσυνέτου, τὰ δ’ ἐνδίκως ἀδύνατοι γεγῶτες αὐτοὶ διαφυλάξασθαι πόλιν.] Ἑλλάδος μάλιστ’ ἔγωγε τῆς ταλαιπώρου στένω, ἥ, θέλουσα δρᾶν τι κεδνόν, βαρβάρους τοὺς οὐδένας καταγελῶντας ἐξανήσει διὰ σὲ καὶ τὴν σὴν κόρην. [μηδέν’ †ἂν χρείους† ἕκατι προστάτην θείμην χθονὸς μηδ’ ὅπλων ἄρχοντα· νοῦν χρὴ τὸν στρατηλάτην ἔχειν †πόλεος ὡς ἄρχων† ἀνὴρ πᾶς, ξύνεσιν ἢν ἔχων τύχῃ]. δεινὸν κασιγνήτοισι γίγνεσθαι ψόγους μάχας θ’, ὅταν ποτ’ ἐμπέσωσιν εἰς ἔριν. βούλομαί σ’ εἰπεῖν κακῶς αὖ βραχέα, μὴ λίαν ἄνω βλέφαρα πρὸς τἀναιδὲς ἀγαγών, ἀλλὰ σωφρονεστέρως, ὡς ἀδελφὸν ὄντ’· ἀνὴρ γὰρ χρηστὸς αἰδεῖσθαι φιλεῖ. εἰπέ μοι, τί δεινὰ φυσᾷς αἱματηρὸν ὄμμ’ ἔχων; τίς ἀδικεῖ σε; τοῦ κέχρησαι; χρηστὰ λέκτρ’ ἐρᾷς λαβεῖν; οὐκ ἔχοιμ’ ἄν σοι παρασχεῖν· ὧν γὰρ ἐκτήσω, κακῶς ἦρχες. εἶτ’ ἐγὼ δίκην δῶ σῶν κακῶν, ὁ μὴ σφαλείς;

370

375

380

368–9: see 366–75 370 adapted by Eubulus F 67.10 PCG ῾Ελλάδος ἔγωγε τῆς ταλαιπώρου στένω 372 ἐξαφήσει Markland 373–75: see 366–75 373 ἂν γένους Reiske: ἀνδρείας Pantazidis; χθονὸς] πόλεως Nauck (4) 375 πόλεος· ὡς ἀρκῶν Weil 376–77 Stobaeus 4.27.3 376 ψόγους Musgrave: λόγους L, Stob. 378–441 variously susp. or del. in parts by eds, susp. as a whole by Günther 378–80 Stobaeus 3.31.2 378 αὖ P2, Markland: εὖ L, Stob.; ἄνω Stob.: ἂν ὦ L, with note γρ(άφεται) (‘there is written’) ἀνῶ 379 ἀγαγών L, Stob.: ἀνάγων Naber; σωφρονεστέρως Stob.: σωφρονέστερος L 380 χρηστὸς Stob. one ms., Grotius: χρηστὸς χρηστὸν Stob. two mss.: αἰσχρὸς οὐκ L: χρηστοῦ γ’ (δ’ Diggle) ἀνδρὸς αἰδεῖσθαι φίλους Willink 381 Phrynichus, Praep. Soph. p. 63 de Borries 382 χρηστὰ λέκτρ’ ἐρᾷς Reiske: λέκτ’ ἐρᾷς χρηστὰ L (λέκτρ’ P2) 384, 396–7 adapted by Ennius, Iphigenia 204–6 Jocelyn 384 δῶ σῶν Dawes: δώσω L

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away at affairs of state, but then back out ignobly [some through the citizens’ foolish misjudgement, but some justly since it is their own fault they cannot keep their city safe]. Unhappy Greece, it is for her above all that I myself lament, (370) for she wishes to do something fine, yet will let the barbarians escape – those nobodies who laugh at her – because of you and your daughter. [I †would† never make anyone leader of a country or commander of an army because of †need†. A general must have sense. †For every man is ruling a city† if he possesses intelligence.] (375) Cho. It is a terrible thing that blame and fighting happen to brothers whenever they fall into strife. Ag. I wish to criticise you in turn, briefly, not raising my eyes too much in unashamed scorn but more moderately, since you are my brother. After all, a good man is accustomed to show respect to others. (380) Tell me, why are you snorting so dreadfully, your face flushed with blood? Who is wronging you? What do you want? Do you desire to win a good wife? I could not provide you with one. You certainly proved a bad master of the one you had. Then am I, the one who made no mistake, to pay the penalty for your

118

Χο. Με.

Euripides

οὐ δάκνει σε τὸ φιλότιμον τοὐμόν, ἀλλ’ ἐν ἀγκάλαις 385 εὐπρεπῆ γυναῖκα χρῄζεις, τὸ λελογισμένον παρεὶς καὶ τὸ καλόν, ἔχειν. πονηροῦ φωτὸς ἡδοναὶ κακαί. εἰ δ’ ἐγώ, γνοὺς πρόσθεν οὐκ εὖ, μετεθέμην εὐβουλίαν, μαίνομαι; σὺ μᾶλλον, ὅστις ἀπολέσας κακὸν λέχος ἀναλαβεῖν θέλεις, θεοῦ σοι τὴν τύχην διδόντος εὖ. 390 ὤμοσαν τὸν Τυνδάρειον ὅρκον οἱ κακόφρονες φιλόγαμοι μνηστῆρες – ἡ δέ γ’ ἐλπίς, οἶμαι μέν, θεός, κἀξέπραξεν αὐτὸ μᾶλλον ἢ σὺ καὶ τὸ σὸν σθένος – οὓς λαβὼν στράτευ’· ἕτοιμοι δ’ εἰσὶ μωρίᾳ φρενῶν. 394 οὐ γὰρ ἀσύνετον τὸ θεῖον, ἀλλ’ ἔχει συνιέναι 394a τοὺς κακῶς παγέντας ὅρκους καὶ κατηναγκασμένους. 395 τἀμὰ δ’ οὐκ ἀποκτενῶ ’γὼ τέκνα· κοὐ τὸ σὸν μὲν εὖ παρὰ δίκην ἔσται κακίστης εὔνιδος τιμωρίᾳ, ἐμὲ δὲ συντήξουσι νύκτες ἡμέραι τε δακρύοις, ἄνομα δρῶντα κοὐ δίκαια παῖδας οὓς ἐγεινάμην. ταῦτά σοι βραχέα λέλεκται καὶ σαφῆ καὶ ῥᾴδια· 400 εἰ δὲ μὴ βούλῃ φρονεῖν εὖ, τἄμ’ ἐγὼ θήσω καλῶς. οἵδ’ αὖ διάφοροι τῶν πάρος λελεγμένων μύθων, καλῶς δ’ ἔχουσι, φείδεσθαι τέκνων. αἰαῖ, φίλους ἄρ’ οὐκ ἐκεκτήμην τάλας.

385–7 del. Wecklein 385 οὐ Murray: ἢ L 388 μετεθέμην εὐβουλίαν Monk: μετετέθην εὐβουλία L 389 μαίνῃ above μᾶλλον L 390–2 P. Köln 67 preserves a few letters at line-end 394 στράτευ’· ἕτοιμοι δ’ εἰσὶ Monk: στράτευε· οἶμαι δ’ εἴσῃ L 394a–5 Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 2.37 p. 96 Grant and Stobaeus 3.28.2 394a om. L; συνιέναι] διειδέναι Wecklein 395 κατηναγκασμένους Theoph., Stob.: συνηναγκασμένους L 396 κοὐ Lenting: καὶ L 397 παρὰ (Reiske) δίκην Porson: πέρα δίκης L 400 ῥᾴδια] καίρια Stadtmüller 401 εὖ] σύ Markland 404–12 susp. Page, Diggle 404 οὐκ ἐκεκτήμην Heath: οὐχὶ κεκτήμην L: οὐχὶ κέκτημαι Monk

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bad actions? It is not my ambition that needles you: (385) no, you want to hold a beautiful woman in your arms, putting aside reason and honour. Evil pleasures belong to a base man. But if I made the wrong decision before and have now thought better of it, am I out of my mind? No, it is rather you who are that. You lost a bad wife and want to get her back, though a god was giving you good fortune. (390) The suitors were thinking badly when in their eagerness to win the bride they swore Tyndareus’ oath. But hope, I think, is a god, and made it happen rather than you and your strength. Take them and go on your expedition! In their hearts’ folly they are ready. (394) For the gods are not devoid of wisdom! No, they are able to recognize (394a) oaths which were basely sworn because they were made under compulsion. (395) I will not kill my own child. And your fortunes will not prosper, in defiance of what is just, by your vengeance on a worthless bedmate, while days and nights waste me away in tears, if I act lawlessly and unjustly against the daughter I fathered. That is what I have to say to you. It is brief, clear, and easy. (400) If you do not wish to be sensible, I shall put my own affairs in good order. Cho. What you have just spoken is quite different from what you said before. But it is good that you talk of sparing a child. Men. Alas! Then I can see in my misery that I had no friends.

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Euripides

εἰ τοὺς φίλους γε μὴ θέλεις ἀπολλύναι. δείξεις δὲ ποῦ μοι πατρὸς ἐκ ταὐτοῦ γεγώς; συσσωφρονεῖν σοι βούλομαι κοὐ συννοσεῖν. ἐς κοινὸν ἀλγεῖν τοῖς φίλοισι χρὴ φίλους. εὖ δρῶν παρακάλει μ’, ἀλλὰ μὴ λυπῶν ἐμέ. οὐκ ἄρα δοκεῖ σοι τάδε πονεῖν σὺν Ἑλλάδι; Ἑλλὰς δὲ σὺν σοὶ κατὰ θεὸν νοσεῖ τινα. σκήπτρῳ νυν αὔχει, σὸν κασίγνητον προδούς. ἐγὼ δ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλας εἶμι μηχανάς τινας φίλους τ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλους.

ΑΓΓΕΛΟΣ ὦ Πανελλήνων ἄναξ, Ἀγάμεμνον, ἥκω παῖδά σοι τὴν σὴν ἄγων, ἣν Ἰφιγένειαν ὠνόμαζες ἐν δόμοις. μήτηρ δ’ ὁμαρτεῖ, σῆς Κλυταιμήστρας δέμας, καὶ παῖς Ὀρέστης, ὥς σφε τερφθείης ἰδών, χρόνον παλαιὸν δωμάτων ἔκδημος ὤν. ἀλλ’ ὡς μακρὰν ἔτεινον, εὔρυτον παρὰ κρήνην ἀναψύχουσι θηλύπουν βάσιν αὐταί τε πῶλοί τ’· ἐς δὲ λειμώνων χλόην καθεῖμεν αὐτάς, ὡς βορᾶς γευσαίατο. ἐγὼ δὲ πρόδρομος σῆς παρασκευῆς χάριν ἥκω· πέπυσται γὰρ στρατός – ταχεῖα γὰρ

405

410

415

420

425

405 θέλοις West 407 cf. Plut. Mor. 64c συσσωφρονεῖν γάρ, οὐχὶ συννοσεῖν ἔφυ (unattributed); βούλομαι κοὐ Nauck: βούλομ’, ἀλλ’ οὐ L: βουλόμεσθ’, οὐ Fix: βουλόμενος, οὐ Vitelli 412 αὔχει Tyrwhitt: αὐχεῖς L 413–41 susp. or del. many eds, most recently Diggle (413–39) and Kovacs: def. first Hermann, cf. e.g. Stockert, Matthiessen, Turato 416 ὠνόμαζες Markland: ὠνόμαξας L 417 σὴ Κλυταίμηστρα δάμαρ Elmsley 418 ὥς σφε Vater: ὥστε L: ὥς τι Hermann 422–3 del. Page 422 αὐτοῖσι (αὐταῖσι later Gaisford) πώλοις Porson; τ’ Livineius, Markland: γ’ L

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Ag. Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men. Ag. Men.

121

Ah, but you do have, if you do not wish to ruin your friends. (405) How can you show that you were born from the same father as myself? I want to share with you in wisdom, not in sick folly. Friends should join in their friends’ distress. Ask for my help by treating me well, not by causing me pain. Do you not think it right to share in the efforts of Greece? (410) Some god together with yourself has brought this sickness on Greece. Well, take pride in your sceptre then, and betray your brother. But I shall go to other plans and other friends. (414a)

A MESSENGER enters hurriedly stage-right, on the road from Greece. MESSENGER. O lord of all the Greeks, (414b) Agamemnon, I have come bringing you your child (415), whom you named Iphigenia in your palace. Her mother is accompanying her, your Clytemnestra in person, as well as your son Orestes, so that you can take pleasure in seeing him after your long absence from home. But since they were travelling far, they are cooling and refreshing their feet by a fair-flowing spring, (420) women and fillies alike. We turned them loose in the meadows’ grass so that they could feed. As for myself, I have come running on before them so that you may make preparations. For the army has learned (425) –

122

Αγ.

Euripides

διῇξε φήμη – παῖδα σὴν ἀφιγμένην. πᾶς δ’ ἐς θέαν ὅμιλος ἔρχεται δρόμῳ, σὴν παῖδ’ ὅπως ἴδωσιν· οἱ δ’ εὐδαίμονες ἐν πᾶσι κλεινοὶ καὶ περίβλεπτοι βροτοῖς. λέγουσι δ’· “ Ὑμέναιός τις ἢ τί πράσσεται; ἢ πόθον ἔχων θυγατρὸς Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ ἐκόμισε παῖδα;” τῶν δ’ ἂν ἤκουσας τάδε· “Ἀρτέμιδι προτελίζουσι τὴν νεάνιδα, Αὐλίδος ἀνάσσῃ· τίς νιν ἄξεταί ποτε;” ἀλλ’ εἷα τἀπὶ τοισίδ’ ἐξάρχου κανᾶ, στεφανοῦσθε κρᾶτα, καὶ σύ, Μενέλεως ἄναξ, ὑμέναιον εὐτρέπιζε, καὶ κατὰ στέγας λωτὸς βοάσθω καὶ ποδῶν ἔστω κτύπος· φῶς γὰρ τόδ’ ἥκει μακάριον τῇ παρθένῳ. ἐπῄνεσ’, ἀλλὰ στεῖχε δωμάτων ἔσω· τὰ δ’ ἄλλ’ ἰούσης τῆς τύχης ἔσται καλῶς. οἴμοι, τί φῶ δύστηνος; ἄρξωμαι πόθεν; ἐς οἷ’ ἀνάγκης ζεύγματ’ ἐμπεπτώκαμεν. ὑπῆλθε δαίμων, ὥστε τῶν σοφισμάτων πολλῷ γενέσθαι τῶν ἐμῶν σοφώτερος. ἡ δυσγένεια δ’ ὡς ἔχει τι χρήσιμον· καὶ γὰρ δακρῦσαι ῥᾳδίως αὐτοῖς ἔχει ἅπαντά τ’ εἰπεῖν· τῷ δὲ γενναίῳ φύσιν ἄνολβα ταῦτα· προστάτην δὲ τοῦ βίου τὸν ὄγκον ἔχομεν τῷ τ’ ὄχλῳ δουλεύομεν.

430

435

440

445

450

430 πράσσεται] -ε written above -αι by L 435 τοισίδ’ L. Dindorf: τοῖσι δ’ (L*)P: τοῖσιν Tr2/3 442 ἄρξωμαι Burges: ἄρξομαι L; πόθεν Grotius: σέθεν L 443 οἷ’ P2: οἷά γ’ L 448 ἅπαντα Musgrave: ἄνολβα L 449b–50 Plut. Nicias 5.7 (526cd) 449 ἄνολβα Musgrave: ἅπαντα L: ἄφαντα Apelt; ταῦτα] πάντα Diggle; δὲ Plut.: γε L: τε Matthiae 450 ὄγκον Plut.: δῆμον L; τ’ L: δ’ Plut.

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Ag.

123

because report spread quickly – that your daughter has arrived. The whole host is coming to the sight at a run, to see your child. Yes, those of blessed estate are famous among all men, and widely admired. The soldiers are saying: ‘Does this mean a marriage? Or what is going on? (430) Is it because he misses her that the king has fetched his young daughter?’ And you would have heard this from others: ‘They are consecrating the young girl to Artemis, the lady of Aulis, in preparation for her wedding. Whoever will be marrying her?’ Come then: do what follows, (to Ag.) begin with the baskets, (435) start the sacrificial rite, and (to Ag. and Men.) garland your heads. And you, lord Menelaus, rehearse the wedding song! Let the pipe sound throughout the shelters and the earth thud with stamping feet! For this day has dawned with the promise of happiness for the maiden. Thank you! But go inside the hut. (440) As fortune takes its course, the rest will turn out well.

The MESSENGER enters the hut.

Alas! What am I to say in my misery? Where begin? What a yoke of necessity I have fallen under! A god has outwitted me and proved far cleverer than all my clever plans. Low birth has some usefulness: (445) men can weep easily and say everything. But for the man of noble birth this is profitless. We have dignity as the ruler of our lives and we are slaves to the masses. (450)

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Χο. Με. Αγ. Με.

Euripides

ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐκβαλεῖν μὲν αἰδοῦμαι δάκρυ, τὸ μὴ δακρῦσαι δ’ αὖθις αἰδοῦμαι τάλας, ἐς τὰς μεγίστας συμφορὰς ἀφιγμένος. εἶἑν· τί φήσω πρὸς δάμαρτα τὴν ἐμήν; πῶς δέξομαί νιν; ποῖον ὄμμα συμβαλῶ; καὶ γάρ μ’ ἀπώλεσ’ ἐπὶ κακοῖς ἅ μοι πάρα ἐλθοῦσ’ ἄκλητος. εἰκότως δ’ ἅμ’ ἕσπετο θυγατρὶ νυμφεύσουσα καὶ τὰ φίλτατα δώσουσ’, ἵν’ ἡμᾶς ὄντας εὑρήσει κακούς. τὴν δ’ αὖ τάλαιναν παρθένον – τί παρθένον; Ἅιδης νιν, ὡς ἔοικε, νυμφεύσει τάχα – ὡς ᾤκτισ’· οἶμαι γάρ νιν ἱκετεύσειν τάδε· “Ὦ πάτερ, ἀποκτενεῖς με; τοιούτους γάμους γήμειας αὐτὸς χὤστις ἐστί σοι φίλος.” παρὼν δ’ Ὀρέστης ἐγγὺς ἀναβοήσεται οὐ συνετὰ συνετῶς· ἔτι γάρ ἐστι νήπιος. αἰαῖ, τὸν Ἑλένης ὥς μ’ ἀπώλεσεν γάμον γήμας ὁ Πριάμου Πάρις, ὃς εἴργασται τάδε. κἀγὼ κατῴκτιρ’, ὡς γυναῖκα δεῖ ξένην ὑπὲρ τυράννων συμφορᾶς καταστένειν. ἀδελφέ, δός μοι δεξιᾶς τῆς σῆς θιγεῖν. δίδωμι· σὸν γὰρ τὸ κράτος, ἄθλιος δ’ ἐγώ. Πέλοπα κατόμνυμ’, ὃς πατὴρ τοὐμοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ σοῦ τ’ ἐκλήθη, τὸν τεκόντα τ’ Ἀτρέα, ἦ μὴν ἐρεῖν σοι τἀπὸ καρδίας σαφῶς καὶ μὴ ’πίτηδες μηδέν, ἀλλ’ ὅσον φρονῶ. ἐγώ σ’ ἀπ’ ὄσσων ἐκβαλόντ’ ἰδὼν δάκρυ ᾤκτιρα καὐτὸς ἀνταφῆκά σοι πάλιν καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν ἐξαφίσταμαι λόγων,

455 συμβαλῶ P2: συμβάλω L 456 πάρα P2: πάρος L 458 νυμφεύσουσα Markland: νυμφεύουσα L 462 ἱκετεύσειν Markland: ἱκετεῦσαι L 466 εὐσύνετ’ ἀσυνέτως Musgrave; συνετῶς] συνετοῖς Pierson 468 ὃς Heath: ὅς μ’ L: ὅ μ’ Markland

455

460

465

470

475

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For I am ashamed to pour out tears, but in turn I am ashamed to hold them in, poor wretch that I am, now that I have come into the greatest of disasters. Well then, what shall I say to my wife? How shall I receive her? What look shall I meet hers with? (455) On top of the troubles I have already, she has destroyed me by coming here unsummoned. Yet it was likely that she would accompany her daughter to marry and give away her dearest – where she will discover my baseness. As for the wretched maiden – why say, maiden? (460) Hades, it seems, will soon marry her – how I pity her! I think she will supplicate me with these words: ‘O father, will you kill me? May you make such a marriage yourself, may anyone you love!’ And Orestes will be there nearby, to shout out (465) incomprehensibly, though comprehending. Alas, it was Priam’s son, Paris, who brought me to this when he made his marriage with Helen and destroyed me! Cho. I feel pity too – as far as a foreign woman may grieve for the fortune of kings. (470) Men. My brother, let me take your right hand in mine. Ag. Here is my hand. For yours is the victory, and the misery mine. Men. I swear by Pelops, who was called the father of my father and yours, and by Atreus who fathered us, that I shall open my heart to you, speaking clearly (475) and without any deceit, but (saying) what I think. When I saw tears falling from your eyes, I pitied you and myself shed tears for you in my turn; and I abandon the words I spoke before. You have nothing to fear from me. No, I am now

126

 

Euripides

οὐκ ἐς σὲ δεινός, εἰμὶ δ’ οὗπερ εἶ σὺ νῦν. καί σοι παραινῶ μήτ’ ἀποκτεῖναι τέκνον μήτ’ ἀνθελέσθαι τοὐμόν· οὐ γὰρ ἔνδικον σὲ μὲν στενάζειν, τἀμὰ δ’ ἡδέως ἔχειν, θνῄσκειν τε τοὺς σούς, τοὺς δ’ ἐμοὺς ὁρᾶν φάος. τί βούλομαι γάρ; οὐ γάμους ἐξαιρέτους ἄλλους λάβοιμ’ ἄν, εἰ γάμων ἱμείρομαι; ἀλλ’ ἀπολέσας ἀδελφόν, ὅν μ’ ἥκιστ’ ἐχρῆν, Ἑλένην ἕλωμαι, τὸ κακὸν ἀντὶ τἀγαθοῦ; ἄφρων νέος τ’ ἦ, πρὶν τὰ πράγματ’ ἐγγύθεν σκοπῶν ἐσεῖδον οἷον ἦν κτείνειν τέκνα. ἄλλως τέ μ’ ἔλεος τῆς ταλαιπώρου κόρης ἐσῆλθε, συγγένειαν ἐννοουμένῳ, ἣ τῶν ἐμῶν ἕκατι θύεσθαι γάμων μέλλει. τί δ’ Ἑλένης παρθένῳ τῇ σῇ μέτα; ἴτω στρατεία διαλυθεῖσ’ ἐξ Αὐλίδος, σὺ δ’ ὄμμα παῦσαι δακρύοις τέγγων τὸ σόν, ἀδελφέ, κἀμὲ παρακαλῶν ἐς δάκρυα. εἰ δέ τι κόρης σῆς θεσφάτων μέτεστι σοί, μὴ ’μοὶ μετέστω· σοὶ νέμω τοὐμὸν μέρος. ἀλλ’ ἐς μεταβολὰς ἦλθον ἀπὸ δεινῶν λόγων; εἰκὸς πέπονθα· τὸν ὁμόθεν πεφυκότα στέργων μετέπεσον. ἀνδρὸς οὐ κακοῦ τρόποι τοιοίδε, χρῆσθαι τοῖσι βελτίστοις ἀεί.

480 εἰμὶ Kirchhoff: εἶμι L 481 ἀποκτεῖναι Elmsley: ἀποκτείνειν L 487 ἥκιστα χρῆν Nauck (4), Wecklein 489 ἦ Cobet: ἦν L, cf. 1158; τὰ πράγματ Lenting: πράγματα δ’ L 491 σῆς Dawe 492 ἐννοούμενον Markland 499 ’μοὶ Hermann: μοι L 500–3 del. W. Dindorf 500 punct. as question Reiske 502 τροπαὶ (-αὶ written above -οι) and 503 τοιoίδε (-οί- above -αί-) L 503 τὸ above χρῆσθαι L

480

485

490

495

500

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where you are. (480) And I urge you not to kill your child and not to prefer my business to yours. For it is not right that you should sorrow while all goes pleasingly for me, and that your child should die while my family sees the light of the sun. What do I want then? Could I not make another marriage, a choice one, (485) if, as you say, it is marriage I desire? Am I to destroy a brother – whom I least should – by choosing Helen, exchanging good for evil? I was foolish and raw until I examined the matter from close at hand and realised what it means to kill one’s child. (490) And besides that, pity for the wretched girl swept over me as I thought about our kinship, for the girl who is about to be sacrificed for the sake of my marriage. What has your maiden daughter to do with Helen? Disband the expedition! Let it go from Aulis! (495) And yourself: stop wetting your eyes with tears, brother, and exciting me to tears with you. Whatever concern you may have in the prophecies about your daughter, let them be no concern of mine. My part in this business I make over to you. But have I changed from the man who spoke so frighteningly? (500) What I have been through is natural. I have changed out of love for the son of the parents we share. To act in the best way as occasion arises – that is how an honourable man behaves.

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Euripides

γενναῖ’ ἔλεξας Ταντάλῳ τε τῷ Διὸς πρέποντα· προγόνους οὐ καταισχύνεις σέθεν. αἰνῶ σε, Μενέλα’, ὅτι παρὰ γνώμην ἐμὴν ὑπέθηκας ὀρθῶς τοὺς λόγους σοῦ τ’ ἀξίως. ταραχὴ δ’ ἀδελφῶν διά τ’ ἔρωτα γίγνεται πλεονεξίαν τε δωμάτων· ἀπέπτυσα τοιάνδε συγγένειαν ἀλλήλοιν πικράν. ἀλλ’ ἥκομεν γὰρ εἰς ἀναγκαίας τύχας, θυγατρὸς αἱματηρὸν ἐκπρᾶξαι φόνον. πῶς; τίς δ’ ἀναγκάσει σε τήν γε σὴν κτανεῖν; ἅπας Ἀχαιῶν σύλλογος στρατεύματος. οὔκ, ἤν νιν εἰς Ἄργος ἀποστείλῃς πάλιν. λάθοιμι τοῦτ’ ἄν, ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖν’ οὐ λήσομεν. τὸ ποῖον; οὔτοι χρὴ λίαν ταρβεῖν ὄχλον. Κάλχας ἐρεῖ μαντεύματ’ Ἀργείων στρατῷ. οὔκ, ἢν θάνῃ γε πρόσθε· τοῦτο δ’ εὐμαρές. [τὸ μαντικὸν πᾶν σπέρμα φιλότιμον κακόν. †κοὐδέν γ’ ἄχρηστον οὐδὲ χρήσιμον παρόν.†] ἐκεῖνο δ’ οὐ δέδοικας οὕμ’ ἐσέρχεται; ὃν μὴ σὺ φράζεις πῶς ὑπολάβοιμ’ ἂν λόγον; τὸ Σισύφειον σπέρμα πάντ’ οἶδεν τάδε. οὐκ ἔστ’ Ὀδυσσεὺς ὅτι σὲ κἀμὲ πημανεῖ.

505

510

515

520

525

505 προγόνους Hermann 506 Μενέλα’, Musgrave: Μενέλαος L 508–10 Αγ. Hermann: Με. L; 508–10 del. Boeckh: transferred after 499 Günther 508 δ’ Hermann: γ’ L; διά τ’ Porson: διὰ L*?: γε δι’ Tr1?, P: τις δι’ Tr3 510 ἀλλήλοιν Markland: ἀλλήλων L 513 σε Tr1: om. L 514 Ἀχαιοῦ Nauck (4) 515 Tr2/3; ἀποστείλῃς Markland: ἀποστελεῖς L; ἢν ἀποστέλλῃς νιν εἰς ῎Αργος πάλιν attributed to Bothe by Wecklein 520–1 del. Hartung 521 γε χρηστὸν Canter: γ’ ἄρεστον Nauck 522 οὕμ’ Markland: ὃ ἐμ’ L* overwritten with ὅ μ’ Tr1 (= P): ὅτι μ’ Tr2/3 523 ὑπολάβοιμ’ ἂν Markland: ὑπολάβοιμεν L 524 οἶδεν P2: εἶδε L: εἶδεν Tr2/3

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Cho. You have spoken noble words, worthy of Tantalus, the son of Zeus. You bring no shame on your ancestors. (505) Ag. I thank you, Menelaus, because against my expectation you set out your words correctly, and worthily of yourself. Strife between brothers arises through love of a woman or desire to take over the house. I detest the type of brothers’ bond which leads to bitterness for both of them. (510) However: I have come under compulsion from my fortunes, to carry out the bloody killing of my daughter. Men. How? Who will compel you to kill your own child? Ag. The whole mustered host of the Achaeans. Men. Not if you send Iphigenia back to Argos. (515) Ag. I could do that secretly, but there is something that we cannot keep secret. Men. Why, what is that? You must not fear the masses too much. Ag. Calchas will tell the prophecy to the Argive army. Men. No, not if he dies first; and this is easy. [Ag. The whole breed of seers is an evil – always ambitious. (520) Men. †Yes, and nothing of use, nor useful, when it’s there.†] Ag. But are you not afraid of something else that comes to my mind? Men. How can I understand what you’re talking about if you don’t tell me? Ag. Sisyphus’ seed knows all of this. Men. There is no harm that Odysseus will do you or me. (525)

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Αγ. Με. Αγ.

ποικίλος ἀεὶ πέφυκε τοῦ τ’ ὄχλου μέτα. φιλοτιμίᾳ μὲν ἐνέχεται, δεινῷ κακῷ. οὔκουν δοκεῖς νιν στάντ’ ἐν Ἀργείοις μέσοις λέξειν ἃ Κάλχας θέσφατ’ ἐξηγήσατο, κἄμ’ ὡς ὑπέστην θῦμα, κᾆτ’ ἐψευδόμην, Ἀρτέμιδι θύσειν; οὐ ξυναρπάσας στρατόν, σὲ κἄμ’ ἀποκτείναντας Ἀργείους κόρην σφάξαι κελεύσει; κἂν πρὸς Ἄργος ἐκφύγω, ἐλθόντες αὐτοῖς τείχεσιν Κυκλωπίοις ἀναρπάσουσι καὶ κατασκάψουσι γῆν. τοιαῦτα τἀμὰ πήματ’· ὦ τάλας ἐγώ, ὡς ἠπόρημαι πρὸς θεῶν τὰ νῦν τάδε. ἕν μοι φύλαξον, Μενέλεως, ἀνὰ στρατὸν ἐλθών, ὅπως ἂν μὴ Κλυταιμήστρα τάδε μάθῃ, πρὶν Ἅιδῃ παῖδ’ ἐμὴν προσθῶ λαβών, ὡς ἐπ’ ἐλαχίστοις δακρύοις πράσσω κακῶς. ὑμεῖς δὲ σιγήν, ὦ ξέναι, φυλάσσετε.

Χο.

μάκαρες οἳ μετρίας θεοῦ μετά τε σωφροσύνας μετέ σχον λέκτρων Ἀφροδίτας, γαλανείᾳ χρησάμενοι μαινομένων οἴστρων, ὅθι δὴ

526 τ’ Reiske: γ’ L 528–42 del. W. Dindorf 528 οὔκουν δοκεῖς Musgrave: οὐκοῦν δόκει L 530 κᾆτ’ ἐψευδόμην Murray: κἆτα ψεύδομαι L: κᾆτ’ ἐψεύσομαι Porson 531 οὐ Reiske: ὃς L 535 ἀναρπάσουσι Markland: συναρπάσουσι L 537 ἠπάτημαι Hartung: ἠμπόλημαι Kirchhoff 538 φύλαξαι Headlam 542 δὲ Günther: τε L 543 εἰσὶν written above μάκαρες L 545 θέλκτρων Nauck 547 μαινομένων Reiske: μαινόμεν’ L: μανιάδων Wecklein

530

535

540

στρ.

545

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Ag. He is always sly and sides with the masses. Men. It is ambition, a terrible evil, that has him caught. Ag. Don’t you think that he will stand in the midst of the Argives and speak out the prophecies which Calchas expounded, and say of me how I promised to undertake the sacrifice to Artemis and then tried lying about it? (530) Will he not then carry the whole army along with him and tell the Argives to kill you and me and slaughter the girl? And if I escape to Argos, they will come there, ravage the city and raze it to the ground, Cyclopean walls and all. (535) Such are my torments. Poor wretch that I am, to what helplessness the gods have now reduced me! Please secure one thing for me, Menelaus, when you go among the army – see that Clytemnestra does not learn of this before I take my daughter and hand her to Hades, (540) so that I may pass through my troubles with the fewest tears. And you, keep silent, you foreign women. MENELAUS leaves stage-left, to go to the army. AGAMEMNON stays, stage-left. Cho. (singing and dancing; strophe) Happy are they who with the goddess being moderate and with self-restraint share in Aphrodite of the marriage-bed, (545) experiencing a calm free from the stings of mad desire, the moment when golden-haired Eros bends

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δίδυμ’ ὁ χρυσοκόμας Ἔρως τόξ’ ἐντείνεται χαρίτων, τὸ μὲν ἐπ’ εὐαίωνι πότμῳ, τὸ δ’ ἐπὶ συγχύσει βιοτᾶς. ἀπενέπω νιν ἁμετέρων, ὦ Κύπρι καλλίστα, θαλάμων. εἴη δέ μοι μετρία μὲν χάρις, πόθοι δ’ ὅσιοι, καὶ μετέχοιμι τᾶς Ἀφροδί τας, πολλὰν δ’ ἀποθείμαν.



διάφοροι δὲ φύσεις βροτῶν, διάφοροι δὲ τρόποι· τὸ δ’ ὀρ θῶς ἐσθλὸν σαφὲς αἰεί· τροφαί θ’ αἱ παιδευόμεναι μέγα φέρουσ’ ἐς τὰν ἀρετάν· τό τε γὰρ αἰδεῖσθαι σοφία, τάν τ’ ἐξαλλάσσουσαν ἔχει χάριν ὑπὸ γνώμας ἐσορᾶν τὸ δέον, ἔνθα δόξα φέρει κλέος ἀγήρατον βιοτᾷ.

550

555

ἀντ. 560

565

548–51 Athenaeus 13.562e; 548–49 Menander Rhetor III.404–405 Spengel has ἔρωτας ... τόξα ... ἐντειναμένους 548 ἔρως ὁ χρυσοκόμας Tr3 550 πότμῳ] τύχᾳ Athen. 552 ἀπενέπω Tr2/3: ἀπεννέπων (L*)P 553 ὦ del. Tr2/3 556 μετέχοιμ’ ἴσας Valckenaer 557 δ’ Reiske: τ’ L 558 διάφοροι Höpfner: διάτροποι L 559 τρόποι Scaliger: τρόποις L 559–60 τὸ δ’ ὀρθῶς Musgrave: ὁ δ’ ὀρθὸς L 561 θ’ Lcorr: τ’ ?L; θ’ αἱ παιδευομένων Monk: τ’ εὖ παιδευόμεναι Nauck: τ’ εὖ παιδευομένοις Diggle 566 δόξα Barnes: δόξαν L; δόξα φέρει κλέος susp. Diggle 567 ἀγήραον Ritschl; βιοτᾷ Markland: βιοτάν L

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on the two arrows of his delights, one bringing a lifetime of good fortune, (550) the other a life of ruinous confusion. I forbid him, O most beautiful Cypris, from our bedrooms. Rather may my delight be moderate, and my desires pure, (555) and may I have my part in Aphrodite, but put her from me at her full. (antistrophe) Mortals have different natures, different habits; but what is truly good is always clear. (560) An upbringing with education greatly contributes to virtue. A sense of shame is itself wisdom, and has the exceptional grace of discerning duty through reason, (565) when reputation brings ageless glory to a

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μέγα τι θηρεύειν ἀρετάν, γυναιξὶ μὲν κατὰ Κύ πριν κρυπτάν, ἐν ἀνδράσι δ’ αὖ κόσμος ἐνὼν ὁ μυριοπλη θὴς μείζω πόλιν αὔξει.



ἔμολες, ὦ Πάρις, ᾇτε σύ γε βουκόλος ἀργενναῖς ἐτράφης Ἰδαίαις παρὰ μόσχοις, βάρβαρα συρίζων, Φρυγίων αὐλῶν Οὐλύμπου καλάμοις μιμήματα πνείων. εὔθηλοι δὲ τρέφοντο βόες, ὅθι σε κρίσις ἔμενεν θεᾶν, ἅ σ’ ἐς Ἑλλάδα πέμπει· ἐλεφαντοδέτων πάροι θεν θρόνων ὃς στὰς Ἑλένας

570

ἐπῳδ.

575

580

569–83 P. Köln 67, with considerable damage and loss 569–70 γυναιξι μεν [ | κρυπταν P. Köln 570 ἐν ἀνδράσι δ’ Tr3: ἐν δ’ ἀνδράσιν (L*)P: εν α̣[ or εν δ̣[ P. Köln 571–2 αυ κοσμος οδεν̣[ | πληθει μειζω π̣[ P. Köln 571 ἐνὼν ὁ Markland: ὁ δ’ ἔνδον L 571–2 μυριοπληθεῖ or -εὶ eds 573 ἔμολες] ἔμαθον Kovacs; ἔμαθες and 576 συρίζειν Willink 573 παρ̣ι̣σ̣ [ | βουκολος P. Köln; ᾇτε Willink: ᾗτε L; σύ γε susp. eds 577 ο̣υ̣[λυμπου] P. Köln, Οὐλύμπου conj. Heath: ὀλύμπου L 578 μιμηματ̣[4/5 letters]υ̣ων P. Köln; ἀναπ]ύων conj. Günther: πνε]ύων Musso (but rejected), West; πνείων W. Dindorf: πνέων L 579 δ’ ἐτρέφοντο Blomfield [P. Köln defective] 580 ο[6/7 let.]σ̣ε̣μ̣[5 let.]αν P. Köln (i.e. ο[ὗ κρίσι]ς Günther): ὅθι Bothe: ὅτι L: ὅτε Aldine; ἔμενεν Bothe, Monk; ἔμενε L: ἔμηνε Hermann; ὅθι (or οὗ) κρίσις σ’ or (σε κρίσις L) ἔμενεν θεᾶν Diggle 581 σ’ ἐς Ἑλλάδα L. Dindorf: σ[5 let.]λ̣α̣δ̣[ P. Köln (i.e. σ[εισελ]λαδ[α Günther, Diggle): σ’ ἑλλάδα L 582–3 πάροιθεν θρόνων Hermann: πάροιθε (-θεν P/P2) δόμων L: παρο[| 6 let.]ω̣ν̣ε̣[ P. Köln 583 ὃς (L) στὰς Jouan (δὲ στὰς earlier Kirchhoff): ὃς τᾶς L: οὗ τᾶς Musgrave: ἔστας ῾Ελένας Wilamowitz

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life. It is a great thing to hunt after virtue – for women within a hidden love, and among men in their turn good order within them in countless forms increases their city to greatness. (570) (epode) You came, O Paris, to where you yourself were reared, an oxherd on Mt Ida among white heifers, (575) playing barbarian music, breathing on the reeds imitations of the Phrygian pipes of Olympus; and your full-uddered cows were being reared where judgement of the goddesses awaited you (580) – which sent you to Greece. You stood before the throne of Helen with its ivoried

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ἐν ἀντωποῖς βλεφάροις ἔρωτά τ’ ἔδωκας ἔρωτί τ’ αὐτὸς ἐπτοήθης. ὅθεν ἔριν ἔριν Ἑλλάδα σὺν δορὶ ναυσί τ’ ἄγεις ἐς πέργαμα Τροίας.



ἰὼ ἰώ· μεγάλαι μεγάλων εὐδαιμονίαι· τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἴδετ’ Ἰφιγένειαν, ἄνασσαν †ἐμήν†, τὴν Τυνδάρεω τε Κλυταιμήστραν, ὡς ἐκ μεγάλων ἐβλαστήκασ’ ἐπί τ’ εὐμήκεις ἥκουσι τύχας. θεοί γ’ οἱ κρείσσους οἵ τ’ ὀλβοφόροι τοῖς οὐκ εὐδαίμοσι θνητῶν.



[στῶμεν, Χαλκίδος ἔκγονα θρέμματα, τὴν βασίλειαν δεξώμεθ’ ὄχων ἄπο μὴ σφαλερῶς ἐπὶ γαῖαν, ἀγανῶς δὲ χεροῖν, μαλακῇ γνώμῃ, †μὴ ταρβήσῃ νεωστί μοι μολὸν κλεινὸν τέκνον Ἀγαμέμνονος, μηδὲ θόρυβον μηδ’ ἔκπληξιν† ταῖς Ἀργείαις ξεῖναι ξείναις παρέχωμεν.]

585

590

595

600

605

585 τ’ ἔδωκας Blomfield: δέδωκας L: δέδορκας Headlam; τ’ before αὐτὸς Blomfield: δ’ L 586 ἐπτοήθης Wilamowitz: ἐπτοάθης L 587 ἔριν ἔριν Page: ἔρις ἔριν L 588 ἄγεις Page: ἄγει L 589 πέργαμα Τροίας Blomfield: τροίας πέργαμα L 590–7 susp. many eds, e.g. Page, Diggle: del. L. and W. Dindorf: retained by e.g. Stockert, Ritchie, Matthiessen, Turato 592 ἐμήν del. Bothe 593 τε Aldine: γε L 598–606 del. W. Dindorf, most eds: some defence by e.g. Jouan, Matthiessen, Turato 599 τὴν Tr2/3: τήνδε (L*)P; ὄχων Canter: ὄχλων L 601 ῥώμῃ Hermann

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work, and in the meeting of eyes you gave love (585) just as you were yourself fluttered by love. And for that you are bringing strife, yes, strife – Greece with her spears and ships – to Troy’s citadel. CLYTEMNESTRA, holding the baby ORESTES, and IPHIGENIA enter stage-right on a carriage; they have male and female attendants.



(the Chorus now chants, joyfully) Hail, hail! Great is the happiness of the great (590)! See Iphigenia, the daughter of the king, †my† queen, and Clytemnestra, Tyndareus’ daughter! From what high ancestry they were born! To what happily long fortunes they have come! (595) In the eyes of unfortunate mortals the powerful and the wealthy are gods. [Let us take our stand, we from Chalcis, descended and reared there; let us receive the queen from her carriage without her stumbling to the ground, (600) our hands kind with gentle intention, †so that the famous child of Agamemnon, whom I see has just arrived, may not be frightened, and let us not trouble† or alarm these foreign women from Argos (605) – we are foreigners too.]

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ΚΛΥΤΑΙΜΗΣΤΡΑ ὄρνιθα μὲν τόνδ’ αἴσιον ποιούμεθα, τὸ σόν τε χρηστὸν καὶ λόγων εὐφημίαν· ἐλπίδα δ’ ἔχω τιν’ ὡς ἐπ’ ἐσθλοῖσιν γάμοις πάρειμι νυμφαγωγός. ἀλλ’ ὀχημάτων ἔξω πορεύεθ’ ἃς φέρω φερνὰς κόρῃ καὶ πέμπετ’ ἐς μέλαθρον εὐλαβούμενοι. σὺ δ’, ὦ τέκνον μοι, λεῖπε πωλικοὺς ὄχους, ἁβρὸν τιθεῖσα κῶλον ἀσφαλῶς χαμαί. ὑμεῖς δὲ νεάνιδές νιν ἀγκάλαις ἔπι δέξασθε καὶ πορεύσατ’ ἐξ ὀχημάτων. κἀμοὶ χερός τις ἐνδότω στηρίγματα, θάκους ἀπήνης ὡς ἂν ἐκλίπω καλῶς. αἱ δ’ ἐς τὸ πρόσθεν στῆτε πωλικῶν ζυγῶν· φοβερὸν γὰρ ἀπαράμυθον ὄμμα πωλικόν. καὶ παῖδα τόνδε, τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος γόνον, λάζυσθ’, Ὀρέστην· ἔτι γάρ ἐστι νήπιος. τέκνον, καθεύδεις, πωλικῷ δαμεὶς ὄχῳ; ἔγειρ’ ἀδελφῆς ἐφ’ ὑμέναιον εὐτυχῶς· ἀνδρὸς γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ κῆδος αὐτὸς ἐσθλὸς ὢν λήψῃ, κόρης Νηρῇδος ἰσοθέου γένους. †ἑξῆς κάθησο δεῦρό μου ποδός, τέκνον· πρὸς μητέρ’, Ἰφιγένεια, μακαρίαν δέ με ξέναισι ταῖσδε πλησία σταθεῖσα θές,

610

615

620

625

607–30 susp. or partly del. many eds: wholly del. W. Dindorf and e.g. Page: def. in part by Jouan and esp. Matthiessen 614 ἀσφαλῶς χαμαί Hermann: ἀσθενές θ’ ἅμα L 615 νεάνιδές νιν Pierson: νεανίδαισιν L: νεανίδεσσιν Tr2/3: ὑμεῖς δ’ ἐπ’ ἀγκάλαις νιν, ὦ νεάνιδές Monk 617 κἀμοὶ Bothe: καί μοι L 619 οἱ δ’ Dobree, Höpfner 623 καθεύδεις P2: θακεύεις L; ὄχῳ] δρόμῳ Stockert 626 κόρης Νηρῇδος Murray: τὸ νηρηῖδος L: τὸ Νηρῇδος Portus; ἰσοθέου γένους Diggle: ἰσόθεον γένος L 627 καθίστω Markland 629 θές Camper: δός L

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CLYTEMNESTRA (speaking from the carriage) I count this a favourable omen, your goodness and your auspicious words. I have some expectation that I am here escorting a bride for an excellent marriage. (to her male attendants) Come, bring from the carriage (610) the gifts I am bearing for the girl and take them carefully inside. And you, my child, please leave the carriage and horses and put your delicate feet safely to the ground. (to her female attendants) And you young women, receive her on your bent arms (615) and bring her from the carriage. And someone give me a supporting hand too so that I may leave my seat in the carriage with decorum. And you other young women, stand at the front of the yoked horses; for a horse looks frightened when no one soothes it. (620) And take this boy, Agamemnon’s son, Orestes! He’s still a baby. Are you sleeping, my child, exhausted by the carriage? Wake up for the wedding of your sister, and be happy; for you, nobly-born yourself, will gain the connection to an excellent man (625), the god-like offspring of Nereus’ daughter. †Here, sit beside my feet, my child. To your mother, Iphigenia! Stand next to me and make me blest in the eyes of these women foreigners.

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καὶ δεῦρο δὴ πατέρα πρόσειπε σὸν φίλον.† ὦ σέβας ἐμοὶ μέγιστον, Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ, ἥκομεν, ἐφετμαῖς οὐκ ἀπιστοῦσαι σέθεν.

ΙΦΙΓΕΝΕΙΑ ὦ μῆτερ, ὑποδραμοῦσά σ’ – ὀργισθῇς δὲ μή – πρὸς στέρνα πατρὸς στέρνα τἀμὰ προσβαλῶ. [ἐγὼ δὲ βούλομαι τὰ σὰ στέρν’, ὦ πάτερ, ὑποδραμοῦσα περιβαλεῖν διὰ χρόνου· ποθῶ γὰρ ὄμμα σόν· ὀργισθῇς δὲ μή.] Κλ. ἀλλ’, ὦ τέκνον, χρή· φιλοπάτωρ δ’ ἀεί ποτ’ εἶ μάλιστα παίδων τῷδ’ ὅσους ἐγὼ ’τεκον. Ιφ. ὦ πάτερ, ἐσεῖδόν σ’ ἀσμένη πολλῷ χρόνῳ. Αγ. καὶ γὰρ πατὴρ σέ· τόδ’ ἴσον ὑπὲρ ἀμφοῖν λέγεις. Ιφ. χαῖρ’· εὖ δέ μ’ ἀγαγὼν πρὸς σ’ ἐποίησας, πάτερ. Αγ. οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως φῶ τοῦτο καὶ μὴ φῶ, τέκνον. Ιφ. ἔα· ὡς οὐ βλέπεις εὔκηλον ἄσμενός μ’ ἰδών. Αγ. πόλλ’ ἀνδρὶ βασιλεῖ καὶ στρατηλάτῃ μέλει. Ιφ. παρ’ ἐμοὶ γενοῦ νῦν, μὴ ’πὶ φροντίδας τρέπου. Αγ. ἀλλ’ εἰμὶ παρὰ σοὶ νῦν ἅπας κοὐκ ἄλλοθι.

630 πρόσειπε πατέρα Fix 633–4 transferred after 630 Porson: del. Page 632 προσβαλῶ Porson: περιβαλῶ L 633–7 del. Bremi; del., with lacuna before 631 Kovacs 635–7 del. Porson 636 περιβαλεῖν Porson: προσβαλεῖν L 637 Tr3 638 Κλ. Porson: Αγ. L 639 τῷδ Bothe: τῶνδε L 640–1 del. Kovacs 644 ὡς] πῶς and punct. as question Nauck (4); ἕκηλον Blomfield 645 στρατηλάτη (i.e. -ῃ) P2: στρατηλατεῖ L 646 μὴ Barnes: καὶ μὴ L 647 εἰμὶ P2: εἶμι L

630 633 634 631 632 635

640

645

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AGAMEMNON moves forward

And here! Speak to your dear father.† (630) O my most revered majesty, lord Agamemnon, (633) we have come; we have not disobeyed your commands! (634)

IPHIGENIA Mother, I shall run out ahead of you – do not be angry! – (631) and clasp my father breast to breast. (632) [O father, I want (635) to run out ahead and clasp your breast to me, it has been so long! I yearn for the very sight of you! Do not be angry!] Clyt. So you should, my child. Of all the children I bore your father, you have always been the one who loved him most. Iph. Father, I am glad to see you after so long a time! (640) Ag. Yes, and your father to see you! You speak for us both there, equally. Iph. Greetings! You have done well to bring me here, father. Ag. I don’t know that I should say that, my child, or not say it. Iph. (with a start) What? How uneasy you look in being glad to see me! Ag. A king and commander has many cares. (645) Iph. Be with me now; don’t turn to anxieties. Ag. But I am with you, altogether, and nowhere else.

142

Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ.

Euripides

μέθες νυν ὀφρὺν ὄμμα τ’ ἔκτεινον φίλον. ἰδού, γέγηθά σ’ ὡς γέγηθ’ ὁρῶν, τέκνον. κἄπειτα λείβεις δάκρυ’ ἀπ’ ὀμμάτων σέθεν; μακρὰ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἡ ’πιοῦσ’ ἀπουσία. [†οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅτι φῄς, οὐκ οἶδα, φίλτατ’ ἐμοὶ πάτερ.†] ποῦ τοὺς Φρύγας λέγουσιν ᾠκίσθαι, πάτερ; οὗ μήποτ’ οἰκεῖν ὤφελ’ ὁ Πριάμου Πάρις. μακρὰν ἀπαίρεις, ὦ πάτερ, λιπὼν ἐμέ. [ἐς ταὐτόν, ὦ θύγατερ, ἥξεις σῷ πατρί.] συνετὰ λέγουσα μᾶλλον εἰς οἶκτόν μ’ ἄγεις. ἀσύνετά νυν ἐροῦμεν, εἰ σέ γ’ εὐφρανῶ. παπαῖ· τὸ σιγᾶν οὐ σθένω, σὲ δ’ ᾔνεσα. μέν’, ὦ πάτερ, κατ’ οἶκον ἐπὶ τέκνοις σέθεν. θέλω γε, τὸ μένειν δ’ οὐκ ἔχων ἀλγύνομαι. ὄλοιντο λόγχαι καὶ τὰ Μενέλεω κακά. ἄλλους ὀλεῖ πρόσθ’ ἁμὲ διολέσαντ’ ἔχει. ὡς πολὺν ἀπῆσθα χρόνον ἐν Αὐλίδος μυχοῖς. καὶ νῦν γέ μ’ ἴσχει δή τι μὴ στέλλειν στρατόν. φεῦ· εἴθ’ ἦν καλόν †μοι σοί τ’ ἄγειν σύμπλουν ἐμέ†. ἔτ’ ἔστι καὶ σοὶ πλοῦς, ἵνα †μνήση† πατρός. σὺν μητρὶ πλεύσασ’ ἢ μόνη πορεύσομαι;

650 652 662 663 664 665 653 655

660 661 666

649 γέγηθά σ’ ὡς γέγηθ’ Musgrave: γέγηθ’ ἕως γέγηθά σ’ L 652–65 652 and 665 del. Wilamowitz (after W. Dindorf): 652 and 665 del., 662–64 transferred before 653, Jackson 662 τοὺς] γῆς Elmsley; ᾠκίσθαι Porson: ᾠκῆσθαι L 664 ἀπαρεῖς Wecklein 665 ἥξεις Bothe, Weil: ἥκεις L 653 εἰς οἶκτόν μ’ Tr2: μ’ εἰς οἶκτον (L*)P 657 τὸ μένειν England: τὸ θέλειν L: τὸ τελεῖν Markland: τοῦτο Günther 659 πρόσθ’ ἁμὲ Porson: πρόσθ’ ἅ με L: πρόσθεν ἅ με Tr2 661 γέ μ’ Aldine: γ’ ἔμ’ L 666 σε κἀμέ σοι σύμπλουν ἄγειν Hermann: σοι κἄμ’ ἄγειν σύμπλουν ὁμοῦ Diggle 667 ἔτ’ ἔστι Porson: αἰτεῖς τί; L; ἵν’ οὐ μνήσῃ Musgrave: ἵν’ ἀμμνήσῃ Murray: ἵν’ ἀμνηστῇς Diggle

Iphigenia at Aulis

Iph. Ag. Iph. Ag. Iph.

143

Away with this frown then, and give me a loving look. Look, I have all the joy I can have in seeing you, my child. And then you have tears streaming from your eyes? (650) Yes, for the coming absence will be long for us. (651) [I don’t know what you mean, I don’t know, dearest of fathers! (652)] Where do they say that the Phrygians dwell, father? (662) Ag. Where ... if only Priam’s son Paris were not living there! (663) Iph. You are sailing a long way, father, and leaving me. (664) Ag. [You will come to the same place as your father, my daughter. (665)] The understanding in your words makes me pity you the more. (653) Iph. I shall talk with no understanding then, if that will make you happy. Ag. (groaning) Oh no! I do not have the strength to be silent. Thank you, though. (655) Iph. Stay at home, father, for your children! Ag. That is my wish; but I cannot stay, and it is painful for me. Iph. A curse on wars and Menelaus’ wrongs! Ag. What has brought me ruin will ruin others first. Iph. How long a time you have been away in the bay of Aulis! (660) Ag. And now something holds me back from sending the expedition off. (661) Iph. Alas! If only it were right †for us both to take me with you on your voyage!† (666) Ag. There is still a voyage for you too, where †you will remember† your father. Iph. Will I voyage with my mother or make the crossing alone?

144

Αγ. Ιφ Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Ιφ. Αγ. Κλ.

Euripides

μόνη, μονωθεῖσ’ ἀπὸ πατρὸς καὶ μητέρος. οὔ πού μ’ ἐς ἄλλα δώματ’ οἰκίζεις, πάτερ; ἐατέ’· οὐ χρὴ τοιάδ’ εἰδέναι κόρας. σπεῦδ’ ἐκ Φρυγῶν μοι, θέμενος εὖ τἀκεῖ, πάτερ. θῦσαί με θυσίαν πρῶτα δεῖ τιν’ ἐνθάδε. ἀλλὰ ξὺν ἱεροῖς χρὴ τό γ’ εὐσεβὲς σκοπεῖν. εἴσῃ σύ· χερνίβων γὰρ ἑστήξεις πέλας. στήσομεν ἄρ’ ἀμφὶ βωμόν, ὦ πάτερ, χορούς; ζηλῶ σὲ μᾶλλον ἢ ’μὲ τοῦ μηδὲν φρονεῖν. χώρει δὲ μελάθρων ἐντός – ὀφθῆναι κόραις πικρόν – φίλημα δοῦσα δεξιάν τέ μοι, μέλλουσα δαρὸν πατρὸς ἀποικήσειν χρόνον. ὦ στέρνα καὶ παρῇδες, ὦ ξανθαὶ κόμαι, ὡς ἄχθος ἡμῖν ἐγένεθ’ ἡ Φρυγῶν πόλις Ἑλένη τε. παύω τοὺς λόγους· ταχεῖα γὰρ νοτὶς διώκει μ’ ὀμμάτων ψαύσαντά σου. ἴθ’ ἐς μέλαθρα. σὲ δὲ παραιτοῦμαι τάδε, Λήδας γένεθλον, εἰ κατῳκτίσθην ἄγαν, μέλλων Ἀχιλλεῖ θυγατέρ’ ἐκδώσειν ἐμήν. ἀποστολαὶ γὰρ μακάριαι μέν, ἀλλ’ ὅμως δάκνουσι τοὺς τεκόντας, ὅταν ἄλλοις δόμοις παῖδας παραδιδῷ πολλὰ μοχθήσας πατήρ. οὐχ ὧδ’ ἀσύνετός εἰμι, πείσεσθαι δ’ ἐμὲ

670

675

680

685

690

670 οἰκιεῖς Wecklein 671 ἐατέ’· Stadtmüller: ἔα γε· L: ἔα γέ · Jouan; τοιάδ Markland: τοι τάδ’ L 674 susp. eds; 674–77 del. Paley 674 ἀλλὰ ξὺν] ποίοισιν, and punct. as question, Rauchenstein 675 ἑστήξεις Elmsley: ἑστήξῃ L 677 σὲ Matthiae: σε L; ἢ ’μὲ P2: ἤ με L 678b–9a punct. as parenthesis England 679 τέ μοι Matthiae: τ’ ἐμοί L 682 ὑμῖν Musgrave 684 διαίνει Herwerden 688 μακάριον Murray 691 δ’ ἐμὲ Matthiae: δέ με L

Iphigenia at Aulis

145

Ag. Iph.

Alone, alone, away from your father and mother. Can it really be that you’re moving me to another home, father? (670) Ag. We must let this be; it is not right for girls to know such things. Iph. Hurry back from the Phrygians please, father, when you have put things right there! Ag. First I must offer a certain sacrifice here. Iph. Well, with religious rites you should have regard for what is holy. Ag. You will come to know; for you will stand near the sprinkling of the water. (675) Iph. Then shall we set up dancing and song round the altar, father? Ag. I envy you more than myself because you do not understand at all. But go inside the hut – girls are seen at their cost. Give me a kiss and your hand first, for you are going to live far away from your father for a lengthy time. (680) O this breast and cheeks, O this blond hair! What a burden of sorrow the city of the Phrygians has become for us, and Helen! I’ll say no more, for a sudden flooding of my eyes presses on me now that I have touched you. Go into the hut. IPHIGENIA goes inside the hut, and AGAMEMNON turns to CLYTEMNESTRA

And you, offspring of Leda, I beg you (685) to forgive me if I have lamented too much when I am about to give my daughter to Achilles. To send away one’s child in marriage is a happy event, but it tears nevertheless at the parents’ hearts when a father hands over his children to other houses (690) after all his labour in bringing them up. Clyt. I am not so devoid of understanding – be sure that I shall suffer

146

Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ

Euripides

καὐτὴν δόκει τάδ’, ὥστε μή σε νουθετεῖν, ὅταν σὺν ὑμεναίοισιν ἐξάγω κόρην· ἀλλ’ ὁ νόμος αὐτὰ τῷ χρόνῳ συνισχνανεῖ. τοὔνομα μὲν οὖν παῖδ’ οἶδ’ ὅτῳ κατῄνεσας, γένους δὲ ποίου χὠπόθεν μαθεῖν θέλω. Αἴγινα θυγάτηρ ἐγένετ’ Ἀσωποῦ πατρός. ταύτην δὲ θνητῶν ἢ θεῶν ἔζευξε τίς; Ζεύς· Αἰακὸν δ’ ἔφυσεν, Οἰνώνης πρόμον. τοῦ δ’ Αἰακοῦ παῖς τίς κατέσχε δώματα; Πηλεύς· ὁ Πηλεὺς δ’ ἔσχε Νηρέως κόρην. θεοῦ διδόντος ἢ βίᾳ θεῶν λαβών; Ζεὺς ἠγγύησε καὶ δίδωσ’ ὁ κύριος. γαμεῖ δὲ ποῦ νιν; ἦ κατ’ οἶδμα πόντιον; Χείρων ἵν’ οἰκεῖ σεμνὰ Πηλίου βάθρα. οὗ φασι Κενταύρειον ᾠκίσθαι γένος; ἐνταῦθ’ ἔδαισαν Πηλέως γάμους θεοί. Θέτις δ’ ἔθρεψεν ἢ πατὴρ Ἀχιλλέα; Χείρων, ἵν’ ἤθη μὴ μάθοι κακῶν βροτῶν. φεῦ· σοφός γ’ ὁ θρέψας χὠ διδοὺς σοφώτερος. τοιόσδε παιδὸς σῆς ἀνὴρ ἔσται πόσις. οὐ μεμπτός· οἰκεῖ δ’ ἄστυ ποῖον Ἑλλάδος; Ἀπιδανὸν ἀμφὶ ποταμὸν ἐν Φθίας ὅροις. ἐκεῖσ’ ἀπάξει σὴν ἐμήν τε παρθένον; κείνῳ μελήσει ταῦτα τῷ κεκτημένῳ.

695

700

705

710

715

694 susp. Page, Diggle; συνισχνανεῖ Musgrave: συνανίσχει L: συνισχάνει P2: συνισχανεῖ Heath 696 δ’ ὁποίου Porson 698 ἔζευξε τίς; Lenting: ἔζευξέ τις L 700 τοῦ] τὰ Elmsley 705 Πηλίου Canter: πηλείου L 706 ᾠκίσθαι Porson: οἰκεῖσθαι L 709 μάθοι Musgrave: μάθη L 710 σοφωτέροις Musgrave 714 ἀπάξεις Dobree 715 κείνην Hermann

Iphigenia at Aulis

Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag. Clyt. Ag.

147

this myself as well – as to rebuke you when I lead the girl out accompanied by wedding-songs. But the custom will help reduce my suffering with time. As to the name, I know who it is that you have promised our child to, (695) but I want to learn about his family and where he was born. Aegina was born daughter to Father Asopus. And was married by a mortal or a god? Who? Zeus; and he fathered Aeacus, foremost in Oenone. And which son of Aeacus inherited his house? (700) Peleus, and Peleus married Nereus’ daughter. Did a god give her to him or did he take her in defiance of the gods? Zeus betrothed her and Nereus in his full right gave her away. Where did he marry her? Was it beneath the swell of the sea? It was where Chiron lives on the sacred foothills of Pelion. (705) Where they say that the Centaur race dwells? It was there that the gods feasted Peleus’ wedding. Did Thetis or his father bring up Achilles? Chiron did, so that he might not learn the ways of evil men. Ah! The one who brought him up was indeed wise, and the one who entrusted him was wiser! (710) Such is the man who will be your daughter’s husband. He is without fault. Which Greek city does he live in? By the river Apidanos in the land of Phthia. Will he take your and my daughter away there? That will be the concern of the one who gets her. (715)

148

Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ Αγ.

Euripides

ἀλλ’ εὐτυχοίτην. τίνι δ’ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ γαμεῖ; ὅταν σελήνης ἐντελὴς ἔλθῃ κύκλος. προτέλεια δ’ ἤδη παιδὸς ἔσφαξας θεᾷ; μέλλω· ’πὶ ταύτῃ καὶ καθέσταμεν τύχῃ. κἄπειτα δαίσεις τοὺς γάμους ἐς ὕστερον; θύσας γε θύμαθ’ ἁμὲ χρὴ θῦσαι θεοῖς. ἡμεῖς δὲ θοίνην ποῦ γυναιξὶ θήσομεν; ἐνθάδε παρ’ εὐπρύμνοισιν Ἀργείων πλάταις. †καλῶς ἀναγκαίως τε†· συνενέγκοι δ’ ὅμως. οἶσθ’ οὖν ὃ δρᾶσον, ὦ γύναι· πιθοῦ δέ μοι. τί χρῆμα; πείθεσθαι γὰρ εἴθισμαι σέθεν. ἡμεῖς μὲν ἐνθάδ’, οὗπέρ ἐσθ’ ὁ νυμφίος ... μητρὸς τί χωρὶς δράσεθ’ ἁμὲ δρᾶν χρεών; ἐκδώσομεν σὴν παῖδα Δαναΐδων μέτα. ἡμᾶς δὲ ποῦ χρὴ τηνικαῦτα τυγχάνειν; χώρει πρὸς Ἄργος παρθένων τε τημέλει. λιποῦσα παῖδα; τίς δ’ ἀνασχήσει φλόγα; ἐγὼ παρέξω φῶς ὃ νυμφίοις πρέπει. οὐχ ὁ νόμος οὗτος οὐδὲ φαῦλ’ ἡγητέα. οὐ καλὸν ἐν ὄχλῳ σ’ ἐξομιλεῖσθαι στρατοῦ. καλὸν τεκοῦσαν τἀμά μ’ ἐκδοῦναι τέκνα. καὶ τάς γ’ ἐν οἴκῳ μὴ μόνας εἶναι κόρας.

720

725

730

735

716 εὐτυχοίτην Portus: εὐτυχείτην L 717 ἐντελὴς Musgrave: εὐτυχὴς L 721–6 del. Kovacs 721 ἁμὲ χρὴ Porson: ἅ μ’ ἐχρῆν L 723–4 susp. Günther, 723–6 Diggle 724 κακῶς, ἀναγκαίως δέ Heath: κακῶς ἀναξίως τε Matthiae: ἀλλ’ οὖν ἀναγκαῖόν γε· Günther; συνενέγκοι L. Dindorf: συνενέγκαι L 726 εἰθίσμεθά σοι Hermann 728 τι Aldine; ἁμὲ Markland: ἅ με L: ὧν με Reiske 731 παρθένων Herwerden: παρθένους L 734 οὐδὲ φαῦλ’ ἡγητέα Tucker: σὺ δὲ φαῦλ’ ἡγῇ τάδε L 735 ἐξομιλῆσαι England 736 μ’ Markland: γ’ L 737 οἴκοις Diggle

Iphigenia at Aulis

149

Clyt. May the two meet with good fortune! But on what day will he marry her? Ag. When the moon’s orb comes to fullness. Clyt. And have you already made the preliminary sacrifice to the goddess for our daughter? Ag. I am about to; this is the very point of fortune I stand at now. Clyt. And then will you postpone the marriage feast? (720) Ag. Yes, when I have made the sacrifice which I must make to the gods. Clyt. And we: where shall we hold the banquet for the women? Ag. Here by the Argives’ fine-sterned ships. Clyt. †Good, and necessary†; but may all be well even so. Ag. You know what you must do, lady? Obey me, please! (725) Clyt. What? Why, I am accustomed to obey you. Ag. I myself here, just where the bridegroom is ... Clyt. Away from the mother, what will you all do that I should be doing? Ag. ... I shall give your daughter away together in company with the Danaans. Clyt. And where shall I be at that moment? (730) Ag. Go to Argos and take care of the maiden-girls. Clyt. And leave my child? Who will hold high the marriage-torch? Ag. I shall provide the light for bride and groom. Clyt. This is not the custom, and it must not be held trivial. Ag. It is not right for you to be out in company with a mass of soldiers. (735) Clyt. But it is right for me as the mother to give away my daughter. Ag. Yes, and right that the girls at home are not on their own.

150

Euripides

Κλ. Αγ. Αγ.

ὀχυροῖσι παρθενῶσι φρουροῦνται καλῶς. πιθοῦ.  Κλ. μὰ τὴν ἄνασσαν Ἀργείαν θεάν. ἐλθὼν δὲ τἄξω πρᾶσσε, τἀν δόμοις δ’ ἐγώ. [ἃ χρὴ παρεῖναι νυμφίοισι παρθένοις.] οἴμοι· μάτην ᾖξ’, ἐλπίδος δ’ ἀπεσφάλην, ἐξ ὀμμάτων δάμαρτ’ ἀποστεῖλαι θέλων. σοφίζομαι δὲ κἀπὶ τοῖσι φιλτάτοις τέχνας πορίζω, πανταχῇ νικώμενος. ὅμως δὲ σὺν Κάλχαντι τῷ θυηπόλῳ κοινῇ τὸ τῇ θεῷ φίλον, ἐμοὶ δ’ οὐκ εὐτυχές, ἐξευπορήσων εἶμι, μόχθον Ἑλλάδος. [χρὴ δ’ ἐν δόμοισιν ἄνδρα τὸν σοφὸν τρέφειν γυναῖκα χρηστὴν κἀγαθήν, ἢ μὴ τρέφειν.]

Χο.

ἥξει δὴ Σιμόεντα καὶ δίνας ἀργυροειδεῖς ἄγυρις Ἑλλάνων στρατιᾶς ἀνά τε ναυσὶν καὶ σὺν ὅπλοις Ἴλιον ἐς τὸ Τροίας Φοιβήϊον δάπεδον, τὰν Κασσάνδραν ἵν’ ἀκού ω ῥίπτειν ξανθοὺς πλοκάμους χλωροκόμῳ στεφάνῳ δάφνας

740

745

750 στρ.

755

739 οὔ above μὰ L; θεόν Wecklein; 739 wholly Αγ. Wilamowitz; lacuna after 739 Günther 740 δὲ (L*)P: γε Tr: σὺ Markland 741 del. Monk 745–9 P.Köln, very damaged 746–8 del. Monk 747 τῇ θεῷ Rauchenstein: τῆς θεοῦ L: [P. Köln defective] 748 ἐξευπορήσων (L?P?), conj. England: ἐξ***ορήσων L: ἐξε**ορήσων ?P: ἐξιστορήσων Tr3, P2 [P. Köln] 749–50 del. Hartung 750 τρέφειν] γαμεῖν Hermann 755 Ἰλίου ἐς πετραίας Willink 759 χλωροκόμου Fritzsche

Iphigenia at Aulis

151

Clyt. They are well and securely guarded in maidens’ quarters. Ag. Obey me! Clyt. No, by the sovereign goddess of Argos! Go and arrange the things outside, and I will those indoors (740) [which must be there for maidens at their marriage].

CLYTEMNESTRA goes in.

Ag.

Alas! My rushing in was useless, and I was baffled of my hope in wanting to send my wife away out of my sight. I am being clever in devising schemes against my dearest, but I am defeated at every point. (745) Despite that, I shall go to share with Calchas, the man of sacrifices, in making ready what pleases the goddess but is my ill fortune, a burden for Greece. [The wise man must maintain a wife in his house who is helpful and good, or not maintain one.] (750)

AGAMEMNON goes off towards the army. Cho. (singing and dancing; strophe) There will indeed come to Simoeis and its silvery swirling waters the gathered army of the Greeks, aboard its ships and with its arms, to Ilium, (755) to Phoebus’ ground at Troy, where I hear that Cassandra, adorned with a garland of green-leafed bay, tosses her blond tresses whenever

152

Euripides



κοσμηθεῖσαν, ὅταν θεοῦ μαντόσυνοι πνεύσωσ’ ἀνάγκαι.

760



στάσονται δ’ ἐπὶ περγάμων Τροίας ἀμφί τε τείχη Τρῶες, ὅταν χάλκασπις Ἄρης πόντιος εὐπρῴροιο πλάτας εἰρεσίᾳ πελάζῃ Σιμουντίοις ὀχετοῖς, τὰν τῶν ἐν αἰθέρι δισ σῶν Διοσκούρων Ἑλέναν ἐκ Πριάμου κομίσαι θέλων ἐς γᾶν Ἑλλάδα δοριπόνων ἀσπίσι καὶ λόγχαις Ἀχαιῶν.

ἀντ.



[Πέργαμον δὲ Φρυγῶν πόλιν λαΐνους περὶ πύργους κυκλώσας Ἄρης φόνιος λαιμοτόμους κεφαλὰς †σπάσας πόλισμα Τροίας† πέρσας κατ’ ἄκρας πόλιν, θήσει κόρας πολυκλαύ τους δάμαρτά τε Πριάμου. ἁ δὲ Διὸς Ἑλένα κόρα πολύκλαυτος †ἐσεῖται† πόσιν προλιποῦσα.]

765

770

ἐπῳδ.

775

780

765 εὐπρῴροιο πλάτας Wecklein: εὐπρώροισι ((L*)P: -οις Tr2/3) πλάταις L 771 ἐς γᾶν] γᾶς Willink; δοριπόνων Kirchhoff: δοριπόνοις L 773–83 del. Hartung 775 ῎Αρης φόνιος Höpfner (῎Αρης φοίνιος earlier Markland): ἄρει φονίῳ L (ἄρει Lcorr: ἄρω ?L); ἄρει] δορὶ Hermann (with φοινίῳ following; φοινίῳ P2): ἕρκει Jacobs: ἔριδι (φονίᾳ) Günther: λίνῳ or βρόχῳ West 777 πόλισμα Τροίας del. Monk 777–8 πόλισμα ... πόλιν] πέρσας κατ’ ἄκρας πόλισμα West 779 πολυκλαύτους Aldine: πολυκλαύστους L 782 πολύκλαυτος Lcorr or Tr1: πολύκλαυστος L; ἐσεῖται] ἑδεῖται Musgrave: εἴσεται Hermann

Iphigenia at Aulis





153

the god (760) breathes compulsion to prophecy. (antistrophe) The Trojans will stand on the citadel of Troy and round on the walls, when Ares of the bronze shield, rowed over the sea on fine-prowed ships, (765) comes near Simoeis’ channels, wishing to bring back Helen, sister of the two Dioscuri in the heaven, from Priam (770) to the land of Greece, by means of the shields and spears of toiling warriors, the Achaeans. (epode) [Circling Pergamum, the Phrygians’ city, round its stone towers bloody Ares (775), †pulling† heads severed at the throat, will ransack †Troy’s city† from top to bottom, and make girls and the wife of Priam weep many tears. (780). And Helen, the daughter of Zeus †will be† in many tears for deserting

154



Euripides

μήτ’ ἐμοὶ μήτ’ ἐμοῖσι τέκνων τέκνοις ἐλπὶς ἅδε ποτ’ ἔλθοι,  οἵαν αἱ πολύχρυσοι Λυδαὶ καὶ Φρυγῶν ἄλοχοι σχήσουσι, παρ’ ἱστοῖς μυθεῦσαι τάδ’ ἐς ἀλλήλας· “Τίς ἄρα μ’ εὐπλοκάμου κόμας ῥῦμα δακρυόεν τανύσας πατρίδος ὀλομένας ἀπολωτιεῖ;” διὰ σέ, τὰν κύκνου δολιχαύχενος γόνον, εἰ δὴ φάτις ἔτυμος ὡς †ἔτυχε Λήδα† ὄρνιθι πταμένῳ, Διὸς ὅτ’ ἀλλάχθη δέμας, εἴτ’ ἐν δέλτοις Πιερίσιν μῦθοι τάδ’ ἐς ἀνθρώπους ἤνεγκαν παρὰ καιρὸν ἄλλως.

784–85

790

795

800

784–93 P. Leiden 510, with musical annotation but no colometric indications, and with major gaps 784–6 only ]τε̣μ̣ο̣ι̣μητε̣μοισ[ P. Leid. 787–9 only ο̣[ι]α̣να̣ι̣πολυχρ̣υ̣σ̣ο̣ι̣λυδ̣αι̣[ P. Leid. 789 σχήσουσι Tyrwhitt: στήσουσι L [P. Leid. defective] 790 μυθεύουσαι Matthiae: [P. Leid.] 790–1 only ταδεεσαλληλαστισα[ P. Leid. 791 εὐπλοκάμου Duport: εὐπλοκάμους L [P. Leid.] 792 ῥῦμα Hermann: ἔρυμα L: [P. Leid.] 792–3 only ν̣[υσα]σπ̣ασπατριασολο̣[ (-γασ- ‘intended?’, Pohlmann and West: -γασread by Diggle) P. Leid.: (τανύσας) πατρίδος L 793 ολο̣[μενασ P. Leid., ὀλομένας conj. Burges: οὐλομένας L 794 γονάν Bothe 796–806 P. Köln 67 has damaged line-ends 796 ἔτεκε Λήδα Musgrave: ἔτεκε Λήδα Elmsley; Λήδα Scaliger: Porson: Monk; ὄρνιθι πταμένῳ Markland: ὄρνιθ’ ἱπταμένῳ L; only ορνι]θ[ι P. Köln; σ᾿ ἔτεκεν [Λήδα] (del. Hermann) ὄρνιθι πταμένῳ Willink 797 ἠλλάχθη Monk; δεμ]ας σ̣ε̣ι̣ P. Köln 798 πιερισι]ν̣ P. Köln: Πιέρισιν conj. Bothe: -σι L

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155

her husband.] May there never come to me or to my children’s children (785) an expectation of the kind the Lydian women with their great gold and the wives of the Phrygians will have, as at their looms (790) they say these words to one another: ‘Who will it be that †strains to drag† me by the fine tresses of my hair as I shed tears, and who will pluck me as the flower from my fatherland in its destruction?’ This is because of you, daughter of the long-necked swan, if indeed the story is true (795) that †Leda met† with the winged bird, when Zeus’ body had changed – or myths on Pierian tablets have carried this to men off the mark, falsely. (800)

156

Euripides

ΑΧΙΛΛΕΥΣ ποῦ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐνθάδ’ ὁ στρατηλάτης; τίς ἂν φράσειε προσπόλων τὸν Πηλέως ζητοῦντά νιν παῖδ’ ἐν πύλαις Ἀχιλλέα; οὐκ ἐξ ἴσου γὰρ μένομεν Εὐρίπου πέλας· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν, ὄντες ἄζυγες γάμων, οἴκους ἐρήμους ἐκλιπόντες ἐνθάδε θάσσουσ’ ἐπ’ ἀκταῖς, οἱ δ’ ἔχοντες εὔνιδας καὶ παῖδας· οὕτω δεινὸς ἐμπέπτωκ’ ἔρως τῆσδε στρατείας Ἑλλάδ’ οὐκ ἄνευ θεῶν. τοὐμὸν μὲν οὖν δίκαιον ἐμὲ λέγειν χρέος, ἄλλος δ’ ὁ χρῄζων αὐτὸς ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ φράσει. γῆν γὰρ λιπὼν Φάρσαλον ἠδὲ Πηλέα μένω ’πὶ λεπταῖς ταισίδ’ Εὐρίπου πνοαῖς, Μυρμιδόνας ἴσχων· οἱ δ’ ἀεὶ προσκείμενοι λέγουσ’· “Ἀχιλλεῦ, τί μένομεν; πόσον χρόνον ἔτ’ ἐκμετρῆσαι χρὴ πρὸς Ἰλίου στόλον; δρᾶ , εἴ τι δράσεις, ἢ ἄπαγ’ οἴκαδε στρατόν, τὰ τῶν Ἀτρειδῶν μὴ μένων μελλήματα.”

802 τὸν P. Köln: τῶν L 804 πελ̣[ας P. Köln, conj. Barnes: πύλας L; line punct. as question Hermann 805–9 del. Hennig 807 ἀκταῖς Markland: ἀκτὰς L 808 καὶ παῖδας Musgrave: ἄπαιδες L; ἐσπέπτωκ’ Murray: ἐπτέρωκ’ Jackson 809 ῾Ελλάδ’ Scaliger: ἑλλάδ* L: ἑλλάδι γ’ Tr1 810–18 del. Conington 810 χρέος Hennig: χρεών L 811 δὲ χρῄζων Paley, Kirchhoff 812 φάρσαλον P2: φαρσάλιον L: Φάρσαλιν Musgrave 813 ταισίδ’ Blomfield: ταῖσδέ γ’ L; ῥοαῖς Markland 814 δ’ Monk: μ’ L 815 πόσον Monk: ποῖον L 816 ἴλιον Tr3, P2; (Ἴλιον) στόλου Markland; τὸν ῾Ιλίου στόλον England 817 Fix: P2; δρᾶτ’, εἴ τι δράσετ’ Monk (later abandoned)

805

810

815

Iphigenia at Aulis

157

ACHILLES enters from the camp, stage-left. ACHILLES Where can I find here the commander of the Achaeans? Will one of his servants let him know that Achilles, the son of Peleus, is at the gates looking for him? The fact is that we are not waiting near Euripus on equal terms. For some of us who sit here on the shore are unmarried (805) and have left our homes unprotected, while others have wives and children. So fierce a passion for this expedition has fallen upon Greece, it cannot be without the gods. It is right that I speak of my own need; (810) anyone else who desires will state his case for himself. I have left the land of Pharsalus, and Peleus, and as I wait by the Euripus with its slight breezes, I am restraining my Myrmidons. They are for ever on the attack, saying ‘Achilles, why are we waiting? How much time (815) must we still measure out until the expedition for Ilium? Act, if you are going to act at all – or lead our army home, and don’t wait upon the Atreids’ delays.’

158

Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ.

Euripides

ὦ παῖ θεᾶς Νηρῇδος, ἔνδοθεν λόγων τῶν σῶν ἀκούσασ’ ἐξέβην πρὸ δωμάτων. ὦ πότνι’ Αἰδώς, τήνδε τίνα λεύσσω ποτὲ γυναῖκα, μορφὴν εὐπρεπῆ κεκτημένην; οὐ θαῦμά σ’ ἡμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, οἷς μὴ πάρος προσῆκες· αἰνῶ δ’ ὅτι σέβεις τὸ σωφρονεῖν. τίς δ’ εἶ; τί δ’ ἦλθες Δαναΐδων ἐς σύλλογον, γυνὴ πρὸς ἄνδρας ἀσπίσιν πεφαργμένους; Λήδας μέν εἰμι παῖς, Κλυταιμήστρα δέ μοι ὄνομα, πόσις δέ μοὐστὶν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ. καλῶς ἔλεξας ἐν βραχεῖ τὰ καίρια· αἰσχρὸν δέ μοι γυναιξὶ συμβάλλειν λόγους. μεῖνον – τί φεύγεις; – δεξιάν τ’ ἐμῇ χερὶ σύναψον, ἀρχὴν μακαρίων νυμφευμάτων. τί φῄς; ἐγώ σοι δεξιάν; αἰδοίμεθ’ ἂν Ἀγαμέμνον’, εἰ ψαύοιμεν ὧν μή μοι θέμις. θέμις μάλιστα, τὴν ἐμὴν ἐπεὶ γαμεῖς παῖδ’, ὦ θεᾶς παῖ ποντίας Νηρηΐδος. ποίους γάμους φῄς; ἀφασία μ’ ἔχει, γύναι, εἰ μή τι παρανοοῦσα καινουργεῖς λόγον. πᾶσιν τόδ’ ἐμπέφυκεν, αἰδεῖσθαι φίλους καινοὺς ὁρῶσι καὶ γάμων μεμνημένους. οὐπώποτ’ ἐμνήστευσα παῖδα σήν, γύναι, οὐδ’ ἐξ Ἀτρειδῶν ἦλθέ μοι λόγος γάμων.

820

825

830

835

840

819–20 P. Köln 67, badly damaged 823 οἷς ...  824 προσῆκες Nauck: οὓς ... προσέβης L (προσέβης ἂν Tr1): οἷς ... προσῆλθες Paley: οὓς ... κατεῖδες noted as a variant P: οὓς ... προσεῖδες Fix 825 τίς εἶ; Bothe 826 πεφαργμένους W. Dindorf: πεφραγμένους L, cf. 1259, 1387 828 μοὐστὶν Gaisford: μοι ’στὶν L 831 μεῖνον Valckenaer: δεινὸν L; τ’ Markland: γ’ L 832 μακαρίων Markland: μακαρίαν L 834 ψαύοιμεν P2: ψαύοιμεν ἂν L 835 γαμεῖς P2: γαμοῖς L 837 φῄς Barnes: ἔφησθ’ L 840 μεμνημένους ed. Commeliniana: μεμνημένοις L

Iphigenia at Aulis

159

Clyt. O son of the divine daughter of Nereus, I heard your words from inside and have come out in front of the hut. (820) Ach. (in astonishment) O mistress Shame, whichever woman is this that I see? How beautiful she is! Clyt. It’s no wonder that you do not know me when you were not previously related to me. But I approve your respect for correctness. Ach. But who are you? Why have you come to the Danaans mustered here (825) – a woman among men heavily armoured? Clyt. I am the daughter of Leda, Clytemnestra is my name, and my husband is lord Agamemnon. Ach. You do well to be brief in telling me the main facts. But it is shameful for me to join in conversation with women. (830) Clyt. Stay! Why are you trying to escape? Join your right hand to mine as a beginning to a happy marriage. Ach. What do you mean? My right hand with yours? I should feel shame before Agamemnon if I were to touch what I have no right to. Clyt. You have every right, for you are to marry my child, (835) O son of the sea-goddess, the daughter of Nereus. Ach. How do you mean, marriage? I am speechless, lady. Perhaps you are a bit out of your mind, and that is why you are speaking so strangely. Clyt. It is natural for everyone to feel shame before new relatives on seeing them, and they mention marriage. (840) Ach. I have never yet at any time paid court to your daughter, lady, and no talk of marriage came to me from Atreus’ sons.

160

Euripides

Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ.

τί δῆτ’ ἂν εἴη; σὺ πάλιν αὖ λόγους ἐμοὺς θαύμαζ’· ἐμοὶ γὰρ θαύματ’ ἐστὶ τὰ παρὰ σοῦ. εἴκαζε· κοινὸν ἐστὶν εἰκάζειν τάδε· ἄμφω γὰρ ἐψευδόμεθα τοῖς λόγοις ἴσως. ἀλλ’ ἦ πέπονθα δεινά; μνηστεύω γάμους οὐκ ὄντας, ὡς εἴξασιν· αἰδοῦμαι τάδε. ἴσως ἐκερτόμησε κἀμὲ καὶ σέ τις· ἀλλ’ ἀμελίᾳ δὸς αὐτὰ καὶ φαύλως φέρε. χαῖρ’· οὐ γὰρ ὀρθοῖς ὄμμασίν ἔτ’ εἰσορῶ, ψευδὴς γενομένη καὶ παθοῦσ’ ἀνάξια. καὶ σοὶ τόδ’ ἐστὶν ἐξ ἐμοῦ· πόσιν δὲ σὸν στείχω ματεύσων τῶνδε δωμάτων ἔσω.

Πρ. Αχ. Πρ. Αχ. Πρ. Αχ. Πρ. Αχ. Πρ.

ὦ ξέν’, Αἰακοῦ γένεθλον, μεῖνον· ὦ, σέ τοι λέγω, τὸν θεᾶς γεγῶτα παῖδα, καὶ σέ, τὴν Λήδας κόρην. τίς ὁ καλῶν, πύλας παροίξας; ὡς τεταρβηκὸς καλεῖ. δοῦλος, οὐχ ἁβρύνομαι τῷδ’· ἡ τύχη γὰρ οὐκ ἐᾷ. τίνος; ἐμὸς μὲν οὐχί· χωρὶς τἀμὰ κἀγαμέμνονος. τῆσδε τῆς πάροιθεν οἴκων, Τυνδάρεω δόντος πατρός. ἕσταμεν· φράζ’, εἴ τι χρῄζεις, ὧν μ’ ἐπέσχες οὕνεκα. ἦ μόνω παρόντε δῆτα ταῖσδ’ ἐφέστατον πύλαις; ὡς μόνοιν λέγοις ἄν, ἔξω δ’ ἐλθὲ βασιλείων δόμων. ὦ Τύχη πρόνοιά θ’ ἡμή, σώσαθ’ οὓς ἐγὼ θέλω.

843 λόγοις ἐμοῖς Diggle 844 εἴκαζ’ ...  845 θαύμαζε Jackson; τἀπὸ σοῦ Dobree 845 Jackson 845–8 del. Page 846 ἐψευδόμεθα apogr. Par., Markland: οὐ ψευδόμεθα L 847 μαστεύω Nauck 848 ἐοίκασιν written above εἴξασιν L 851 P2 855 Πρ. Markland: θεράπων L; ὦ, σέ Markland: ὡς σέ L 857 τεταρβηκὸς England: τεταρβηκὼς L 858 γὰρ οὐκ apogr. Par., Elmsley: γάρ μ’ οὐκ L; γὰρ οὔ μ’ Radermacher 862 πάροντε Porson: πάροιθεν L 863 μόνοιν Markland: μόνοις L 864 σώσαθ’ Musgrave: σώσασ’ L

845

850

855

860

Iphigenia at Aulis

161

Clyt. What could this mean, then? Go back again and wonder at my words: I for my part wonder at what you are saying. Ach. Make a guess! We have guessing in common here; (845) we were both deceived by what was said, perhaps. Clyt. Can I really have been treated so outrageously? I am paying court for a marriage which does not exist, it seems. I am ashamed of this. Ach. Perhaps someone was making a mockery of us. But don’t give it a care, and take it lightly! (850) Clyt. Goodbye! I cannot look straight in the face – I have proved to be a liar, and the victim of treatment I do not deserve. Ach. I bid you goodbye as well! I am going to look for your husband inside the hut here. Both CLYTEMNESTRA and ACHILLES start to leave, but the OLD MAN speaks from inside the gateway, which he has half-opened. OM Ach. OM Ach. OM Ach. OM Ach.

Stranger, descendant of Aeacus, wait! It’s you I mean, (855) born the son of a goddess, and you, the daughter of Leda. Who is this who is calling and has half-opened the gate? How frightened his call is! A slave – I’m not delicate about this. What has happened to me does not allow it. Whose slave? Certainly not mine! My possessions and Agamemnon’s are separate. I am the lady’s here, in front of the hut. Her father Tyndareus gave me to her. (860) (impatiently) We’re standing here! Tell me, if you want something, why you stopped me. Are the two of you here alone, then, standing at the gate? You would be speaking only to the two of us – so come out of the king’s hut.

The OLD MAN comes outside. OM

O Fortune and my forethought, save those I myself wish!

162

Euripides

Αχ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ.

ὁ λόγος ἐς μέλλοντ’ †ἂν ὤσῃ† χρόνον· ἔχει δ’ ὄκνον τινά. δεξιᾶς ἕκατι μὴ μέλλ’, εἴ τί μοι χρῄζεις λέγειν. οἶσθα δῆτά μ’, ὅστις ὤν σοι καὶ τέκνοις εὔνους ἔφυν; οἶδά σ’ ὄντ’ ἐγὼ παλαιὸν δωμάτων ἐμῶν λάτριν. χὤτι μ’ ἐν ταῖς σαῖσι φερναῖς ἔλαβεν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ; ἦλθες εἰς Ἄργος μεθ’ ἡμῶν κἀμὸς ἦσθ’ ἀεί ποτε. ὧδ’ ἔχει· καὶ σοὶ μὲν εὔνους εἰμί, σῷ δ’ ἧσσον πόσει. ἐκκάλυπτε νῦν ποθ’ ἡμῖν οὕστινας στέγεις λόγους. παῖδα σὴν πατὴρ ὁ φύσας αὐτόχειρ μέλλει κτανεῖν ... πῶς; ἀπέπτυσ’, ὦ γεραιέ, μῦθον· οὐ γὰρ εὖ φρονεῖς. φασγάνῳ λευκὴν φονεύων τῆς ταλαιπώρου δέρην. ὦ τάλαιν’ ἐγώ· μεμηνὼς ἆρα τυγχάνει πόσις; ἀρτίφρων, πλὴν ἐς σὲ καὶ σὴν παῖδα· τοῦτο δ’ οὐ φρονεῖ. ἐκ τίνος λόγου; τίς αὐτὸν οὑπάγων ἀλαστόρων; θέσφαθ’, ὥς γέ φησι Κάλχας, ἵνα πορεύηται στρατός. ποῖ; τάλαιν’ ἐγώ, τάλαινα δ’ ἣν πατὴρ μέλλει κτανεῖν. Δαρδάνου πρὸς δώμαθ’, Ἑλένην Μενέλεως ὅπως λάβῃ. εἰς ἄρ’ Ἰφιγένειαν Ἑλένης νόστος ἦν πεπρωμένος; πάντ’ ἔχεις· Ἀρτέμιδι θύσειν παῖδα σὴν μέλλει πατήρ. ὁ δὲ γάμος τίν’ εἶχε πρόφασιν, ᾧ μ’ ἐκόμισεν ἐκ δόμων; ἵν’ ἀγάγοις χαίρουσ’ Ἀχιλλεῖ παῖδα νυμφεύσουσα σήν.

865

870

875

880

885

865 ἀνοίσει Markland: ὄναιτο Stockert: μέλλοντα σώσει Monk: μέλλοντα σώσαι Schwabl; ὄκνον Hermann: ὄγκον L; ἔχω δ’ ὄκνον Collard; 865 given to Πρ., after loss of preceding line of Αχ., Weil: line of Πρ. lost after 865, Walter 867 δῆτά μ’ Porson: δῆθ’ (L*)P: δῆτά γ’ Tr2/3 868 παλαιὸν Aldine: παλαιῶν L 869 μ’ ἐν Tr2/3: με (L?)P 872 στέγεις F.W. Schmidt: λέγεις L 873 κτενεῖν Elmsley, cf. 880, 1131 876 ἆρα Aldine: ἄρα L 880: cf. 873 881 λάβῃ P2: λάβοι L 884 τιν’ ... ἣ (L) Weil; ᾧ Musgrave: ἣ L: ᾗ Stockert 885 ἀγάγοις Blomfield: ἀγάγης L: ἵνα γ’ ἄγοις Vitelli; νυμφεύσουσα Barnes: νυμφεύουσα L

Iphigenia at Aulis

163

Ach. (to Clyt.) What he says †(text meaningless)† to a future time; and he has a certain hesitation. (865) Clyt. (to the OM) My right hand on it! Don’t delay if you want to say something to me. OM Then surely you know who I am and how well-disposed I am towards you and your children? Clyt. I know that you are an old slave of my house. OM And you know that lord Agamemnon took me as part of your dowry? Clyt. You came to Argos with me and have been mine ever since. (870) OM That is so. And I am well-disposed towards you, less so to your husband. Clyt. Now at last reveal to us what you are keeping unsaid. OM Your daughter’s father, her begetter, intends to kill her with his own hand. Clyt. What? What you say, old man, is abominable. You are not of sound mind! OM With a sword he will bloody the wretched girl’s white neck. (875) Clyt. Oh, what I endure! Has my husband now gone mad? OM He is in his right mind except towards you and your child; there he is out of his mind. Clyt. But for what reason? What demon is driving him on? OM A prophecy, so Calchas at any rate says – so that the expedition may set off. Clyt. Where to? What I endure! And what the girl endures whom her father intends to kill! (880) OM To the house of Dardanus, so that Menelaus can get back Helen. Clyt. Was Helen’s return then fated (to depend) upon Iphigenia? OM You understand it all. Her father intends to sacrifice your daughter to Artemis. Clyt. What was his pretext for the marriage for which he fetched me from home? OM For you to rejoice in bringing your child here to marry Achilles. (885)

164

Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Πρ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ.

Euripides

ὦ θύγατερ, ἥκεις ἐπ’ ὀλέθρῳ καὶ σὺ καὶ μήτηρ σέθεν. οἰκτρὰ πάσχετον δύ’ οὖσαι· δεινὰ δ’ Ἀγαμέμνων ἔτλη. οἴχομαι τάλαινα· δακρύων νάματ’ οὐκέτι στέγω. εἴπερ ἀλγεινὸν τὸ τέκνων στερόμενον, δακρυρρόει. σὺ δὲ τάδ’, ὦ γέρον, πόθεν φῂς εἰδέναι πεπυσμένος; δέλτον ᾠχόμην φέρων σοι πρὸς τὰ πρὶν γεγραμμένα. οὐκ ἐῶν ἢ ξυγκελεύων παῖδ’ ἄγειν θανουμένην; μὴ μὲν οὖν ἄγειν· φρονῶν γὰρ ἔτυχε σὸς πόσις τότ’ εὖ. κᾆτα πῶς φέρων γε δέλτον οὐκ ἐμοὶ δίδως λαβεῖν; Μενέλεως ἀφείλεθ’ ἡμᾶς, ὃς κακῶν τῶνδ’ αἴτιος. ὦ τέκνον Νηρῇδος, ὦ παῖ Πηλέως, κλύεις τάδε; ἔκλυον οὖσαν ἀθλίαν σε, τὸ δ’ ἐμὸν οὐ φαύλως φέρω. παῖδά μου κατακτενοῦσι σοῖς δολώσαντες γάμοις. μέμφομαι κἀγὼ πόσει σῷ, κοὐχ ἁπλῶς οὕτω φέρω. οὐκ ἐπαιδεσθήσομαι ’γὼ προσπεσεῖν τὸ σὸν γόνυ θνητὸς ἐκ θεᾶς γεγῶτος· τί γὰρ ἐγὼ σεμνύνομαι; ἦ τινος σπουδαστέον μοι μᾶλλον ἢ τέκνου πέρι; ἀλλ’ ἄμυνον, ὦ θεᾶς παῖ, τῇ τ’ ἐμῇ δυσπραξίᾳ τῇ τε λεχθείσῃ δάμαρτι σῇ μάτην μέν, ἀλλ’ ὅμως. σοὶ καταστέψασ’ ἐγώ νιν ἦγον ὡς γαμουμένην, νῦν δ’ ἐπὶ σφαγὰς κομίζω· σοὶ δ’ ὄνειδος ἵξεται,

890

895

900

905

886 σὺ Aldine: σὴ L 887 οὖσαι] ὄντε Wecklein 888 δάκρυον Tr3; νάματ’ Hense: τ’ ὄμματ’ L; στέγει Tr3; δάκρυ (or δάκρυά) τ’ ὄμματ’ (... στέγει) Barnes: δάκρυον (Tr3) ὄμματ’ (... στέγει) Matthiae 889 στερόμενον, δακρυρρόει Weil: στερομένην δακρυρροεῖν (L?)P 890 πεπυσμένος Tr2/3: πεπυσμένα (L?)P 895 ὃς Tr3: ὃς τῶν L; τῶνδ’ ὃς αἴτιος κακῶν Porson 898–9 susp. eds; 899 del. Hennig 900 ’γὼ Markland: γε L 901 [γεγῶτ]ος written above γεγῶτα L; 901 del. Wilamowitz 902 ἦ τινος Diggle: ἐπὶ τίνος L: ἢ τίνος Porson: ἐπὶ τίνι Hermann; σπουδαστέον μοι Tr3: μοι σπουδαστέον L

Iphigenia at Aulis

165

Clyt. O my daughter, you have come here for death, you and your mother too. OM I pity you both equally in your sufferings. Agamemnon has brought himself to a terrible deed. Clyt. Oh, unendurable! It is all over for me! I can no longer hold back my streaming tears. OM Being deprived of children is painful, so let your tears flow. Clyt. But where do you say you learnt this from, old man? How did you find it out? (890) OM I was going with a letter-tablet for you about what he had written to you before. Clyt. Were you to tell me not to bring my child here to her death, or to confirm this? OM No, you were not to bring her; your husband was sound of mind then. Clyt. Then if you were carrying the tablet, how was it that you did not hand it over to me? OM Menelaus took it from me. He is to blame for this evil. (895) Clyt. (turning abruptly to Achilles) O child of Nereus’ daughter, Peleus’ son, do you hear this? Ach. I hear your misery; and I do not take my own case lightly. Clyt. They are going to kill my child, and it was through marriage to you that they tricked me. Ach. I too find your husband at fault, and I do not take it quite so simply. The OLD MAN has now gone silently into the hut. CLYTEMNESTRA supplicates ACHILLES. Clyt. I shall feel no shame in falling at your knees, (900) a mortal at those of one born of a goddess. For why should I be proud? Is there anyone I am to exert myself for more than my child? No, defend me, son of a goddess, in my ill plight, and her who was spoken of as your wife – falsely, but even so. It was to you that I garlanded her and led her to be married; (905); but now I am taking her to the slaughter. You will have reproach

166

Χο. Αχ.

Euripides

ὅστις οὐκ ἤμυνας· εἰ γὰρ μὴ γάμοισιν ἐζύγης, ἀλλ’ ἐκλήθης γοῦν ταλαίνης παρθένου φίλος πόσις. πρὸς γενειάδος , πρός σε δεξιᾶς, πρὸς μητέρος – ὄνομα γὰρ τὸ σόν μ’ ἀπώλεσ’, ᾧ σ’ ἀμυναθεῖν χρεών – οὐκ ἔχω βωμὸν καταφυγεῖν ἄλλον ἢ τὸ σὸν γόνυ, οὐδὲ φίλος οὐδεὶς πέλας μοι· τὰ δ’ Ἀγαμέμνονος κλύεις ὠμὰ καὶ πάντολμ’· ἀφῖγμαι δ’, ὥσπερ εἰσορᾷς, γυνὴ ναυτικὸν στράτευμ’ ἄναρχον κἀπὶ τοῖς κακοῖς θρασύ,  χρήσιμον δ’, ὅταν θέλωσιν. ἢν δὲ τολμήσῃς σύ μου χεῖρ’ ὑπερτεῖναι, σεσώμεθ’· εἰ δὲ μή, οὐ σεσώμεθα. δεινὸν τὸ τίκτειν καὶ φέρει φίλτρον μέγα, πᾶσίν τε κοινόν ἐσθ’ ὑπερκάμνειν τέκνων. ὑψηλόφρων μοι θυμὸς αἴρεται πρόσω· ἐπίσταμαι δὲ τοῖς κακοῖσί τ’ ἀσχαλᾶν μετρίως τε χαίρειν τοῖσιν ἐξωγκωμένοις. λελογισμένοι γὰρ οἱ τοιοίδ’ εἰσὶν βροτῶν ὀρθῶς διαζῆν τὸν βίον γνώμης μέτα. [ἔστιν μὲν οὖν ἵν’ ἡδὺ μὴ λίαν φρονεῖν, ἔστιν δὲ χὤπου χρήσιμον γνώμην ἔχειν.] ἐγὼ δ’, ἐν ἀνδρὸς εὐσεβεστάτου τραφεὶς Χείρωνος, ἔμαθον τοὺς τρόπους ἁπλοῦς ἔχειν.

910

915

920

925

907 μὴ] οὐ Wecklein 909 Markland; σε Markland: σῆς L; πρός μητέρος Tr1 910 ἀμυναθεῖν Elmsley: ἀμυνάθειν L; 910 del. Hennig 912 πέλας Markland: γελᾶ (i.e. γελᾷ) L 913–8 P. Oxy. 3719 has badly damaged line-ends 914b κἀπὶ ...  915a θέλωσιν del. England 915–6 susp. Diggle 916 σεσώμεθ’ ... σεσώμεθα Nauck (4), Wecklein: σεσώσμεθ’ ... σεσώσμεθα L, cf. 1440: ]μεθα P. Oxy. 917 φέρει P2: φέρειν L 918 ἐσθ’ Reiske: ὥσθ’ L 919–1035 wholly or variously susp. or del. eds; see esp. Commentary on 919–74 920 ἐπίσταμαι Musgrave: ἐπίσταται L 922–3 Αχ. Burges: Χο. L 924–5 del. Paley

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come to you if you did not defend her; for although you were not joined with her in marriage, you were at any rate still called the wretched girl’s dear husband. By your beard, by your right hand, by your mother – I call on you because your name, which you should be defending, has destroyed me. (910) I have no altar to take refuge at except your knees, nor there is any friend near me; and you hear of the cruelty of Agamemnon, and his total determination. I have come, as you see, a woman to an army of unruly sailors who are bold in pursuit of evil, though useful when they wish to be. If you have the courage (915) to hold your hand over me, we are safe; if not, we are not safe. Cho. There is a strange power in motherhood, and it works a great spell: it is an instinct all share, to fight hard for their children. Ach. My spirit is high with proud thoughts, and borne forward, but I know to be moderate in my distress over misfortune (920) as well as in my joy over full prosperity. For such men have reasoned how to go through life with good judgement. [So while there are times when it is pleasant not to be too sensible, there are also occasions when it is useful to exercise judgement.] (925) As for myself, brought up in the house of Chiron, a most reverent man, I learnt to have straightforward ways. And I shall obey the

168



Euripides

καὶ τοῖς Ἀτρείδαις, ἢν μὲν ἡγῶνται καλῶς, πεισόμεθ’, ὅταν δὲ μὴ καλῶς, οὐ πείσομαι. ἀλλ’ ἐνθάδ’ ἐν Τροίᾳ τ’ ἐλευθέραν φύσιν παρέχων, Ἄρη τὸ κατ’ ἐμὲ κοσμήσω δορί. σὲ δ’, ὦ σχέτλια παθοῦσα πρὸς τῶν φιλτάτων, ἃ δὴ κατ’ ἄνδρα γίγνεται νεανίαν, τοσοῦτον οἶκτον περιβαλὼν καταστελῶ, κοὔποτε κόρη σὴ πρὸς πατρὸς σφαγήσεται, ἐμὴ φατισθεῖσ’· οὐ γὰρ ἐμπλέκειν πλοκὰς ἐγὼ παρέξω σῷ πόσει τοὐμὸν δέμας. τοὔνομα γάρ, εἰ καὶ μὴ σίδηρον ἤρατο, τοὐμὸν φονεύσει παῖδα σήν. τὸ δ’ αἴτιον πόσις σός. ἁγνὸν δ’ οὐκέτ’ ἐστὶ σῶμ’ ἐμόν, εἰ δι’ ἔμ’ ὀλεῖται διά τε τοὺς ἐμοὺς γάμους ἡ δεινὰ τλᾶσα κοὐκ ἀνεκτὰ παρθένος, θαυμαστὰ δ’ ὡς ἀνάξι’ ἠτιμασμένη. ἐγὼ κάκιστος ἦν ἄρ’ Ἀργείων ἀνήρ, ἐγὼ τὸ μηδέν, Μενέλεως δ’ ἐν ἀνδράσιν ὡς οὐχὶ Πηλέως ἀλλ’ ἀλάστορος γεγώς, εἴπερ φονεύει τοὐμὸν ὄνομα †σῷ πόσει†. μὰ τὸν δι’ ὑγρῶν κυμάτων τεθραμμένον Νηρέα, φυτουργὸν Θέτιδος ἥ μ’ ἐγείνατο, οὐχ ἅψεται σῆς θυγατρὸς Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ,

930

935

940

945

950

929 πείσομαι L, with -αι rewritten perhaps by Tr: πεισόμεθα P 931 (ἄρ)η above ἄρει L; τὸ Brodaeus: τῶ (i.e. τῷ) L 932–4 del. Paley 932 παθοῦσα σχέτλια Scaliger 934 οἴκτῳ Stockert; καταστένω Matthiae 935 οὔποτε W. Headlam 938 καὶ μὴ Aldine: μὴ καὶ L; ἠράμην Nauck, Paley 943 ἠτιμάσμεθα Monk 944–7 susp. eds; 946 (or 945–6) del. Stockert 945 δ’ written above τ’ L 947 εἴπερ Aldine: ὅσπερ L; φονεύσει Schaefer; σῷ πόσει] σὴν κόρην Reiske: παῖδα σῆν Burges

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169

sons of Atreus if they lead well, but when they lead badly I shall not obey them. Here and in Troy, however, I shall display a free nature, (930) and as far as I am able, I shall pay Ares honour with the spear. As for you, so cruelly treated by those closest to you, I shall put my pity round you and protect you, as far as a young man is able; and your daughter, who was spoken of as my bride, shall never be slaughtered by her father, (935) because I will not give my person to your husband for weaving into his plots. For it is my name that will shed your daughter’s blood, even though it did not raise a sword. Your husband is the cause; but my body will no longer be untainted (940) if the girl dies because of me and her marriage to me: she is the victim of terrible, unbearable suffering, of an outrage so remarkably undeserved. I am proved the most cowardly of the Argives, myself the nonentity – and Menelaus is proved to be among real men! – (945) not the son of Peleus but of a demon, if indeed my name sheds blood †for your husband†. By Nereus, reared amid the sea-waves, the begetter of Thetis who gave me birth, I swear that lord Agamemnon shall not lay a hand on your daughter, (950)

170

  

Euripides

οὐδ’ εἰς ἄκραν χεῖρ’, ὥστε προσβαλεῖν πέπλοις· ἢ Σίπυλος ἔσται πολύς, ἔρεισμα βαρβάρων, ὅθεν πεφύκασ’ οἱ στρατηλάται γένος, Φθίας δὲ τοὔνομ’ οὐδαμοῦ κεκλήσεται. πικροὺς δὲ προχύτας χέρνιβάς τ’ ἐνάρξεται Κάλχας ὁ μάντις. τίς δὲ μάντις ἔστ’ ἀνήρ, ὃς ὀλίγ’ ἀληθῆ, πολλὰ δὲ ψευδῆ λέγει τυχών, ὅταν δὲ μὴ τύχῃ διοίχεται; οὐ τῶν γάμων ἕκατι – μυρίαι κόραι θηρῶσι λέκτρον τοὐμόν – εἴρηται τόδε· ἀλλ’ ὕβριν ἐς ἡμᾶς ὕβρισ’ Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ. χρῆν δ’ αὐτὸν αἰτεῖν τοὐμὸν ὄνομ’ ἐμοῦ πάρα. [θήραμα παιδός· ἡ Κλυταιμήστρα δ’ ἐμοὶ μάλιστ’ ἐπείσθη θυγατέρ’ ἐκδοῦναι πόσει.] ἔδωκά τἂν Ἕλλησιν, εἰ πρὸς Ἴλιον ἐν τῷδ’ ἔκαμνε νόστος· οὐκ ἠρνούμεθ’ ἂν τὸ κοινὸν αὔξειν ὧν μέτ’ ἐστρατευόμην. νῦν δ’ οὐδέν εἰμι, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς στρατηλάταις ἐν εὐμαρεῖ με δρᾶν τε καὶ μὴ δρᾶν κακῶς. τάχ’ εἴσεται σίδηρος, ὃν πρὶν ἐς Φρύγας

955

960

965

970

952 πολύς Musgrave: πόλις L; ἔρεισμα Hartung: ὅρισμα L 954 Φθίας δὲ τοὔνομ’ Jacobs: φθία δὲ τοὐμόν τ’ L 955 ἐνάρξεται Musgrave: ἀνάξεται L 958 τυχὼν ὅταν τε Hartung 959 οὐ Lenting: ἦ` (i.e. ἦ or ἢ) L; γάμων Canter: γαμούντων L 959b μυρίαι ...  960a τοὐμόν del. Hartung 963–4 del. Hermann 963 δ’ ἐμοὶ Matthiae: δέ μοι L 964 θυγατέρ’ ἐκδοῦναι Lcorr: θυγατέρ’ δοῦναι L? 965 ἔδωκά ed. Hervagiana: ἔδωκέ L; τἂν (i.e. τοι ἂν) Gaisford: τ’ ἂν L 967 ἐστρατεύομεν Monk 968 δὲ Hermann (together with τὸ replacing the first τε L in 969): γε L 969 με Tournier (with τε replacing γε in 968): τε L; κακῶς Kirchhoff: καλῶς L 970 σίδηρος Tr2/3: σίδηρον L; Φρυγῶν (with φόνον Porson in 971) Hartmann

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171

not even a finger-tip, to touch her dress – otherwise Sipylus, barbarian stronghold from which our commanders draw their descent, will be mighty and Phthia’s name will be called of no account. To his bitter cost shall Calchas begin the sacrifice with barley and sprinklings (955). But what kind of man is a seer, who tells a few truths and many lies – and that is when he hits the mark? When he does not hit it, he is finished. This has not been said because of the marriage; countless girls are hunting for my bed. (960) But Agamemnon has insulted me outrageously. He ought to have asked me himself for the use of my name [in the hunt for his child; and Clytemnestra was especially persuaded to betroth her daughter to myself]. I certainly would have given my name for the Greeks if that was the issue causing the voyage to Troy to founder. (965) I certainly would not have refused to increase the common good of my comrades in arms. But now I am nothing, and for the commanders it is a light matter whether they treat me both badly and not. My sword, which before I go to Phrygia (970) I shall

172

Χο. Κλ.

Euripides

ἐλθεῖν †φόνου κηλῖσιν αἵματι† χρανῶ, εἴ τίς με τὴν σὴν θυγατέρ’ ἐξαιρήσεται. ἀλλ’ ἡσύχαζε· θεὸς ἐγὼ πέφηνά σοι μέγιστος, οὐκ ὤν· ἀλλ’ ὅμως γενήσομαι. ἔλεξας, ὦ παῖ Πηλέως, σοῦ τ’ ἄξια καὶ τῆς ἐναλίας δαίμονος, σεμνῆς θεοῦ. φεῦ· πῶς ἄν σ’ ἐπαινέσαιμι μὴ λίαν λόγοις μηδ’ ἐνδεὴς τοῦδ’ ἀπολέσαιμι τὴν χάριν; αἰνούμενοι γὰρ ἁγαθοὶ τρόπον τινὰ μισοῦσι τοὺς αἰνοῦντας, ἢν αἰνῶσ’ ἄγαν. αἰσχύνομαι δὲ παραφέρουσ’ οἰκτροὺς λόγους, ἰδίᾳ νοσοῦσα· σὺ δ’ ἄνοσος κακῶν γ’ ἐμῶν. ἀλλ’ οὖν ἔχει τι σχῆμα, κἂν ἄπωθεν ᾖ ἀνὴρ ὁ χρηστός, δυστυχοῦντας ὠφελεῖν. οἴκτιρε δ’ ἡμᾶς· οἰκτρὰ γὰρ πεπόνθαμεν. ἣ πρῶτα μέν σε γαμβρὸν οἰηθεῖσ’ ἔχειν κενὴν κατέσχον ἐλπίδ’· εἶτά σοι τάχα ὄρνις γένοιτ’ ἂν τοῖσι μέλλουσιν γάμοις θανοῦσ’ ἐμὴ παῖς, ὅ σε φυλάξασθαι χρεών. ἀλλ’ εὖ μὲν ἀρχὰς εἶπας, εὖ δὲ καὶ τέλη· σοῦ γὰρ θέλοντος παῖς ἐμὴ σωθήσεται. βούλῃ νιν ἱκέτιν σὸν περιπτύξαι γόνυ;

975

980

985

990

971 φόνους Reiske: φόνον Porson; αἵματος Reiske: Ἕλληνος Piccolimini, Herwerden: ἐμφύλου Wecklein: ᾿Αργείου Page: βαρβάρου Jackson 973–4 del. Hartung 978 μηδ’ W. Dindorf: μήτ’ L; (ἐνδε)ὴς above ἐνδεῶς L; τοῦδ’ Markland: μὴ τοῦδ’ L; που (του later Stockert) διολέσαιμι Weil; 978 del. England 979–80 Stobaeus 3.14.5 979 ἁγαθοὶ Porson: οἱ ἀγαθοὶ P2: ἀγαθοὶ L and Stob. 981–9 del. Hennig 982 γ’ del. Aldine 983 τι Aldine: τοι L 985 susp. eds 990 τέλος Wecklein

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173

defile †with stains of bloodshed with blood†, shall soon know whether anyone will take your daughter from me. Keep calm! I appear to you like a very great god, when I am not; even so, I shall become one. Cho. You have said things, son of Peleus, worthy both of yourself (975) and of the sea-divinity, the august goddess. CLYTEMNESTRA has by now risen from her knees Clyt. Ah! What words could I find to praise you that do not go too far and yet do not fall short and lose your favour? When good men are praised in some way they resent those who praise them if they praise excessively. (980) I am ashamed of intruding talk of pity, for my troubles are my private sickness and you are uninfected by them. But it looks quite well for the good man to come to help the unfortunate, even though he is remote from them. Show us pity – for we have suffered piteously! (985) First, I thought that I would have you as my son-in-law, but the hope I held was empty. Then it may perhaps prove a bad omen for your marriage when it comes if my daughter dies, a thing which you must guard against. Yet what you said at the beginning was well, and what you said at the end was also well: (990) if you wish it, my daughter shall be saved. Do you want her to clasp your knees as a suppliant?

174

Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ.

Euripides

ἀπαρθένευτα μὲν τάδ’· εἰ δέ σοι δοκεῖ, ἔξεισιν, αἰδοῦς ὄμμ’ ἔχουσ’ ἐλεύθερον. εἰ δ’ οὐ παρούσης ταὐτὰ τεύξομαι σέθεν, μενέτω κατ’ οἴκους· σεμνὰ γὰρ σεμνύνεται. ὅμως δ’ ὅσον γε δυνατὸν αἰτεῖσθαι χρεών. σὺ μήτε σὴν παῖδ’ ἔξαγ’ ὄψιν εἰς ἐμὴν μήτ’ εἰς ὄνειδος ἀμαθὲς ἔλθωμεν, γύναι· στρατὸς γὰρ ἀθρόος, ἀργὸς ὢν τῶν οἴκοθεν, λέσχας πονηρὰς καὶ κακοστόμους φιλεῖ. πάντως δέ μ’ ἱκετεύοντέ θ’ ἥξετ’ εἰς ἴσον ἐπ’ ἀνικετεύτοις θ’· εἷς ἐμοὶ γάρ ἐστ’ ἀγὼν μέγιστος, ὑμᾶς ἐξαπαλλάξαι κακῶν. ὡς ἕν γ’ ἀκούσασ’ ἴσθι, μὴ ψευδῶς μ’ ἐρεῖν· ψευδῆ λέγων δὲ καὶ μάτην ἐγκερτομῶν, θάνοιμι· μὴ θάνοιμι δ’, ἢν σώσω κόρην. ὄναιο συνεχῶς δυστυχοῦντας ὠφελῶν. ἄκουε δή νυν, ἵνα τὸ πρᾶγμ’ ἔχῃ καλῶς. τί τοῦτ’ ἔλεξας; ὡς ἀκουστέον γέ σου. πείθωμεν αὖθις πατέρα βέλτιον φρονεῖν. κακός τίς ἐστι καὶ λίαν ταρβεῖ στρατόν. ἀλλ’ οὖν λόγοι γε καταπαλαίουσιν φόβους.

995

1000

1005

1010

994 ἔξεισιν Porson, Elmsley: ἥξει δι’ L 995 εἰ δ’ οὐ Hartung: ἰδοὺ L; ταὐτὰ Heath: ταῦτα L 996–7 Κλ. Elmsley: Αχ. L 997 αἰτεῖσθαι Markland: αἰδεῖσθαι L; 997 del. Nauck 1000 ἁθρόος Lcorr: ἀθλόος L 1002 ἱκετεύοντέ θ’ Wecklein: ἱκετεύοντες L; ἥξετ’ P2: ἕξετ’ L 1003 ἐπ’ ἀνικετεύτοις Weil: εἴ τ’ ἀνικέτευτος L; εἷς Nauck: ἦς· L: ἦσθ’· Markland  1005–7 del. Conington 1006 ἐγκερτομῶν Markland 1008 συνεχῶς Tr1: συνεχ** L: συνετῶς Hermann 1009 νυν Barnes: νῦν L 1011 πείθωμεν written above πειθώμεθ’ L; πεῖσον μεταῦθις England: πεῖσον μετ’ αὐτῆς Murray 1013 οὖν Monk: οἱ L; φόβους Musgrave: λόγους L

Iphigenia at Aulis

Ach.

Clyt. Ach. Clyt. Ach. Clyt. Ach.

175

That is not how a maiden should behave, but if you desire it, she will come out, with her look free of modesty. But if I can win the same result from you if she is not here, (995) let her remain in the hut: for the proprieties are observed. Nevertheless we must plead as far as we are able. You are not to bring the girl out into my sight, and let us not expose ourselves to ignorant reproach, lady. An army all together, and idle from its own duties, (1000) loves malicious, foul-mouthed gossip. In any case you will come to the same result, whether the two of you supplicate me or there is no supplication. Before me lies a single very great challenge, to release you from your evil plight. For listen, and be assured of one thing: I will not lie to you. (1005) And if my words are lies and false mockery, may I die – but may I not die, if I save the girl. May you benefit continually from helping the unfortunate! Now listen then, so that the thing turns out well. What’s this you say? I must surely listen to you! (1010) Let us persuade her father to think again, for the better. He is a very weak man, and too fearful of the army. But still argument can outwrestle fears.

176

Κλ. Αχ. Κλ. Αχ. Κλ.

Euripides

ψυχρὰ μὲν ἐλπίς· ὅτι δὲ χρή με δρᾶν φράσον. ἱκέτευ’ ἐκεῖνον πρῶτα μὴ κτείνειν τέκνα· ἢν δ’ ἀντιβαίνῃ, πρὸς ἐμέ σοι πορευτέον. †εἴη γὰρ τὸ χρῇζον ἐπίθετ’† οὐ τοὐμὸν χρεὼν χωρεῖν· ἔχει γὰρ τοῦτο τὴν σωτηρίαν. κἀγώ τ’ ἀμείνων πρὸς φίλον γενήσομαι στρατός τ’ ἂν οὐ μέμψαιτό μ’, εἰ τὰ πράγματα λελογισμένως πράσσοιμι μᾶλλον ἢ σθένει. †καλῶς δὲ κρανθέντων καὶ πρὸς ἡδονὴν φίλοις σοί τ’ ἂν γένοιτο κἂν ἐμοῦ χωρὶς τάδε.† ὡς σώφρον’ εἶπας· δραστέον δ’ ἅ σοι δοκεῖ. ἢν δ’ αὖ τι μὴ πράσσωμεν ὧν ἐγὼ θέλω, ποῦ σ’ αὖθις ὀψόμεσθα; ποῦ χρή μ’ ἀθλίαν ἐλθοῦσαν εὑρεῖν σὴν χέρ’ ἐπίκουρον κακῶν; ἡμεῖς σε, φύλακος οὗ χρέος, φυλάξομεν, μή τίς σ’ ἴδῃ στείχουσαν ἐπτοημένην Δαναῶν δι’ ὄχλου. μηδὲ πατρῷον δόμον αἴσχυν’· ὁ γάρ τοι Τυνδάρεως οὐκ ἄξιος κακῶς ἀκούειν· ἐν γὰρ Ἕλλησιν μέγας. ἔσται τάδ’· ἄρχε· σοί με δουλεύειν χρεών.

1015

1020

1025

1030

1014 ὅτι Livineius, Barnes: τι L 1015 τέκνον Diggle 1017–23 del. W. Dindorf 1017 εἰ γὰρ P2; ἔπιθεν Musgrave; οὐ γάρ, τὸ χρῇζον εἰ πίθοι, τοὐμὸν χρεὼν Jackson 1018 αὐτὸ Vater 1021 (σθέν)ω written above σθένει L 1022–3 καλῶς δὲ κρανθὲν κἂν ἐμοῦ χωρὶς τόδε | σοί τ’ ἂν γένοιτο καὶ φίλοις πρὸς ἡδονήν Murray; 1022–3 del. Weil 1022 καὶ del. Tr2/3 1023 κἂν] πάντ’ Pötscher 1024 ὡς Tr3: ὧ (i.e. ᾧ) (L*)P 1025 αὖ τι ... ὧν Monk: αὐτὰ ... ῾ἂν (i.e. ἃν, ἃ ἂν) L 1026 ποῖ Wecklein 1028 φύλακος ... χρέος England: φύλακες ... χρεὼν L; φυλάξομεν Markland: φυλάσσομεν L 1032 del. Fritzsche 1033 ἔσται Markland: ἔστιν L

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Clyt. My hope is cold; but tell me what I must do. Ach. Supplicate him first, not to kill a child; (1015) and if he resists, you must come to me. †But if your request is persuasive†, I ought not to go myself; for this holds safety. I shall behave better towards a friend, just as the army would not fault me if I managed things (1020) by reason rather than by force. †If things reached a successful conclusion, it would please friends and you, and this would be without myself.† Clyt. How sensibly you have spoken! I must do what you decide. But on the other hand, if I do not achieve any of my wishes, (1025) where shall I see you again? Where must I come, poor woman, to find your hand as help against evil? Ach. I shall guard you myself where there is need of a guard, so that no one sees you going through the mass of Danaans in frantic distress. And do not disgrace your father’s house; (1030) for Tyndareus does not deserve ill repute, because he is great among the Greeks. Clyt. It shall be so. Rule me – it is you I must serve. If the gods are

178

Euripides



εἰ δ’ εἰσὶ θεοί, δίκαιος ὢν ἀνὴρ ἐσθλῶν κυρήσεις· εἰ δὲ μή, τί δεῖ πονεῖν;

Χο.

τίν’ ἄρ’ Ὑμέναιος διὰ λωτοῦ Λίβυος μετά τε φιλοχόρου κιθάρας συρίγγων θ’ ὑπὸ καλαμοεσ σᾶν ἔστασεν ἰαχάν, ὅτ’ ἀνὰ Πήλιον αἱ καλλιπλόκαμοι Πιερίδες †ἐν δαιτὶ† θεῶν χρυσεοσάνδαλον ἴχνος ἐν γᾷ κρούουσαι Πηλέως ἐς γάμον ἦλθον, μελῳδοῖς Θέτιν ἀχήμασι τόν τ’ Αἰακίδαν Κενταύρων ἐν ὄρεσι κλέουσαι Πηλιάδα καθ’ ὕλαν; ὁ δὲ Δαρδανίδας, Διὸς λέκτρων τρύφημα φίλον, χρυσέοισιν ἄφυσσε λοι βὰν ἐκ κρατήρων γυάλοις ὁ Φρύγιος Γανυμήδης. παρὰ δὲ λευκοφαῆ ψάμαθον εἱλισσόμεναι κύκλια πεντήκοντα κόραι Νηρέως γάμους ἐχόρευσαν.

1035 στρ.

1040

1045–46

1050

1055

1034 Diggle; ἀνὴρ West: ἀνὴρ Tr3: ἀνὴρ Vitelli 1036 τίν’ Portus: τίς L; ὑμεναίοις Willink 1038 καλαμοεσσᾶν Markland: καλαμόεσσαν L 1039 ἔστασεν Portus: ἔστασαν L, with (ἔστ)η(σαν) written above 1040 ὅτ’ Tr3: ὅταν L 1041 ἐπὶ δαιτὶ Monk: παρὰ δαιτὶ Kirchhoff: μετὰ δαῖτα Wecklein 1045–6 μελῳδοῖς ... ἀχήμασι Elsmley: μελῳδοὶ ... ἰαχήμασι L 1047 κλέουσαι Monk (κλείουσαι earlier Livineius): κλύουσαι L 1050 φίλον Aldine: φίλιον L 1052 ἐκ ed. Hervagiana, Wecklein: ἐν L 1056–7 γάμους κόραι | Νηρέως Wilamowitz

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, as a just man you will find good fortune; but if not, what use is there for effort? (1035) CLYTEMNESTRA goes into the hut, ACHILLES leaves to rejoin his men. Cho. (singing and dancing; strophe) What joyous sound did Hymenaeus set up by means of the Libyan lotus-pipe, and with the lyre that loves the dance, and to the reedy pipes, when the Muses of Pieria with their lovely tresses (1040) came up along Pelion to the wedding of Peleus, stamping their golden-sandalled feet on the ground at the gods’ feast, in melodious songs celebrating Thetis and the grandson of Aeacus (1045) on the Centaurs’ mountains throughout Pelion’s woods? The descendant of Dardanus, the beloved plaything of Zeus’ bed, (1050) was drawing off the libation from mixing-bowls in golden cups, the Phrygian Ganymedes; and along the bright white sand the fifty daughters of Nereus (1055) twirled in circles to dance the wedding.

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ἅμα δ’ ἐλάταισι στεφανώδει τε χλόᾳ θίασος ἔμολεν ἱπποβάτας Κενταύρων ἐπὶ δαῖτα τὰν θεῶν κρατῆρά τε Βάκχου. μέγα δ’ ἀνέκλαγον· “Ὦ Νηρηῒ κόρα, παῖδά σε Θεσσαλίᾳ μέγα φῶς μάντις ὁ φοιβάδα μοῦσαν εἰδὼς γεννάσειν Χείρων ἐξονόμαζεν, ὃς ἥξει χθόνα λογχήρεσι σὺν Μυρμιδόνων ἀσπισταῖς Πριάμοιο κλεινὰν γαῖαν ἐκπυρώσων, περὶ σώματι χρυσέων ὅπλων Ἡφαιστοπόνων κεκορυθμένος ἐνδύτ’, ἐκ θεᾶς ματρὸς δωρήματ’ ἔχων Θέτιδος, ἅ νιν ἔτικτεν.” μακάριον τότε δαίμονες τᾶς εὐπάτριδος γάμον Νηρῄδων ἔθεσαν πρώτας Πηλέως θ’ ὑμεναίους.



σὲ δ’ ἐπὶ κάρᾳ στέψουσι καλλικόμαν

ἀντ.

1060

1065 1067–68 1070

1075

ἐπῳδ.

1058 ἅμα Conington: ἀνὰ L; ἐλάταισι] ἐλάταις σὺν Weil 1059 ἱπποβάτας Gomperz: ἱπποβότας L 1063 παῖδά σε Θεσσαλίᾳ Weil (παῖδα σὺ Θεσσαλίᾳ earlier Kirchhoff): παῖδες αἱ θεσσαλαὶ L 1064 ὁ φοιβάδα Hermann: δ’ ὁ φοῖβα L 1065 γεννάσειν Weil: γεννάσεις L, with (γενν)ή(σεις) written above 1066 ἐξονόμαζεν Bothe, Monk: ἐξωνόμασεν L 1067 ἥξοι England 1070 γαῖαν] πέργαμ’ Willink 1080–97 del. W. Dindorf 1080–4 variously suspected and emended by eds 1080 ἐπὶ κάρᾳ Burges (ἐπὶ κάρα L): ὦ κόρα Hermann

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(antistrophe) And with their staffs of silver fir, and garlands of greenery, the revelling company of Centaurs, with their horselegs, came to the feast (1060) of the gods and the wine-bowl of Bacchus. Loudly they cried, ‘O daughter of Nereus, the son you shall bear will be a great light to Thessaly: prophetic Chiron, knowing the art of Phoebus, has declared it of him. (1065) He will come with his Myrmidons’ spears and shields to Priam’s country to burn out his famous land, (1070) his body clad in his suit of golden armour, the work of Hephaestus that he has from his goddess mother Thetis who bore him.’ (1075) Then the gods made blest the marriage of the first among Nereids, daughter of a splendid father, and Peleus’ wedding. (epode) But you the Argives will garland, (1080) the tresses of

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πλόκαμον Ἀργεῖοι, βαλιὰν ὥστε πετραίων †ἀπ’ ἄντρων ἐλθοῦσαν ὀρέων† μόσχον ἀκήρατον, βρότειον αἱμάξοντες λαιμόν· οὐ σύριγγι τραφεῖσαν οὐδ’ ἐν ῥοιβδήσεσι βουκόλων, †παρὰ δὲ ματέρι νυμφοκόμον Ἰναχίδαις γάμον†. ποῦ τὸ τᾶς Αἰδοῦς ἢ τὸ τᾶς Ἀρετᾶς σθένει τι πρόσωπον, ὁπότε τὸ μὲν ἄσεπτον ἔχει δύνασιν, ἁ δ’ Ἀρετὰ κατόπι σθεν θνατοῖς ἀμελεῖται, Ἀνομία δὲ νόμων κρατεῖ, καὶ κοινὸς ἀγὼν βροτοῖς μή τις θεῶν φθόνος ἔλθῃ;

Κλ. ἐξῆλθον οἴκων προσκοπουμένη πόσιν, χρόνιον ἀπόντα κἀκλελοιπότα στέγας. ἐν δακρύοισι δ’ ἡ τάλαινα παῖς ἐμή,

1081 1082 1085

1089–90

1095

1100

1081 βαλιὰν Scaliger: γ’ ἁλιᾶν L 1082 ἄντρων ἐλθοῦσαν del. Wilamowitz; ὀρέων del. W. Dindorf 1082–3 ὥστε ... ὀρεί- | αν μόσχον Monk: ὥστε πετραίων (Fritzsche) ἀπ’ ἄν- | τρων ἐλθοῦσαν ὀρείων (Hermann) Diggle 1083–4 βρότειον ... λαιμόν del. Monk 1084 αἱμάξοντες Diggle: αἱμάσσοντες L 1087 νυμφόκομον Reiske: νυμφοκόμῳ Markland 1088 Ἰναχίδαις Monk 1091 σθένει Bothe, Hartung: δύνασιν ἔχει σθένειν L: [δύνασιν] ἔχει σθένειν also Bothe 1093 δύνασιν Bothe: δύναμιν L 1096 καὶ] κοὐ Willink; Hermann 1098–1133 variously susp. or del. eds: see below 1098–1105 del. Monk 1099 ἀπόντα κἀκλελοιπότα Tr3: ἀπόντ’ ἐκλελοιπότα (L*)P 1100 δ’ Markland: τ’ L

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lovely hair on your head, like a dappled heifer that came pure from rocky mountain-caves, in their purpose to let blood from human throat. You were not brought up (1085) among the reed-pipes or whistlings of herdsmen, †but at a mother’s side tended as bride for marriage to a descendant of Inachus†. Where is the face of Shame, or of Virtue, (1090) at all strong ? – when irreverence has domination, and Virtue is afterwards of no concern to mortals, and Lawlessness is master over laws, (1095) and mortals make common struggle to avoid the coming of the gods’ jealous anger? CLYTEMNESTRA re-enters. Clyt. I have come from the hut looking out for my husband, who has been away some time and left the shelter; but my poor daughter

184

Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ.

Euripides

πολλὰς ἱεῖσα μεταβολὰς ὀδυρμάτων, θάνατον ἀκούσασ’ ὃν πατὴρ βουλεύεται. μνήμην δ’ ἄρ’ εἶχον πλησίον βεβηκότος Ἀγαμέμνονος τοῦδ’, ὃς ἐπὶ τοῖς αὑτοῦ τέκνοις ἀνόσια πράσσων αὐτίχ’ εὑρεθήσεται. Λήδας γένεθλον, ἐν καλῷ σ’ ἔξω δόμων ηὕρηχ’, ἵν’ εἴπω παρθένου χωρὶς λόγους οὓς οὐκ ἀκούειν τὰς γαμουμένας πρέπει. τί δ’ ἔστιν οὗ σοι καιρὸς ἀντιλάζυται; ἔκπεμπε παῖδα δωμάτων πατρὸς μέτα· ὡς χέρνιβες πάρεισιν ηὐτρεπισμέναι προχύται τε, βάλλειν πῦρ καθάρσιον χεροῖν, μόσχοι τε, πρὸ γάμων ἃς θεᾷ πεσεῖν χρεὼν Ἀρτέμιδι μέλανος αἵματος φυσήματι. τοῖς ὀνόμασιν μὲν εὖ λέγεις, τὰ δ’ ἔργα σου οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως χρή μ’ ὀνομάσασαν εὖ λέγειν. χώρει δέ, θύγατερ, ἐκτός – οἶσθα γὰρ πατρὸς πάντως ἃ μέλλει – χὐπὸ τοῖς πέπλοις ἄγε λαβοῦσ’ Ὀρέστην, σὸν κασίγνητον, τέκνον. ἰδού, πάρεστιν ἥδε πειθαρχοῦσά σοι· τὰ δ’ ἄλλ’ ἐγὼ πρὸ τῆσδε κἀμαυτῆς φράσω. τέκνον, τί κλαίεις οὐδ’ ἔθ’ ἡδέως ὁρᾷς, ἐς γῆν δ’ ἐρείσασ’ ὄμμα πρόσθ’ ἔχεις πέπλους;

1101 ἱεῖσα πολλὰς Blaydes 1106–8 susp. Page 1110 end δωμάτων πάρος (Nauck) [μέτα] Heimsoeth 1112 χεροῖν Musgrave: χερῶν L 1114 φυσήματι Diggle: φυσήματα L; 1114 del. England 1115–9 del. Kovacs 1117–21 del. Paley 1117 χώρει δὲ P2: χώρ***L: χώρε (or χώρι) P: χώρει Tr2/3 1121 πρὸ Barnes: πρὸς L 1122–6 susp. Bremi 1122 Markland

1105

1110

1115

1120

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is in tears, (1100) sounding laments in many different tones, for she has heard about the death which her father is resolved upon. AGAMEMNON comes from the army, stage-left.

But here is Agamemnon already nearby when I was mentioning him! In a moment he will be found out for planning an impious act against his own child. (1105) Ag. Daughter of Leda, it is the right moment for me to have found you outside the hut, to say words in the girl’s absence which it is not proper for a bride to hear. Clyt. What is it that you are seizing this opportunity to say? Ag. Send the girl out from the hut to join her father: (1110) the water for sprinkling is ready, and the barley, to throw on the cleansing fire with both hands, and the heifers which must fall in a spurt of black blood before the marriage, in sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. Clyt. You talk well with your words, (1115) but how I should name and speak well of your actions, I do not know. (she calls back into the hut) Come outside, daughter – for in any case you are aware of what your father intends; take your brother Orestes under the cover of your dress and bring him here, my child. IPHIGENIA enters, holding ORESTES Ag.

Look, here she is in obedience to your commands. (1120) As for the rest, I shall say it for my daughter and myself. My child, why are you weeping? Why are you not still looking pleased , but fixing your eyes on the ground and holding your dress in front of them?

186

Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Κλ. Αγ. Αγ. Κλ.

Euripides

φεῦ· τίν’ ἂν λάβοιμι τῶν ἐμῶν ἀρχὴν κακῶν; ἅπασι γὰρ πρώτοισι χρήσασθαι πάρα κἀν ὑστάτοισι κἀν μέσοισι πανταχοῦ. τί δ’ ἔστιν; ὥς μοι πάντες εἰς ἓν ἥκετε, σύγχυσιν ἔχοντες καὶ ταραγμὸν ὀμμάτων. εἴφ’ ἃν ἐρωτήσω σε γενναίως, πόσι. οὐδὲν κελευσμοῦ δεῖ σ’· ἐρωτᾶσθαι θέλω. τὴν παῖδα τὴν σὴν τήν τ’ ἐμὴν μέλλεις κτανεῖν; ἔα· τλήμονά γ’ ἔλεξας ὑπονοεῖς θ’ ἃ μή σε χρή. ἔχ’ ἥσυχος· κἀκεῖνό μοι τὸ πρῶτον ἀπόκριναι πάλιν. σὺ δ’, ἤν γ’ ἐρωτᾷς εἰκότ’, εἰκότ’ ἂν κλύοις. οὐκ ἄλλ’ ἐρωτῶ, καὶ σὺ μὴ λέγ’ ἄλλα μοι. ὦ πότνια Μοῖρα καὶ τύχη δαίμων τ’ ἐμός. κἀμός γε καὶ τῆσδ’, εἷς τριῶν δυσδαιμόνων. τί δ’ ἠδίκησαι;  Κλ. τοῦτ’ ἐμοῦ πεύθῃ πάρα; ὁ νοῦς ὅδ’ αὐτὸς νοῦν ἔχων οὐ τυγχάνει. ἀπωλόμεσθα· προδέδοται τὰ κρυπτά μου. πάντ’ οἶδα καὶ πεπύσμεθ’ ἃ σὺ μέλλεις με δρᾶν·

1125

1130

1135

1140

1124–8 del. Kovacs 1126 del. Monk 1130–3 del. Günther 1130 κελευσμοῦ Canter: κέλευσμ’ οὐ L?, P; σ’ Dobree: γ’ L: μ’ Reiske 1131 κτενεῖν Elmsley, cf. 873 1132 τλήμονά γ’ Tr1: τλήμον (sic) L 1134 εἰκότ’ ἂν κλύοις Markland: εἰκότα κλύεις L 1136 μοῖρα καὶ τύχη Musgrave: τύχη καὶ μοῖρα L 1137 γε Matthiae: τε L 1138–9 transferred after 1126 Hermann; del. Wilamowitz 1138 τί δ’ ἠδίκησαι Matthiae: τί μ’ (with (τί)ν’ ἠ written above) ἠδίκησε L: τίν’ ἠδίκησαι P2: τίς σ’ ἠδίκησε or τί σ’ ἠδίκησα Markland: τίν’ ἠδίκησα Hermann 1139 Κλ. Aldine: Αγ. L 1141 πεπύσμεθ’ Burges: πέπυσμ’ (i.e. πέπυσμαι) Aldine: πέπεισμαι L?: πέπεισμ’ (Tr1) ἃ σύ Tr3

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Clyt. Alas! What beginning should I make upon my troubles? I can use all of them, at first, and at the end, and in the middle, everywhere. (1125) Ag. But what is it? You are all one for me, with confusion and agitation in your eyes! Clyt. Reply honestly to whatever I ask you, husband. Ag. You have no need for a command! I am willing to be questioned. (1130) Clyt. Your child and mine – are you about to kill her? Ag. What? What you have said is overbold, and you suspect what you have no right to. Clyt. Be quiet! And answer again what I first asked just now. Ag. If you ask reasonable questions, you’d hear reasonable answers. Clyt. I ask no others, and you must give me no other answers. (1135) Ag. O mistress Fate, and my fortune and destiny! Clyt. Yes, and mine and hers, a single one for three unfortunates! Ag. But what wrong have you been done? Clyt. You ask that of me? This mind of yours is really no mind at all. Ag. (aside) All is lost for me! My secrets are betrayed. (1140) Clyt. I know everything. I have learned what you are about to do to me.

188

Αγ. Κλ.

Euripides

αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ σιγᾶν ὁμολογοῦντός ἐστί σου καὶ τὸ στενάζειν· πολλὰ μὴ κάμῃς λέγων. ἰδού, σιωπῶ· τὸ γὰρ ἀναίσχυντον τί δεῖ ψευδῆ λέγοντα προσλαβεῖν τῇ συμφορᾷ; ἄκουε δή νυν· ἀνακαλύψω γὰρ λόγους κοὐκέτι παρῳδοῖς χρησόμεσθ’ αἰνίγμασιν. πρῶτον μέν, ἵνα σοι πρῶτα τοῦτ’ ὀνειδίσω, ἔγημας ἄκουσάν με κἄλαβες βίᾳ, τὸν πρόσθεν ἄνδρα Τάνταλον κατακτανών· βρέφος τε τοὐμὸν ζῶν προσούδισας πέδῳ, μαστῶν βιαίως τῶν ἐμῶν ἀποσπάσας. καὶ τὼ Διός σε παῖδ’, ἐμὼ δὲ συγγόνω, ἵπποισι μαρμαίροντ’ ἐπεστρατευσάτην· πατὴρ δὲ πρέσβυς Τυνδάρεώς σ’ ἐρρύσατο ἱκέτην γενόμενον, τἀμὰ δ’ ἔσχες αὖ λέχη. οὗ σοι καταλλαχθεῖσα περὶ σὲ καὶ δόμους συμμαρτυρήσεις ὡς ἄμεμπτος ἦ γυνή, ἔς τ’ Ἀφροδίτην σωφρονοῦσα καὶ τὸ σὸν μέλαθρον αὔξουσ’, ὥστε σ’ εἰσιόντα τε χαίρειν θύραζέ τ’ ἐξιόντ’ εὐδαιμονεῖν. σπάνιον δὲ θήρευμ’ ἀνδρὶ τοιαύτην λαβεῖν δάμαρτα· φλαύραν δ’ οὐ σπάνις γυναῖκ’ ἔχειν. τίκτω δ’ ἐπὶ τρισὶ παρθένοισι παῖδά σοι τόνδ’· ὧν μιᾶς σὺ τλημόνως μ’ ἀποστερεῖς. κἄν τίς σ’ ἔρηται τίνος ἕκατί νιν κτενεῖς,

1145

1150

1155

1160

1165

1143 κάμῃς Porson: κάμνης L 1144 τί Elmsley: με L 1148 ταῦτ’ Monk 1149–50 Schol. Od. 11.430 1149 κἄμβαλες Schol. Od. 1151 ζῶν Jacobs, Musgrave: σῷ L; προσούδισας πέδῳ Scaliger: προσούρισας πάλῳ L: προσώρισας πάλῳ Hartung 1153 σε Markland: γε L; δὲ Matthiae: τε L 1158: cf. 489 1160 ὥστε σ’ Canter: ὥστ’ L

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Your very silence marks your agreement, your very groaning. Spare yourself the effort of many words! Ag. Look, I am silent! What need to tell lies and add shamelessness to my disaster? (1145) Clyt. Listen now: I shall reveal my meaning plainly and no longer use hinting in riddles. First – and this will be my first reproach against you – you married me against my will, and took me with violence, by killing my former husband Tantalus; (1150) and you dashed my baby living to the ground, tearing him violently from my breast. The two sons of Zeus – who are my kinsmen – came on their flashing white horses to make war against you; but my old father, Tyndareus, saved you (1155) when you became his suppliant, and you nonetheless kept me as bedmate – in that, I was reconciled to you personally and to your house, and you will bear me witness how blameless I was as your wife, and chaste sexually, and how I increased your estate, so that you rejoiced on entering the house (1160) and were happy on leaving for the outside. It is a rare catch for a man to get such a spouse, while having a bad wife is no rarity. As well as three daughters, I bore you this son here; and you are cruelly robbing me of one of the girls. (1165) If someone asks

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λέξον, τί φήσεις; ἢ ’μὲ χρὴ λέγειν τὰ σά; “Μενέλαος Ἑλένην ἵνα λάβῃ”. καλόν γέ τοι, κακῆς γυναικὸς μισθὸν ἀποτεῖσαι τέκνα. τἄχθιστα τοῖσι φιλτάτοις ὠνούμεθα. ἄγ’, εἰ στρατεύσῃ καταλιπών μ’ ἐν δώμασιν κἀκεῖ γενήσῃ διὰ μακρᾶς ἀπουσίας, τίν’ ἐν δόμοις με καρδίαν ἕξειν δοκεῖς; ὅταν θρόνους τῆσδ’ εἰσίδω πάντας κενούς, κενοὺς δὲ παρθενῶνας, ἐπὶ δὲ δακρύοις μόνη κάθωμαι, τήνδε θρηνῳδοῦσ’ ἀεί· “Ἀπώλεσέν σ’, ὦ τέκνον, ὁ φυτεύσας πατήρ, αὐτὸς κτανών, οὐκ ἄλλος οὐδ’ ἄλλῃ χερί, †τοιόνδε μισθὸν καταλιπὼν πρὸς τοὺς δόμους†.”

1170

1175

1167 ’μὲ P2: με L 1168 Μενέλαος ῾Ελένην Elmsley: ἑλένην μενέλαος L; γέ τοι Fix: γένος L: γάνος Bothe: γ’ ἔθος Elmsley: γ’ ἔπος Vitelli: γέρας Vater: see next entry 1168–70 1168 end γε νῷν (γε νῷ ed. Hervagiana) ... 1170 ὠνουμένοιν Musgrave: 1168 γ’ ἂν οὖν ... 1169 ἀποτείσαις ... 1170 ὠνούμενος Diggle (cf. 1169 ἀποτίσαιμεν ἂν ... 1170 ὠνούμενοι Reiske, and ἀποτείσεις ... ὠνούμενος England) 1169–70 μισθὸν (L) ... 1170 ὠνούμενον Wecklein 1170 τἄχθιστα Brodaeus: ταχθεῖσα L 1171 εἰ Elmsley: ἢν L 1171b καταλιπὼν ...  1172a γενήσῃ del. Conington 1173–5a παρθενῶνας Apsines p. 325 Hammer 1174 δόμους μὲν τούσδε προσίδω κενούς Apsines: κενοὺς μὲν εἰσίδω παιδὸς (Rauchenstein) θρόνους (or παιδὸς εἰσίδω) Diggle 1176 κάθωμαι Elmsley: κάθημαι L 1177–9 del. England 1177–84 del. Paley 1177 φιτύσας Blomfield 1179 lacuna before this line Paley; | 1179 ποῖον δὲ (Camper) νόστον (Murray) καταλιπὼν Jackson: (ποῖον δὲ νόστον) προσδοκῶν Matthiessen; πρὸς τοὺς in erasure Tr1; lacuna after 1179 Matthiae; 1178–9 e.g. τοιόνδε μῖσος (Musgrave) καταλιπὼν πρὸς τοὺς δόμους; Kovacs 1179–80 πρὸς τοὺς δόμους | ἄπει; Madvig; ... | ἔπει· L. Dindorf; ἐνδεῖ Reiske: ἔδει L: με δεῖ Monk

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why you will kill her, tell me, what will you say? Or must I say it for you? – ‘So that Menelaus may take back Helen.’ Truly a fine thing to pay with a child the fee for a bad wife! We are buying what is our greatest hate with what is dearest to us. (1170) Come now! – if you go off to fight, leaving me in the house and staying at Troy in a long absence from me, what do you imagine will be my feelings at home whenever I see every chair of hers empty, and the maidens’ chambers empty? (1175) – while I sit alone weeping, for ever singing my lament for her: ‘The father who got you has destroyed you, my child! He killed you himself, no other, and by no other’s hand, †leaving such a fee

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Euripides

ἐπεὶ βραχείας προφάσεως ἐνδεῖ μόνον, ἐφ’ ᾗ σ’ ἐγὼ καὶ παῖδες αἱ λελειμμέναι δεξόμεθα δέξιν ἥν σε δέξασθαι χρεών. μὴ δῆτα πρὸς θεῶν μήτ’ ἀναγκάσῃς ἐμὲ κακὴν γενέσθαι περὶ σὲ μήτ’ αὐτὸς γένῃ. εἶἑν· θύσεις †δὲ παῖδ’ ἔνθα† τίνας εὐχὰς ἐρεῖς; τί σοι κατεύξῃ τἀγαθόν, σφάζων τέκνον; νόστον πονηρόν, οἴκοθέν γ’ αἰσχρῶς ἰών; ἀλλ’ ἐμὲ δίκαιον ἀγαθὸν εὔχεσθαί τί σοι; οὔ τἄρα συνετοὺς τοὺς θεοὺς ἡγοίμεθ’ ἄν, εἰ τοῖσιν αὐθένταισιν εὖ φρονήσομεν. ἥκων δ’ ἐς Ἄργος προσπεσῇ τέκνοισι σοῖς; ἀλλ’ οὐ θέμις σοι· τίς δὲ καὶ προσβλέψεται παίδων σ’, ἵν’ αὐτῶν προσέμενος κτάνῃς τινά; ταῦτ’ ἦλθες ἤδη διὰ λόγων, ἢ σκῆπτρά σοι μόνον διαφέρειν καὶ στρατηλατεῖν μέλει; ὃν χρῆν δίκαιον λόγον ἐν Ἀργείοις λέγειν· “Βούλεσθ’, Ἀχαιοί, πλεῖν Φρυγῶν ἐπὶ χθόνα; κλῆρον τίθεσθε παῖδ’ ὅτου θανεῖν χρεών.”

1180

1185

1190

1195

1185 εἶἑν· | θύσεις δὲ (Tr3) παῖδ’· εἶτα τίνας ... ; Elmsley: εἶἑν· | θύσεις δὲ παῖδ’; εἶτα τίνας ... ; L. Dindorf: εἶἑν· | θύσεις σὺ (Vitelli) παῖδα, κᾆτα τίνας ... ; Günther: εἶἑν· θύων δὲ παῖδ’ ἐνθα ... ; Luppe (ἐνταῦθα earlier F.W. Schmidt): εἶἑν· | θύσεις δὲ παῖδα ; τίνας ... ; Stockert: εἶἑν· σὺ θύσεις παῖδα· τίνας ... ; Nauck 1186 τἀγαθὸν Lcorr: τἀγαθὸς L?: τ’ ἀγαθὸν Diggle; σφάζων Tr2/3: ὁ σφάζων (L*)P 1187 del. Monk 1189–90 susp. eds; lacuna after 1189 Stockert 1189 οὔ τἄρα συνετοὺς Wecklein (οὐκ ἆρα συνετοὺς earlier Reiske): οὔτ’ ἄρ’ ἀσυνέτους L: ἦ τἄρ’ ἀσυνέτους Valckenaer 1191 προσπεσῇ Musgrave: προσπέσης L 1193 ἵν’ Elmsley: ἐὰν L; (ἵνα) σφῷν Reiske; προσέμενος Weil: προθέμενος L 1194 ἦλθες Hermann: ἦλθ’ (L*?)P: ἦλθεν Tr2/3? 1195 μέλει Musgrave: σε δεῖ L 1196 χρῆν Reiske: χρὴ L

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towards his house†.’ For it needs only a slight pretext, (1180) and I and the girls who were left behind will receive you with the reception you should receive. By the gods then – do not force me to become evil towards you, and don’t become so yourself. So then: †you will sacrifice your daughter. And then† what prayers will you say? (1185) What is the good thing you will pray for yourself as you slaughter your child? A sorry return? – as you depart shamefully from home? But what good thing is it right that I should pray for you? Then truly we should be thinking that the gods have no intelligence, if we are to be welldisposed to murderers! (1190) On your return to Argos, will you fall before your children? But you have no right to do so! And which of them will even look at you, for you to kill any you draw toward you? Those things – did you already consider them, or do you care only about parading your sceptre and commanding an army? (1195) For you should have voiced a just argument among the Argives: ‘Achaeans, do you wish to sail against the Phrygians’ land? Cast lots whose child must die.’ This would have been

194

Χο. Ιφ.

Euripides

ἐν ἴσῳ γὰρ ἦν τόδ’, ἀλλὰ μὴ σ’ ἐξαίρετον σφάγιον παρασχεῖν Δαναΐδαισι παῖδα σήν, ἢ Μενέλεων πρὸ μητρὸς Ἑρμιόνην κτανεῖν, οὗπερ τὸ πρᾶγμ’ ἦν. νῦν δ’ ἐγὼ μὲν ἡ τὸ σὸν σῴζουσα λέκτρον παιδὸς ἐστερήσομαι, ἡ δ’ ἐξαμαρτοῦσ’, ὑπόροφον νεάνιδα Σπάρτῃ κομίζουσ’, εὐτυχὴς γενήσεται. τούτων ἄμειψαί μ’ εἴ τι μὴ καλῶς λέγω· εἰ δ’ εὖ λέλεκται †νῶϊ μὴ δή γε† κτάνῃς τὴν σήν τε κἀμὴν παῖδα, καὶ σώφρων ἔσῃ. πιθοῦ· τὸ γάρ τοι τέκνα συσσῴζειν καλόν, Ἀγάμεμνον· οὐδεὶς πρὸς τάδ’ ἀντερεῖ βροτῶν. εἰ μὲν τὸν Ὀρφέως εἶχον, ὦ πάτερ, λόγον, πείθειν ἐπᾴδουσ’, ὥσθ’ ὁμαρτεῖν μοι πέτρας κηλεῖν τε τοῖς λόγοισιν οὓς ἐβουλόμην, ἐνταῦθ’ ἂν ἦλθον· νῦν δέ, τἀπ’ ἐμοὶ σοφά, δάκρυα παρέξω· ταῦτα γὰρ δυναίμεθ’ ἄν. ἱκετηρίαν δὲ γόνασιν ἐξάπτω σέθεν τὸ σῶμα τοὐμόν, ὅπερ ἔτικτεν ἥδε σοι· μή μ’ ἀπολέσῃς ἄωρον· ἡδὺ γὰρ τὸ φῶς βλέπειν· τὰ δ’ ὑπὸ γῆς μή μ’ ἰδεῖν ἀναγκάσῃς. πρώτη σ’ ἐκάλεσα πατέρα καὶ σὺ παῖδ’ ἐμέ· πρώτη δὲ γόνασι σοῖσι σῶμα δοῦσ’ ἐμὸν φίλας χάριτας ἔδωκα κἀντεδεξάμην. λόγος δ’ ὁ μὲν σὸς ἦν ὅδ’· “ Ἆρά σ’, ὦ τέκνον,

1200

1205

1210

1215

1220

1201 πρὸ Scaliger: πρὸς L 1203 ἐστερήσομαι Reiske: ὑστερήσομαι L 1204 ὑπόροφον Hermann (ὑπώροφον earlier Scaliger): ὑπότροφον L 1207 νῶϊ, Tr1: νῶϊν, L?; νῶϊ] ταῦτα, Pierson: τἀμὰ, Elmsley; πλεῖστα, μὴ κατακτάνῃς Jackson: μηδαμῶς κατακτάνῃς or μηδαμῶς σύ γε κτάνῃς Stockert 1210 ἀντερεῖ Elmsley: ἀντείποι L; τοῖσδ’ ἀντείποι Burges 1214 ἂν ἦλθον P2: ἀνῆλθον L; ἐμοὶ Diggle: ἐμοῦ L 1215 δυναίμεθ’ ἄν Markland: δυναίμεθα L 1218–9 Plut. Mor. 17cd 1219 λεύσσειν ... γῆν Plut.

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fair, not that you should provide your daughter to the Danaans, a sacrificial victim picked out (1200) – or fair that Menelaus should kill Hermione for her mother. The matter was his! But as things are, I myself, who have been loyal to your bed, shall be robbed of my child, and the woman who did wrong will take care of her girl under her roof in Sparta and become happy. (1205) Answer me if anything of all this was not well said; but if it was well said, †then don’t† kill your child and mine, and you will be sensible. Cho. Be persuaded! To join in saving a child is a noble thing, Agamemnon. No mortal will gainsay that. (1210) Iph. If I had the words of Orpheus, father, to persuade by enchantment, so that rocks would follow me, and charm those I wished with my words, I would have gone there; but now I shall offer the skill that I do possess, my tears: these, I well can. (1215) As my supplication I press my body, which she here bore you, to your knees. Do not kill me before my time! The light of day is sweet to see. Do not force me to look on the underworld! I was the first to call you father, and you to call me child. (1220). I was the first to put myself upon your knees and give you loving kisses and receive them in return. And this is what you

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εὐδαίμον’ ἀνδρὸς ἐν δόμοισιν ὄψομαι, ζῶσάν τε καὶ θάλλουσαν ἀξίως ἐμοῦ;” οὑμὸς δ’ ὅδ’ ἦν αὖ περὶ σὸν ἐξαρτωμένης γένειον, οὗ νῦν ἀντιλάζυμαι χερί· “Τί δ’ ἆρ’ ἐγὼ σέ; πρέσβυν ἆρ’ ἐσδέξομαι ἐμῶν φίλαισιν ὑποδοχαῖς δόμων, πάτερ, πόνων τιθηνοὺς ἀποδιδοῦσά σοι τροφάς;” τούτων ἐγὼ μὲν τῶν λόγων μνήμην ἔχω, σὺ δ’ ἐπιλέλησαι, καί μ’ ἀποκτεῖναι θέλεις. μή, πρός σε Πέλοπος καὶ πρὸς Ἀτρέως πατρὸς καὶ τῆσδε μητρός, ἣ πρὶν ὠδίνουσ’ ἐμὲ νῦν δευτέραν ὠδῖνα τήνδε λαμβάνει. τί μοι μέτεστι τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου γάμων Ἑλένης τε; πόθεν ἦλθ’ ἐπ’ ὀλέθρῳ τὠμῷ, πάτερ; βλέψον πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὄμμα δὸς φίλημά τε, ἵν’ ἀλλὰ τοῦτο κατθανοῦσ’ ἔχω σέθεν μνημεῖον, ἢν μὴ τοῖς ἐμοῖς πεισθῇς λόγοις. ἀδελφέ, μικρὸς μὲν σύ γ’ ἐπίκουρος φίλοις, ὅμως δὲ συνδάκρυσον, ἱκέτευσον πατρὸς τὴν σὴν ἀδελφὴν μὴ θανεῖν· αἴσθημά τοι κἀν νηπίοις γε τῶν κακῶν ἐγγίγνεται. ἰδού, σιωπῶν λίσσεταί σ’ ὅδ’, ὦ πάτερ. ἀλλ’ αἴδεσαί με καὶ κατοίκτιρον βίον. ναί, πρὸς γενείου σ’ ἀντόμεσθα δύο φίλω· ὁ μὲν νεοσσός ἐστιν, ἡ δ’ ηὐξημένη. †ἓν συντεμοῦσα† πάντα νικήσω λόγον·

1225

1230

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1224 εὐδαίμον’ Pierson: εὐδαίμονος L 1228 σε om. L, then written above the line 1230 τιθηνῶν Nauck 1233 σε Markland: γε L 1237 del. Matthiae 1240 ἢν Hermann: εἰ L; (εἰ) ... πείσῃ Elmsley; 1240 del. Nauck 1241–52 variously del. eds, esp. 1241–8 L. Dindorf 1242 πατρὸς] τε πρὸς Burges 1246 βίου Markland: τύχης Stockert; 1246 transferred after 1248 Marcovich 1248 ἐστ(ιν) rewritten in L: οὗτος Hermann: ὢν ἔθ’ Weil 1249 susp. Diggle; ἑνὶ Reiske; κινήσω Canter

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used to say: ‘Shall I see you happy, my child, in a husband’s house, living and flourishing worthily of me?’ (1225) And I in turn used to say, as I hung close by your chin, which I take hold of now: ‘And how shall I see you? Shall I welcome you in my house with a loving reception, father, when you are old, and repay you for my tender upbringing and its tasks?’ (1230) I can remember those words, but you have forgotten them, and you want to kill me. Don’t – I beg you by Pelops and by Atreus your father and by my mother here who long ago suffered the agony of giving me birth and has this second agony now! (1235) What part have I in the marriage of Alexandros and Helen? How did it come to mean my death, father? Look at me, give me your eyes and a kiss so that at least as I die I may have this remembrance of you, if my words do not persuade you! (1240) (She holds out Orestes) Brother, you are a tiny aid to your dear ones, but nonetheless weep with me, and supplicate your father that your sister should not die! Truly, even in infants there is an inborn sense of life’s troubles. Look! – though silent he is pleading with you, father! (1245) So, show me regard, and pity my life! Yes, by your chin, we entreat you, we two who are dear to you; the one is a chick, the other now grown. †I’ll cut short to one thing† and carry every argument. This

198

Χο. Αγ.

Euripides

τὸ φῶς τόδ’ ἀνθρώποισιν ἥδιστον βλέπειν, τὰ νέρθε δ’ οὐδέν· μαίνεται δ’ ὃς εὔχεται θανεῖν· κακῶς ζῆν κρεῖσσον ἢ καλῶς θανεῖν. ὦ τλῆμον Ἑλένη, διὰ σὲ καὶ τοὺς σοὺς γάμους ἀγὼν Ἀτρείδαις καὶ τέκνοις ἥκει μέγας. ἐγὼ τά τ’ οἰκτρὰ συνετός εἰμι καὶ τὰ μή, φιλῶ τ’ ἐμαυτοῦ τέκνα· μαινοίμην γὰρ ἄν. δεινῶς δ’ ἔχει μοι ταῦτα τολμῆσαι, γύναι, δεινῶς δὲ καὶ μή· ταὐτὰ γὰρ πρᾶξαί με δεῖ. ὁρᾶθ’ ὅσον στράτευμα ναύφαρκτον τόδε χαλκέων θ’ ὅπλων ἄνακτες Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι, οἷς νόστος οὐκ ἔστ’ Ἰλίου πύργους ἔπι οὐδ’ ἔστι Τροίας ἐξελεῖν κλεινὸν βάθρον, εἰ μή σε θύσω, μάντις ὡς Κάλχας λέγει. μέμηνε δ’ Ἀφροδίτη τις Ἑλλήνων στρατῷ πλεῖν ὡς τάχιστα βαρβάρων ἐπὶ χθόνα παῦσαί τε λέκτρων ἁρπαγὰς Ἑλληνικῶν· οἳ τὰς ἐν Ἄργει παρθένους κτενοῦσί μου ὑμᾶς τε κἀμέ, θέσφατ’ εἰ λύσω θεᾶς. οὐ Μενέλεώς με καταδεδούλωται, τέκνον, οὐδ’ ἐπὶ τὸ κείνου βουλόμενον ἐλήλυθα,

1250

1255

1260 1261 1263 1262 1265

1270

1250–2 Stobaeus 4.52.9 1251 τὸ Stob; οὐδέν Stob.: οὐδείς L 1252 end θανεῖν καλῶς Stob. one ms., P2 1255–75 variously susp. to eds: 1255–62 del. L. Dindorf, 1264–75 W. Dindorf, cf. 1263, 1270, 1275 1256 φιλῶ τ’ Markland: φιλῶν L 1257 μοι Monk: με L; τοῦτο England 1258 ταὐτὰ Kirchhoff: τοῦτο L 1259: cf. 826 1263 transferred before 1262 Markland; κλεινὸν Reiske: καινὸν L; 1263 del. Matthiae 1264 ἔμηνε ... στρατὸν Lobeck 1266 ῾Ελληνικῶν Bothe, Elmsley: ἑλληνικάς L 1267 κτενοῦσί Scaliger: κτείνουσί L 1268 θέσφατ’ Scaliger: θέσφατον L 1270 del. W. Dindorf, Nauck

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light of day is very sweet for men to look upon (1250), and what is below the ground is nothing: the one who prays to die is mad. To live ignobly is better than to die nobly. Cho. Cruel Helen, because of you and your marriage a great struggle has come to the sons of Atreus and their children! Ag. I understand what calls for pity and what does not, (1255) and I love my children; otherwise, I should be mad. But it is terrible for me to brave myself to this deed, and also terrible not to. The outcome for me must be the same. (addressing both Clytemnestra and Iphigenia) See how great an army is here with its armada, and how many Greeks, lords of bronze weaponry! (1260) They will get no voyage against the towers of Ilium, nor will they destroy the famous foundations of Troy, (1263) if I do not sacrifice you, as the seer Calchas says. (1262) Some mad desire rages in the army of the Greeks to sail with all speed against the land of the barbarians (1265) and stop the seizure of Greek wives: the army’s men will kill my girls in Argos, and you and me, if I fail to obey the prophecy of the goddess. It is not Menelaus who has made me his slave, my child, nor have I gone with his wish. (1270) It is Greece for which I

200

Euripides



ἀλλ’ Ἑλλάς, ᾗ δεῖ, κἂν θέλω κἂν μὴ θέλω, θῦσαί σε· τούτου δ’ ἥσσονες καθέσταμεν. ἐλευθέραν γὰρ δεῖ νιν ὅσον ἐν σοί, τέκνον, κἀμοὶ γενέσθαι, μηδὲ βαρβάρων ὕπο Ἕλληνας ὄντας λέκτρα συλᾶσθαι βίᾳ.

Κλ. Ιφ.

ὦ τέκνον, †ὦ ξέναι†, οἲ ’γὼ θανάτου σοῦ μελέα, φεύγει σε πατὴρ Ἅιδῃ παραδούς. οἲ ’γώ, μῆτερ· ταὐτὸν †ταὐτὸν γὰρ† μέλος εἰς ἄμφω πέπτωκε τύχης, κοὐκέτι μοι φῶς οὐδ’ ἀελίου τόδε φέγγος.



ἰὼ ἰώ· νιφόβολον Φρυγῶν νάπος Ἴδας τ’ ὄρεα, Πρίαμος ὅθι ποτὲ βρέφος ἁπαλὸν ἔβαλε ματρὸς ἀποπρὸ νοσφίσας ἐπὶ μόρῳ θανατόεντι Πάριν, ὃς Ἰδαῖος Ἰ δαῖος ἐλέγετ’ ἐλέγετ’ ἐν Φρυγῶν πόλει, μήποτ’ ὤφελες τὸν ἀμφὶ βουσὶ βουκόλον τραφέντ’ Ἀ λέξανδρον οἰκίσαι ἀμφὶ τὸ λευκὸν ὕδωρ, ὅθι κρῆναι

1272 ταύτης Nauck 1274 βαρβάρων Musgrave: βαρβάροις L 1275 del. Günther 1276–82 susp. eds, del. e.g. Kovacs 1276 ὦ ξέναι] ὦ τέκνον Monk 1277 Heath 1279 ταὐτὸν ταὐτὸν γάρ] ταὐτὸν τόδε γὰρ Murray: ταὐτὸν γὰρ δὴ Dobree 1280 τύχης susp. eds 1283–1335 variously susp. or del. eds; the metres are often uncertain 1291 ὤφελες Elmsley: ὤφειλε L: ὤφελεν Burges 1292–3 Ἀλέξανδρον del. Bothe

1275

1280

1285

1290

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must sacrifice you whether I want to or not; that is the necessity that masters me. Greece must be free, as far as is in your power, my child, and in mine, and her men as Greeks must not be robbed of their wives by barbarians through force. (1275) AGAMEMNON leaves abruptly, to go to the army. Clyt. (chanting) O my child, †O you foreign women†! Oh, my own misery over your death! Your father flees from you now he has handed you over to Hades! Iph. (chanting) Oh for me, mother! For the same, †the same† song of fortune has fallen to us both, (1280) and the daylight and this brilliant sun are mine no longer. (singing) Oh, oh! You snow-beaten valley of the Phrygians, and their mountains of Ida, where Priam (1285) once cast out the tender babe, taking it far from its mother for a deathly fate, Paris, who was called Idaeus, called Idaeus in the Phrygians’ city (1290) – if only you had never given a home to Alexandros, the oxherd reared among oxen, by the bright water, where the springs of the

202

Euripides



Νυμφᾶν κεῖνται λειμών τ’ ἔρνεσι θάλλων χλωροῖς καὶ ῥοδόεντ’ ἄνθε’ ὑακίνθινά τε θεαῖς δρέπειν· ἔνθα ποτὲ Παλλὰς ἔμολε καὶ δολιόφρων Κύπρις †Ἥρα θ’ Ἑρμᾶς ὁ Διὸς ἄγγελος†, ἁ μὲν ἐπὶ πόθῳ τρυφῶσα Κύπρις, ἁ δὲ δορὶ Παλλάς, Ἥρα δὲ Διὸς ἄνακτος εὐναῖσι βασιλίσιν, κρίσιν ἐπὶ στυγνὰν ἔριν τε καλλονᾶς, ἐμοὶ δὲ θάνατον, ὄνομα μὲν φέροντα Δαναΐ σιν κόραις, πρόθυμα δ’ ἔλαβεν Ἄρτεμις πρὸς Ἴλιον.



ὁ δὲ τεκών με τὰν τάλαιναν, ὦ μᾶτερ ὦ μᾶτερ, οἴχεται προδοὺς ἔρημον. δυστάλαιν’ ἐγώ, πικρὰν πικρὰν ἰδοῦσα δυσελέναν, φονεύομαι διόλλυμαι σφαγαῖσιν ἀνοσίοισιν ἀνοσίου πατρός.

1295 1298–99 1300–301

1305

1310

1315

1296 ἔρνεσι Sybel: ἄνθεσι L 1302 ῞Ηρα θ’] ἦγε δ’ Stinton (ἆγε Diggle): ἦγε δ’ [Ἑρμᾶς] ὁ Διὸς ἄγγελος Günther: ἑρμᾶς Tr3 1304 δὲ] δ’ Wilamowitz 1305 δὲ Markland: τε L 1308 καλλονᾶς Bothe, Matthiae: τᾶς καλλονᾶς L; ἐμὸν Elmsley 1309 (μ)ὰν written above μὲν L 1309–10 Δαναΐσιν κόραις West: δαναΐδαισιν ὦ κόραι L; ἔλακεν Viljoen 1310–1 πρόθυμα ... ῎Ιλιον restored to Ιφ. Reiske: Χο. L 1310 δ’ Hennig: σ’ L 1311 ῎Ιλιον Wilamowitz 1315 δυστάλαιν’ West, Parker: ὦ δυστάλαιν’ L

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Nymphs lie, (1295) and the meadow lush with green shoots, and flowering roses and hyacinths for goddesses to pick: where once Pallas came, and crafty Cypris (1300), †and Hera, and Hermes Zeus’ messenger†, Cypris flaunting desire, Pallas her spear, and Hera the royal bed of lord Zeus (1305) – came to an abominable judgement and strife over beauty, but death for myself, bringing fame to Danaan maidens while Artemis (1310) took the sacrifice as prelude against Troy. But the one who fathered me, wretched that I am, O mother, O mother, has gone, betraying me to abandonment. Cruelly wretched I am; bitter, (1315) bitter my sight of Ill-Helen: my blood is being shed, I am being destroyed, in impious slaughter by an impious father!

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μή μοι ναῶν χαλκεμβολάδων πρύμνας †ἅδ’ Αὐλὶς δέξασθαι τούσδ’ εἰς ὅρμους εἰς Τροίαν ὤφελεν ἐλάταν πομπαίαν†, μηδ’ ἀνταίαν Εὐρίπῳ πνεῦσαι πομπὰν Ζεύς, εἱλίσσων αὔραν ἄλλοις ἄλλαν θνατῶν, λαίφεσι χαίρειν, τοῖσι δὲ λύπαν, τοῖσι δ’ ἀνάγκαν, τοῖς δ’ ἐξορμᾶν, τοῖς δὲ στέλλειν, τοῖσι δὲ μέλλειν.



ἦ πολύμοχθον ἄρ’ ἦν γένος, ἦ πολύμοχθον ἁμερίων, χρεὼν δέ τι δύσποτμον ἀνδράσιν ἀνευρεῖν. ἰώ, μεγάλα πάθεα, μεγάλα δ’ ἄχεα, Δαναΐδαις τιθεῖσα Τυνδαρὶς κόρα.

Χο. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ.

ἐγὼ μὲν οἰκτίρω σε συμφορᾶς κακῆς τυχοῦσαν, οἵας μήποτ’ ὤφελες τυχεῖν. ὦ τεκοῦσα μῆτερ, ἀνδρῶν ὄχλον εἰσορῶ πέλας. τόν τε τῆς θεᾶς Ἀχιλλέα, τέκνον, ᾧ δεῦρ’ ἤλυθες. διαχαλᾶτέ μοι μέλαθρα, δμῶες, ὡς κρύψω δέμας.

1320

1325

1330 1331–32 1333 1335

1340

1320 ἅδ’ del. Monk 1321 εἰς Τροίαν del. Hartung; line del. Herwerden; 1321–2 del. Wecklein 1322 ἐλατᾶν πομπαία Wilamowitz 1323 μηδ’ Hermann: μήτ’ L 1324 εἱλίσσων Tyrwhitt: μείλισσων L 1331 χρεὼν Hermann; δύσπονον W. Headlam 1333 εὑρεῖν W. Dindorf 1334 ...  1335 Ιφ. Blomfield: Χο. L; attribution to Χο. retained, but 1336–7 del., Wilamowitz 1339 Ἀχιλλέα] παῖδα Heath: παῖδ’ ὦ Tr2; ᾧ δεῦρ’ Hermann; ἤλυθες Vitelli: ἐλήλυθας L

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If only – I wish – Aulis †here had not received† (1320) the sterns of bronze-rammed ships †into this anchorage, the fleet on its mission to Troy,† nor Zeus blown at Euripus a wind adverse to setting sail, and swirled different breezes for different mortals, for some to delight in full canvas, (1325) but for others pain and for others necessity, and for some to set out, and for others to furl sail, and for others to delay. Truly full of suffering is the race of ephemeral men, truly full of suffering, (1330) and fate is a hard fortune for men to discover. Oh, the great calamities, and the great woes, you put upon the Danaans, daughter of Tyndareus! (1335)

Cho. (speaking) I pity you. You have met with evil fortune. O that you had never met it! Iph. (speaking) O mother, who gave me birth! I see a crowd of men approaching. Clyt. And the son of the goddess, Achilles, child, the man for whom you came here. Iph. Open up the hut, please, servants, so that I may hide myself. (1340)

206

Κλ. Κλ. Κλ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ.

Euripides

τί δέ, τέκνον, φεύγεις;  Ιφ. Ἀχιλλέα τόνδ’ ἰδεῖν αἰσχύνομαι. ὡς τί δή;  Ιφ. τὸ δυστυχές μοι τῶν γάμων αἰδῶ φέρει. οὐκ ἐν ἁβρότητι κεῖσαι πρὸς τὰ νῦν πεπτωκότα· ἀλλὰ μίμν’· οὐ σεμνότητος ἔργον, ἢν ὀνώμεθα. ὦ γύναι τάλαινα, Λήδας θύγατερ ...  Κλ. οὐ ψευδῆ θροεῖς. 1345 δείν’ ἐν Ἀργείοις βοᾶται ...  Κλ. τίνα βοήν; σήμαινέ μοι. ἀμφὶ σῆς παιδός ...  Κλ. πονηρῶν εἶπας οἰωνὸν λόγον. ὡς χρεὼν σφάξαι νιν.  Κλ. †κοὐδεὶς ἐναντία λέγει;† ἐς θόρυβον ἐγώ τιν’ αὐτὸς ἤλυθον ...  Κλ. τίν’, ὦ ξένε; σῶμα λευσθῆναι πέτροισι.  Κλ. μῶν κόρην σῴζων ἐμήν; 1350 αὐτὸ τοῦτο.  Κλ. τίς δ’ ἂν ἔτλη σώματος τοῦ σοῦ θιγεῖν; πάντες Ἕλληνες.  Κλ. στρατὸς δὲ Μυρμιδὼν οὔ σοι παρῆν; πρῶτος ἦν ἐκεῖνος ἐχθρός ...  Κλ. δι’ ἄρ’ ὀλώλαμεν, τέκνον. οἵ με τὸν γάμων ἀπεκάλουν ἥσσον’.  Κλ. ἀπεκρίνω δὲ τί; τὴν ἐμὴν μέλλουσαν εὐνὴν μὴ κτανεῖν ...  Κλ. δίκαια γάρ. 1355 ἣν ἐφήμισεν πατήρ μοι.  Κλ. κἀργόθεν γ’ ἐπέμψατο. ἀλλ’ ἐνικώμην κεκραγμοῦ.  Κλ. τὸ πολὺ γὰρ δεινὸν κακόν.

1341 τέκνον, φεύγεις Heath: φεύγεις τέκνον L; τόνδ’ Musgrave: τὸν L 1344 ὀνώμεθα Wecklein: δυνώμεθα L 1345a–8a speaker-attributions to Αχ. ed. Brubachiana: to Χο. L 1346 τίς βοή; Herwerden 1347 πονηρῶν Nauck: πονηρὸν L; λόγων Markland 1348 οὐδεὶς ἐναντίον P2, Heath ( P2): οὐδεὶς ὲν ἀντίον Vitelli 1349 τιν’ αὐτὸς Blomfield: τοι καὐτὸς L: τι καὐτὸς Musgrave: ἔγωγε καὐτὸς Markland; ἦλθον England; (Κλ.) τίν’ Nauck: ἐς τίν’ L 1350 σῴζων Canter: σῴζειν L 1351 τίς ἂν ἔτλη δὲ Hermann; σώματος Tr3: τοῦ σώματος L 1352 Μυρμιδὼν Elmsley: μυρμιδόνων L 1354 ἀπεκρίνω Tr3: ὑπεκρίνω L

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Clyt. Why are you trying to escape, my child?  Iph. I am ashamed to look at Achilles here. Clyt. For what reason?  Iph. The ill-fortune with my marriage brings me shame. Clyt. You are not in a position to be fastidious, considering what has happened. I tell you, you must stay. It is no time for pride if we are to benefit. ACHILLES enters from the army; attendants carry his armour. Ach. Poor woman, daughter of Leda ...  Clyt. There you speak the truth. (1345) Ach. Terrible things are being shouted among the Argives ...  Clyt. What is the shouting? Tell me. Ach. ... about your child ...  Clyt. What you say bodes bad news. Ach. ... that she must be slaughtered.  Clyt. †And no one speaks against it?† Ach. I myself met with some noisy clamour ...  Clyt. What was it, stranger? Ach. ... that I should be stoned bodily with rocks.  Clyt. I fear, because you were trying to save my child? (1350) Ach. Just that.  Clyt. Who would have dared to lay a hand on you? Ach. All the Greeks.  Clyt. But wasn’t the Myrmidon army there to protect you? Ach. It was foremost in opposing me ...  Clyt. It is all over with us, then, my child. Ach. Why, they abused me, calling me the one who gave in to marriage!  Clyt. And what did you answer? Ach. I forbade them to kill my future wife ...  Clyt. Yes, for that was right. (1355) Ach. ... the wife her father promised me.  Clyt. ... and sent for from Argos. Ach. But I was overwhelmed by bawling.  Clyt. Yes, the many are a terrible evil.

208

Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ. Αχ.

Euripides

ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἀρήξομέν σοι.  Κλ. καὶ μαχῇ πολλοῖσιν εἷς; εἰσορᾷς τεύχη φέροντας τούσδ’;  Κλ. ὄναιο τῶν φρενῶν. ἀλλ’ ὀνησόμεσθα.  Κλ. παῖς ἄρ’ οὐκέτι σφαγήσεται; οὔκ, ἐμοῦ γ’ ἑκόντος.  Κλ. ἥξει δ’ ὅστις ἅψεται κόρης; μυρίοι γ’, ἄξει δ’ Ὀδυσσεύς.  Κλ. ἆρ’ ὁ Σισύφου γόνος; αὐτὸς οὗτος.  Κλ. ἴδια πράσσων ἢ στρατοῦ ταχθεὶς ὕπο; αἱρεθεὶς ἑκών.  Κλ. πονηράν γ’ αἵρεσιν, μιαιφονεῖν. ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ σχήσω νιν.  Κλ. ἄξει δ’ οὐχ ἑκοῦσαν ἁρπάσας; δηλαδὴ ξανθῆς ἐθείρας.  Κλ. ἐμὲ δὲ δρᾶν τί χρὴ τότε; ἀντέχου θυγατρός.  Κλ. ὡς τοῦδ’ οὕνεκ’ οὐ σφαγήσεται. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐς τοῦτό γ’ ἥξει.  Ιφ. μῆτερ, εἰσακουστέα τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων· μάτην γάρ εἰσορῶ θυμουμένην σῷ πόσει· τὰ δ’ ἀδύναθ’ ἡμῖν καρτερεῖν οὐ ῥᾴδιον. τὸν μὲν οὖν ξένον δίκαιον αἰνέσαι προθυμίας· ἀλλὰ καὶ σὲ τοῦθ’ ὁρᾶν χρή, μὴ διαβληθῇ στρατῷ, καὶ πλέον πράξωμεν οὐδέν, ὅδε δὲ συμφορᾶς τύχῃ. οἷα δ’ εἰσῆλθέν μ’ ἄκουσον, μῆτερ, ἐννοουμένην· κατθανεῖν μέν μοι δέδοκται· τοῦτο δ’ αὐτὸ βούλομαι  εὐκλεῶς πρᾶξαι, παρεῖσά γ’ ἐκποδὼν τὸ δυσγενές. δεῦρο δὴ σκέψαι μεθ’ ἡμῶν, μῆτερ, ὡς καλῶς λέγω· εἰς ἔμ’ Ἑλλὰς ἡ μεγίστη πᾶσα νῦν ἀποβλέπει, κἀν ἐμοὶ πορθμός τε ναῶν καὶ Φρυγῶν κατασκαφαὶ

1360

1365

1370

1375

1358 μαχῇ Elmsley: μάχῃ L 1362 ἄρξει Wecklein 1363 ἴδια Heath: ἰδία (i.e. ἰδίᾳ) L 1366 δρᾶν τί χρὴ Kirchhoff: τί χρὴ δρᾶν L: χρὴ τί δρᾶν Gaisford 1367 τῆσδ’ Elmsley; οὕνεκ’ Aldine: ἕνεκ’ L 1368 εἰσακουστέα Diggle (εἰσακουστέον earlier Monk): εἰσακούσατε L 1369–70 del. Kovacs 1369 τῶν ἐμῶν Tr?1, in an empty space (L or Tr1 wrote λείπ(ει) ‘there is a deficiency’ in the margin, struck through by Tr3): τῶν ἐμῶν P; λόγων ?L or Tr?1, P; Tr2 1372 διαβληθῇ Hartung: διαβληθῆς L 1373 ὅδε δὲ Musgrave: ὁ δὲ L, with ὁ Ἀχιλλεύς written above 1375 μὲν ἐμὲ Rauchenstein 1378 νῦν ἀποβλέπει Tr3: συναποβλέπει L

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209

Ach. But I shall come to your aid nevertheless.  Clyt. And will you fight all alone against a multitude? Ach. Do you see these men carrying arms?  Clyt. May you benefit from your sense of honour! Ach. Well, I shall have my own benefit.  Clyt. Will my child now not be slaughtered? (1360) Ach. No, at least not with my consent.  Clyt. But will someone come to lay hold of the girl? Ach. Yes, large numbers, but Odysseus will lead her away.  Clyt. What, the son of Sisyphus? Ach. The man himself.  Clyt. Acting for himself, or instructed by the army? Ach. Chosen, willingly.  Clyt. A vile choice, to commit murder! Ach. But I shall hold him back.  Clyt. But will he lead her away against her will, after seizing her? (1365) Ach. Certainly, and by her blond hair.  Clyt. What must I do then? Ach. Cling to your daughter!  Clyt. So far as that goes, she shall not be slaughtered! Ach. But it will certainly come to that.  Iph. (breaking in) Mother, my words must be heard! For I see that are angry with your husband, and in vain. It is not easy for us bear up against the impossible. (1370) It is right to thank the stranger for his ready zeal; but you should pay heed to this too, that he should not be traduced before the army, and we be no better off, and he meet with disaster. Hear what has come into my mind, mother, as I was thinking about this. To die – this is my decision. I want to do just this, (1375) gloriously, putting all meanness of spirit wholly aside. Here! Consider with me the good in my words. It is to me that Greece in all its wide extent now looks, and on me depend the ships’ crossing and the destruction of the Phrygians; and, as to

210



Euripides

τάς τε μελλούσας γυναῖκας, ἤν τι δρῶσι βάρβαροι, μηκέθ’ ἁρπάζειν ἐᾶν †τὰς† ὀλβίας ἐξ Ἑλλάδος, τὸν Ἑλένης τείσαντας ὄλεθρον, ἣν ἀνήρπασεν Πάρις. ταῦτα πάντα κατθανοῦσα ῥύσομαι, καί μου κλέος, Ἑλλάδ’ ὡς ἠλευθέρωσα, μακάριον γενήσεται. καὶ γὰρ οὐδέ τοί λίαν ἐμὲ φιλοψυχεῖν χρεών· πᾶσι γάρ μ’ Ἕλλησι κοινὸν ἔτεκες, οὐχὶ σοὶ μόνῃ. ἀλλὰ μυρίοι μὲν ἄνδρες ἀσπίσιν πεφαργμένοι, μυρίοι δ’ ἐρέτμ’ ἔχοντες, πατρίδος ἠδικημένης, δρᾶν τι τολμήσουσιν ἐχθροὺς χὐπὲρ Ἑλλάδος θανεῖν, ἡ δ’ ἐμὴ ψυχὴ μί’ οὖσα πάντα κωλύσει τάδε; †τί τὸ δίκαιον τοῦτ’ ἄρ’ ἔχοιμεν† ἀντειπεῖν ἔπος; κἀπ’ ἐκεῖν’ ἔλθωμεν· οὐ δεῖ τόνδε διὰ μάχης μολεῖν πᾶσιν Ἀργείοις γυναικὸς οὕνεκ’ οὐδὲ κατθανεῖν. εἷς γ’ ἀνὴρ κρείσσων γυναικῶν μυρίων ὁρᾶν φάος. εἰ †δ’ ἐβουλήθη† σῶμα τοὐμὸν Ἄρτεμις λαβεῖν, ἐμποδὼν γενήσομαι ’γὼ θνητὸς οὖσα τῇ θεῷ; ἀλλ’ ἀμήχανον· δίδωμι σῶμα τοὐμὸν Ἑλλάδι. θύετ’, ἐκπορθεῖτε Τροίαν· ταῦτα γὰρ μνημεῖά μου

1380

1385

1390

1395

1380–2 1380 τάς γε ... μή τι ..., 1381 del., 1382 τείσαντες Günther (1380 μή and 1382 τίσαντες earlier Weil); 1380b ἤν τι ... βάρβαροι and 1381b τὰς ... ῾Ελλάδος del. Conington: 1381–2 del. Wecklein: 1382 del. Monk 1381 ἐᾶν τάσδ’ Porson: ἐᾶν τούσδ’ Monk: ἐᾶν σφας Diggle: ἑαυτοῖς Jackson; lacuna before 1381 Kirchhoff 1382 ἀνήρπασεν Vitelli: ἥρπασεν L 1383 οἴσομαι England 1385 Elmsley 1386 κοινὴν Elmsley 1387: cf. 826 1391 τοῦτ’ ἂρ (sic) L: τοῦτό γ’ ἆρ’ Tr3; τί τὸ δίκαιον τοῦτ’; ἔχοιμεν ἆρ’ ἂν Hartung: τί τὸ δίκαιον ἆρα τούτοις ἔχομεν Weil: τί τὸ δίκαιον τοῦτό γ’; ἆρ’ ἓν ἔχομεν Page: τί τὸ δίκαιον; ἆρ’ ἔχοις ἂν ἓν Stockert 1393 οὕνεκ’ Tr3: ἕνεκ’ L, cf. 1367 1394 γ’ del. Hermann 1395 δ’ ἐβουλήθη Fix: βεβούληται δὲ (or βεβούλευται δὲ) W. Headlam 1396 γενήσομαι ’γὼ Livineius, Reiske: γενήσομ’ ἐγὼ L 1398 θυέτ’ ἔμ’, Nauck (4)

Iphigenia at Aulis







211

our women in the future, if the barbarians do something, (1380) not to allow them any longer to snatch them from prosperous Greece, by ensuring that they pay for the ruin of Helen whom Paris snatched away. Through my death I shall secure all that, and my fame as the liberator of Greece will be blest. For in fact it is also not right for me to love life too much. (1385) You gave me birth for the common good of the Greeks, not for yourself alone. Then, shall numberless men, heavily armoured with shields, and numberless oarsmen, dare to strike against the enemy when their fatherland is wronged, and die for Greece, and shall my life, a single life, prevent all this? (1390) †How could we argue that this is right?† And let us come to the next thing. This man must not battle with all the Argives because of a woman, and die. It is better that one man should see the light of day than numberless women. If Artemis †wished† to take my body, (1395) am I, a mortal, to oppose the goddess? No, it is impossible. I give my body to Greece. Make your sacrifice, sack Troy! These shall be my lasting

212

Χο. Αχ. Ιφ.

Euripides

διὰ μακροῦ καὶ παῖδες οὗτοι καὶ γάμοι καὶ δόξ’ ἐμή. βαρβάρων δ’ Ἕλληνας ἄρχειν εἰκός, ἀλλ’ οὐ βαρβάρους μῆτερ, Ἑλλήνων· τὸ μὲν γὰρ δοῦλον, οἱ δ’ ἐλεύθεροι. τὸ μὲν σόν, ὦ νεᾶνι, γενναίως ἔχει· τὸ τῆς τύχης δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς θεοῦ νοσεῖ. Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ, μακάριόν μέ τις θεῶν ἔμελλε θήσειν, εἰ τύχοιμι σῶν γάμων. ζηλῶ δὲ σοῦ μὲν Ἑλλάδ’, Ἑλλάδος δὲ σέ. [εὖ γὰρ τόδ’ εἶπας ἀξίως τε πατρίδος· τὸ θεομαχεῖν γὰρ ἀπολιποῦσ’, ὅ σου κρατεῖ, ἐξελογίσω τὰ χρηστὰ τἀναγκαῖά τε.] μᾶλλον δὲ λέκτρων σῶν πόθος μ’ ἐσέρχεται ἐς τὴν φύσιν βλέψαντα· γενναία γὰρ εἶ. ὅρα δ’· ἐγὼ γὰρ βούλομαί σ’ εὐεργετεῖν λαβεῖν τ’ ἐς οἴκους· ἄχθομαι δ’, ἴστω Θέτις, εἰ μή σε σώσω Δαναΐδαισι διὰ μάχης ἐλθών. ἄθρησον· ὁ θάνατος δεινὸν κακόν. λέγω τάδ’ . ἡ Τυνδαρὶς παῖς διὰ τὸ σῶμ’ ἀρκεῖ μάχας ἀνδρῶν τιθεῖσα καὶ φόνους· σὺ δ’, ὦ ξένε, μὴ θνῇσκε δι’ ἐμὲ μηδ’ ἀποκτείνῃς τινά, ἔα δὲ σῶσαί μ’ Ἑλλάδ’, ἢν δυνώμεθα.

1400

1405

1410

1415

1420

1400 ἄρχειν εἰκός Aristot. Pol. 1252b8: εἰκὸς ἄρχειν L 1401 οἳ (in part-erasure) δ’ ἐλεύθεροι Tr3: τὸ δ’ ἐλεύθερον (L?)P 1407 del. Hermann 1408–9 del. Monk 1408–11 del. W. Dindorf 1408 ’κράτει W. Dindorf 1409 τἀναγκαῖά τε Grotius (τἀναγκαῖά γε earlier Scaliger): τά τ’ ἀναγκαῖα (sic) γε L 1410 σῶν Tr3: μοι σῶν L 1413 δ’ Monk: τ’ L 1416 λέγω τάδε with following note λείπει (‘there is a deficiency’) L/Tr1, P: λείπει del. Tr3: λέγω τάδ’ Tr3 1417 ἀρκεῖ Hardouin: ἄρχει L; (μάχ)η(ς) above the line L

Iphigenia at Aulis

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memorial, and my children and marriage, and my fame. It is right that Greeks should rule barbarians, and not barbarians Greeks. (1400) For slavery is theirs, but Greeks are free. Cho. Your part is noble, maiden, but that of fortune and that of the goddess – they are where the sickness lies. Ach. Child of Agamemnon, some god meant to make me blest – if I could win you in marriage; (1405) I envy you Greece, and Greece you. [Your words were noble and worthy of your fatherland. You have given up the fight with the gods, for it is overpowering you, and you have reasoned out what is good and inevitable.] More and more, desire to marry you comes over me, (1410) now that I have watched your nature; you are noble. See here! It is my own wish to benefit you and to take you into my house; and it will lie heavy on me – let Thetis be my witness – if I do not do battle with the Danaans and save you. Think: death is a fearful evil. (1415) Iph. I say this : the daughter of Tyndareus is enough in causing men bloody battles through her beauty; and you, stranger, are not to die or kill anyone because of me, but allow me to save Greece if I can. (1420)

214

Αχ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ.

Euripides

ὦ λῆμ’ ἄριστον, οὐκ ἔχω πρὸς τοῦτ’ ἔτι λέγειν, ἐπεί σοι τάδε δοκεῖ· γενναῖα γὰρ φρονεῖς· τί γὰρ τἀληθὲς οὐκ εἴποι τις ἄν; ὅμως δ’ ἴσως γὰρ κἂν μεταγνοίης τάδε. [ὡς οὖν ἂν εἰδῇς τἀπ’ ἐμοῦ λελεγμένα,] ἐλθὼν τάδ’ ὅπλα θήσομαι βωμοῦ πέλας, ὡς οὐκ ἐάσων σ’ ἀλλὰ κωλύσων θανεῖν. χρήσῃ δὲ καὶ σὺ τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις τάχα, ὅταν πέλας σῆς φάσγανον δέρης ἴδῃς. [οὔκουν ἐάσω σ’ ἀφροσύνῃ τῇ σῇ θανεῖν· ἐλθὼν δὲ σὺν ὅπλοις τοῖσδε πρὸς ναὸν θεᾶς καραδοκήσω σὴν ἐκεῖ παρουσίαν.] μῆτερ, τί σιγῇ δακρύοις τέγγεις κόρας; ἔχω τάλαινα πρόφασιν ὥστ’ ἀλγεῖν φρένα. παῦσαί με μὴ κάκιζε· τάδε δέ μοι πιθοῦ. λέγ’· ὡς παρ’ ἡμῶν οὐδὲν ἀδικήσῃ, τέκνον. μήτ’ οὖν σὺ τὸν σὸν πλόκαμον ἐκτέμῃς τριχὸς μήτ’ ἀμφὶ σῶμα μέλανας ἀμπίσχῃ πέπλους. τί δὴ τόδ’ εἶπας, τέκνον; ἀπολέσασά σε; οὐ σύ γε· σέσωμαι, κατ’ ἐμὲ δ’ εὐκλεὴς ἔσῃ. πῶς εἶπας; οὐ πενθεῖν με σὴν ψυχὴν χρεών;

1425

1430

1435

1440

1421–32 variously susp. or del. eds 1423 susp. Conington, del. Page 1424 γὰρ, deleting 1425, Hermann: γε L: σὺ Markland: γ’ ἔτ’ ἂν Fix 1425 δεδογμένα Diggle 1427 del. W. Dindorf 1428–32 del. Hermann 1430–2 del. Monk 1435–9 susp. Diggle 1435 παῦσαι; ’μὲ Porson; δέ μοι Monk: δ’ ἐμοὶ L 1437 μήτ’ οὖν σὺ Elmsley: μήτ’ οὖν γε L: μήτε σύ γε West: μή μοι σύ, deleting 1438, Hermann; 1437 del. L. Dindorf 1439 δὴ Barnes: δῆτα L; τέκνον Markland: ὦ τέκνον L 1440 σέσωμαι Nauck (4), Wecklein: σέσωσμαι L, cf. 916

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Ach. You heroic spirit! I have nothing more to say to that, since this is your decision; your thoughts are noble! For why should one not speak the truth? Even so, you might perhaps change your mind about this. [But so you may know what I have said,] (1425) I shall go to the altar and place these arms nearby. I shall not allow you to be killed. No, I shall prevent it. Even you will take up my words soon enough when you see the sword close to your neck. [So I shall not let you die because of your folly; (1430) I shall go with these arms to the temple of the goddess and expect your presence there.] ACHILLES and his attendants leave to rejoin the army. Iph. Mother, why these tear-soaked eyes, in silence? Clyt. In my misery I have good cause for pain at heart. Iph. Stop, do not make a coward of me! Obey me in this, please! (1435) Clyt. Say on: you will not be wronged in any way by me, my child. Iph. Then don’t you cut off a lock of your hair, or clothe your body in black robes. Clyt. Why do you say this, my child – when I have lost you? Iph. But you have not! I have been saved, and through me you will win glory. (1440) Clyt. What do you mean? Must I not mourn your death?

216

Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Ιφ. Κλ. Κλ. Κλ. Κλ.

Euripides

ἥκιστ’, ἐπεί μοι τύμβος οὐ χωσθήσεται. †τί δὲ τὸ θνῄσκειν οὐ τάφος νομίζεται;† βωμὸς θεᾶς μοι μνῆμα τῆς Διὸς κόρης. ἀλλ’ ὦ τέκνον σοι πείσομαι· λέγεις γὰρ εὖ. ὡς εὐτυχοῦσά γ’ Ἑλλάδος τ’ εὐεργέτις. τί δὴ κασιγνήταισιν ἀγγείλω σέθεν; μηδ’ ἀμφὶ κείναις μέλανας ἐξάψῃς πέπλους. εἴπω δὲ παρὰ σοῦ φίλον ἔπος τι παρθένοις; χαίρειν γ’· Ὀρέστην δ’ ἔκτρεφ’ ἄνδρα τόνδε μοι. προσέλκυσαί νιν ὕστατον θεωμένη. ὦ φίλτατ’, ἐπεκούρησας ὅσον εἶχες φίλοις. ἔσθ’ ὅτι κατ’ Ἄργος δρῶσά σοι χάριν φέρω; πατέρα τὸν ἀμὸν μὴ στύγει, πόσιν γε σόν. δεινοὺς ἀγῶνας διὰ σὲ δεῖ κεῖνον δραμεῖν. ἄκων μ’ ὑπὲρ γῆς Ἑλλάδος διώλεσεν. δόλῳ δ’, ἀγεννῶς Ἀτρέως τ’ οὐκ ἀξίως. τίς μ’ εἶσιν ἄξων πρὶν σπαράσσεσθαι κόμας; ἐγώ, μετά γε σοῦ ...  Ιφ. μὴ σύ γ’· οὐ καλῶς λέγεις. πέπλων ἐχομένη σῶν.  Ιφ. ἐμοί, μῆτερ, πιθοῦ· μέν’· ὡς ἐμοί τε σοί τε κάλλιον τόδε. πατρὸς δ’ ὀπαδῶν τῶνδέ τίς με πεμπέτω Ἀρτέμιδος ἐς λειμῶν’, ὅπου σφαγήσομαι. ὦ τέκνον, οἴχῃ;  Ιφ. καὶ πάλιν γ’ οὐ μὴ μόλω. λιποῦσα μητέρ’;  Ιφ. ὡς ὁρᾷς γ’, οὐκ ἀξίως.

1445

1450

1455

1460

1465

1443 δὲ (L*)P: δαί; Tr2/3: δή; Gaisford; τὸ θνῄσκειν] θανοῦσιν Reiske, Paley: τεθνέωσιν Weil: τυθεῖσιν Vitelli 1447 δὴ Gaisford: δὲ (L)P: δαὶ Tr2/3; ἀγγείλω Weil: ἀγγελῶ L: ἀγγέλλω Kirchhoff 1448–9 susp. eds 1448 ἐξάψῃς Reiske: ἐξάψῃ L 1449–52 del. Wecklein, England 1450 δ’ Monk: τ’ L: τόνδε μοι P2; τόνδ’ ἐμοί L 1454 ἀμὸν Scaliger: ἐμὸν L; γε Elmsley: τε L: δὲ Hartung 1455 δεῖ κεῖνον Porson: κεῖνον δεῖ L 1458 σπαράσσεσθαι Elmsley: σπαράξεσθαι L; κόμας P2: κόμης L 1465 εὖ κἀξίως Hermann: εὐκαρδίως F. W. Schmidt

Iphigenia at Aulis

Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Iph. Clyt. Clyt.

Clyt. Clyt.

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No, not at all. For no tomb will be raised for me. †What? Is not burial customary for the dead?† The altar of the divine daughter of Zeus will be my memorial. Well then, my child, I shall obey you. What you say is good. (1445) Yes, as fortunate in my success, and as Greece’s benefactress. What message from you then am I to give your sisters? Do not dress them in black robes either. Should I say some loving word from you to the girls? Yes, ‘Farewell’. And bring up Orestes here to manhood, please. (1450) Hug him to you and look at him for the last time. (to Orestes) Dearest, you did as much as you could to help your dear ones. Is there anything I can do to please you in Argos? Do not hate my father – your husband. He has to run a fearsome challenge because of you. (1455) It was against his will that he has destroyed me for the sake of Greece. But by a trick, ignobly, and unworthy of Atreus. Who will come to lead me away before my hair is torn? I myself, there with you...  Iph. No, not you: don’t! What you say is not good. ...clinging to your robes.  Iph. Obey me, mother! (1460) Stay! – this will be better both for myself and for you. Let one of my father’s attendants here escort me to Artemis’ meadow where I am to be slaughtered. Are you going, my child?  Iph. Yes, and I shall not come again. Leaving your mother? Iph. Yes, as you see, and in no worthy way. (1465)

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Κλ.

σχές, μή με προλίπῃς.  Ιφ. οὐκ ἐῶ στάζειν δάκρυ. ὑμεῖς δ’ ἐπευφημήσατ’, ὦ νεάνιδες, παιᾶνα τἠμῇ συμφορᾷ Διὸς κόρην Ἄρτεμιν· ἴτω δὲ Δαναΐδαις εὐφημία. κανᾶ δ’ ἐναρχέσθω τις, αἰθέσθω δὲ πῦρ προχύταις καθαρσίοισι, καὶ πατὴρ ἐμὸς ἐνδεξιούσθω βωμόν· ὡς σωτηρίαν Ἕλλησι δώσουσ’ ἔρχομαι νικηφόρον.



ἄγετέ με τὰν Ἰλίου καὶ Φρυγῶν ἑλέπτολιν. στέφεα περίβολα δίδοτε φέρε τε – πλόκαμος ὅδε καταστέφειν – χερνίβων τε παγάς. ἑλίσσετ’ ἀμφὶ ναόν, ἀμφὶ βωμὸν Ἄρτεμιν, τὰν ἄνασσαν Ἄρτεμιν, τὰν μάκαιραν· ὡς ἐμοῖσιν, εἰ χρεών, αἵμασι θύμασί τε θέσφατ’ ἐξαλείψω. ὦ πότνια πότνια μᾶτερ, οὐ δάκρυά γέ σοι δώσομεν ἁμέτερα· παρ’ ἱεροῖς γὰρ οὐ πρέπει. ἰὼ ἰὼ νεάνιδες, συνεπαείδετ’ Ἄρτεμιν Χαλκίδος ἀντίπορον,

1478 susp. Stockert 1479 παγάς Reiske: παγαῖσι (L)P 1480–2 susp. eds 1480–3 ἑλίσσετ’ ἀμφιβώμιοι τὰν ἄνασσαν Ἄρτεμιν Murray 1480 ἀμφὶ ναόν del. Burges, Monk 1481 Ἄρτεμιν del. Nauck 1487–90 Ιφ. Seidler: Χο. L 1487 μᾶτερ Burges: μερ (in compendium) L 1488 οὐ Höpfner: ὡς L; γέ del. Blomfield 1491 ἰὼ ἰὼ Hermann: ὦ Tr1: om. L

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Clyt. Stop, do not desert me!  Iph. I forbid shedding tears. And you, young women, sing a reverent paean over my fate, to Zeus’ daughter Artemis. Let reverent silence come to the Danaans! Let someone begin with the baskets, and the fire blaze (1470) with the cleansing scattered barley, and my father walk round the altar from left to right, for I am going to give safety to the Greeks, and bring them victory. (singing) Lead me, the destroyer of Ilium’s city (1475) and the Phrygians! Give me, bring me garlands to put round me – here is my tressed hair to garland – and spring-water for sprinkling. Turn in your dance round the temple, round the altar (1480) to honour Artemis, the queenly Artemis, the blessed one; for with my blood and sacrifice, (1485) if it must be, I shall wipe away the prophecy. O lady, lady mother, I shall not give you my tears; for it is not fitting at holy rites. (1490) Oh, oh! You young women, join with me in singing to praise Artemis Across From Chalcis, and where the timbered ships

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ἵνα τε δόρατα μέμονε νάϊ’ ὄνομα δι’ ἐμὸν Αὐλίδος στενοπόροις ἐν ὅρμοις. ἰὼ γᾶ μᾶτερ ὦ Πελασγία Μυκηναῖαί τ’ ἐμαὶ θεράπναι ... καλεῖς πόλισμα Περσέως, Κυκλωπιᾶν πόνον χερῶν; ἐθρέψαθ’ Ἑλλάδι με φάος· θανοῦσα δ’ οὐκ ἀναίνομαι. κλέος γὰρ οὔ σε μὴ λίπῃ. ἰὼ ἰώ· λαμπαδοῦχος ἁμέρα Διός τε φέγγος, ἕτερον αἰ ῶνα καὶ μοῖραν οἰκήσομεν. χαῖρέ μοι, φίλον φάος.

[Χο.

ἰὼ ἰώ· ἴδεσθε τὰν Ἰλίου καὶ Φρυγῶν ἑλέπτολιν στείχουσαν, ἐπὶ κάρᾳ στέφη

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1494 lacuna before this line Monk; νάϊ’ Hartung: δάϊα L; order νάϊα μέμονε Günther 1495 ὄνομα δι’ ἐμὸν Murray: δι’ ἐμὸν ὄνομα L; Αὐλίδος Matthiae: τᾶσδ’ αὐλίδος L 1496 στενοπόροις ἐν Burges: στενοπόροισιν L 1499 (θεράπ)ναι above the line Tr1: θεράπαι L 1500–9 P. Leiden inv. 510 has some damaged words and letters 1501 Κυκλωπιᾶν Diggle: κυκλωπίων L: [P. Leid. defective] 1502 only beg. ε̣θ̣[ P. Leid.: ἐθρέψαθ’ Ἑλλάδι με φάος Elmsley: ἔθρεψας (with ἐμὲ written above -ψας) ἑλλάδι μέγα φάος L: [P. Leid.] 1503 θανοῦσα susp. Diggle, expecting θνῄσκουσα: [P. Leid.]; [α]ν̣α̣ι̣ν̣[ομαι P. Leid. 1504 ]λιπ̣η̣[4–5 let.]λαμπ[ P. Leid. 1507 ἕτερον W. Dindorf: ἕτερον ἕτερον L: [P.Leid.] 1508 ]ω̣νακαιμοιρανοικη̣[ P. Leid. 1509 φίλον Lcorr: φίλος L: [P.Leid.] 1510–1629: 1510–31 del. first Kirchhoff (but defended by some eds);  1532–1629 del. first Porson (but 1532–77 are defended by some eds; 1578–1629 del. esp. West) 1512 κάρᾳ Diggle: κάρα L

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are eager because of my name, at Aulis’ (1495) moorings in the narrow strait. Oh! Land of Argos my mother! O Pelasgia, and Mycenae my home ... CLYTEMNESTRA silently enters the hut, carrying Orestes. Cho. (singing) You call on the city of Perseus, (1500) the work of Cyclopean hands? Iph. ... it brought me up to be a light for Greece. My death I do not refuse. Cho. Yes, for glory will not leave you. Iph. Oh, oh! (1505) Daylight with your torch, and Zeus’ sun, a different lifetime and destiny will be mine to live! Farewell, dear light! IPHIGENIA is led away towards the army, stage-left. (The rest of the play-text is not from Euripides’ own hand) [Cho. Oh, oh! (1510) See the destroyer of Ilium’s city and the Phrygians going on her way! She is to have garlands put on her head, and

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βαλουμέναν χερνίβων τε παγάς, †βωμόν γε δαίμονος θεᾶς αἱματορρύτοις ῥανοῦσαν εὐφυῆ τε σώματος δέρην σφαγεῖσαν. εὔδροσοι παγαὶ πατρῷαι μένουσί σε χέρνιβές τε† στρατός τ’ Ἀχαιῶν θέλων Ἰλίου πόλιν μολεῖν.

 

ἀλλὰ τὰν Διὸς κόραν κλῄσωμεν Ἄρτεμιν, θεῶν ἄνασσαν, ὡς ἐπ’ εὐτυχεῖ πότμῳ· ὦ πότνια , θύμασιν βροτησίοις χαρεῖσα, πέμψον ἐς Φρυγῶν γαῖαν Ἑλλάνων στρατὸν †καὶ δολόεντα Τροίας ἕδη Ἀγαμέμνονά τε λόγχαις Ἑλλάδι κλεινότατον στέφανον δὸς ἀμφὶ κάρα ἑὸν† κλέος ἀείμνηστον ἀμφιθεῖναι.

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ΑΓΓΕΛΟΣ ὦ Τυνδαρεία παῖ Κλυταιμήστρα, δόμων ἔξω πέρασον, ὡς κλύῃς ἐμῶν λόγων. 1513 βαλουμέναν Bothe, Hartung: βαλλομέναν L; (παγ)άς written above the line Tr2/3: παγαῖς L 1514 τε Reiske; θεᾶς del. Bothe, Monk 1516 ῥανοῦσαν Markland: θανοῦσαν L: χρανοῦσαν Monk; εὐφυᾶ ... δέραν W. Dindorf; εὐφυοῦς Kovacs 1517 σφαγεῖσαν del. W. Dindorf: σφαγαῖσιν Griffiths; εὔδροσοί Willink 1518 σε del. Willink; πατρῷαί τέ σε μένουσι χέρνιβες Günther 1523 θεῶν] θεὰν Bothe, Hennig: τὰν Dain 1524 Hermann 1528–31 τ’ ’Αγαμέμνονα [τε] λόγχαις, 1529, 1530 del. (Monk), 1531 κλέος Kovacs 1529 Ἑλλάσι Markland 1530 κάρα Scaliger 1533 κλύῃς Tr3: κλύεις (L)P; ἐμῶν κλύῃς λόγων Nauck (4)

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spring-water for sprinkling, to spatter †the goddess’s altar with drops of streaming blood (1515), and her body’s graceful neck after her slaughter. Dewy spring-water and its sprinkling by your father await you,† and the army of the Achaeans wishing to go to Ilium’s city. (1520) But let us call upon the daughter of Zeus, Artemis, queenly among gods, for a happy outcome! O lady, delighted by human sacrifices, send (1525) the army of the Greeks to the Phrygians’ land †and the treacherous foundations of Troy; and grant that Agamemnon with the spears may put the most glorious crown upon Greece around his own head,† (1530) glory ever to be remembered.

Enter MESSENGER from the army. MESSENGER Daughter of Tyndareus, Clytemnestra, come out of the hut, so that you may hear my words.

224

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Euripides

φθογγῆς κλυοῦσα δεῦρο σῆς ἀφικόμην, ταρβοῦσα τλήμων κἀκπεπληγμένη φόβῳ. μή μοί τιν’ ἄλλην ξυμφορὰν ἥκεις φέρων πρὸς τῇ παρούσῃ;  Αγ. σῆς μὲν οὖν παιδὸς πέρι θαυμαστά σοι καὶ δεινὰ σημῆναι θέλω. μὴ μέλλε τοίνυν, ἀλλὰ φράζ’ ὅσον τάχος. ἀλλ’, ὦ φίλη δέσποινα, πᾶν πεύσῃ σαφῶς. λέξω δ’ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, ἤν τι μὴ σφαλεῖσά που γνώμη ταράξῃ γλῶσσαν ἐν λόγοις ἐμήν. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἱκόμεσθα τῆς Διὸς κόρης Ἀρτέμιδος ἄλσος λείμακάς τ’ ἀνθεσφόρους, ἵν’ ἦν Ἀχαιῶν σύλλογος στρατεύματος, σὴν παῖδ’ ἄγοντες, εὐθὺς Ἀργείων ὄχλος ἠθροίζεθ’. ὡς δ’ ἐσεῖδεν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ ἐπὶ σφαγὰς στείχουσαν εἰς ἄλσος κόρην, ἀνεστέναξε κἄμπαλιν στρέψας κάρα δάκρυα προῆκεν, ὀμμάτων πέπλον προθείς. ἡ δὲ σταθεῖσα τῷ τεκόντι πλησίον ἔλεξε τοιάδ’· “Ὦ πάτερ, πάρειμί σοι· τοὐμὸν δὲ σῶμα τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπὲρ πάτρας καὶ τῆς ἁπάσης Ἑλλάδος γαίας ὕπερ θῦσαι δίδωμ’ ἑκοῦσα πρὸς βωμὸν θεᾶς ἄγοντας, εἴπερ ἐστὶ θέσφατον τόδε. καὶ τοὐπ’ ἔμ’ εὐτυχοῖτε καὶ νικηφόρου δορὸς τύχοιτε πατρίδα τ’ ἐξίκοισθε γῆν. πρὸς ταῦτα μὴ ψαύσῃ τις Ἀργείων ἐμοῦ· σιγῇ παρέξω γὰρ δέρην εὐκαρδίως.”

1536 ἥκῃς Portus 1541 που Markland: μου L 1545 del. Page 1548 susp. England 1550 προῆκεν W. Dindorf: προῆγεν L; δάκρυε, πρόσθεν Semitelos 1556 ἄγουσιν Weil (but rejected) 1557 εὐτυχοῖτε Aldine: εὐτυχεῖτε L 1558 δορὸς Pierson: δώρου L 1560 σφαγῇ Jacobs

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CLYTEMNESTRA re-enters, again holding ORESTES. Clyt. I heard your voice and have come here, wretchedly frightened and driven out of myself by fear. (1535) Surely you have not come with another disaster to add to what I have now? No. I want to tell you something wonderful and strange about M. your child. Clyt. Do not delay then, but tell me with all speed. M. Well then, my dear mistress, you shall learn everything clearly. (1540) I will tell it from the beginning, in case my mind fails somewhere and makes me incoherent in the telling. Well, when we came to the grove of Zeus’ daughter Artemis and her flowery meadows where the army of the Achaeans had mustered (1545), and when we were leading your child – immediately a mass of Argives collected. As lord Agamemnon saw his daughter coming into the grove to be slaughtered, he groaned loudly and, turning his head away from her, he burst into tears, pulling his robe in front of his eyes. (1550) But she stood near to her father and spoke as follows; ‘O my father, here I am for you. My body I give willingly for my fatherland and for the whole land of Greece, to be led to the goddess’ altar (1555) and sacrificed, since this is the prophecy. So far as it depends on me, may you have success, may you win victory with the spear, and may you come back to your fatherland. Therefore let no Argive touch me: I shall offer my neck with a brave heart, in silence.’ (1560) That much she said; and as they listened

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τοσαῦτ’ ἔλεξε· πᾶς δ’ ἐθάμβησεν κλυὼν εὐψυχίαν τε κἀρετὴν τῆς παρθένου. στὰς δ’ ἐν μέσῳ Ταλθύβιος, ᾧ τόδ’ ἦν μέλον, εὐφημίαν ἀνεῖπε καὶ σιγὴν στρατῷ· Κάλχας δ’ ὁ μάντις ἐς κανοῦν χρυσήλατον ἔθηκεν ὀξὺ χειρὶ φάσγανον σπάσας κολεῶν ἔσωθεν κρᾶτά τ’ ἔστεψεν κόρης. ὁ παῖς δ’ ὁ Πηλέως ἐν κύκλῳ βωμοῦ θεᾶς λαβὼν κανοῦν ἔθρεξε χέρνιβάς θ’ ὁμοῦ, ἔλεξε δ’· “Ὦ παῖ Ζηνός, ὦ θηροκτόνε, τὸ λαμπρὸν εἱλίσσουσ’ ἐν εὐφρόνῃ φάος, δέξαι τὸ θῦμα τόδ’ ὅ γέ σοι δωρούμεθα στρατός τ’ Ἀχαιῶν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ θ’ ὁμοῦ, ἄχραντον αἷμα καλλιπαρθένου δέρης, καὶ δὸς γενέσθαι πλοῦν νεῶν ἀπήμονα Τροίας τε πέργαμ’ ἐξελεῖν ἡμᾶς δορί.” ἐς γῆν δ’ Ἀτρεῖδαι πᾶς στρατός τ’ ἔστη βλέπων. ἱερεὺς δὲ φάσγανον λαβὼν ἐπεύξατο λαιμόν τ’ ἐπεσκοπεῖθ’, ἵνα πλήξειεν ἄν. ἐμοὶ δέ τ’ ἄλγος οὐ μικρὸν εἰσῄει φρενὶ κἄστην νενευκώς· θαῦμα δ’ ἦν αἴφνης ὁρᾶν. πληγῆς κτύπον γὰρ πᾶς τις ᾔσθετ’ ἂν σαφῶς, τὴν παρθένον δ’ οὐκ οἶδεν οὗ γῆς εἰσέδυ. βοᾷ δ’ ἱερεύς, ἅπας δ’ ἐπήχησε στρατός, ἄελπτον εἰσιδόντες ἐκ θεῶν τινος

1565

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1568 βωμοῦ Heath: βωμὸν L 1569 ἔβρεξε ?Scaliger, Weil 1570–2 1570 written in a blank space, after erasure of (probably) λείπει στίχος ‘a verse is lacking’, Lcorr; perhaps 1571, 1572 similarly in a blank space Lcorr 1570 Ζηνός, ὦ Nauck: ζηνὸς ἄρτεμις L 1572 τοῦθ’ ὅ σοι Porson 1573 τ’ ἄναξ ὁμοῦ Scaliger 1579 ἵνα (or ἵν’εὖ) πλήξειέ νιν Hermann 1580 γ’ Reiske 1583 εἶδεν Matthiae, earlier rejected by Markland

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everyone marvelled at the courage and heroism of the maiden. Then Talthybius, whose concern it was, stood in the midst and called for reverent silence from the army. And the seer Calchas drew a sharp sword from its sheath, placed it in a golden basket, (1565) and garlanded the girl’s head. Next the son of Peleus took the basket and the water for sprinkling too, quickly circled the altar of the goddess, and said, ‘O daughter of Zeus, O slayer of wild beasts, (1570) revolving your bright radiance through the darkness of the night, accept this sacrifice which we, the Achaean army and lord Agamemnon too, present to you, the undefiled blood from a beautiful virgin’s neck; and grant that our ships sail without harm (1575) and sack Troy’s citadel.’ The sons of Atreus and the whole army stood looking at the ground. The priest took the sword, uttered his prayer and looked at the throat to see where he would strike. As for me, no small anguish began to enter my heart (1580) and I stood with my head bowed. But suddenly there was a marvel to behold. Everyone would have heard the thud of a blow clearly, but nobody knows where in the ground the girl had sunk. The priest shouted and the whole army echoed the cry; we saw an unhoped-for portent from one of the gods (1585), which it was not possible to trust even

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φάσμ’, οὗ γε μηδ’ ὁρωμένου πίστις παρῆν· ἔλαφος γὰρ ἀσπαίρουσ’ ἔκειτ’ ἐπὶ χθονὶ ἰδεῖν μεγίστη διαπρεπής τε τὴν θέαν, ἧς αἵματι βωμὸς ἐραίνετ’ ἄρδην τῆς θεοῦ. κἀν τῷδε Κάλχας πῶς δοκεῖς χαίρων ἔφη· “Ὦ τοῦδ’ Ἀχαιῶν κοίρανοι κοινοῦ στρατοῦ, ὁρᾶτε τήνδε θυσίαν, ἣν ἡ θεὸς προύθηκε βωμίαν, ἔλαφον ὀρειδρόμον; ταύτην μάλιστα τῆς κόρης ἀσπάζεται, ὡς μὴ μιαίνοι βωμὸν εὐγενεῖ φόνῳ. ἡδέως τε τοῦτ’ ἐδέξατο καὶ πλοῦν οὔριον δίδωσιν ἡμῖν Ἰλίου τ’ ἐπιδρομάς. πρὸς ταῦτα πᾶς τις θάρσος αἶρε ναυβάτης χώρει τε πρὸς ναῦν· ὡς ἡμέρᾳ τῇδε δεῖ λιπόντας ἡμᾶς Αὐλίδος κοιλοὺς μυχοὺς Αἴγαιον οἶδμα διαπερᾶν.” ἐπεὶ δ’ ἅπαν κατηνθρακώθη θῦμ’ ἐν Ἡφαίστου φλογί, τὰ πρόσφορ’ ηὔξαθ’, ὡς τύχοι νόστου στρατός. πέμπει δ’ Ἀγαμέμνων μ’ ὥστε σοι φράσαι τάδε λέγειν θ’ ὁποίας ἐκ θεῶν μοίρας κυρεῖ καὶ δόξαν ἔσχεν ἄφθιτον καθ’ Ἑλλάδα. ἐγὼ παρών τε καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμ’ ὁρῶν λέγω· ἡ παῖς σαφῶς σοι πρὸς θεοὺς ἀφίπτατο. λύπης δ’ ἀφαίρει καὶ πόσει πάρες χόλον· ἀπροσδόκητα δὲ βροτοῖς τὰ τῶν θεῶν, σῴζουσί θ’ οὓς φιλοῦσιν· ἦμαρ γὰρ τόδε θανοῦσαν εἶδε καὶ βλέπουσαν παῖδα σήν. ὡς ἥδομαί τοι ταῦτ’ ἀκούσασ’ ἀγγέλου· ζῶν δ’ ἐν θεοῖσι σὸν μένειν φράζει τέκος.

1589 ἐραίνετ’ P: ἐρραίνετ’ L 1592 ἡ Lcorr: ὁ L 1595 μιαίνῃ apogr. Par. 1606 transferred after 1608 Günther 1607 δὲ Tr3 1609 λύπας Bothe: λύπην Hermann

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when seen. For a hind lay gasping and struggling on the ground, very big to the eye and a conspicuous sight; and it was the hind’s blood that spattered the altar high up. At this, Calchas cried out with unimaginable joy: (1590) ‘Commanders of the common Achaean army, do you see this victim which the goddess has placed on her altar, a mountainrunning hind? She welcomes this rather than the girl, so that she may not defile her altar with noble blood. (1595) She gladly accepted this sacrifice and grants us a favourable voyage to attack Troy. So: lift your courage high, every sailor, and go to your ship. For on this day we must leave the hollow bay of Aulis (1600) and cross the swelling Aegean sea.’ When the whole sacrifice had been burnt to ashes in Hephaestus’ flame, Calchas prayed appropriately that the army might get a good voyage. Agamemnon has sent me to tell you this and to say what kind of fate (Iphigenia) meets with from the gods (1605) and (that) she has won imperishable glory throughout Greece. I was there myself and speak as one who saw the thing. Your daughter clearly has flown away to the gods. Relent from your grief and lay aside your anger against your husband. What the gods do is unexpected by mortals. (1610) They save those they love; for this day has seen your daughter dying and living. Cho. How I rejoice to hear this from the messenger! He says your daughter is alive and remains among the gods. The MESSENGER leaves silently, into the hut.

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Κλ. Χο. Αγ. Χο.

Euripides

ὦ παῖ, θεῶν τοῦ κλέμμα γέγονας; πῶς σε προσείπω; πῶς δ’ οὐ φῶ παραμυθεῖσθαι τούσδε μάτην μύθους, ὥς σου  πένθους λυγροῦ παυσαίμην; καὶ μὴν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ στείχει, τούσδ’ αὐτοὺς ἔχων σοι φράζειν μύθους. γύναι, θυγατρὸς ἕνεκ’ ὄλβιοι γενοίμεθ’ ἄν· ἔχει γὰρ ὄντως ἐν θεοῖς ὁμιλίαν. χρὴ δέ σε λαβοῦσαν τόνδε μόσχον νεαγενῆ στείχειν πρὸς οἴκους· ὡς στρατὸς πρὸς πλοῦν ὁρᾷ. καὶ χαῖρε· χρόνιά γε τἀμά σοι προσφθέγματα Τροίηθεν ἔσται· καὶ γένοιτό σοι καλῶς. χαίρων, Ἀτρείδη, γῆν ἱκοῦ Φρυγίαν, χαίρων δ’ ἐπάνηκε, κάλλιστά μοι σκῦλ’ ἀπὸ Τροίας ἑλών.]

1615 τοῦ P2: του L 1616 δ’ οὐ] δὲ Tr3 1620 αὐτὸς Heath 1627 ἱκοῦ L. Dindorf: ἵκου L

1615 1617 1618 1620

1625

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231

Clyt. (chanting or singing) O my child, which of the gods has stolen you? (1615) How am I to address you, how am I to say that this story is not false consolation, to make me cease from hideous grief for you? Cho. (chanting or singing) But look, lord Agamemnon is coming with these same words to tell you. (1620). AGAMEMNON enters, stage-left, coming from the army. Ag.

(singing) Lady, we may be happy because of our daughter. For she truly keeps company among the gods. But you must take this new-born boy and make your way home, since the army has its voyage in prospect. And farewell! It will be a long time before I address greetings to you from Troy. (1625) And may all be well for you! Cho. (singing) Reach the land of Phrygia rejoicing, son of Atreus, and return rejoicing, after winning me the finest spoils from Troy. All leave, CLYTEMNESTRA with ORESTES into the hut, AGAMEMNON back to the army, stage-left, the CHORUS towards Aulis, stage-right.

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Doubtful fragments and testimonies (numbered as in all recent editions) Fr. i = E. F 857 Nauck; not in TrGF

ἔλαφον δ’ Ἀχαιῶν χερσὶν ἐνθήσω φίλαις κεροῦσσαν, ἣν σφάζοντες αὐχήσουσι σὴν σφάζειν θυγατέρα.

Aelian, Nature of Animals 7.39 ὅσοι λέγουσι θῆλυν ἔλαφον κέρατα οὐ φύειν, οὐκ αἰδοῦνται τοὺς τοῦ ἐναντίου μάρτυρας ... ὁ δὲ Εὐριπίδης ἐν τῇ Ἰφιγενείᾳ “ἔλαφον ... θυγατέρα”. Attributed to the play’s exodos by Porson, to its parodos earlier by Musgrave. 1 φίλαις] λάθρᾳ Monk Fr. ii; not included by Nauck and TrGF

ἄθραυστα· ἀπρόσκοπα. Εὐριπίδης Ἰφιγενείᾳ τῇ ἐν Αὐλίδι.

Hesychius α 1608 Latte Fr. iii = E. F 856 TrGF

ἀλκυόνες, αἳ παρ’ ἀενάοις θαλάσσας κύμασιν στωμύλλετε, τέγγουσαι νοτίοις πτερῶν ῥανίσι χρόα δροσιζόμεναι

= Ar. Frogs 1309–12, with scholia attributing all or part of these verses to IA

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Doubtful fragments and testimonies Fr. i = E. F 857 Nauck (Aelian, Nature of Animals 7.39); not in TrGF

All those who say that a female deer does not grow horns, fail to respect witnesses to the contrary ... Euripides in the Iphigenia (has) ‘And I shall place in the Achaeans’ own hands an antlered hind, which they will slaughter, confident that they are slaughtering your daughter.’

Fr. ii = Hesychius α 1608 Latte; not included in Nauck and TrGF

Unbreakable: unforeseeable. Euripides in the Iphigenia in Aulis.

Fr. iii = Ar. Frogs 1309–12 = E. F 856 TrGF (Scholia on Ar. Frogs 1310 and 1318)

“You halcyons, who chatter by the sea’s ever-flowing waves, moistening, bedewing your wings with flecks of spray.”

The preceding is from the Iphigenia in Aulis (so schol. 1310; lines omitted by schol. 1318, but with statement ‘from Euripides’ Iphigenia’).

Aris and Phillips Classical Texts

EURIPIDES

Iphigenia at Aulis VOLUME 2 Commentary and Indexes

Edited with an introduction, translation and commentary by

Christopher Collard and James Morwood

LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS

First published 2017 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk Copyright © 2017 Chris Collard and James Morwood The right of C. Collard and J. Morwood to be identified as the authors of this book has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available ISBN 978-1-911226-46-8 cased ISBN 978-1-911226-47-5 paperback Typeset by Tara Evans Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY Cover images: Volume 1: Iphigenia (Lucia Lavia) and Agamemnon (Sebastiano Lo Monaco) in their first scene together in the 2015 production of IA in the Greek theatre at Syracuse. Volume 2: Clytemnestra (Elena Ghiaurov) and Iphigenia (Lucia Lavia) in the Syracuse production. Reproduced by permission of Fondazione Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico (INDA) Siracusa.

CONTENTS VOLUME 2 Commentary Addenda to Volumes 1 and 2 Indexes to Volumes 1 and 2

235 647 649

VOLUME 1 General Editor’s Foreword Preface Introduction Preliminary The Myth Human and Animal Sacrifice Sacrifice before Marriage The Political Context Panhellenism Dramatis Personae Iphigenia Off-stage: the Army; Troy The Chorus Themes and Motifs: Looking; a Sense of Shame; Fortune, Chance and Necessity; Glory Early Performance and Later Reception Metre Text

vii ix 1 3 7 11 12 15 18 25 28 30 33 37 45 50

Bibliography Abbreviations Note on the Greek Text and Critical Apparatus

63 77 79

Greek Text, Apparatus and Translation

81

COMMENTARY The Play’s First Performance Euripides had died: in the winter of 407/6 BC; cf. Introduction pp. 12, 91.  in the city: in Athens, at the City (‘Great’) Dionysiac Festival (see E. Csapo and P. Wilson, EGT 293–6). This Alcmeon was the fragmentary Alcmeon in Corinth; the fragmentary Alcmeon in Psophis was produced in 438 BC, together with the surviving Alcestis. Note the difference between the Aristophanes Scholia which name Euripides’ son as the producer, and the Suda which names his nephew; cf. Introduction pp. 37 n. 92, 55. List of Play-characters Old Man: called πρεσβύτης in ms. L’s list but πρέσβυς in the text at IA 1; similarly for Ion, with πρέσβυς in the text at 725, 1211. At IA 855 L in the margin calls him θεράπων ‘servant’, and Markland restored πρ(έσβυς). For the [Messenger] ( ἄγγελος ‘ messenger’, supplemented by Markland) at play-end, see 1532–1629 n. 1–163 Prologue-scene 1.1 Content; 1.2. Staging; 1.3 Metre. 2.1 Authenticity and Integrity of the scene; 2.2 Formal Singularity, Coherence, Contradictions, Adequacy, Compatibility with Euripides’ habits; 2.3 Conclusions. 1.1  Content. The play’s beginning plunges the spectators in medias res, into what is soon revealed as a second crisis for Agamemnon, commander of the Greek expedition against Troy which is now unable to sail from Aulis. The severity of the crisis is indicated by an opening still during darkness (6–8: n.), as is made clear by the lantern which Ag. is holding: see 1.2. Staging. The first and precipitating crisis had been the unexplained obstacle to the Greeks’ sailing (88, cf. 10–11 the ‘silence’ of the winds, that is, their stillness, and the general quiet 14–15). The seer Calchas enjoined a grim remedy, also unexplained: for Ag.’s fleet to sail and sack Troy, his

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daughter Iphigenia must be sacrificed to the goddess Artemis (91–3); on these issues see Introduction pp. 3–6. Ag.’s initial reaction to this stark declaration was to instruct the herald Talthybius to disband the army, for he would not kill his daughter (94–5); he was nevertheless persuaded by his brother Menelaus to ‘the terrible deed’ (98); in a letter to his wife Clytemnestra he ordered her to send the girl to Aulis on the pretext of her betrothal to Achilles (98–105). The second crisis has Ag. bracing himself to countermand his letter, in a second one which he holds but cannot yet bring himself to seal. He calls the Old Man (a family slave, 46–8, 114, 304) out from the hut (1–3). The OM sees his distress and tries to offer moral comfort (16–27). When he invites Ag. to confide in him (28–48), Ag. narrates the already thwarted progress of the expedition which is intended to recover Men.’s wife Helen. Before their marriage, dissension between her suitors had led her father Tyndareus to cause these to swear a solemn oath: whoever married Helen, all the rest would help him if she were to be abducted, and take military action against the adulterer’s city, whether Greek or barbarian (i.e. non-Greek; 49–65). Ag. regrets that Helen used the choice of husband given her by her father to choose his brother; for while Men. was away from home the alluring Trojan Paris arrived and swept the infatuated Helen off to Troy (66–77). Reminded by the cuckolded Men. of their oath, the Greeks have assembled with their army and fleet (77–85 – the play’s Panhellenic theme is established here, for which see Introduction p. 15). After retailing Calchas’ declaration and the sending of the letter (above), Ag. reveals that only Calchas, Odysseus, Men. and he himself know of this design (106–7a). Now, he is making every effort to countermand his first letter (107b–9) with a second which in renewed dialogue he tells the OM to take to Argos (111–12a); he summarises it (113, 115–23) as a precaution against its loss, and against Clyt.’s disbelief – as well, of course, as to inform the audience of its contents (compare Eur.’s technique with Iph.’s letter IT 755–69). The OM is aghast at the deceit being practised upon daughter and mother in order to enact so horrific a sacrifice (133–5; cf. Ag. at 98–105) and, no less terrible, upon Achilles (124–7), who knows nothing of it (128–32). Ag. groans at his own crazy and disastrous actions (136–7), but speeds the OM on his errand (138–52); dawn is already at hand (156–63). The general silence is in contrast with Ag.’s turmoil. When in

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astonished concern the OM asks the reason and invites the king to confide, that would seem to be enough to launch the action quickly; but a further contrast is made, between the OM’s risk-free anonymity (16–18) and Ag.’s precarious responsibility as commander, however desirable the honour, caught between inconstant gods and man’s fallible intentions (19–27); the OM proposes acceptance of this inescapable condition (28–33). In this way, not only are Ag.’s crises and choices throughout the play heralded (161–3 n. 2.2 (iv)), but also the OM’s involvement in the later action is prepared and made plausible (16b–33 n., cf. his words throughout 117–63, also in the prologue-scene, then 302–16, 855–95). The scene is noteworthy in its anticipation of many later developments and themes: see 2.2. (iv) below. 1.2  Staging. A lively start. The theatre’s canvas back-cloth (skênê σκηνή), with a central door, represents Ag.’s hut (1 n.); similarly in Hecuba and Trojan Women. Ag. is already outside his hut with a lantern, moving irregularly to-and-fro (12), behaving irresolutely with a writing-tablet (35–9 – at 39 he flings it to the ground, but has later retrieved it: 109), and weeping (39–40). He calls the OM out from the hut; in the dramatic technique first one character and then a second enters, in instant, anxious dialogue, without an expository speech (compare 303ff.). Several tragedies start during the night or just before its end, when events portend a crisis in the coming day, notably Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers (Clytemnestra’s nightmare), Sophocles’ Ajax (the goddess Athena has deranged the hero), Euripides’ Electra (Electra’s routine tasks before dawn put her in the path of the returning Orestes) and Andromeda (2.2 (i)), and the anonymous Rhesus (night-sentries report an unexpected development); or at dawn itself, when anticipated anxieties for the coming day are voiced, e.g. Euripides’ Hecuba and Antiope (both, disturbing dreams), Phaethon (immediacy of an unwanted marriage), and even Ion (the temple-boy’s happy daybreak routines are infused with concern). In all these plays except Rhesus initial darkness soon gives way to daylight and its activities (Rhesus ends with the arriving dawn, 991–2): so here in 156–8 we are told that the sun is now rising. Only at the end of the scene does the OM’s departure towards Mycenae establish for the audience which side-entrance they were to imagine leading away from Aulis to Greece generally, and which towards the rest of the

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encampment: stage-right to the first, stage-left to the latter (on this frequent problem, and the establishment of a convention after the 5th century, see Taplin (1977) 450–5). See also 164–302 n. 1.2, beginning. 1.3  Metre. Anapaestic metre (see Introduction pp. 46–7, 49) is frequent throughout Tragedy for initial entrances, most commonly those of the chorus. It is often passionate and dramatic, and when used by individuals occurs almost always once the action is underway; but among Eur.’s plays only Andromeda certainly begins with anapaests (see 2.2 (i) below). Here, both the more common chanted form (sometimes termed ‘recitative’, 1–48) and the rhythmically more varied and expressive lyric form occur (‘melic’), in Ag.’s voice-parts throughout 115–42; 149–52 are uncertain in status (see n.); they convey his torment. The OM’s more measured responses are in chanted form throughout. For the combination, and smaller details, see West (1982) 121–2, who compares e.g. S. Trac. 971–1003 and E. Or. 1297–1311; Dale (1968) 52 writes that the changes reflect the ‘higher emotional level’. Stockert 157 gives a detailed analysis. See too Parker (1997) 57. For one feature of the system here which bears on arguments about authenticity see 2.2 (v) below. The interruption of the two anapaestic spans 1–48 and 115–63 by the spoken iambic trimeters of 49–114 has no parallel: see 2. 2 (i). An emotional anapaestic and partly lyric sequence, shared by two voices, precedes rational analysis Med. 96–131 (the chorus enter at 132). 2.1  Integrity of the prologue scene. This is the most contentious issue in the play’s text; it has generated a profuse literature. We discuss it as economically as we can, and we refer almost entirely to recent scholarship alone. We summarise our discussion in 2. 3 Conclusions below. All three formal sections 1–48, 49–114 and 115–63 have been defended, suspected or deleted, wholly or partially – or rearranged. The most helpful recent chronological accounts of the dispute are Willink (1971) 343–45, Bain (1977a) 15–21, Stockert 66–79, Turato 251–3 and Michelakis (2006) 105–13. Material and argument of all kinds (which began in the mid-18th century) have been progressively expanded since England (1891) xvii, xxi–v and Wecklein (1914) x–xii, both of whom document earlier literature; subsequent publications were concisely assembled by Günther (1988) 2 apparatus.

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The spectrum of recent scholars’ positions is: (i)

(ii) (iii) (iv) (v)

(vi)

(vii) (viii) (ix)

almost all is original to Euripides and sound as transmitted, if with some later retouching, e.g. Mellert-Hofmann 1969 (who notes that the iambics 49–110 divide into 17+14+14+17 lines), Knox 1979 (orig. 1972), Jouan, Erbse 1984, Irigoin 1988 (developing MellertHofmann’s argument from internal symmetries of form in both anapaests and iambics: see (v) Compatibility below), Hose (1990) II 89 n. l, Matthiessen, Turato (‘largely sound dramaturgically as an introduction’), Ritchie (see below), Michelakis (2006), Pietruczuk. almost all is sound, but with signs of incomplete work, e.g. Conacher (1967) 253–54, Lesky (1983) 354–5; the text has suffered dislocation: much is sound but the iambics 49– 114 stood originally before the anapaests 1–48, England; slightly differently, 49–96, 1–48 (i.e. 48+48 lines), 97–163 Willink (1971); the anapaests 1–48 and 115–63 are irreconcilable in some details with the iambics 49–114: many scholars, esp. Bain (1977a); the anapaests are genuine, the iambics inauthentic, e.g. Fraenkel (1955); his arguments have had wide acceptance, especially by Schreiber (1963) 86–8 and Stockert: ‘49–114 more likely to be interpolated than 1–48 and 115–63’; the iambics are genuine, if with some corruption towards the end, the anapaests inauthentic, e.g. Murray, Page, Mizen (1980: the iambics of 80–107 genuine), Kovacs (2002, with 2003 ‘only 49– 105 (are) the remainder of the original (Euripidean) prologue’); ‘hardly Euripidean as a whole’, Günther; all is ‘scarcely Euripidean’, e.g. Diggle, in a review of MellertHofmann published in 1971 (= 1994, 48–50) and his edition of 1994; Bain (1977a); the text of 1–163 as we have it represents the uneasy and postEuripidean combination of two designs for the prologue-scene, a view now gaining support: see 2.3 Conclusions.

Some of these positions were first taken by earlier scholars; but all, including defenders, have found intermittent corruption or interpolation to a varying extent: see our apparatus. (Ritchie made a particularly thorough study of the prologue-scene. He left in typescript two completed, and complementary, lectures upon its integrity, and substantial matter towards his commentary. The first

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lecture (1970 or earlier) concentrated on ‘language, style, metrical technique etc.’, concluding, ‘The poet was a bold innovator in technique. We have found no reason to believe that he was not Euripides. … we may attribute to him the beginnings of a technical device much favoured by New Comedy, that of the “postponed prologue”.’ The second lecture (soon after 1980) ranged widely, concluding, ‘The parts of the prologue as we have it are all stylistically compatible with Euripides’ authorship and … each has a useful dramatic function.’) We have not been able to see N. Distilo, Il prologo dell’ Ifigenia in Aulide, Drama NS 4, Tübingen 2003. 2.2  Dispute focuses upon five chief issues: (i) Formal singularity.  Only Euripides’ fragmentary Andromeda (412 BC, one of his latest tragedies), of the 40 or so complete and fragmentary plays whose opening line(s) survive (some half of his total oeuvre), begins like IA with anapaests. There they are a monody from the heroine, an ‘exchange’ rather than a dialogue between herself (already fettered to a sea-cliff) and an off-stage Echo (F 114–15, from Ar. Thes. 1059–73 and scholia); anapaests continue in a true dialogue between Andromeda and an entering chorus (F 115a–21) and then her lyric monody (F 122) before the wing-sandalled Perseus appears: the whole sequence is both expository and preparatory. The uniqueness in Euripides’ work in IA as transmitted is that the opening anapaestic dialogue is followed abruptly by a prologue-speech from Ag.; such a speech, typically an expository and historical narrative, addressed to the theatre audience, directly begins all other Euripidean plays whose openings we know (again except Andromeda). The start of Andromeda is nevertheless enough to suggest to many critics that Euripides could have begun IA similarly with anapaests, only a few years afterwards; they adduce his ever looser and more adventurous use of tragedy’s formal elements, in dialogue and lyric. Rhesus, ascribed to Euripides in medieval mss., also begins with lively anapaests: in part choral entry, in part an exchange with Hector, the play’s main character. These opening anapaests have been only one ground for almost all modern scholars to confirm antiquity’s judgement of Rhesus as not Euripidean; introductory matter in the mss. attests two iambic prologues for the play, apparently in addition to the anapaests. It

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cites a single opening line and the start of a second such iambic speech found ‘in some copies’ which is damned as pedestrian, un-Euripidean in style and perhaps an actor’s composition: this matter is printed by Diggle OCT III. 430–1, and as Rhesus test. i.a by TrGF 5.642–3, and by Fries (2014) 63–5, with discussion 22–8, 109–13; cf. W. Ritchie, The Authenticity of the Rhesus of Euripides (Cambridge 1965) 6–40, and at the end of 2.1 above. It is unsafe to adduce Rhesus as a Euripidean parallel to Andromeda, let alone to IA. For the apparent verbal debts of Rhesus to IA see Introduction pp. 37 n. 94, 59. (ii) Coherence.  Towards the end of the first anapaestic dialogue the OM’s questions to Ag. in 43, ‘What troubles you? What’s new with you?’, indicate his extreme unease at his master’s behaviour; it has increased through 2 and 12 (perplexity at Ag.’s untimely and continued agitation), 28–33 (moral misgivings), and 34–42 (frank incomprehension). Yet his question is answered by Ag. simply with an exposition of the crisis for the Greeks’ expedition against Troy (49–114), of which only its last words are addressed to the OM himself, 110–14. Thus an urgent interrogator is unconvincingly ignored and his stage-presence theatrically ‘awkward’ for over 50 lines (see also (iii) Contradictions below). At 115 Ag. at last responds with an explanation of his second letter by returning suddenly to anapaests to recite its content; the OM’s initial unease over the letter (34–41) at once increases again (124–7, 133). In sum, the transitions from 48 to 49, and from 114 to 115, are formally and dramaturgically harsh. On the other hand, removal of 49– 114 deprives the audience of vital information about Ag.’s motives and behaviour, even if transition from 48 to 117 arguably works on stage (with 115–16 moved to begin Ag.’s response at 119). (iii) Contradictions  – or, perhaps better, discrepancies perceived in matter and implication, particularly (a) between the iambics 97–107 (cf. 89–96) and the anapaests 124–6 (cf. 130–5), and (b) subsequently between the iambics 89–96 and the first episode at 358–9 and 518. (iii.a) The chief difficulty is identified as follows. On the one hand, in 106–7 Ag. states that only he himself, Calchas the seer, Odysseus and Men. know of the deceitful plan through which Ag.’s first letter (98– 100) was to bring Iphigenia to Aulis, ostensibly to marry Achilles, who

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is also to be deceived. It is implicit therefore that they alone also know of Calchas’ injunction that Ag. must sacrifice his daughter to Artemis if the expedition is to continue (87–93). On the other hand, Ag.’s intention in his second letter is to stop Iphigenia from coming (115–16, 119–21). The OM in 124–6 expects Ach. to be furious if he loses the marriage; the expectation rests, it is argued, on his assumption that Ach. must know of the marriage–plan (but Ag. in 128–32 says that Ach. knows nothing about it, and Ach. himself later in 837–42 confirms this). To have made this assumption, the argument continues, the OM, who has been visible throughout, must have heard Ag.’s account in 89–107; and so critics of integrity stress the dramatic and theatrical awkwardness when Ag. addresses the OM directly only in 110, after completing his expository narrative (see on Coherence above). (iii.b)  Further, would not the OM have heard the herald Talthybius if he proclaimed to ‘the whole army’ Ag.’s order to disband (94–5)? At 801ff. Ach. on his first entry does not mention it, only that he and his men are more and more impatient of Ag.’s delay in sailing; and they even suggest he might lead them home (814–18). Moreover, it is improbable that Agamemnon’s determination not to kill his daughter (96), as reason for the disbandment, would actually have been part of the proclamation (the text at 94–5, ‘a loud proclamation, to dismiss the whole army’, supports this too: see n.). In fact, it seems likely that Talthybius never made a proclamation: at 518 Men. states that Calchas has yet to disclose his seer’s injunction to all the Greeks, and at 529 Ag. fears that Od. may reveal it to them; Men.’s words at 358–9, like Ag.’s at 89–96, seem to confine knowledge of the injunction to the four persons named in 106–7. There, in 106, ‘the situation’ is a vague phrase, but it appears to cover everything from Calchas’ injunction to the deceit now underway. Such perceived discrepancies (and others less clear) seem to many to strengthen the argument against integrity. Rescue from them has been attempted by deletion variously of 104– (or 105– or 109– or 110–)14, and of 130–2: see the Commentary. Defenders of integrity suggest that such discrepancies both within the prologue-scene and with later passages are not inconsistent with such unclarities or even false trails elsewhere in Euripides (e.g. Ion 71–3: see W. G. Arnott, ‘Euripides and the Unexpected’, G&R 20 (1973) 49–64, esp. 54ff.). Or, because of the

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importance of the marriage and because Ach. has been deceived, the OM in 124–6 may be predicting the predictable angry reaction of an Achilles always explosive when his honour is abused, 929–34 (this point holds even if these latter lines are not authentic to Euripides). On (ii) Coherence and (iii) Contradictions together: the most systematic argument for accepting the repetitions of words and phrase, and the (supposed) discrepancies, esp. between 106–14 in the iambics and 124–32 in the anapaests, is by Knox (1979) 280–3 (with nn. 37–46); cf. Michelakis (2002) 129–30. (iv) Adequacy as introduction to plot and themes.  The opening and concluding anapaests are appropriate to the immediate, tense dilemma of Agamemnon, the Greek’s commander and arguably the play’s principal figure; he has the biggest part, and his agony dominates until that of Iphigenia takes over. In these anapaests the OM’s anxious, repeated questions (2, 12–13, 43, and 124–7 again) force Agamemnon’s revelations. (Erbse (1984) 274 in particular thinks that doubts of the authenticity of passages or lines in the prologue-scene can only arise if their relation to the subsequent text is not observed: ‘its unique form is exactly tailored to the conception of the drama’.) Elements of the later dramaturgy and important motifs introduced in the anapaestic parts are: •

9–11 the Greeks’ inability to set sail (88 in the iambics): cf. 352, 359, 813, 1323–4. • 16–23, 28–30, 136–7 the pressures of command (85–6 in the iambics): cf. later esp. 337–412, 513–41, 1255–74. • 18–29 high office and its burdens: cf. ambition later 342, 385, 520, 527, • 24–7, 30–4 the gulf between the divine and the mortal human; cf. later 351, 393–4, 444–5, 596–7, 1096–7, 1396. • 34–9 Ag.’s first letter (99 in the iambics), and the second 155–6 (preechoed in 108–10 in the iambics), 303–27, 360–4, 641–2, 891–5, leading to ‘change of mind and resolution’ as a prominent issue, Ag.’s over the first letter 334ff., Men.’s over the second 481ff., more sensationally in Iphigenia 1374ff.: see Introduction pp. 2, 18–20. • 45–8, 153–4 (58–67, 78, 114 in the iambics) loyalty: cf. later 304, 867–71.

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• 124–9 Ach. and his reactions: cf. later 801–54, 896–1035, 1338– 1429; • 128 ‘the name, not the reality’: cf. 1017, 1115, 1240; ‘name’ alone 910, 938, 947, 962, 1496. • 137–8 Ag.’s admission of (fated) fault: 388, 443–4; • 144–57 Iph. may be already approaching Aulis, with her mother (154) – as indeed she is, 415 (if the text is sound, as we believe: see Commentary). Significant elements and motifs introduced in the iambics are: • 67, 97–8, 104 persuasion, direct or devious: cf. later the agon of Men. and Ag. 316–414, cf. 471–541; the word ‘persuade’ itself 1011, 1212; (to be persuaded, i.e. ‘obey’) Clyt. to Ag. 726, cf. 739; the Cho. ask Ag. 1209; Iph. asks Clyt. 1435, 1460, and Clyt. agrees 1445; Ach.’s variable obedience to Ag. and Men. 929. There is eloquent supplication too, of Ag. by Iph. 462, 992, of Ach. by Clyt. 900ff. (cf. 1015), of Ag. by Clyt. 1146ff., esp. 1183–4, and by Iph. 1211ff., esp. 1216–9, 1233–5, 1247. • 97–8 (with a clear echo in the anapaests, 133) outrageous lack of morality: cf. later 887, 1090–7, 1144. • 73–9 Greek must override barbarian (the ‘Panhellenic’ theme): cf. later esp. 370–2, 1264–6, 1274–5, 1378–1401, 1472–3: see Introduction pp. 17–18. (The most prominent themes of the play, including several not mentioned here, are reviewed in the Introduction esp. pp. 33–7.) (v) Compatibility with Euripides’ habits in language, style and metre; dramaturgy Language: 44 questionable use of the prep. ἐς; 72 ὅδε ‘here present’ questionable in the first mention of a person in fact not present; 105 incorrect use of the prep. ἀντί (but the ms. text is almost certainly corrupt); 106 omission of the 1. pers. pron. ἐγώ when the speaker names himself among others (corruption also probable); 130 demonstrative κείνῳ, not reflexive ἑαυτῷ, referring to the main subject; 158–9 adjacence of Ionic and Epic ἠώς and Epic Ἀελίου; 161 ambiguity in the phrase ἐς τέλος. Vocabulary: rarities or nonce-words in 2 (but this word also 838), 48, 55 (a prose-idiom), 74, 108 (a prose word), 120, 121.

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Style: 75–9 ornate intensity inappropriate in factual exposition; similarities and possible imitations of earlier tragedies in 51, 55–6, 73–4 and esp. 111–13 (IT 760–1); also imitation by later tragedy e.g. 2, 7 and 36 (the 4th century Rhesus: see Introduction pp. 37 n. 94, 59). Metre: Anapaests: 8 and 12, 80 varying prosody of ἀίσσω; 119 prep. ending an anapaestic colon; 2, 3 and (text insecure) 149 division of an anapaestic metron between voices (see nn.). Iambics: a very rare end–rhythm in 49 (see Commentary). Conversely, the hidden metrical structures, employing units of ‘11’ metra in the anapaests, are taken as a Euripidean feature (Irigoin 1988); Willink (1971) 356–60 allowed that rare phenomena of (language and) metre in 115–63 could be matched among Euripidean passages of comparable form. Dramaturgy: The speaker of an expository prologue is sometimes involved deeply in its events, here Ag. 70, 85–6, 97–8, 107–8 – but cf. e.g. Electra in Or. 19–24, Jocasta in Pho. 55 and earlier e.g. Aethra at the start of Supplices and Helen in her name-play. And again: the sequence of anapaestic dialogue, prologue-speech, resumed anapaestic dialogue which begins the play (2.2 (i) above). 2.3 Conclusions.  It is worth repeating a point not always made. However much (or little) of Euripides’ own composition remains in our text of the prologue-scene, at its first production by his son or nephew (see Introduction pp. 37, 55) the play must have begun with adequate orientation of the audience. If Euripides left nothing firm in draft, it is at least probable that one or the other knew the poet’s general intention when he put together something which would work in the theatre; what we have now is indeed still that, however and whenever the initial play-text suffered interventions. It is also rarely pointed out that few, if anybody, during a performance will perceive minor inconsistencies. All worked very well in the Syracuse production of 2015 (Introduction pp. 44–5). The anticipations and echoes set out in 2.2 (iv) do not bear upon inconsistency between the anapaests and the iambics; rather they attest some care that the prologue-scene should indeed prepare the audience fully in many ways which are later shown to be important. They suggest to many analysts that the anapaestic and iambic parts have been imperfectly brought together; but few agree whether both may have been conceived

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as alternative play-beginnings (a possibility in the Rhesus: above 2.2. (i)), and whether both are original to Euripides himself, or are independent compositions, one at least by Euripides’ son or nephew. As to the date of composition of what ms. L transmits, it is observed that line 28 from the anapaests was cited by Chrysippus SVF 2. 53.28 von Arnim (end of the 4th century BC) and 81 from the trimeters by Aristotle (died 322), Rhetoric 3.11.1411b30. Analogies for both the play’s opening (and its theatricality) and its ‘prologue-speech’ have been found in later 4th century Comedy: for the former see 34–48 n. and for the latter 49–114 n. at end. One may speculate about the very first conception of the prologuescene. The three parts it now has largely cohere, but neither the anapaests (in combination) nor the trimeters can stand separately. We shall not now recover the facts, without unlikely fresh evidence from further papyri; but they will need to be very early ones, and to span all three parts – and even they may just attest what we have if it was original to the first performance (if not to Euripides) or datable to the mid4th century BC. We can only make our own best judgement of the text we have, in whole or part; the extremely wide range of scholars’ views often shows their irreconcilability. In this prologue-scene we present the text of ms. L, and urge our readers to form their own views on the basis of their own reading, the hard information in our apparatus, this whole note, and the discussions of individual passages in the Commentary. It seems to us most likely that two forms of prologue have become conflated, probably in the hands of a theatrical director working quickly and with successful performance as his chief object. Euripides’ own imagination and style could have conceived both formal components, anapaests and iambics. Notable recent support for such a view (advanced first, it appears, by Wilamowitz in Hermes 54 (1919) 52–3 = Kl. Schriften IV 290–1) comes from West (1981) 73 = (2013) 308, Michelakis (2006) 109–10, Mastronarde (2010) 42 and Rutherford (2012) 181 n. 30. 1–48 The initial description of night in IA 6–11, 14–15 is very brief in comparison with the extensive lyric evocations of dawn and its activities which, after Eur.’s regular expository prologues, begin Ion (82–183, Ion’s monody) and Phaethon (63–86, start of a choral parodos); the latter markedly features the onset of daytime’s noise and bustle after night’s quiet (cf. IA 9–10, 14–15); birds herald the dawn at S. El. 17–19 (birds

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are still silent at IA 9); Seneca, Hercules 125–77; see also 6–11 n. Scholars since Scaliger in the 16th century have drawn attention to likely echoes of the scene and language of IA 1–2, 6–8 and 9 in Ennius, Iphigenia 188–91 Jocelyn (a star as indicator of the hour of night) and 193–4 (command to an old man to come outside): see H. D. Jocelyn, The Tragedies of Ennius (1969) 329–30. For our play’s beginning as a likely model for some scenes in later Comedy involving slaves see 34–48 n. 1–3  These lines set a tone: Ag. is impatient and abrupt, the OM rather slow to sense it.  hut: δόμων, lit. ‘house’. A hut at best it would have been, in a temporary camp, and we use the term to translate all references in the play to Ag.’s ‘(head)quarters’. The plain name σκηνή ‘(canvas-) tent’ is used only in 12; elsewhere it is his ‘home’ δόμος here, 1106 etc., δώματα 440, 854 etc., μέλαθρα ‘hall, headquarters’ 612, 678 etc. (as, apparently, Ag.’s housing at A. Ag. 117), στέγη ‘roof, shelter’ 437, 1099 (αὐλή ‘enclosed court, enclosing structure’ is avoided, perhaps because of its homophony with the noun αὖλις ‘bivouac’ (cf. 87–8 n.) or the place Aulis). For the use of these terms to describe the back-cloth in the 5th century theatre see Sommerstein (2010) 172 n. 4. Our imagination of Ag.’s headquarters must take account also of its having ‘gates’ (317, 803 etc.), represented by the central double ‘doors’ in the back-cloth. See too the n. on 189 ‘encampment’ κλισίας.  strange activity: καινουργέω is lit. ‘do something new’, the ‘new’ implying ‘sudden, unexpected and alarming’ (see 43 n.). It is a very rare verb, but recurs at 838, and is Classical: not therefore an indication in itself of post-Euripidean composition (Page 131; cf. 1–163n. 2.2 (v)); similarly the echo of 1–3 in 139–40, accidental or even deliberate, does not damn either place. [Text: 2 σπεῦδε Hurry! Porson: πεύσει L ‘you will learn’, which is aimless before the answer σπεύδω ‘Ι’m hurrying’; for the coupling cf. e.g. Rhesus  16 θάρσει … θαρσῶ ‘Courage!’ … ‘I’ve got courage’; Men. Sicyonian  169–70 μεῖνον … μένω ‘Wait!’ … ‘I’m waiting’. Dobree’s conjecture σπεύσεις; ‘Will you not hurry?’, command phrased idiomatically as question, tries to rescue L’s simple miscopying. Metre. 2 and 3 have a change of voice within a verse-line (antilabe: 303–16 n.) dividing an anapaestic metron, which is extremely rare: see Fries on Rhesus 16, and cf. 149 n. Metre below.] 4–5  Two difficult lines, in text and interpretation.  wakeful is a better translation of ἄυπνον here than neutral ‘unsleeping’ (e.g. Med. 481),

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because the OM swiftly defines his dutiful promptness (3); the adjective is used of constant, untiring watching over children at e.g. Supp. 1137 or over the sick at Or. 83.  keen-sighted is shown to be the invariable meaning of ὀξύς describing eyes in the 5th century by Günther (1987) 61 and 72–4, who argues that the sense ‘sharp, (suddenly) painful’ belongs to later Greek. [Text. In L the prep. ἐπί with dat. ‘on the eyes’ is against usage when coupled with the verb πάρεστι, for ἐν or a bare dat. is regular; and the article with ὀξύ is needed idiomatically if 5 is to make its point separately from 4. We therefore print (καὶ) ἔτ(ι) … τοὐξύ (Wecklein), lit. ‘keensightedness is still present to my eyes’; so too Stockert. Further: in L in 4 all the words but the last were written by Trl in erasure: L* may have had τὸ (which is in P), and it was restored by Tr3 (see Zuntz (1965) 96); but the article is unmetrical, and idiomatically superfluous; probably L* had τοι, restored by Livineius and later Barnes, both working from printed texts. To meet the problems in 5 Günther suggested deleting the verse, a proposal first made by Bothe and liked by Diggle (1994) 409.] 6–11  confirm the setting at Aulis (11, the Euripus) and the moment of crisis: Ag. is named in 3. The stillness of the wind (10) encourages the immediate inference that no sailing can be done (explicit only at 88). The play’s first audience may well have known the play’s subject or even title in advance, as a consequence of the proagon, ‘preliminary contest’, a kind of live ‘trailer’ (Csapo and Slater (1994) 109–10). The reference to the stars (6–8) is a common means (as in real life) for registering the time of night, full dark (8 still gliding in mid-heaven) – and implicitly the season: Hesiod, WD 614–22 relates the setting of the Pleiades to the end of the sailing season (the Greeks appear to have linked the name Πλειάδες with the verb πλέω ‘sail’: DELG; see Addenda). The theatre audience will note both this and the time. At A. Ag. 1–7 the night-watchman (long at this work, not explicitly an old man but like our OM awake at night – perforce) knows the hours from the stars.  passes: πορθμεύει: the verb is usually transitive, but cf. IT 1445.  gliding: ᾄ/ἀΐσσω lit. ‘rush, dart’ describes mainly ‘shooting stars’, but here a measured pace; the verb is used of Polydorus’ ghost ‘hovering’ at Hec. 31. For the individual star’s identity see Text below.  on their seven paths: ἑπτάπορος of the Pleiades also e.g. Or. 1005.  At all events: i.e. ‘whatever time of night is indicated by the

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stars’, Paley.  Silence: σιγαί: plur. of an abstract indicates instances of it, here implying ‘everywhere’; this plur. as high style A. Ag. 412, silence in a single room. The winds’ silence: E. Phaethon 84 has σιγώντων ἀνέμων ‘amid quiet winds’.  Euripus: the narrowest and most tortuous part of the strait separating Euboea from the mainland; Aulis was there (120–1), almost opposite Chalcis (164–8). The currents were accordingly strong and unpredictable, and were used metaphorically of human instability (Hyperides, Against Demosthenes P. Lit. Lond. 132 fr. xx.21–5, Aeschines 3.90, Pl. Phaedo 90c5: see Cicero, Nature of the Gods 3.24, with Pease’s exhaustive commentary); the location of the play is matched in the shifts undergone by the characters (Morwood 2001: see Introduction p. 19). The whole of 6–11 surprises as an evocative and markedly poetic flight after the matter-of-fact 1–5; that tone resumes in 12. Greek. 9 οὔκουν … γε: an emphatic negative, ‘at all events … not’ GP 423; esp. in dialogue e.g. IT 516, Or. 1606. [Text. Günther, Diggle and Kovacs follow Bremi is giving all of 6 to 11 to Ag. (as in our text). Bremi observed that the 3rd century BC Alexandrian scholar Theon of Smyrna (see apparatus) marked the end of Ag.’s question after the first word of 7 (also the end of Theon’s quotation). This implies that he took the rest of 7–8 as completing the question, and σείριος not as the individual star Sirius but as an adj. ‘brilliant, sparkling, with blazing light’; Theon states that it was used generally of stars, citing Ibycus fr. 314 PMG. The star (or planet) here, near the Pleiades, is not identified, but some suggest Aldebaran. Ritchie notes however that in Theon’s punctuation Ag.’s question goes unanswered, and that Ag. moves to musing about silent birds, sea and winds, ‘talking to himself?’. Jouan, Stockert and Turato (and, apparently, Ritchie) preserve L’s attribution of 7–8 to the OM: then Ag.’s question is answered at once with the named star Sirius, Σείριος the Dog-Star – but Sirius at no time nears the Pleiades in the sky (astronomical aspects of this passage are discussed by A. E. Housman, CR 28 (1914) 267 = Collected Papers 886, Page 131–3, Jouan 1983 and D. Kovacs, Euripidea Tertia (Leiden 2003) 139–41, no less than by commentators); and Ag. could be expected to identify Sirius for himself, for it was familiar to everybody – so that the Whatever in his question perhaps expresses his surprise that night is not yet over. Willink (1971) gave 6–16 wholly to the OM.] 12–16a  you: The OM thinks, ‘Why are you outside when as commander

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you, of all others, need rest?’ (Paley).  hut: see 1 n. The word σκηνή lit. ‘tent’ is not Homeric, occurring first in the 5th century and at S. Aj. 218 describing Ajax’s dwelling at Troy.  do not stir: ἀκίνητοι like Bacc. 727, but here possibly ‘undisturbed’ (see Greek): by noise and its indications, unlike the night-guards in Rhesus 1–89.  walls: ‘temporary’ fortifications for a military camp, earthworks for the most part like those protecting the Greek ships at Troy, also called ‘walls’, e.g. Iliad 9.349, cf. Rhesus 392. Greek. 15 ἀκίνητος: verbal adjs. in -τος may be ‘passive’ or ‘active’ or merely register actiοn (Barrett on Hipp. 677–9). [Text. 14 τήνδε Blomfield/Kassel here (Aulis): the pronominal adj. with a place name, not the bare adverbial dat. τῇδε, is Euripides’ style of locating his scene in prologues, e.g. Hec. 33, Pho. 6, Bacc. 1.] 16b–33  are important for the whole play; and the tormented Ag. at once has a foil in the OM. He envies him his insignificance, but paradoxically later gives him a very heavy command (111–12, 139–40), which makes him as a simple slave far from enviable. Despite his doubts about Ag.’s actions the OM invites his trust (44–8, 153–4), and remains true to it when confronted by Men. (303–16); and even when betraying that trust, he tries to explain Ag.’s crazy deceit, though rather unsympathetically, to Clyt. and Ach., 855–93 (Ag.’s madness 136, 877, 887, 893). Since he came to Ag.’s house originally in Clyt.’s dowry (46–8 n.), he can communicate between the two, and he speaks plausibly from divided loyalties. In 867 and 871 he says he had already been ‘well-disposed’ (εὔνους) to Clyt. and her children, but in 871 ‘less so’ to her husband. Like the OM a male slave counsels his master at e.g. El. 598–684 (and is given a task, to carry a message, 651–67) and Hipp. 88–107. For his characterization see Introduction p. 25. 16b–19  I envy: ζηλῶ (16, 17, 19): a striking repetition, as in the three negative adjs. in 17–18; compare the same verb in 677 conveying Ag.’s good opinion, as much as envy, of Iph.’s incomprehension, and in 1406–7 Ach.’s envy of her noble patriotism. Conversely, envy of human success in its transience is unwise Hcld. 865–6, cf. our 24–7, 32–3.  passes: (ἐκ) περάω is one of Eur.’s favourite verbs, often used of surviving life without trouble or pain, e.g. δια- Her. 504–5, διεκ- Supp. 953–4.  with no risk, no name, no glory: i.e. unendangered, unnoted, unfamed. The accumulation of three successive negative adjs. is a trait of poets, e.g. And. 491; see Fraenkel on A. Ag. 412.

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Thought and words here are very like Eur.’s Odysseus debating with himself his helpless compulsion, typical of a man of high birth and office, to risk any fresh danger for fear of losing the fame he already has: Philoctetes F 787–89, paraphrased with commentary by Dio Chrysostom 52.11–12 and 59.1–2; for Od. in IA see Introduction pp. 15, 21. For such ‘political’ dilemmas between conscience and risk, and quietude, cf. e.g. E. Antiope F 193–4, 198, Hcld. 619–29, Ion 595–606; S. OT 584–602, Pindar, Pyth. 4.185–7. Our 16–18 are paraphrased, with reference to ‘the well-known anapaests of a most powerful king’, by Cicero, Tusculans 3.57; Wecklein cites Ovid, Tristia 3.4.25 bene qui latuit, bene uixit ‘one who has escaped notice well, has lived well’. See also 160–3 and n. Greek. 16–17 μέν omitted with the first of contrasted identical words (ζηλῶ): 1220 n. 18 ἐξεπέρασε: the aor. is gnomic; see ἀνέτρεψε 25 n. Greek. [Text. The variations in the quotations in Stobaeus and Athenaeus stem from false memory or deliberate adaptation, typical of such literary collectors, if not from mere scribal error; but in 20 ‘rhetoric’ suggests that ζηλῶ ‘I envy’, echoing 16 and 17, is correct, not Stobaeus’ ἐπαινῶ ‘I applaud’.] 20–3  it is they: paraphrases ἐνταῦθα lit. ‘there’: see Greek.  places of honour (19), success and preferment are unsteady: the adj. σφαλερός ‘prone to disaster’, is commonly used of persons, e.g. Supp. 508, Phaethon 126, cf. Rhesus 132; of tyranny Hdt. 3.53.4. The ideas in these lines are commonplace, but here effectively expose Ag.’s torment: but see Text below.  it attends: προσιστάμενον is lit. ‘taking its stand nearby’. The pres. tense has analogies, in the same verb Eur. F 1038.2 πλάνος … καρδίᾳ προσίσταται ‘wandering attends the heart, the heart begins to lose its way’, and strikingly in an antithesis similar to our 22 at Hec. 383 καλῶς μὲν εἶπες … ἀλλὰ τῷ καλῷ λύπη πρόσεστιν ‘you spoke nobly, but pain attaches to the nobility’; Xen. Cyr. 6.2.13 (see Stockert). Greek. 20 βίου possibly with ἐνταῦθα, lit. ‘success is there in life; cf. A. Cho. 891 ἐνταυθα … τοῦδ’ … κακοῦ. [Text. A very difficult problem. 22 τὸ πρότιμον Conington/Nauck preferment, ‘advancement to honour’ affords the best sense as an emendation of L’s τό φιλότιμον ‘ambition for honour’, an illogical third term after ‘places of honour’ and ‘success’, for these represent ambition achieved; so ‘preferment’ sits better with προσιστάμενον ‘attends’, and all

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three are ‘unsteady’. The emendation was made in part also for metrical reasons, but no less importantly it preserves an articular noun-phrase as the subject of has its sweetness in 23, in a separate clause parallel with that of 21. The adj. πρότιμος, here substantivised, is not attested with the meaning ‘preferment’ before much later Greek; in the Classical period it appears to mean ‘highly valued, precious’, e.g. of speed Xenophanes B2 17 DK or of substances Plato, Laws 947d; but the verb προτιμάω is found as ‘give preferment to, advance’ at e.g. Thuc. 1.120.1, of political leaders. L’s ‘ambition for honour’ is plausible as an error, because it is later a minor issue between Ag. and Men. in their confrontation, at 342 (n.). Many eds indeed retain it, and Turato stretches its sense to ‘prestige from a coveted position’; LSJ φιλοτιμία II give that word the meaning ‘distinction’ for prose, esp. in Demosthenes, and under φιλότιμος 1a equate our 22 with it. Of Markland’s two proposals τό τε φιλότιμον is a purely metrical emendation of L, while καὶ φιλότιμον attaches φιλότιμον as adj. ‘ambitious’ to σφαλερόν ‘unsteady’, leaving 23 in asyndeton and explanatory, ‘(success) is sweet but painful etc.’ (but Wecklein defended φιλότιμον as non-articular noun coupled with articular from Bacc. 1150, S. OT 627). A drastic remedy was proposed by Bothe: deletion of the entire line 22. 23 was adapted by the 3rd century BC anecdotal moralist Machon 4.24 for parody in a context of meat (see the apparatus), ‘it is tasty, but when you have it, it brings pain all round’. The verb λυπεῖ stands there, protecting L against Hermann’s conjecture λύπῃ ‘(…is sweet, but attends) pain’.] 24–7  the will of the gods: the neut. def. art. with gen. of θεός (or with its adj. θεῖος, e.g. 394a) must be given an English sense which fits the context; cf. e.g. Supp. 301, Hel. 1140. The idea in full stands in 33 (n.).  does not come right: οὐκ ὀρθωθέντα lit. ‘not having gone straight’, implicitly a failure for what the gods wish. When do the gods’ wishes not succeed? Zeus for example is famously deceived by his wife in Iliad 14, meets with a disappointment at A. Eum. 717, and is frustrated by Prometheus’ secret knowledge PV 907–40 and 989–96; but the rule was that one god did not oppose the purpose of another, Hipp. 1328–30. Conversely, the gods cause men to slip, E. Archelaus F 254, Auge F 273, and delude men’s expectations Hipp. 1414.  overturns: ἀνατρέπω with βίον ‘life’, also e.g. Pl. Gorg. 481c.  discontent: translates the adj.

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δυσάρεστος, lit. ‘hard to (be) please(d)’; of a community, a polis, E. El. 904; cf. the adverb ἀρεσκόντως of a city’s pleasing action ΙT 463. Greek. 24 Now … now: τοτὲ … τοτέ (enclitic) ‘at any one moment, then at any other’, e.g. Od. 24.447–8, A. Ag. 100–1, slightly different from τότε … τότε (accented) ‘then at one moment, then at another’, e.g. E. Hypsipyle 261–2. ὀρθόω pass., LSJ II.2.3, cf. e.g. Hipp. 680 τέχναι ‘artful designs, schemes’.   25 The aor. ἀνέτρεψε, like 26 διέκναισαν, is timeless (indeed a-orist ‘without boundary’), reflecting ‘a fact of experience’ Smyth 1930, leading to the ‘gnomic’ use 1931; cf. 18 ἐξεπέρασε n., 367.   27 διακναίω crush, lit. ‘grate, rasp thoroughly away’, a metaphor of utter destruction; with its object ‘life’ βίον (from 15) compare ‘life-spirit’ ψυχήν Hcld. 296. For Eur.’s use of this verb, six times all in anapaests, see Parker on Alc. 109. 28–33a  I do not admire … a great man: ἀριστεύς, lit. ‘a man supreme in prowess (and therefore in rank)’, a Homeric use, e.g. Od. 14.218. A presumptuous remark from a slave?: cf. a king’s protest against a slave at Hel. 1630, and Hel. 1641 cited in 45–8 n. The OM’s criticism resembles that of Ag. by Men. 345–6 (‘a good man should not change in his ways’). It may be over-fanciful to find a pun in the Greek assonance between ‘Agam-’ and the verb ἀγα(μ)- aga(m)- ‘admire’, but there is a pun on the name of Atreus in 321 (n.). As to 29–33a: mortals must bear their mortality, in joy or pain, and none can expect only good fortune: ancient wisdom according to Andocides 2.3, cf. (Wecklein) S. Trac. 127–9; the idea is reflected in Cicero, Tusculans 3.59. Greek. 28 ἄγαμαι usually with gen. of thing (Alc. 602, cf. αἰνέω 1371 below); here acc. of thing (frequently a pron.) and gen. of person, as Xen. Cyr. 2.3.21; cf. θαυμάζω ‘admire in’ with gen. of person Hipp. 1041; Smyth 1405.   29 ἐπί: of motive or purpose (so that you should): with φυτεύω ‘beget’ Hipp. 460 ‘on stated conditions’; Smyth 1689.2.c.   30 δεῖ (must) used of inevitable fate, And. 1250, El. 1264, instead of the commoner χρή: see Barrett on Hipp. 41. 32–3 τὰ … βουλόμενα: for the def. art. and neut. part. as noun cf. 1270 τὸ κείνου βουλόμενον (Menelaus), Thuc. 1.90.2 τὸ βουλόμενον … τῆς γνώμης, ‘(their) mind’s wish’; Smyth 2051, cf. 1153b. [Text. Plutarch’s and Stobaeus’ errors are unmetrical, and their cause like those in 18–19: see n.; the same cause may underlie the differing order of lines in Stobaeus.]

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33b–48  Fraenkel (1955) examined the possible model in this scene for those in New Comedy in which slaves observe masters in turmoil and invite their confidence. In particular at Plautus, Pseudolus 1–41, esp. 9–12, 16–17, the master is in tears over tablets he has been constantly correcting; cf. Adespota F 1027 PCG. (It is likely that Ovid, Met. 9.523–5, (a woman’s) irresolution with a tablet like that of Ag., stems if at all from Comedy rather than IA.) 33b–42  A sentence long for chanted anapaests (but cf. A. Ag. 40–54, E. Hec. 130–40, Tro. 122–37, all in expository narrative), if unexceptional in lyrics, e.g. 164–84 below. 33b–9a  Ag.’s torment racks him, and he cannot sleep; for the significance of the lamp he carries and his walking about see 1–163n. 1.2 Staging.  shed lamp-light around: Ag. has a portable lamp (λαμπτήρ), a luchnos (λύχνος, very common in Aristophanes, e.g. Wasps 249–62; the word is not certainly found in Tragedy, and doubtful at the satyric Cyc. 514). Must Ag. have set it down on the ground, to write? In other occurrences of the word λαμπτήρ in Tragedy, however, a brazier may be meant, e.g. S. Aj. 286 (see Finglass); but a λαμπτήρ can be a flaring torch of pine, in ritual at e.g. A. Eum. 1022, Tro. 298 and Hel. 865 and incendiary at E. Ino F 411.2 (the commoner terms for a torch are λαμπάς and πεύκη).  tablet: δέλτος was a single leaf made of fissile pine-wood (38), one side waxed for writing; letters γράμματα (translated as what you have written) were incised (the strict sense of ἐγγράφω, 113) with a stylus; γράμματα e.g. 118, 322, IT 745. Two leaves could be bound facing each other (‘folding tablets’, πτυχαί 98, 110, IT 727; a good description by Headlam, citing esp. Hdt. 7.239.3); then the binding could be ‘sealed’ (below); cf. famously Iliad 6.169, apparently runes or symbols written in a folded tablet (πίναξ), the earliest surviving record of a ‘letter’. For letters used on stage see 111–14 n.  keep erasing: συγχεῖς, lit. ‘scramble together, blur’, followed by smoothing of the wax for revised writing.  seal: letters, receptacles and room-doors were sealed with wax (e.g. Lucian 42.21) or with clay (Hdt. 2. 38.3), into which the writer’s personal seal (σφραγίς) was pressed for security (our 155, cf. e.g. Or. 1108 and Diggle on Phaethon 223).  fling: a vigorous theatrical action, e.g. famously at A. Ag. 1264–7 and Tro. 256 Cassandra hurls her ritual wear on the ground. Greek. 35 ἀναπετάσας ‘spreading out, shedding widely’; the uncompounded verb is used of the sun’s gleaming light Iliad 17.371,

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but cf. ἀναπτύχαι ‘the unfolding, the spread’ of such light at Hipp. 601.  36 πρὸ χερῶν βαστάζειν hold in your hands: of weapons brandished Rhesus 274, and the same verb and context with adjectival πρόχειρος e.g. El. 696; but at Tro. 1207 πρὸ χειρῶν is ‘at hand and ready’ (funeral clothing).   39 The dat. πέδῳ is directional, as in e. g. Or. 1433 and E. Oedipus F 541; Smyth 1531b. The locative πέδοι is not attested for Euripides, who does however use the directional form πεδόσε three times. 39b–42  big, rich tears: Ag.’s tears are described in Homeric language, θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυ χέουσα ending a hexameter at e.g. Iliad 6.496 (Andromache with Hector and the baby Astyanax); in IA Ag. weeps again in despair, at 451–2 (see Men. at 477), as e.g. Amphitryon at Her. 528, 1111. Greek. 40 For the tmesis in κατὰ … χέων cf. 11; for the figure see Smyth 1650–3; V. Bers, EGT 1373. ἐκ in (consequence of), causative, e.g. 878 ἐκ τίνος λόγου ‘for what reason?’, And. 1142; Smyth 1688.c.   41 οὐδενὸς ἐνδεῖς you’re nothing short of: lit. ‘lack nothing from’; for an exact parallel to μὴ οὐ and resultative infin. after a negative verb (Smyth 2744–9), cf. Tro. 797–8 τίνος ἐνδέομεν μὴ οὐ … χωρεῖν ὀλέθρου διὰ παντός; ‘what do we lack to prevent our going through wholesale destruction?’ [Text. (1) In 41 L presents two gens. τῶν ἀπόρων οὐδενός ‘(lack) nothing of helplessness’; and Diggle is almost certainly right to adopt Naber’s easy correction of L’s καὶ to κἀκ (καὶ ἐκ), lit. ‘and as a consequence of’. (2) Ιn the ms. tradition earlier than L, simple miscopying of omicron as theta had produced the half-plausible reading μὴ θυμαίνεσθαι ‘from growing angry’; Tr3’s correction obliterated the fault, but ms. P had already copied it. A different motive may have been to avoid a supposed hiatus in μὴ οὐ, but this coupling fuses as a single long syllable, as e.g, at 916 (n.), Tro. 797–8 (above), Hipp. 658: West (1982) 13.] 43–4  What troubles…?: On the tone and placing of these two questions see 1–163 n, 2.2.(ii).  new: νέος ‘new, unexpected and unwanted, upsetting, implicitly threatening’, e.g. τί νέον τόδε; Alc. 931, cf. IT 137; see also 2 n., on ‘strange new activity’. Greek. 43 πονεῖς: intrans. as 1035 τί δεῖ πονεῖν; with (you): παρά with dat. expresses a person’s situation, feelings or capacity, e.g. 968, El. 738; see Diggle (1994a) 491.   44 φέρε with imperative is probably

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Commentary

colloquial: Stevens (1976) 42; also e.g. Bacc. 1106, Ion 984. κοίνωσον ἐς and acc. lit. ‘share talk with’, rather than a simple dat. of the person (e.g. Med. 811). LSJ εἰς I. 3 adequately illustrate this prep. with plain verbs of speaking and synonymous phrases, but it has been taken to indicate post-Euripidean writing: see 1–163 n. 2.2.(v). [Text. In 43 L*, Tr and P all offer various redundant accumulated questions: two distinct ones suffice for the dramatic moment – and fit the metrical pattern of ‘double’ anapaestic cola since 28. παρὰ Porson: περὶ L, but Eur. does not use it as ‘with’.] 45  trustworthy: Ag. acknowledges the OM’s assurance only later in 114, and the OM repeats it in ‘(shall I) win belief’ (the same adj. πιστός) at 153 (n.). Whether or not these echoes are deliberate (1–163 n. 2.2 (iv)), at 304 Men. calls the OM ‘too loyal’ to Ag. his master; cf. 16b–33a n; the OM himself at 867–71. Slaves claim, or are allowed, the qualities of well-born and (48) virtuous men (as many captured persons who became slaves were by birth), e.g. Hel. 1641 (a slave not only tries nobly to dissuade his master, but clutches him, 1629), Melanippe Captive F 495.40–3, cf. F 511, Phrixus F 831 (a similarly loyal Old Man). 46–8  sent me … upright man: lit. ‘…sent me as dowry and a bridal attendant (who was) upright’; for Tyndareus the father of Clytemnestra (67 n.) at her second marriage see 1155–6.  dowry: the OM may therefore have been a chattel-slave, such as often formed part of a dowry: again 860, 870, cf. e.g. A. Supp. 979. But such male attendants certainly did not ‘tend’ the bride (the meaning of νυμφοκόμος at 1087, Med. 985). The Epic verb κομέω means ‘take care of’, e.g. children Od. 11.250; cf. 1205 n. below on κομίζω. Greek. πέμπει sent is historic pres. (Smyth 1883), a tense found with ποτε long ago (lit. ‘once in the past’), e.g. Med. 955 (see Diggle (1994) 492). συννυμφοκόμος adj. part of her bridal is a nonce-word. [Text. 46 ποτὲ Barnes: τότε L ‘at that time’ has been defended, i.e. ‘on that particular occasion’, e.g. Or. 99.] 49–114  Ag.’s exposition of the crisis and his actions, summarised in 1–163 n. 1.1 Content. Beginning a pattern which becomes characteristic of this play (see Introduction pp. 2, 18–21, 25–7), Ag. has already changed his mind twice, first from pressure by Men. (97–8), and second from regret of that ignoble behaviour (107–8). He orders the OM to take a new letter

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to Clyt., trusting his loyalty sufficiently to read him the letter’s contents (108–114 – but 109–114 are problematic, and many editors delete them in whole or part: see nn. there). In their narrative content and style, 49–114 are typical of Euripides’ expository prologue-speeches, particularly in his later plays, in many of which an initial family history is traced to a present crisis in which the speaker, sometimes a principal character, like Ag. here, is caught up (see 1–163 n. 2.2 at end, on dramaturgy). In this function the previously tormented Ag. seems to be addressing not the OM but the audience. He is not quite talking to himself again (cf. 9–11), but going over the events which have led to the present horrific crisis; he turns to the OM only at 109. A ‘postponed prologue’, a narrative exposition of background coming only after a lively opening scene, became frequent in New Comedy, e.g. Menander, Shield 97–148; see e.g. R. Hunter, The New Comedy of Greece and Rome (Cambridge 1981) 11–12; but something similar in technique is found in Ar. Knights 54–75, Wasps 49–74, both plays of the 420s: see A. W. Gomme, F. H. Sandbach, Menander, A Commentary (Cambridge 1973) 20–21. Ritchie regarded the IA as probably influential in this development, just as Fraenkel (1955) had judged the theatricality of Ag.’s irresolution (see 33b–48 n.); see too 1–163 n. 2.3. 49–51a  Leda … Helen: Thestius was king of Aetolia. Ag.’s version of the birth of Helen and her siblings includes a sister called Phoebe who is not referred to elsewhere in literature before Ovid, Heroides 8.77, though she is portrayed on a hydria of the 6th century BC now in Basel (LIMC IV 1.505 no. 8). Tyndareus (55–7 n.) was the king of Sparta and the human husband of Leda; but in mythology Helen and her twin brothers Castor and Pollux (unlike Phoebe and Clytemnestra: 50) are usually Leda’s children fathered by Zeus (at 1153 Clyt. refers to the twins as her ‘kinsmen’). Ag. omits any mention of this possible paternity; in a famous version of the myth Zeus came to Leda disguised as a swan; but at 794– 800, after a forecast of Helen’s bringing disaster to Troy, this account of her birth is sketched in by the Chorus who wonder whether it may be ‘off the mark, false(ly)’. For an account of the Helen myth in early Greek culture, see Allan, Helen (2008) 10–13. For an analysis of the stories of Helen’s birth, see Jouan (1966) 145–56; Gantz (1993) 318–23; M. Bettini and C. Brillante, Il Mito di Elena (Torino, 2002) 66–75.  wife:

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Commentary

Eur. alone of the tragedians uses the word ξυνάορος for ‘wife’ (×12), here for an elevated tone: etymologically it is from συν-αείρω ‘lift (the harness) with’, ‘couple in harness’: see DELG 23. Greek. The important name of Helen is both postponed and then emphasized by enjambement of syntax and sense across the end of 50 and the start of 51; similarly in e.g. 70–1, 73, 92–3, 358–9. There are grades of such connection, ranging from the very weak (e.g. 53–4, 76–7, 84–5) to the very strong, as here. We draw attention only to some instances of the latter. Cf. also 107–8 Text. The whole topic of enjambement receives a thorough, up-to-date treatment by L. Battezzato, EGT 325–8. [Metre. The rhythm of 49 is remarkable for the opening line of a long iambic speech. It has two resolutions, the first creating an initial ‘anapaest’ (‘possibly designed to assist the transition from anapaests to iambics’, Ritchie – but this takes a charitable view of the change from emotion to exposition, and presumes that the parts were meant to stand together); the second resolution lies in Θεστιάδι (but such licence in a proper name is common). At line-end the ‘long’ monosyllable τρεῖς without an elided enclitic (507 n.), and followed by the one-word terminal cretic παρθένῳ, is a very rare rhythm, but does not break ‘Porson’s Law’: cf. IT 580 (with Platnauer’s n.), Bacc. 271; West (1982) 85; it gives the line’s unsettled rhythm a solid conclusion.] 51b–2  To woo Helen: lit. ‘(as) suitors for Helen’: μνηστῆρες, the key word in the line, agrees with the subject of ἦλθον: ‘they came as suitors’: cf. ἦλθες … κατάσκοπος at Hec. 239 ‘you came … as a spy’. The Hesiodic Catalogue gave a list of the suitors which is partially preserved (F 196–204 MW); they are also found in [Apollodorus] 3.10.8 and Hyg. Fables 81. Ag. (who was already married) and Achilles (still under the care of Chiron on Pelion: 708–9 below, Hes. F 204 87–92 MW) are never named among the suitors save for the latter’s unique inclusion at Hel. 99. Thus neither Ag. nor Ach., if we disregard the mention in Helen, is bound by the oath and accordingly not obliged to participate in the expedition (Ritchie). The oath has no place in Aeschylus’ Oresteia.  who were most blest by wealth: Gorgias, Helen 4 mentions the suitors’ ‘great wealth’. No doubt Tyndareus (55 n.) wanted an already rich son-in-law. Ritchie suggests that Eur. may be preparing us for the idea that what the suitors offer was surpassed by the opulence of Paris (73–4).  Greece: for the names ῾Ελλάς and Ἕλληνες ‘Greeks’ see 102 n. on ‘Achaeans’.

Commentary

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Greek. τὰ πρῶτ’ ὠλβισμένοι: adverbial acc. with the participle, cf. μέγα … ὀλβισθείς in Tro. 1253; τὰ πρῶτ(α) e.g. Or. 1246, S. Aj. 1300 (this latter place illustrates the gen. Ἑλλάδος with a superlative, στρατοῦ τὰ πρῶτ’ ἀριστεύσας: Smyth 1315). 53–4  at the prospect of failing to win the maiden: lit. ‘whoever did not win the maiden’, loosely connected to the threats and jealousy in the previous line (see below): each suitor threatened that, if he did not win her, he would do something terrible. See Text below. Greek. ξυνίστατ(ο): arose (lit. ‘stood together, combined’, intrans.) has as its subjects both ‘threats’ and ‘jealousy’, but has been attracted by the latter and closer noun into the sing. (Smyth 968). ὅστις: ‘whoever’; the antecedent to the sing rel. pron. is the plur. (κατ̓ ) ἀλλήλων, in sense giving both κατ(ά) ‘against one another’ and ‘(jealousy from) whoever…’; such syntax is frequent, e.g. Hec. 359–60; Smyth 2502c. The opt. λάβοι represents in historic sequence the indef. subj. with ἄν. [Text. 53 φθόνος Markland jealousy makes a natural pairing with ‘threats’; κατ̓ ἀλλήλων stands with both. L’s φόνος ‘bloodshed’ must be wrong with the past tense ξυνίστατο ‘arose’; but it remains seductive to many eds, for there are near parallels for a hendiadys ‘threats of bloodshed’ at 1417–8 μάχας | … καὶ φόνους ‘bloody battles’ and Supp. 950 λόγχας καὶ κατ ̓ ἀλλήλων φόνους ‘bloody spears against one another’ (for this stylistic figure cf. 210, 317, 376–7 etc.: Collard on Supp. 447–49; Smyth 3015; V. Bers in EGT 1371); also, Stockert notes that ‘death’ is a typical reaction in issues of τιμή, honour infringed. On the other hand, despite Ritchie’s appeals to the incident of the oath at Hesiod, Catalogue F 204.78–85 MW and Stesichorus F 87 Davies-Finglass (= 190 PMG; a testimony), bloodshed has no explicit mention in either. φόνος and φθόνος are confused in the mss. at And. 780 and Pho. 479 (see Mastronarde’s n.).   54 μὴ L: δὴ Nauck is a big change: Tyndareus now faced the problem of preventing bloodshed should any suitor win the maiden.] 55–7  quandary: in talking of Tyndareus’ aporia, Ag. speaks directly and plainly, but later uses the same word (89) of the ‘helplessness’ of all the Greeks; cf. his own irresolution with which the play begins (34–41; τῶν ἀπόρων 40).  to deal best with what was happening: the suitors’ squabble threatened Tyndareus with no marriage at all for Helen. Greek. 55 For ἔχειν + adv. = εἶναι + adj. ‘be x (for somebody: dat.)’

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see e.g. 447, 1257. Both ἀπόρως ἔχειν and τῆς τύχης ἅπτεσθαι are used elsewhere only in prose.   56 The expression δοῦναί τε μὴ δοῦναί τε (Should he) give (her) or not, with alternative explanatory infins. (cf. 969 below), has a precedent at A. Supp. 379–80. [Text. 57 ἄριστα L: Stockert and Kovacs (alone of recent editors) entertain ἄθραυστα, cited by Hesychius α 1608 from IA (= fr. ii after 1629 in our text: see n.). It was interpreted by Hemsterhuys as displaced by the similarly written ἄριστα; it gives strained sense ‘(get) an unbreakable (hold on what…)’. It is most likely a false attribution in Hesychius.] 58–60  the idea … swear to this: according to Isoc. Helen 40 the idea came from the suitors themselves, and in [Apollodorus] 3.10.9 it is suggested to Tyndareus by Odysseus (cf. Hyginus, Fables 78). Stesichorus F 87 (53–4 n.) appears to be the earliest account of the oath; for its wording cf. Hes. Catalogue F 204 (51–2 n. above). Eur.’s version generally agrees with these sources except in the choosing of the successful suitor, left to Helen herself (as in Hyginus): see 68 n. For a discussion of the sources for this episode see esp. Jouan (1966) 156–61. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias gives us mythographers’ details of the oath (3.20.8–9). It took place at the Tomb of the Horse on the road from Sparta to Arcadia. Here Tyndareus sacrificed a horse and got the suitors to swear the oath standing upon the pieces of the victim. The oath was to defend Helen and the one who was chosen to marry her if they were wronged. After he had made the suitors swear to this, he buried the horse on the spot.  clasp one another’s right hands: for the combination of handclasp, sacrifice and libations in the taking of oaths, cf. e.g. Iliad 4.158–9; also Iliad 3.245, Plato, Critias 120ab; see A. Allan in A. Sommerstein, J. Fletcher (eds), Horkos (Exeter 2007) 114–15; the standard work on oaths is now A. Sommerstein et al. (eds), Oaths and Swearing in Ancient Greece (Berlin 2014); see Addenda. For binding pledges given by right hands even without religious ceremonies, see 471, 866, Med. 21.  pour libations: this concluding ritual honoured the gods, signifying ratification. Greek. 58 εἰσῆλθεν the idea came: for this use of εἰσέρχομαι, cf. 1374, Ion 1539.   59 ὅρκους συνάψαι join in an oath: cf. Pho. 1241; acc. and infin. construction after a dem. pron., here τάδε (Smyth 1987). δεξιὰς συμβαλεῖν ‘clasp hands’ is (remarkably) a unique expression (LSJ).   60 καθεῖναι: καθίημι ‘pour’ is used also of libations at Ion

Commentary

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435–6. ἐπαράσασθαι here means ‘swear over (the offerings)’, but ἐπι- in this verb is normally ‘(swear) against’, i.e. ‘curse’. 62  join to help: the verb συναμύνω is unique to this line: it emphasizes the collaborative nature of the oath.  her husband: τῶ ἔχοντι, lit. ‘the man who possesses her’; cf. 715, And. 970. Greek. For the order ὅτου … τούτῳ rel. pron. then antecedent (which is thereby emphasized), cf. 70–1 (n.), Pho. 48–9; Smyth 2541. [Text, Metre. The υ in (συν)αμυνεῖν fut. is short: see Smyth p. 687.] 64–5  and they should go on campaign … Greek or barbarian alike: Agamemnon later speaks of the possibility that the army, formed around the nucleus of suitors, might throw his own city to the ground (534– 5).  barbarian prepares for the intervention of the exotic Paris (71–4). Greek. ῞Ελλην(α) is the noun ‘a Greek’ not uncommonly used as adj., e.g. IT 495, A. Ag. 1254; for the masc. form qualifying a fem. noun, cf. e.g. Hcld. 130 (στολή), IT 341 (γῆ). 66–7  a neat scheme: the oath; its neatness may have been Tyndareus’ decision to leave the choice of husband to his daughter: see 58–60 n. The Greek word for caught (ὑπῆλθεν) draws attention to the cunning: see Greek. The words crafty invention πυκνῇ φρενί add a hint of the Homeric world (Iliad 2.94, 15.461) but also of Aristophanic comedy (Ecc. 571; cf. Ach. 445, where Euripides is the speaker). Tyndareus nevertheless implicitly bound himself to abide by Helen’s choice: an irony in view of the choice she did make (Ag.’s comment in 70). Greek. εὖ … πως, translated with ‘neat’, an ironic or sardonic pairing of the adverbs ‘well’ and ‘somehow’, e.g. Hec. 902, Hipp. 477. ὑπῆλθεν: ὑπο- as a prefix frequently implies something underhand or a subterfuge, or the insidious overcoming of conscience or the like: this verb again e.g. with δόλῳ ‘by trickery’ And. 435; a god subverts human weakness Cretans F 472e.25. 68–71a  In a Greek context the apparent freedom given to a daughter to choose whoever attracted her sexually (69) is striking. Ritchie writes, ‘A woman did not have the legal right to choose her own husband either in the heroic age (Nausicaa is an exception: Od. 6.282–3) or in the later Greek world. But there was nothing to prevent a father from allowing his daughter to choose for herself, if more than one eligible suitor presented himself.’ Helen’s choice is compatible with her characterization in myth as impetuous and promiscuous: she is left to love’s impulse (69), and

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she chooses Menelaus, just as she elopes with Paris in their mutual infatuation, 75–6, 582–6, cf. 782–4: cf. esp. A. Ag. 404–8. Her sexuality and capitulation to Paris’ exotic person are the cue for a crude joke at Cyc. 179–86.  whichever: ὅποι: see 69 Text. It is tempting to see in 68 ‘choose’ ἑλέσθαι and 70 ‘chose’ εἵλεθ’, in the neighbourhood of Tyndareus’ ‘daughter’ Helen, the common play upon her name as ἑλ‘destroyer’, as clearly in 488 and esp. 1316 and 1476 (see nn.); for ‘destroy’ Menelaus (70) she indeed did, cf. 369. Greek. 68 δίδωσι allowed, lit. ‘grants’, a ‘historic’ pres. tense (47 n., Smyth 1883). Naturally, it is frequent in orientatory prologue-narratives, e.g. Supp. 6, Her. 33, Bacc. 11. [Metre. In 68 the final ι of θυγατρί must scan short though it precedes two nasal consonants: cf. the -α in 847 δεινά; μνηστεύω, where a clear sense break helps; for another possible instance see A. Eum. 383; West (1982) 16–17.] 69  the sweet winds of Aphrodite: Aphrodite inspires Helen’s love here, but even more in her later elopement with Paris, 71b–6, 181, 1300, 1304–5; erotic imagination accompanies Helen thoughout the play. The word πνοή means both ‘breath’ and ‘wind’. The winds or breath of the gods are a commonplace, esp. when they incite or seduce women, e.g. Apollo with Cassandra (A. Ag. 1206); cf. the breath of Love, Eros himself (E. F 929a, with Kannicht’s note in TrGF; an allusion in our 585–6). For other uses of the metaphor, see e.g. Adespota F 187 TrGF, Ap. Rhod. 3.937, Theoc. 12.10; love has ‘windy wings’ in Latin love poetry, e.g. Propertius 2.12.5, Ov. Am. 2.9.49.  sweet: the word φίλος has, as often, strong sexual overtones (compare φιλότης, the Homeric word for sexual intercourse): Supp. 1019–20, Hec. 828, A. Eum. 216. Also: ‘the verb φέροιεν transforms the breath of divine influence into a breeze wafting Helen like a ship at sea’, Ritchie. The stillness of the actual winds (10– 11, 88) is in contrast with the shifting currents of motivation in IA: see 6–11 n., end. [Text. ὅποι Lenting (rel. adv., lit. ‘to wherever’), translated as whichever: ὅπου Heath ‘wherever’. One might expect a pers. rel. pron. after ‘one of the suitors’, which L indeed has in ὅτου, objective gen. after πνοαὶ Ἀφροδίτης equivalent to ἔρως ‘love’, lit. ‘(one of the suitors) whom, pleasing to herself, love should carry her to desire’; but that is very hard to defend, despite efforts by e.g. Hermann and Ritchie.]

Commentary

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70–1a  Greek. ὃς … λαβεῖν: a rel. clause beginning with ὅς ‘who’, to which Menelaus (in emphatic enjambement: 50–1 n.) is the postponed antecedent. The clause is effectively in parenthesis; for ὤφελον (‘if only…!’) in a rel. clause, cf. 1337, Or. 879. [Text. ὅς σφε Monk (who … her): it is specifically Men.’s position as abandoned husband that has landed Ag. in this crisis. ὥς γε L ‘if only she had never taken him like this’ is retained by some editors: Stockert cites Ar. Rhet. 1401b34 ‘the choice was given to her by her father’, to support Jouan’s idea that Helen’s responsibility is increased in this way since she has been given the male’s right. That was a transgressive shock, for the verb λαμβάνω ‘take, get, catch’ is the male’s action in marriage, e.g. 1162, And. 623; LSJ II.1c.] 71b–6  this man who judged the goddesses: Paris, the son of king Priam of Troy, was an oxherd (575–9) on Mt Ida behind Troy (76) when he awarded a golden apple as the prize for beauty to Aphrodite, in the famous ‘Judgement’: the story is told by the Chorus with increasing detail in 178–85 and 573–89, and by Iph. in grim reflection in 1283–1310. See Stinton (1965) for this motif in the dramatist’s work. The whole description of Paris in 71–6 relies upon a sequence of identity-tags so familiar that his name itself is omitted: Phrygian, goddesses, judgement, Oriental glitz, sexuality – and herding on Mt. Ida, especially evocative for the later Greek pastoral tradition: myth has Paris as an exposed foundling (1283–90), brought up by oxherds there for this work (180, 574, 1292). For this mode of identifying a person instead of using their name, cf. e.g. Or. 750, Hel. 1385–6, Men. Perikeiromene (The Lock of Hair) 172–3. Avoidance of the person’s name may be an indication of the speaker’s aversion (Ritchie). Menelaus avoids naming Paris at Tro. 865ff.; and Gorgias shows a comparable reluctance to mention the name Helen (Hel. 5 = 82 B 11 DK). Ag.’s assertion that Paris took Helen off to Mt. Ida goes against the tradition that, once he was identified by his mother Hecuba and brought back into Troy, he enjoyed princely status inside the city; and A. Ag. 739–42 has Helen going straight to Troy after her elopement, her sexappeal proving an ‘adornment to riches’. Yet here the glamorous oriental whisks Helen off to a pastoral life-style: cf. Cratinus’s comedy or satyr play Dionysalexandros in which the ‘hero’, a merged figure of Dionysus and Paris (his alternative name was Alexandros: 1292–3 n.), elopes with

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Helen and returns to Ida: Test. (i) Hypothesis 21–2 PCG IV.140. In our play Helen and Paris did not need luxury to find fulfilment in their love; similarly, at Iliad 3.443–6, Paris recalls his passionate desire for her when they made love during their elopement on the presumably nonluxurious island of Kranaë (‘Rock(y)’). 71b–3a  Details. Lines 71–7 are cited by Clement of Alexandria (see the apparatus) as a fine example of Oriental effeminacy in a ‘seducer’, a μοιχός. In drama, the pron. ὅδε this usually refers to a person at that moment on the stage, or just off-stage and vividly present to the spectator’s imagination; for this ‘theatrical’ use of demonstratives cf. e.g. 1341 and n., and see Taplin (1977) 149–51, with exx. and bibl.; Diggle (1994) 36 n. 3, 49 n. 2. A sense of Paris’ presence is created, at once enhanced by the luxurious description in 73–4. Stockert has an excellent discussion here, and thinks that Tro. 924 ‘this man judged the “yoked” trio’ (Alexandros/Paris is named in 922) may have provided a model for our passage (Stockert judges 49–114 to be inauthentic).  to Sparta there came: the wide separation over 71–3 of ἐλθών from the acc. of ‘motion towards’ Λακεδαίμον(α), and the enjambement (see 50–1 n.) of this name, give it emphasis: Helen was ‘abducted’ from the home of the husband she had chosen. For the rhetorical separation, the figure hyperbaton, see Smyth 3028; V. Bers, EGT 1372.  Phrygians: this name brings a tone of distaste for un-Greek morality. For the interchange of ‘Phrygian’ and ‘Trojan’ in Tragedy, see Hall (1989) 38–9. [Text. 72 κρίνας L judged, aor. part.; but e.g. Matthiessen preferred Clement’s pres. κρίνων, one ‘registering’ an action (n. on 68–71), for which he compared Hec. 645, of the same judgement. ἀνθρώπων L (as) men (tell the tale) is unquestionably right, this tale being universal and widespread (similar expressions at e.g. Ion 265, S. Ant. 829): Clement’s Ἀργείων ‘the Argives (tell)’ is too local, even though Argos provided Menelaus, the suitor Helen selected at Sparta.] See Addenda. 73b–6 Details. dazzling … barbarians: ‘dazzling’ (ἀνθηρός), lit. ‘flowery, blooming’, suggests colour as well as glamour. For the dazzling Paris, cf. Iliad 3.392 ‘gleaming in his beauty and his garments’, Tro. 992 ‘bright with gold’; cf. Cyc. 182–5). Paris’ exoticism is a topos: Hall (1989: above) 128, 137 etc.; Stinton (1965) 51 n.1 and Pl. VIII. Gorgias Helen 15ff. (above) stresses the importance of ὄψις (sight) as the sense by which ἔρως is aroused in the soul, saying that its influence may be irresistible:

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contrast Cretans F 472e, 9–11 where Pasiphaë argues that her love for the bull was divinely implanted and not the result of the animal’s appearance (‘was it so handsome a sight in robes?’, sardonic, 13). For ‘love in the eyes’ see 584 and n.  luxury: χλίδημα is an attention-grabbing nonceformation for χλιδή.  He fell in love with Helen and she with him: the mutuality of their love is memorably communicated by two Greek words ἐρῶν ἐρῶσαν: ‘(he) loving … (her) loving’: cf. 585–6 ἔρωτά τ ̓ ἔδωκας, ἔρωτι δ ̓ | αὐτὸς ἐπτοήθης (Paris). This poetic (and rhetorical) figure of two words from a single root used in adjacence in differing forms (paregmenon and polyptoton Breitenbach (1934) 221–6; V.Bers, EGT 1372–3) is any writer’s instrument, and a favourite of Eur. e.g. 785, 465–6, 1317, and thus easily imitable, whether in homage or parody (Rau (1967) 76, cf. 133); the most striking exx. are those with ἑκὼν ἑκοῦσαν ‘willing’, e.g. Bellerophon F 304a, Hipp. 319, Or. 613; cf. Od. 3.272 ἐθέλων ἐθέλουσαν ‘willing … willing’ (Aegisthus seducing Clytemnestra). Stockert notes that in Gorgias, Helen 17 βία (‘violence’) and ἔρως together ‘excuse’ Helen, but our 75, like 270–1, shows that she went willingly.  finding Menelaus away from home: this factor adds to the appalling nature of Paris’ violation of hospitality at Menelaus’ palace. We are told that in the Cypria (Argument (2) West: Loeb ed.) Men. left for Crete after the arrival of Paris, but here he had already gone there, according to Tro. 973–4 to sacrifice to Zeus (whence [Apollodorus] Epitome 3.2); cf. And. 592–3. Similarly Theseus is away when Phaedra begins her attempt to end her guilty attraction to her stepson Hippolytus, Hipp. 281. [Text. 73 στολῇ L instrum. dat. with ἀνθηρός and matching 74 χρυσῷ (note the chiasmus); στολὴν Clem. acc. of reference.   74 τε L answers 73 μὲν, not rare, e.g. Or. 501–2, Pho. 55–7, GP 374–6; but Markland conjectured δὲ, and certainly 77 δὲ is not an answer to 73 μὲν.] 77–9 the length and breadth of Greece: a further anticipation of the Panhellenic motif, cf. 64–5: Introduction, pp. 17–18. The word-root for frenzy, οἶστρος the noun (properly the ‘(sting of) the gadfly’) and here verb (οἰστράω), is used most frequently of those maddened by gods, e.g. Io by Hera PV 836, with the same intrans. use of the verb; note Heracles the maddened child-slayer Her. 1144, Orestes the maddened matricide IT 393.  the old oath: the marriage of Menelaus and Helen had lasted some time. They had a daughter together, Hermione (1201 n.), who figures in Andromache and Orestes.

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[Text. 77 δρόμῳ raced (… in a frenzy): lit. ‘frenzied (part.) in running (dat.)’. The noun is Markland’s conjecture, and the best. μόρῳ L (normally ‘death’, i.e. ‘fated end’, rather than simple ‘fate’ in Tragedy: see Fraenkel on Ag. 1146) has no point, since Men. was entitled by the oath to call for help; the scribe’s error was simple anagrammatism. P2’s remarkable reading μόνος ‘on his own’ (a correction of μου P miscopied incompletely from (δρό)μῳ, rather than a conjecture) counters Ag.’s ‘traditional association with Men. in mustering the expedition’: Ritchie, who draws attention to L’s error μόνος for μόρον at And. 414. Of other conjectures, Stockert’s χόλῳ ‘in anger’ was approved by Matthiessen; but this confines the phrase to the sense ‘frenzied rage’, while ‘frenzied motion’ is surely needed; and the corruption of χόλῳ to δρόμῳ is much less likely. Kovacs (2002) printed Willink’s conjecture ἔρῳ ‘(frenzied) by love’, the dat. of 2. decl. ἔρoς. (×6 in E.’s dialogue).] 80–3  to war: lit. ‘with a spear’ (see Greek); words for ‘spear’ are often used in this metonymy, as e.g. 355: see Bond on Her. 158. The details of the Greek war machine pile up: as well as the general word arms in the next line, we have cavalry and shields and ships in 82–3.  to Aulis here, built by its narrow strait: we try to convey the idea of βάθρα lit. ‘base/foundations’ with ‘built’; the word is used, as elsewhere e.g. of a city (Troy, Hel. 1652), to indicate that something massive rises above its foundations: cf. 705 where the centaur Chiron’s habitation on Mt Pelion is described as βάθρα ‘foothills’.  here: Bain (1977a) 17 observes that this repeated location of the scene is against Eur.’s expository style in prologues (cf. our 72 n.). Greek. 80 ᾄσσω with instrumental dat. as e.g. Iliad 11.483 ἀΐσσων ᾧ ἔγχει ‘rushed with his spear’. 83 For ἀσκέω equip(ped) with dat. cf. Hel. 1379 σῶμ’ ὅπλοις ἠσκήσατο ‘his body … with armour’, Pho. 1382. [Text. 80 Aristotle, Rhet. 3.11.1411b30 in the 4th century cited the whole line (but it is now corrupt in his mss.), but did not attribute it to Euripides.] 84–6  And … they chose me … and not me!: in view of what he is about to tell us it is not surprising that Ag. wishes that someone else had been made commander-in-chief. But his modest assertion in 84–5 that he was chosen for this role because of his special position as the brother of Men. clashes with the latter’s account of Ag.’s energetic campaigning for the position (337–43). For the idea that Ag. undertook the expedition

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as a favour to his brother, cf. IT 14 Μενέλεῳ χάριν φέρων; for family ties as a motive for involvement in military action, cf. e.g. Supp. 132 δισσοῖσι γαμβροῖς τήνδε πορσύνων χάριν ‘extending this favour to my two sons-in-law’. Lines 84–5, linking the brothers in Ag.’s generalship, strongly anticipate the play’s plot. For Ag. as elected general, cf. El. 1082, Or. 1167–8; Aeschylus’ Oresteia, like the Iliad, regularly emphasizes his prominence, e.g. Ag. 1–8, Cho. 723–5. An election, or a least a ‘choice’, recurs in the play when Odysseus is picked to seize Iph. for her sacrifice, 1364.  chose: a further disaster followed this choice, like Helen’s of 70: note the way that 86 echoes this line.  honour: ἀξίωμα (the word also 101) conveys the idea that Ag.’s worth has been recognized: cf. Or. 1167–8 (of Ag.) ὃς Ἑλλάδος ἦρξ ̓ ἀξιωθείς, οὐ τύραννος ‘who led Greece after being chosen as worthy, not as supreme king’. Again we must assume an electoral process. Greek. 85 For the verb αἱρέομαι with the acc. and prolative infin. (‘choose someone to…’), cf. Iliad 2.127, Plat. Apol. 28e. [Text. 84 The daggered words, καὶ εἶτα in crasis, †and then†, are corrupt: in combination they always begin a clause, e.g. 343. Nor is εἶτα alone, ‘then’, suitable here idiomatically: it also can begin a clause, e.g. 384; but within a clause, in Eur. at least, it invariably follows an earlier action expressed in a participle, e.g. And. 756. There have been many conjectures, the most popular being Nauck’s δῆτα, ‘…(chose me) indeed’, GP 273 (but Stockert points out that GP 277 states δῆτα is ‘not found in historic narrative’); next popular is Heath’s κάρτα, ‘very much (for Menelaus’ sake)’, i.e. (Ritchie) Ag. fends off likely criticism that he, Ag., had another motive. This too Stockert rejects, thinking that κάρτα brings in an emphasis already strong enough in the following ‘as his brother, of course’; in his own conjecture κἀμὲ στρατηγὸν (Conington) [κᾆτα] Μενέλεῳ μὲν εἰς χάριν ‘and (they chose) me general to please Menelaus’ the particle μὲν is superfluous, and the error very hard to explain. Renehan (1998) 264–5 abandoned both particle and adverb, conjecturing πάντα ‘(to be commander) in everything’, citing esp. Dem. 3.6 ἐστρατηγηκότες πάντ’ ἔσεσθε ‘you will have been in command in everything’: attractive.   In 85, instead of L’s acc. σύγγονον ‘(me as) his brother’, Diggle suggested gen. συγγόνου γε ‘Men. as my brother’: the different emphasis is also attractive.] 87–8  we are sitting at Aulis idle, unable to sail: – because? No reason is given: see Introduction pp. 4–6. There is surely an irony here in the

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fact that the ordinary noun αὖλις means a tent or place for passing the night in, a bivouac (Iliad 9.232) or a roost for birds (Od. 22.470), i.e. a temporary location. Yet the Greeks are stalled here. Greek. The verb ἥμεσθ(α) is probably pres. tense (the Greeks are still sitting), rather than the past; if it is a past form, it occurs only here, but that would fit with the sequence of historic verbs from 85 onward. Αὐλίδα: for this acc. form cf. IT 26; Αὖλιν is the commoner, e.g. 14. χρώμενοι lit. ‘using, experiencing (a lack of sailing)’, a common idiom; again in 89 ἀπορίᾳ ‘in our helplessness’ (Headlam can hardly be right with ‘when we had consulted the oracle in our helplessness’, for which cf. Pho. 957); also Archelaus F 228a.19 ἀπαιδίᾳ … χρώμενος ‘in his childlessness’; further expressions: 316 n. The repetition of the verb in 88–9 is typical of Eur.’s (and the Greeks’) indifference to such effects: see e.g. 99 ἔπεμψα … 100 πέμπειν; Diggle (1994) 161 and n. 14. 89–93  Calchas the seer: accompanying the expedition: ‘by far the best of those who watch the flight of birds’ and ‘he knew the present and the future and the past’ Iliad 1.69–70; ‘trusty’ A. Ag. 122. But Ag.’s words at Iliad 1.106–7, ‘Prophet of evil, never yet have you told me anything good; it is always dear to your heart to prophesy calamities’, probably an allusion to this very incident, will prompt the audience to expect that he will horrify Ag.; and [520–1] confirm Ag.’s and Men.’s low opinion of him. Nevertheless Ag. later goes off to work with him, 746–8. But there is no reason to accept Ag.’s and Men.’s distaste for him. Besides IT and IA, he is mentioned only at Hel. 749 in Eur.’s plays; and he is never a speaking character. For seers in war see H. Van Wees, Greek Warfare. Myths and Realities (Oxford 2004) 119–21; S. I. Johnson, Ancient Greek Divination (Oxford 2008) 116–18.  announced the divine will: ἀνεῖλεν: the verb ἀναιρέω, lit. ‘take up’, is regularly used in prose of oracular or prophetic responses, but it appears to be unique here in verse. It is an allusive usage, apparently from the practice of ‘picking up, drawing’ lots, employed at Delphi to select initially those to be admitted to consultation of the oracle (Ion 416, cf. 908 ὀμφὰν κληροῖς lit. ‘you (Apollo) allocate by lot your (oracular) voice’; cf. Barrett on Hipp. 1058. Lots were often used to make a critical decision itself, e.g. Hdt. 1.94.5 μοίρας … κληροῦν a king determines ‘the fates’ of those who are to leave his endangered kingdom. For the nature of Calchas’ ‘announcement’ here, of his prophecy as seer, a θέσφατον, see 529 n.  to us: to be inferred from the ‘we’ of ‘we are

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sitting’ in the previous line.  Iphigenia, my own daughter: lit. ‘Iph. whom I fathered’, presumably an agonized gloss by Ag. (cf. A. Ag. 207 ‘if I shall cleave my child, my house’s darling’), rather than reproducing part of Calchas’ declaration (but IT 20–1 ‘you (Ag.) vowed to sacrifice to Artemis whatever was the fairest thing brought to birth by the year’ may allude to both passages); for the fulsome expression, and its archaic ring, cf. esp. 873 and 399 etc.; used of Ag. in his hearing by the angry Clyt. 1177 (see n.); cf. Tro. 459, Her. 1367 etc., Supp. 986 with Collard’s n. The name Iphigenia now gets its first mention in the play.  Artemis … dwells: the Olympian god has a local ‘habitation’, often with a distinctive shrine, temple or cult (for that of Artemis at Brauron south of Aulis see IT 1462–7, with ritual prescribed for her dwelling, οἴκοι ‘house’). Pausanias 9.16.6 records that in his time (2nd century AD) there was a temple of the goddess at Aulis with two images of white marble, one carrying torches and the other shooting an arrow. The foundations of this temple go back to the 5th century BC. if we performed this sacrifice; but if we did not…, this was not to be: Denniston on El. 1017 observed that among Eur.’s plays IA is very rich in examples of positive and negative (conditional) antitheses, e.g. 911, 928–9, 1006–7. Stockert quotes Vitelli’s defence of this idiom in 93, citing E. Philoctetes F 789d.9, where Calchas prophesies that sacrifice at Chryse’s altar will be necessary if Troy is to fall, ‘but if not…’, θύσαντες … εἰ δὲ μή. Similar phrasing is attested in other reported prophecies: see J. Fontenrose, The Delphic Oracle (Berkeley etc. 1970) 179, 184–6 on (infrequent) ‘conditional precedents’ using ‘only when’ or ‘not until’. The phrasing here, with the part. θύσασι ‘if we performed etc.’ enjambed before punctuation (51, 71, 73 nn. above), helps to emphasize that Calchas’ declaration leaves no room for doubt: if they sacrifice Iph. they can both sail and sack Troy. The fact that Men. does not mention the sack at 359 is not significant there. The word ‘sacrifice’ avoids the brutal fact that it will be an act of slaughter: see Introduction p. 11. Greek. 91 θῦσαι to sacrifice, infin. of the action advised, representing an imperative in the pronouncement, cf. e.g. 95 n., 358 n.; Smyth 1997, 2633.  93 εἶναι: the Greek pres infin. ‘instead of the fut. in statements of what is immediate, likely, certain, or threatening’ (Smyth 1879); it is common in prophetic utterance, e.g. of this same eventuality 1261–3 and A. Ag. 126 (and there followed by a fut. in 129).

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[Text. 89 κεχρημένοις Heath, supplying a dat. to ἀνεῖλεν ‘announced (to)’; but κεχρημένος ἀπορίᾳ L ‘(Calchas) in his doubt’ has been defended.  93 Conington and many after him deleted the line, because it seemed superfluous, and awkward with the change of tense from fut. to pres.; and because its qualification is absent from the repetition of Calchas’ pronouncement in 358–9 (but see above on all three points). Its deletion here would also leave the wording very curt.] 94–6  I told Talthybius: the audience would know his name’s significance as the herald of the Greek army; his poetic debut is at Iliad 1.320. They might recall his highly sympathetic roles (and words) at the sacrifice of Polyxena in Hec. 484–582 and the killing of Astyanax in Tro. 709–98 (in which play he is very active as the bringer of bad news).  a loud proclamation: the adj. ὄρθιος (‘high, loud and clear’, as going ‘straight’ to the hearer, e.g. a trumpet at Hcld. 830) is traditional with κήρυγμα, e.g. S. El. 683, Trackers 46.  to dismiss the whole army: Men. paraphrases this instruction at 495. The idea perhaps derives from Zeus’ temptation of Ag. through the false dream which leads to his disastrous proposal that the Greeks should flee with their ships to their native land in Iliad 2.111–8 (= 9.18–25, cf. 14.69–81).  for I would never bring myself to kill my daughter: this clause explains why Ag. gave the order, not (directly) why the army should disband. We do not discover whether Talthybius actually made the announcement before Menelaus’ intervention; it seems unlikely: see 1–163n. 2.2 (iii) b. Ag.’s words here again (84–6 n.) clash with those of Men., who at 358–62 says that Ag. was delighted by Calchas’ prophecy and willingly called his daughter to her death. The clash is discussed by Griffin in Pelling (1990) 142. Greek. 95 εἶπον ‘I told’ (lit. ‘I said’) = ‘I ordered’, the acc. and infin. representing a vocative and imperative in direct speech: 91 n.   96 For ὡς with part. and ἄν, cf. Med. 781; Smyth 2480a. 97–8a  At that point: The particle δή stresses the immediacy of Menelaus’ intervention; see Greek. At And. 624–5 Men. is accused of having urged his brother to carry out the sacrifice.  put all kinds of argument: for the expression cf. Hec. 840 ἐπισκήπτοντα παντοίους λόγους ‘enjoining…’; Supp. 600.  to bring myself to a terrible deed: τλῆναι δεινά: probably an echo of this same dreadful moment in A. Ag. 221–5 (where only τλῆναι occurs); both words are used of Orestes’ matricide at IT 862, 868–9 and 924. Cf. 133 n.

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Greek. For οὗ (δή) lit. ‘where’ used of time see also 1157 (without δή), IT 320, S. OT 1263; similarly ὅθι δή ‘the moment when’, with δή emphasizing the rel. adv., 547 and n. 98b–103  Turato well observes that there is no indication here of how the first letter had been sent to or whether it reached Clytemnestra, and in 144–56 only of Ag.’s fear that it may well have done.  boasted of the man’s high worth: Ag. is presenting his own action in a bad light: see 107–8. τἀνδρὸς ‘the man’s’ has a colloquial flavour; cf. e.g. Hipp. 491, El. 937, where the expression however seems undignified. ἀξίωμα, ‘deserved esteem, honour’ at 85 (n.).  he was not willing: Achilles has not said this but Ag. is alleging that he has; indeed Ach.’s first words in the play (801–18) precede his discovery of the planned marriage (837–8).  Achaeans is one of Homer’s collective name for the Greeks, like ‘Argives’ (242 n., etc.) and ‘Danaans’ (135 etc.); all three names are used collectively of the Greeks within IA 1196–1200. Homer uses Ἑλλάς or Ἕλληνες only as local names within Thessaly, but they are the commonest collective names in IA and Tragedy; we translate them as ‘Greece, Greeks’. Homer has Πανέλληνες ‘All the Greeks’ once, Iliad 2.530, coupled there with Ἀχαιοί; he has Παναχαιοί ‘All the Achaeans’ once, 9.301, and the formulaic ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν ‘princes of All the Achaeans’ ×8, including a vocative use 23.236; but in none of these places is the historical concept of Panhellenism latent.  bride: a word for bed (here λέχος) is frequently used in metonomy for a bride: cf. 389 κακὸν λέχος (Helen), 131 n.  were to go: Ag. (unconsciously?) sees the invented marriage with Ach. as something of a threat (see Greek below).  Phthia in Thessaly was Ach.’s homeland: 713, Iliad 1.155 etc. Greek. 99–100 for πέμπειν with infin. and its subject understood (sent) to my wife … to send, acting not unlike εἶπον in 95, see 115–19, 360–2; Smyth 1991, 2009.   102 οὕνεκα = ὅτι that as often, e.g. IT 783, 1305; the opt. θέλοι expresses what is ‘vouched for’.   103 εἶσιν: the use of the determinative fut. indic. (‘shall go’) in the conditional clause is powerful, almost threatening (Smyth 2328); cf. Hcld. 386, Tro. 362, and Parker’s n. on Alc. 215–7. [Text. 100 Markland’s conjectural replacement of πέμπειν L with στέλλειν is unnecessary; there are many examples of such close repetition, e.g. above at 88–9. Nor should πέμπειν be changed because of

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its possible sense ‘escort’ (so England): at 456–7 Ag. ‘makes it clear he did not intend Clytemnestra to come with her daughter’, Ritchie.] 104–114 [Text. The lines are suspect or deleted wholly (e.g. Klinkenberg; Turato) or in part (e.g. 104–10 Willink, 110–14 England), or emended (esp. 106–10: see below), because of apparent contradictions with the anapaests (1–163 n. 2. 2 (iii)) and repetitions (108–11 from 34–9, 112 from 98), or from the marked similarity of 112–13 (see n.) with IT 760–1; they are defended however by Knox (1979) 279–84. If 104–14 are deleted the transition from 103 to 117 is intolerably abrupt, and impossible for a listening audience. See also 1–163 n. 2.2 (ii and iii, at end).] 104–5  I used this means of persuasion upon my wife: lit. ‘I had this persuasion towards my wife’. For persuasion in Eur. see esp. Hec. 814–9 with Collard’s note; it is the essence of much drama (Buxton 1982; Gould (2001) 98–103), and prominent in IA: see 1–163 n. 2.2 (iv).  putting together a false marriage for the girl: Ag. makes no bones about his deception. Greek. 104 For the noun πειθώ with ἔχω, but in the sense ‘put trust in’ see Hypsipyle 948.   105 For συνάπτω γάμον ‘put together, form’ a marriage, a favourite phrase of Eur., see Text. [Text. 105 ἀμφί Markland for (the girl), acceptable to most recent editors; translation of this prep. depends on context and idiom, and here its meaning is stretched with the phrase συνάψας γάμον, where one might expect a bare dat. of advantage: cf. 1335 and e.g. And. 620, Pho. 1047–9; LSJ A II.2.b – see Günther below. Hennig conjectured ἀμφὶ παρθένῳ, with the same sense: Smyth 1681.2 allows the sense ‘on account of’ for the dat. L has ἀντί (παρθένου), which can only mean ‘in place of’ (or ‘in return for’: so Günther (1987) 63–65); even if the meaning is ‘a (pretended marriage) instead of the girl’, it does not fit the fact, for Iph. had already been sent for. Diggle leaves the prep. obelized but entertains Günther’s bold conjecture τόνδε (for ἀντί) παρθένῳ (for παρθένου) γάμον, ‘this … marriage for the girl’.] 106–10  At last Ag. responds to the OM’s anxious questions of 43–4, and in 114 to his protestation of trustworthiness as confidant. Such a transition is formally untypical of expository prologue-speeches, of which there is seldom a hearer on-stage, but dramatically explicable given Ag.’s own emotional involvement in his narration at 70 and from 84 onward. Note however that Ag.’s vocative old man is reserved to his

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two final words: from 111 to 163 he again gives him the same attention as thoroughout 1–48.  We are the only ones … †Calchas, Odysseus and Menelaus†: this is important information for the play’s development. Ag. and Men. will feel that they have been wrong to confide in Calchas and Od. (518–35), but there will be no evidence of any dishonourable behaviour on their part. Od. will prove to be an important, though unseen, figure in the action. dishonourable: lit. ‘not well’: for καλός/καλῶς expressing a moral or ethical valuation cf. e.g. 928–9 (cf. 926–7), 1252, Or. 705, 1604 etc; LSJ III.1.  tying and untying in the night: cf. 38. [Text. 106–10 are heavily suspect – and 109 curtailed in L.   107 is usually daggered because Ag. does not name himself, with an explicit 1. pers. pron., among the ‘we … who know’; editors disagree whether such a pron. is necessary when the sense is clear from the 1. pers. plur. verb. Diggle does not dagger, citing just Vitelli’s rewriting, supported by Jackson (1955) 209–10; it is certainly the best conjecture: ‘…(and) Menelaus and . And what (I did) not (write) well then, I go back again and countermand well’ (see apparatus). Vitelli removes the verb 108 ἔγνων, questioning the meaning ‘I decided’ (but see 388). Nevertheless Stockert rejects Vitelli because: (1) οὐ καλῶς is best left undisturbed at verse-end (but for the enjambement in Vitelli’s οὐ | καλῶς, cf. in Eur. (Ritchie) e.g. Hcld. 1016–17 and Melanippe Captive F 494.19; such enjambement across a proclitic word (Smyth 179) is not rare in Aeschylus: see Fraenkel on Ag. 557); (2) αὖθις … πάλιν pleonastic is not rare in Euripides, e.g. Hcld. 487, Hel. 262, 932; (3) ἐγώ most naturally begins, rather than ends, a sequence of names: so Stockert offers his suggestion of a lacuna after 106. Further, the compound 108 μεταγράφω in the meaning countermand (lit. ‘change what is written’) is sometimes taken in itself to indicate postEuripidean authorship (see 1–163 n. 2.2 (v)). Stockert cites Thuc. 1.132.5 and one or two other sources, however, and we think that the objection therefore fails (its sense in Thuc. 1 is possibly ‘add a postscript’, and at 4.50.2 it is quite clearly ‘change’ in the sense of ‘translate’). Knox (1979) 244 notes that while μεταγράφω occurs only here in Tragedy it carries the normal 5th century meaning ‘correct a draft, rewrite’. The loss of the last word of 109 in L, a bisyllable, is a conundrum, discussed at length by Zuntz (1965) 97–8; cf. our Introduction p. 54,

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Text 1.c. Was there nothing at all to copy from its exemplar? Tr2 did not supply a word, only changed L’s gen. εὐφρόνης to the more common acc. with κατά (e.g. Bacc. 425). P copied the gen. and its corrector P2 supplemented with ‘(night’s) shadow’, but the letters σκ are in erasure – of what? There is no other place where σκιά is used of the dark of night; and this makes Barrett’s supplement ‘(night’s) darkness’ attractive: Pho. 727 δεινὸν εὐφρόνης κνέφας, cf. A. Pers. 357 νυκτὸς κνέφας. P’s writing of σκ- in erasure may just suggest a first idea to supplement εὐφρόνης with , also meaning ‘night’s darkness’: Wecklein conjectured this, and it is very tempting. Another possibility is εὐφρόνην (Tr2) ‘deep night’: S. Aj. 285 has ἄκρας νυκτός.] 111–14  But come now: ἀλλ᾿ εἷα marks, ‘as often, the transition from discussion to action’ (Mastronarde on Pho. 990). (ἀλλ )̓ εἷα is colloquial: Stevens (1976) 32–3; the whole expression is ‘typical in dialogue with a subordinate person’ (Stockert); 435 n. While Ag. wishes to send the OM off quickly, the OM’s reactions to the contents of the second letter cause an important delay: see 117–63 n.  letter: Barrett on Hipp. 858 defines ἐπιστολαί as ‘a message, whether written or verbal, esp. one giving instructions’: see LSJ ἐπιστέλλω 2. The noun is always plur. in Tragedy.  Argos: Ag. was king of Mycenae, but in Tragedy the names of the cities of Argos and Mycenae are used interchangeably (see Willink on Or. 46, with bibl.); they were close neighbours. In fact, the use of the name Argos may reflect a historical reality. In 464 BC Argos destroyed Mycenae and started to appropriate its mythological traditions (Bremmer (2002) 37, citing Jacoby FGrH IIIb 14–15 F 303 Athanades).  concealed: the verb κεύθω ‘conceal’ in the perf. may be translated as ‘contain’ (LSJ 1; cf. Iliad 22.118, etc.). The concealing here derives from the tying and sealing (39). Ag. summarises the content of the letter verbally, so that the OM may if necessary tell Clytemnestra, 153–6.  you are faithful to my wife and my house: an echo of 45–8 (see n.), cf. 153–4. Stage-letters are normally and naturally paraphrased and summarised in verse-drama (see 1–163 n. 2.2 (ii)), e.g. at IT 760–1 (see Text below) by Iphigenia, Hipp. 856ff. by Theseus. It is unknowable whether Odysseus’ letter forged in Eur.’s Palamedes as evidence against Palamedes was retailed at all, or Proetus’ letter in his Stheneboea requiring its recipient to contrive the death of the hero Bellerophon; see also 115–16, 119–23 nn. below. There is an excellent review of all letters in ancient drama

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by G. Monaco, Dioniso 39 (1965) 334–51; on our letter see too T. E. Jenkins, Interrupted Letters. Epistolarity and Narrative in Greek and Roman Drama (Lanham MD 2006) 87–96. Editors compare Xen. Cyr. 4.5.26 (a letter read to a courier before it is sent) ‘I want to read you the letter and its instructions, so that with this knowledge what you say may correspond, if there should be any question to you regarding them.’ Art. A number of scenes attributed to Eur.’s Iphigenia are on ‘Homeric’ (or ‘Megarian’) bowls of the mid. 2nd century BC, some of them duplicated: LIMC V.1 711–12 nos 6–10, cf. Michelakis (2006) 119–21; all have character-names inscribed: see Introduction p. 38. No. 6 shows Ag. giving the OM the letter. Greek. 111 For the rough breathing in εἷα, attested in Sophoclean papyri of the 2nd century AD, see Mastronarde on Pho. 970. [Text. 112–13 At IT 760–1 Iphigenia hands Pylades a letter to take back to Argos, using words so similar that imitation in our text is suspected (e.g. by Fraenkel (1955) 498): τἀνόντα κἀγγεγραμμέν̓ ἐν δέλτου πτυχαῖς ‘what is inside and written in the tablet’s folds’ (cf. also our 98) | λόγῳ φράσω σοι πάντ ̓ ἀναγγεῖλαι φίλοις ‘I shall explain all to you in words, to report to my kin’. Knox (1979) 284 argues against imitation, pointing out that the same words (esp. δέλτος, πτυχαί, ἐγγράφω) recur in the tragedians whenever writing is mentioned, and that λόγῳ φράζειν has two Euripidean parallels, Peleus F 621 and Temenus/Temenidae F 727e.10. Willink (1971) 356 refers also to Eur.’s tendency to repeat his own phraseology.] 117–63 are summarised in 1–163 n. 1.1 Content.  117–23 develop Ag.’s countermand (from 107–11), and 138–56 his instructions for taking his letter, and 156–63 the urgency. In between (124–37) the OM anticipates what becomes a major issue later in the play, Ach.’s reaction to discovering that he had an innocent part in the deception of Clyt. and Iph. (833–54). The OM’s misgivings also cause a delay, so that Ag. has to tell him twice more (138–63 n.). The repetitions help ‘to emphasize Ag.’s disturbed emotional state and the urgency of the mission’ – so Ritchie, comparing the similar effect in Deianeira’s repeated dismissal of the herald Lichas at S. Trac. 616 and 624 (exit after 629). Lastly, Ag.’s 136–7 find variation in his 160–3, his appeal to the OM to share his troubles, and a statement of man’s insubstantial happiness – lines

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themselves echoing his 16b–27 and the OM’s 31–2. Ag. rests his fragile hopes on a fragile old man. We do not however accept the view of K. Synodinou, ‘Agamemnon’s Change of Mind in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, Logeion 3 (2013) 51–65, that Ag. entrusts the mission to the OM because he intends it to fail. [Text. Once again, for the disputed authenticity of 117–63 see 1–163 n. 2.1, 2.2 (ii–iv). Metre. For the mixture of Ag.’s sung anapaests 117–42, appropriate to his distress, and the OM’s chanting throughout, see 1–163 n. 1.3 Metre.] 117–18  Speak and make it plain: λέγε καὶ σήμαιν(ε) are an idiomatic pairing, e.g. Hec. 1225, Hel. 749; cf. our 127.  in harmony with: σύντονα: a musical metaphor from properly tuned lyre-strings, lit. ‘stretched and matching’, i.e. ‘in strict accord with’: see Barrett on Hipp. 1361. The OM tells Ag. to speak, and raises the idea of harmony – and Ag. replies with the first of his sung anapaests (see previous n.): might the audience have appreciated the effect?  what you have written: γράμματα lit. ‘letters’, plural, the marks made into the wax of a tablet (37–9 n.), inscribed (ἐγγράφω 113); the same word is used e.g. of Iphigenia’s letter at IT 760–1 (also 112–13 n.). [Text. Reiske’s transposition of 115–16 is inescapable: 117 must follow 114 immediately; the OM cannot ask Ag. to speak once he has already started.] 115–16, 119–23  Ag.’s countermand: Clyt. is told not to send Iph. to Aulis, but promised a deferment of the girl’s marriage. It appears that Ag. reads out the actual words of his letters, whereas at Hipp. 885–86 it is unclear whether Theseus is reading out what Phaedra wrote, or voicing his own reaction to its words; at IT 769–87 Iph. recalls what she dictated to a fellow captive to write for her (584–6). daughter of Leda: 49–51 n. ἔρνος ‘daughter’, lit. ‘sprig’, vocative also e.g. Tro. 766; similarly ‘poetic’ is 119 child ἶνις, lit. an animal’s ‘whelp, pup’, e.g. Her. 1182. Only Aesch. and Eur. use ἶνις as a metaphor in poetry before the Hellenistic period; here it may have a deliberate nuance, for it is applied in pathos to Hector’s baby son Astyanax, doomed to vindictive execution, at Tro. 571, like the names of other young creatures for sacrifical victims, e.g. μόσχος ‘heifer’ of Iph. IT 359; cf. our 1084, and σκύμνος ‘whelp’ of Polyxena Hec. 205. The word ἶνις is reviewed by O. Masson, REG 88 (1975) 1–15, who notes that it appears as fem.

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elsewhere only in a 2nd century BC Cyprus inscription (BCH Suppl. I (1973) 410–11) of a poem by Antisthenes of Paphos, almost certainly echoing our passage – both have the ‘Doric’ alpha (τὰν etc., cf. 120, 136, 137), usual in lyric anapaests.  the bay enfolded by Euboea’s wing: τὰν κολπώδη πτέρυγ’ Εὐβοίας, lit. ‘the bay-shaped wing of Euboea’. In Greek as in Latin this is a surprisingly rare, if natural, image of a ‘wing’ of land bounding one end of a bay. The description is in fact loose because Euboea is the island across from mainland Aulis, and Aulis’ bay has itself a southern ‘wing’; but this stretches out far enough, when viewed from inside the bay, to seem about to join a projecting promontory on the island. Style too is fulsome here, surprisingly in a letter, but it suits perhaps the formality of 115–16 and the tenor of metaphorical ‘sprig’ and ‘whelp’; and then comes sheltered Aulis (see Text below).  feast … wedding: cf. the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, 1060. Greek. 120 the adj. κολπώδης ‘bay-shaped’ does not occur again before Dio Cassius 48.50 (2nd/3rd century AD, also of a sea-coast with ‘bays’); but Eur. likes (and apparently coins) adjs. in -ώδης ‘resembling a ~’ (DELG 777 ὄζω), e.g. 141 ἀλσωδής ‘woodland’, Ion 494 μυχώδης ‘cavernous’.   123 δαίνυμι with obj. ‘feast a wedding’ again at 707, 720, first at Iliad 19.299.  at another time: 720 also illustrates the prep. εἰς used of postponement. [Text. There are a number of problems. 115–16 Editors vary between (1) πρὸς ταῖς … δέλτοις L ‘in addition to the former tablet’, when πέμπω ‘send (to tell)’ controls the inf. 119 μὴ στέλλειν ‘not to send’ directly (cf. 99–100 n., 360–2); (2) πρὸς τὰς … δέλτους Monk ‘in respect of my former tablet’, with πέμπω also used this way; (3) πρὸς ταῖς L … δέλτους Monk, ‘I send a tablet in addition to my former (one)’, verb and object giving the sense I send you a tablet … (to tell you) not to (e.g. Günther, Diggle, and our text). 119 The prep. πρός at verse-end and enjambed with 120 (cf. 107–8 Text) troubles many editors (cf. also Dale (1968) 50); Monk also proposed deleting τὰν in 120 and dividing the two verses before πρὸς. 121 The two words Ἆυλιν ἀκλύσταν sheltered Aulis are suspect (Günther). They stand rather awkwardly either in grammatical apposition to ‘wing’ or as acc. of motion after ‘send’. A compound verbal adj. equivalent to a pass. part. such as ἄκλυστος lit. ‘not wave-dashed’ normally has only two endings (Smyth 425Ν; but e.g. περικλύστα fem.

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sing. A. Pers. 596); ἄκλυστον Blaydes). Also, ‘sheltered’ seems otiose (from the currents of Euripus?, 11 n.). 123 Herwerden’s transposition cures a rhythmic irregularity and restores γάρ to its normal position; but γάρ often follows a sense unit, e.g. Alc. 365, Or. 314.] 124–7  The OM’s first words after 115–23 are a surprise, but activate ‘another theme … (Ach.’s) anger’ (Michelakis (2002) 92–4). The lines as they stand convey the OM’s urgent disquiet most effectively. He comes to the matter of Iph.’s sacrifice only in 133–5. (See Text below.)  And what of Achilles?: καὶ πῶς…; begins an interrogative objection, like e.g. Pho. 1348 ‘And how would…?’  robbed of the marriage: λέκτρων ἀπλακὼν: cf. Alc. 242 ἀπλακὼν ἀλόχου (Admetus about to lose Alcestis).  burst out in indignation: μέγα φυσῶν: lit. ‘blowing out a great breath’, almost ‘snort’; the verb φυσάω with δεινά ‘terribly’ 381 (n.); μεγάλα also Men. Epitr. 913.  This is a real danger: note Ag.’s use of δεινά in 98; cf. the OM again in 133 (n.).  Make plain what you mean: Stockert well compares Ar. Wealth 349 λέγ’ ἀνύσας ὅ τι φῄς ‘hurry up and say what you mean’; see also 117 n. Greek. 124 ἀπλακὼν: this form of ἀμπλακ- is for metrical convenience: see 149–52 n. (3) below.   125 ἐπαίρω usually has a person as object, ‘stir x up’, but cf. Hcld. 173 ψυχήν ‘lift one’s spirits’.   126 καί real is adverbial, and after e.g. τόδε ‘adds something important to the demonstrative’, GP 307, translating ‘There’s the rub’ (Hamlet’s metaphor from the bowling-green). [Text. 124–6 The OM’s speaking only of the postponed wedding, and not of the much more terrible sacrifice, caused Günther (1987) 65–70 (but in his 1988 edition only in the apparatus) to suppose that the OM had not heard Ag.’s long speech and that the original lines have been lost between 129 and 133 in which Ag. tells the OM of the sacrifice: rejected by Stockert and unmentioned by Diggle. See also 130–2 n. Text. Kovacs (2003) 101–2 brackets 124–35 in total as markers of interpolation by a late 4th century reviser. See 1–163 n. 2.2 (iii)]. 128–9  his name: at 910 Clyt. complains to Ach. that Ag.’s use of his name began the disaster, and Ach. responds with sympathy in 935–47, with anger (cf. ‘resentment’, 125) in 961–2.  name, nothing substantial: at 1115 Clyt., with ‘You talk well with your words, but how I should name and speak well of your actions, I do not know’, employs the common

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antithesis ‘word :: action’, to rebuke Ag. face to face; she is renewing Ach.’s own repeated play upon it in 937 οὐ … παρέξω … τοὐμὸν δέμας lit. ‘I’ll not provide myself (lit. ‘my body’) to Ag.’, then in 938–9, 947, 962 ‘my name’, cf. 1309. The contrast here in IA has striking parallels at IT 128 ‘You will be sacrificing my body, not my name’ (Orestes to Iphigenia; cf. 504) and Hel. 1100 τοὔνομα παράσχουσ’, οὐ τὸ σῶμα ‘(Helen) providing her name, not her body’ (at Troy, where Hera had substituted a phantom Hel. 586, while she herself was brought to Egypt). The antithesis began among the Presocratics: excellent illustration, with bibl., by Kannicht, Helena (1969) I. 57ff., Stockert on our passage, and Egli (2003) 214–16. Typical is Or. 454 ὄνομα γάρ, ἔργον δ’ οὐκ ἔχουσιν οἱ φίλοι ‘for the friends (453 who are no friends amid disaster) have the name, but not the reality’. Greek. πράσσω ‘I do, contrive (a thing) unseen, underhand; get up to’, cf. 430 n.; LSJ III 6.b, e.g. Thuc. 5.83.1 τι αὐτοῖς … αὐτόθεν πρασσόμενον ‘something being got up for them on the spot’, S. OT 125. [Text. 128 Libanius’ citation, corrected by Unger, affords only a paraphrase, not a variant reading.] 130–2  promised: ἐπεφήμισα: the scarcely avoidable translation of the compound verb here and of plain φημίζω in 1356, given the dats. in both places; so too with φατίζω in 135 (on 936 see below). But the English verb ‘promise’ usually connotes communication with a recipient. Ach. is as yet ignorant of the whole ‘marriage’ 129–30, and finds it out only from Clyt. 835–48; Ag. has told Clyt. only his name, in his first letter, 99–105. The two verbs occur in Eur. only in this play; Aesch. has only the first, Soph. only the second. Both are founded on φα-/φη-, but differ slightly in meaning: φατίζω is essentially ‘speak, utter, state’, e.g. S. Aj. 715, ‘speak of as, name’, IA 935 (n.), cf. Hdt. 5.58.2; φημίζω is ‘put into words, declare’, e.g. A. Ag. 629, but commonly connotes a pronouncement looking to the future, e.g. a prophecy A. Cho. 558, cf. Cassandra’s declarations 1162, 1172, ill-omened words Hdt. 3.123.3: ‘promise’ at least suits this.  to embrace as a bride in the marriage bed: lit. ‘to the bridal bed of embraces into the marriage-bed’; such pleonastic language conveys the significance of the wedding: e.g. Hipp. 154, Tro. 339–40. Greek. κείνῳ to him: the dat. is governed by ‘give’, not ‘promised’. A demonstrative pron. in an oblique case where a reflexive may be expected (referring to the subject of the ruling verb 129 οἶδε) is very rare. Or. 292

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is rightly rejected as parallel by Page 135; see rather the prose exx. in Smyth 1259, e.g. Thuc. 2.11.6. We use the verb embrace to translate ἀγκώνων lit. ‘bent arms’, e.g. Supp. 817 (a mother’s); but the descriptive gen.’s attachment to εὐνάς ‘beds’ is strained. Much the commoner noun is ἀγκάλη, a sexual embrace at 385.  in … bed: λέκτροις is a directional dat., like πέδῳ ‘to the ground’ in 39 (n.). For the dat. of a thing ‘paired’ with the personal κείνῳ, resembling the construction of ‘whole and part’ (1080–1; Smyth 985), cf. e.g. Iliad 1.11 ἑκάστῳ κραδίῃ ‘for each in his heart’, Med. 991 παισὶν … ὄλεθρον βιοτᾷ προσάγεις ‘you bring death to your sons, to their life’. [Text. 130–2 are suspect to Günther as ‘discrepant’ with 124–6: see n. there. Willink (1971) 356 suggested removing the supposed clash by reading in 130 οὐδέ τι ‘nor have I declared at all …’   130 ἐπεφήμισα Markland I promised: ἐπέφησα L ‘I agreed, assented’.   131–2 Two conjectures try to ease the phrasing: Diggle’s νυμφείοις, with λέκτροις ‘in a bridal bed’, brackets the whole; Monk’s λέκτρον, as object of ἐκδώσειν, is metonymic, ‘wife’ (103 n.).] 133–5  a terrible deed etc.: a turning point in the exchange, a climax to the OM’s sturdy interventions; not only does it recall 98 verbally, but it precipitates Ag.’s admission of error, and despair, 136–7.  promising: φατίσας: see 130n.  the goddess: Thetis, sea-goddess: 701, 1062, 1074–6; Ach.’s father was the mortal Peleus, 701, 707–8.  blood-sacrifice: σφάγιον is ‘a blood sacrifice slaughtered by a ritual throat-cut’. It is a stark word, frequently substituted with the euphemistic θυσία, a plain sacrifice, in the play: see Introduction pp. 10–11. It is used of victims such as Iph. offered to secure victory in a battle, e.g. Hcld. 399, Pho. 174 (rich material in Fries’s n. on Rhesus 30), and of Polyxena to placate Achilles’ ghost at Hec. 109.  Danaans: for the name see n. on 102 ‘Achaeans’. Greek. ἦγες you meant to bring: ‘conative’ (impf.), Smyth 1895. 136–7  I was out of my mind: lit. ‘I stood out of…’. The phrase again at Or. 1021; for such expressions see e.g. Collard in D. Cairns and V. Liapis (eds), Dionysalexandros. Essays … in honour of A. F. Garvie (Swansea 2007) 54, with bibl.  Oh, what have I done?: translates αἰαῖ lit. ‘Alas!’; in consequence of one’s own action e.g. Her. 1140, of another’s Hipp. 813. (I am falling into) utter ruin: ἄτη in Homer is ‘(god-induced) madness or infatuation, or disaster’. Both action and word dog Ag. after Iliad 2.111 (his quarrel with Achilles; see end of this n.), and notably at

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A. Ag. 1566. By Eur.’s time the word ἄτη was becoming little more than general ‘ruin, disaster’ (e.g. Ion 1240, Tro. 137; see D. Cairns, EGT 153–5); here in IA, ‘out of my mind’ gives the Homeric connotation. Cf. 443–4 ‘What a yoke of necessity I have fallen under! A god has outwitted me.’ Later in our play at 1136 ‘O mistress Fate, and my fortune and destiny’, Ag. comes near attributing his ruin to causes outside himself (as Homer’s Ag. had in Iliad 19. 86–138, esp. 137 ‘my actions were folly (ἀασάμην, verb cognate with ἄτη), and Zeus took away my wits’); but in his final speech 1255–75 below he makes no such attribution. Greek. ἐξέσταν: the aor. is ‘ingressive’ (Smyth 1924), so it is followed by pres. πίπτω. 138–63  The prologue-scene ends with the need for haste, as it began: 3 ‘Hurry!’. Ag.’s second letter must reach Clyt. before Iph. reaches Aulis, esp. if she has already set out from Mycenae; so the OM is ordered not to rest on his errand (138–43), and to set out now dawn is visible (157–9). 138–40 move fast on your feet: lit. ‘row(ing) your foot’, plying legs like oars, a metaphor used of birds’ wings at e.g. Ion 161, A. Ag. 52; cf. LSJ ἐρέσσω II. 2.  No submitting to old age: an echo of 4, just as 140 σπεύδω I’ll hurry echoes 3 σπεύδω. Greek. ἐρέσσων πόδα, with πούς as e.g. Ion 162–3 oὐκ ἄλλᾳ …. πόδα κινήσεις; ‘Go elsewhere!’ For ὑπείκω ‘submit, bow to’ (LSJ II) cf. esp. S. Aj. 670 τιμαῖς ‘bow to office’ (transl. Jebb). 141–3  No sitting … springs … sleep!: travellers seek relief for legs in shade and (420–1) cool water, esp. (Jouan) in the hot weather associated with the ‘Dog Days’ marked by the Pleiades (8 n.).  Quiet! Say no more: εὔφημα θρόει, not just (lit.) ‘speak things correctly said, safely said’, but ‘keep silent to avoid saying the opposite’ (cf. 608 n.); such commands at e.g. [1564] and IT 687. The expression euphemizes a warning during ritual, ‘(think and) speak no damaging word (βλασ-φημ-)’ (Wilamowitz on Her. 1185) – as Ag. risks doing in 141–2 even by mentioning ‘rest’. Greek. The particle νυν introduces and emphasizes the urgent commands: see LSJ II.3. ἵζω act. ‘sit’ with bare acc. locating the place e.g. Ion 1314, mid. And. 1266, (καθ-) Hcld. 394. The combination of pres. imperative ἵζου with a milder aor. subj. (for a single command) occurs at e.g. S. Phil. 1400, OC 731; cf. 998–9 below, Smyth 1841.d. 144–8  where roads diverge: lit. ‘split, divided road’, Pho. 38 and (disastrously for Oedipus) S. OT 733: a ‘fork’, which you may have passed

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before those you wish to encounter reach it on the other road.  rolling wheels: ὄχος etymologically is ‘carrier, conveyance’ (see 617–18 n.; LSJ I. 2), normally the whole vehicle but here, given the noun carriage 147, just the ‘wheels’; often the idea of wheels lies in the adj., e.g. PV 710 εὔκυκλοις ὄχοις (‘well-wheeled wagons’), Iliad 8.438 εὔτροχον ἅρμα (‘a well-running chariot’). The point of the phrase is ‘speed’: Clyt. herself will be using a light carriage, ἀπήνη: so 618 (n.), with Iph. and Orestes (Clyt. rides alone in one El. 998). The word is artfully postponed long after the initial nom. sing. indefinite pron. and grammatical subject τις and its two congruent fem. participles; ‘carriage’ as grammatical subject replaces the woman expected to be riding in it. Greek. ἀμείβω trans. ‘pass, cross’, infrequent: LSJ A.I.3.a, e.g. Pho. 131 ‘cross water’, ὕδωρ. 149a  I shall: ἔσται, lit. ‘it shall be (so)’. Greek. This terse confirmation occurs in Eur. only in dialogue trimeters, at Hel. 1262, but ἔσται τάδε ‘this shall be’ is frequent, e.g. 1033 below, Or. 1041; it was conjectured here by Tr3 (see 149b–52 n. Text (3), on Metre). These and comparable expressions (which begin in Homer) in both Comedy and Tragedy received their definitive analysis by E. Fraenkel, Beobachtungen zu Aristophanes (Rome 1962) 77–89. For their possible colloquial pedigree see also Collard (2005) 371. 149b–52  If the OM does meet Iph. (and Clyt.) already coming to Aulis, he is to turn them back to Mycenae.  chamber-doors: Iph. is to return to an unmarried girl’s safe home, the strongly secured maiden-quarters of 738. We are in the world of 5th century Athens; women in Homer have more freedom of movement, notably Nausicaa in Od. 6 (cf. 68–71a n.). κλῇθρα are the general confines of a secure structure (see Hutchinson on A. Seven 396), e.g. 345 below, Her. 1029, but more often are just the ‘closures’ (verb κλείω, κλῄω) themselves, door-bars which safeguard access, e.g. Pho. 64, 114.  Cyclopean: the already ancient walls of Mycenae and Tiryns were so massive that they seemed the work of the mythically massive Cyclopes, 265, 534, Her. 943–4; cf. IT 845 ‘Hail, Cyclopean hearth; hail, fatherland, beloved Mycenae’.  hearth-altars: θυμέλη is a sacrificial altar for burnt offerings (e.g. Supp. 64 ‘receiving sheep’ as victims; cf. 135 n. above), here specifically at a house’s hearth, the centre of the (ancient: above) family home: IT above; ἑστία ‘(home-) hearth’ e.g. Alc. 545, 1017.

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[Text. 149b–51 κλῄθρων … † … χαλίνους†: If you meet … from her chamber-doors, †set … back again†’: all these words are judged irremediably corrupt by almost all editors; Monk and Dindorf deleted them. Partial repairs have been proposed, but no combination convinces. (1) L has two forms of the verb ἐξορμάω ‘send out, set out from’, in asyndeton. In 149 the ambiguous ἐξώρμα/ἐξόρμα (impf.? imperative?) was changed to the adj. ἐξόρμοις by Bothe, to agree with 150 πόμπαις and to control the separative gen. κλῄθρων ‘setting out from … doors’ (cf. Hipp. 156 Κρήτας ἔξορμος ‘from Crete’). Wecklein proposed ἐξορμώσαις, dat. pres. part., also with πόμπαις and with the same meaning, for metrical reasons: (3) below. (2) In 150 ἀντήσῃς requires a dat., not L’s acc. νιν. The passage is discussed by Günther (1987) 70–2, who proposed a partial repair with 150–1 ἐξόρμοις (Bothe) | ἢν ἀντήσῃς πομπαῖσιν ‘if you meet the escort setting out’; we adopt it. In 151 L’s plain fut. ἐξορμάσεις is incorrect as a command after the conditional 149–50 (-σεις is read in L by Diggle, and is clear in the facsimile: -σης, i.e. -σῃς, subj., previous editors). An attractive suggestion is Wecklein’s εἰσόρμα, σεῖε ‘send (them) to (to Mycenae?), shake the bridles’, modifying Blomfield’s ἐξόρμα, σεῖε ‘send (them) off…’. For ‘shake the bridles’, i.e. ‘set the horses going’, cf. S. El. 712–13 ‘reins’. Metre. The textual corruption makes it uncertain whether Ag. reverts to lyric anapaests. L has them in 149–50: but then the OM’s ἔσται is his only lyric utterance in the whole scene: impossible. The change of voice (antilabe) in mid-metron in 149 is a secondary problem (see 1–3 n. Metre); it is not cured by Tr3’s supplement ἔσται , which makes L’s 149 a chanted line, and was accepted by Fraenkel (149a n. above) 80; but see Diggle (1994) 409, who in OCT obelizes 149 ἐξόρμα –151 entirely. For Tr’s remedy here see also Zuntz (1965) 98.] 153–4  shall I win belief…: the adj. πιστός must here be translated as ‘credible’ (LSJ A. I. 2, of a person, e.g. Thuc. 3.43.2); at 45 the OM used it of himself as ‘trustworthy’ and at 114 as ‘faithful’. Note that this word occurs at or near the end of each of the three sections of the scene; cf. 163 n. 2.2. (iv). Greek. λέγε tell me normally precedes a direct question, e.g. IT 738 (a similar context), Her. 919; similarly εἰπέ e.g. 381 below. 155–9  seal: 38 n.  Go!: the brusque command, without e.g. ‘Now (go!)’, ‘(Go) then!’ or without a verb of motion (e.g. 139, which 156

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nevertheless echoes) or other qualification, is very rare even in Comedy; but cf. S. OC 797. This usage is however not a colloquialism.  The glimmering dawn … to the sky: we are reminded that the action so far has taken place in full dark (6–15). fiery etc.: for πῦρ ‘fire’ as the Sun’s blazing chariot cf. e.g. Ion 82–4. Greek. 156–9 The syntax apparently has πῦρ fiery (Sun) and ἠώς dawn together as the coupled subjects of λευκαίνει bring … whiteness, with φῶς gleam as internal acc. (a noun of imagery related to the verb: Smyth 1567); also λάμπουσ(α) glimmering intrans. These constructions could in theory be reversed here, with λευκαίνει intrans. ‘become white’, and φῶς and πῦρ as internal accs. to λάμπουσα (e.g. Pho. 226–7 with σέλας ‘gleam’); but the word-order is tortuous. Dawn’s ‘white face’ El. 730, cf. 102. [Text. 158 L has the Ionic/Epic form ἠώς unique in Tragedy, possibly echoing the Epic ‘formula’ ῥοδοδάκτυλος ἠώς ‘rosy-fingered dawn’ e.g. Od. 2.1, Hesiod, WD 610.; Attic ἕως is to be expected in chanted anapaests (Doric ἀώς in lyric e.g. El. 730, Or. 1004).   In 159 Aeolic Ἀελίου (e.g. El. 729) is a similar surprise. The two singularities and the inconsistency add to suspicions of authenticity: see 1–163 n. 2.2 (v).] 160–3  No mortal … sorrow: a sententious commonplace in Tragedy, e.g. A. Ag. 928–9, S. Trac. 2–3, E. Hec. 625–8, And. 100–2. In the last, the prologue-scene ends with this same maxim; for sententiousness at this dramatic point cf. e.g. Supp. 40–1 (with Collard’s n.), Tro. 95–7.  till the end: ἐς τέλος, a phrase with fine shades of meaning. This translation is much the commonest (e.g. Hdt. 9.37.4); but Bain (1977a) 23 rejects it here, and Stockert fairly observes that this meaning in this maxim is normally expressed with διὰ τέλους, e.g. Supp. 269–70, Her. 103. Other meanings of the phrase are ‘finally, at last’ (e.g. Ion 1615, cf. ‘ultimately’ Jebb on S. Phil. 409) and ‘completely’ (perhaps Hec. 817: here, Bain, Stockert). Greek. συλλαμβάνω Share act. with partitive gen. e.g. Ion 331, mid. e.g. Med. 946. [Text. 161–3 For the nature of Clement’s errors see 18–19 n.] On 160–3 Ritchie writes two comments which form a useful recapitulation of the whole prologue-scene: (1) ‘These lines show the great man acknowledging the conditions of his humanity; so he accepts his inevitable lot when he fails to prevent the sacrifice.’ (2) ‘There is also

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a very practical reason for the arrangement. The OM is later to betray Ag.’s secret (855–95); it is desirable that we see Ag.’s confidence in him. The same information needs to be imparted to the OM and the audience. Therefore the OM needs to be brought on stage before the story is told.’ Ag. enters his hut, but since the OM already holds Ag.’s letter (111) he at once sets out for Mycenae (stage-right: see 1–163 n. 1.2 Staging), and is almost at once stopped by Menelaus (303ff.) and brought back to Ag.’s hut (317). 164–302 Entry-song of the Chorus (parodos) 1.1 Content; 1.2 Dramatic Sequence and Form. 2. The Chorus in the Dramaturgy. 3.1 Length, Structure and Metrical Character; 3.2 Pictorial Quality. 4 Integrity and Authenticity. 1.1. Content.  The Chorus of women have crossed the Euripus to Aulis from their home city of Chalcis (164–70) to see the Greek army and fleet which their husbands have told them is being sent against Troy to recover Helen after her abduction by Paris (171–84). They have reached the army’s encampment (185–91), and seen many (mainly Iliadic) heroes: Ajax the son of Oileus and Ajax the son of Telamon; Protesilaus and Palamedes; then Diomedes and Meriones; Odysseus and Nireus (192– 205). Next, they have watched Achilles running in full armour beside his chariot and fine horses driven by Eumelus (206–30). That is the first part of the song; in the remaining part the Chorus have seen the fleet, beginning with its right wing, the position of honour, held by Achilles’ ships (231–41); the other contingents follow (242–93a). Then comes a concluding reflection on the naval power that the women have heard about and now seen, invincible against non-Greeks (293b–302). See 3.1 (b) below on Structure. 1.2. Dramatic sequence and Form.  The Chorus enter a now empty theatrical space, Ag. having gone into the hut, and the OM towards Mycenae; the Chorus would enter from stage-right (see 1–163 n. 1.2 Staging). Such a beginning, after a prologue-speech or prologue-scene, is quite rare, found first in Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes and e.g. in Sophocles’ Antigone; but it appears in Eur.’s earliest complete play, Alcestis, and in two close in time to ours, Phoenician Women and

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Bacchae (but in the latter after a single prologue-speech: see 3.1 (a) a below). In IA, however, it is as if the Chorus are themselves beginning the play, in a style once presumed from the earliest surviving tragedy to be archaic, Aeschylus’ Persians; his Suppliants begins in the same way, but its chorus are effectively the protagonists. 2. The Chorus in the dramaturgy.  Their surprising identity as young married women away from home, and without male escort, who have come to view the Greek forces, and the nature of their subsequent sympathies and observations, are discussed in detail in the Introduction pp. 30–3. The Chorus are remote from the immediate action; they know nothing of the planned sacrifice: so Mastronarde (2010) 129, who notes that the parodoi of Ion and Phaethon start with similar disconnections, but that in Ion the chorus say nothing of their mistress Creusa’s childlessness and her oracular consultation at Delphi, only at the end of their exchange with Ion revealing their identity; and in Phaethon the chorus’ dawnsong turns only at its end to the forthcoming marriage which leads to the play’s tragedy. Some scholars suggest that in their full and lengthy descriptions, the Chorus nevertheless give scale early in the play to the Greek enterprise, and its eventual significance against non-Greeks (297, cf. Ag. at 65 and 80, and Menelaus in his agon with Ag. at 350, 371–2, 410); they also reveal the ‘enforced idleness of the host (suggesting restless and thwarted energy, in particular that of Achilles)’. Further, and most importantly, Hose (1990) I.153 observes two dramatic needs: there must be no chorus of ordinary Greek troops to overhear the quarrel of Ag. and Men., and who know and engage in the divided feelings of the whole expedition (and even as outsiders the women are sworn to silence on what they do hear, 542 n.); nor, on the same ground, can the Chorus be servants of Clyt. and Iph. without having to betray the deception to them, else the scene between Clyt. and Ach. becomes impossible. (For the soldier-chorus in Ennius’ Iphigenia, generally regarded as based upon Euripides’ play, see Introduction p. 30 n. 76.) Citing Hose I.155, Ritchie adds that the entry-song is linked neither to the prologue-scene nor to the following episode, above all in time: the prologue ended as dawn breaks, but the Chorus relate what they have already seen, and in detail. The poet makes use of dramatic time

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rather than logically continuous sequence, for the first episode begins with Menelaus’ halting the OM (308–9, 327–8) as soon as he has set out (156–9). 3.1  Length, Structure and Metrical Character (a) Length.  164–302 is the longest purely lyric span attested for Euripides at play-beginning, rivalled only by the parodos Bacc. 64–169, where the singers, and both their matter and manner, are at the heart of the tragedy. Length by design or accident? See (b) and 4 below. (b) Structure.  Ostensibly a ‘double ode’: 164–230 self-introduction and description of the Greek camp and heroes, and, with a marked change of metre, 231–302 description of the Greek ships and concluding reflection. Kranz (1933) 233–4 etc. compares the ‘double’ parodoi of Aeschylus’ Persians, Suppliants and Agamemnon, all longer than those of IA and Bacc. On the metrical structure see (c) below. 175–230 The choice and order of the heroes relate strongly to the plot. The Chorus begin with Men. and Ag. and their objectives, of whom they only heard tell (175–84), but for the audience the brothers and their behaviour have already dominated the prologue-scene (Men. at 71–98) and will fill the first episode (303–542). In 192–230 the Chorus describe the heroes briefly, ending with Ach., the third major male character of the play, and he receives the longest description (206–30), and was already significant in the prologue-scene (100–3, 124–35); see also below. Many details of the heroes and the ships stem from the Iliad’s Catalogue of Greek ships and their commanders (2.494–760) and its brief continuation ‘The best of the Greeks themselves and their horses’ (761–79). All the heroes named appear there as commanders of contingents, and some in the same order, with the exception of Palamedes (unmentioned in Homer). All, with the exception of Ag., Od., Ach. and Palamedes, are named in the list of Helen’s suitors in mythographers, esp. Hyginus, Fables 81 (2nd century AD); some other names there, and in [Apollodorus] 3.10.8, stand in 231–302: ‘Euripides may be concerned to remind us of those who were parties to Tyndareus’ oath, 55–67’ (Ritchie). Ach.’s prominence in 206–30 is brought out by his exceptional physical feats, 210–15, 226– 30; he begins the ‘ships’ 236–41 just as he ends the ‘heroes’, probably a deliberate ‘bridge’ (also Ritchie). His prominence contrasts with the

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lower rankings, as in the Iliad, of Eumelus (217) and the two Ajaxes (193); and in Iliad 7.161ff. Diomedes (199), both Ajaxes, Meriones (201) and Odysseus (203–4) are among nine warriors, including Ag., who cast lots to respond to Hector’s challenge when Ach. is absent and sulking. Od., the off-stage presence later potentially dangerous to Ag. and Men. (106–10 n.), named early and briefly (203–4), is omitted from the ships: see Michelakis (2006) 44–6. Conversely, Palamedes’ playing of a board-game recalls this most inventive of the heroes (194b–8 n.); but the audience will remember from myth how he was destroyed by the ruthless and devious Odysseus (E. Palamedes test. iic and F 588; Philoctetes F 789d (8): see 198 n.). Two other names derive from the Iliadic Catalogue: one is the Aenians’ leader Gouneus (2.748), but here he comes from an otherwise unknown place Cyphus (278–9 n.); the second is Nireus (2.671–5), but here he appears only among the ‘heroes’ (204–5 n.) – and directly before Ach. (206–30), exactly as in the Iliad. 231–302 The order of the ships is not clear in purpose. The Iliad’s Catalogue (2.484–760) again provided the principal model, and some of the detail, but there are big differences: see on Sources at the end of this section (b). The ships add up neither to the Iliad’s exact number of 1,186, nor to the round ‘thousand’ canonical in myth (our 174 n.), and not all squadrons are given numbers. The Iliad moreover emphasizes genealogies, typically of Epic. There are verbal reminiscences of the Catalogue and other phraseology, esp. 232, 238, 242–5, 250–2, 254, 263–4, 273, 283: see our sparse nn. and the full reviews by Page 141–7; by Ferrari (1990), who argues for Euripidean authorship on the grounds of a ‘rhetorical’ analysis (see 4. Text below); and by Stockert. The order of the ship-contingents, like that of the Catalogue, does not proceed from the largest to the smallest. They are told off from the right wing (236) toward the left (289–90) – although these latter two lines, if textually sound (see n.), may imply that the fleet was in a crescent, almost meeting to make a circle: see Stockert 228, and Diggle OCT cited in our n. on 290. The relative positions of the contingents between 253 and 290 are however not given, except in 279. They would all be beached or moored by anchor (249 and, more clearly, 291 n.). No consistent Greek ‘geographical’ arrangement emerges, e.g. according to modern compasspoints, or through movement from mainland to island cities. Athens has an early and important place (248–52), reinforcing the likely allusion in

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Ach.’s exercise of 210–15, 227–30 to its cultic race-in-full armour (see nn. on all three places). Specially puzzling is the separation of Argos (242) from Mycenae (265), names for one place interchangeable in Tragedy (152 n.). Men. – his city Sparta goes unmentioned – is ‘amalgamated’ with Ag. from Mycenae (265–72); this is reflected in the way the two are an interdependent but conflicting pair (first at 97–110) until the end of the first episode at 542 (cf. Torrance (2013) 83, 85). The many omissions from the Catalogue are understandable in a play’s necessarily much shorter lyrics where concentration must be upon names significant later in the plot; absent too are the Iliad’s Euboeans, Arcadians, Cretans and Rhodians. Listing by dramatic (or military) significance looks possible, for Ach.’s ships come first (235–42), on the right wing and the station of greatest honour in all conflicts, by land and sea (235–8 n.); but perhaps only the final place has equal point, with Telamonian Ajax from Salamis (289–93), who with his namesake Ajax son of Oileus began the heroes (192–4); the placing of Ag.’s and Ajax’s ships matches that of their encampments in the Iliad, at opposite ends of the host. Ag., as supreme commander, has an approximate middle place in the list (265–7). The order of ships then may be immaterial, impressive detail being more important. Progressive structural analysis of the whole parodos, with Homeric references, is offered by Kirk (1985) 166–247, Hose (1990) I.155–60 and J. Latacz (ed.), Homer’s Ilias. Gesamtkommentar II.2 (Munich 2003) 145–255; see also Jouan (1966) 293–8 and Stockert 229–31. A choreographic, mimetic structural interpretation of 164–302 for live performance is given by Wiles (1997) 105–12. ‘Sources’ of the lists. Scholars early on judged that IA drew on other sources; these survive now only as minimal fragments or testimonies, principally of the Epic Cypria; but there is dispute still about that poem’s relation to the Iliad in time and dependence. It contains no lists or numbers of ships and heroes, or indeed any references to such lists. For the Cypria English readers should see most conveniently (texts) M. L. West, Greek Epic Fragments (‘Loeb’ Library 2003) 64–107 and (analysis and discussion) M. Davies, The Epic Cycle (Bristol 1989) 33–52 and West 13.

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(c) Metrical character.  See first the general note on ‘ethos’ in Metre, Introduction pp. 48–50. The two parts are quite distinct: 164–230 are almost entirely aeolochoriambic and 231–302 almost entirely iambo-trochaic. For the sequence from aeolo-choriambic to trochaic within a ‘double ode’ parodos cf. Pho. 202–38/239–60, each part having one strophic pair: see Parker (1997) 72, 506. 164–230 One pair of long responding strophes (164–84 = 185–205) and an even longer system in the epode (206–30). After 164–70 = 185– 91 describe the Chorus’ route to Aulis and their purpose (and 189–91 the Greeks’ camp), there is only one change of rhythm, to ionics from 171–5 = 192–6, marking breaks in content, tone and syntax. 171 and 172 begin each with emphatic pointers, Ἀχαιῶν … Ἀχαιῶν, ‘Achaeans … Achaeans’. 176–84 = 197–205 return to aeolo-choriambic – and although the subject-matter changes in the progression of heroes, there are no further clear strophic responsions between breaks in syntax and sense. Then in the epode 206–30 vary from aeolo-choriambic only at the very end, with dactyls in 225–9 perhaps evoking Achilles’ pacy bounding beside the chariot, while the terminal 230 is a single iambo-trochaic colon (which some see as heralding the change of metre in 231–302, and use as a subsidiary argument for the integrity of the two parts of the parodos: see (4) below). Period-end separates the sequential description of Achilles at 209, 211 and (at a marked sense-break) 215, but nowhere in 216–30, the long continuous description of the chariot. 231–302 The system begins with two strophic pairs 231–41 = 242–52 and 253–64 = 265–276 (but the second pair has lost verses in differing places). The only responding sense-breaks at 234 = 245 (but 245 is weak) and 255 = 267 both precede isolated single dochmiac metra which mark the only differing rhythm in the whole system. The sense break in midverse at 247 does not match one in 236. The long system 277–302 has two spans of bad textual corruption, and metrical analysis is both uncertain and disputed. A fourth strophic pair was created from these verses through much textual manipulation by Hermann (1831), and accepted recently by Günther and Stockert 1992; but it was rightly rejected by Wilamowitz (1921) 283, in favour of an astrophic continuum after 276 ‘matching’ the epode 206–30 after 205; followed recently by Hose (1990) I. 158 n. 43, Diggle, Matthiessen. West

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(1982) 106 suggested ‘semi-responsion … if … not all meant as one overlong epode’. Schematic analyses of 164–302: Wilamowitz (1921) 610 on 164–205, 212–13 on 206–30; Dale, BICS Supplement 21.2 (1971) 142–6, with commentary on 147; Günther 62–3; Stockert 234–7 with commentary – but their texts and colometry vary slightly. 3.2 Pictorial quality.  The remarkable and sustained frequency of verbs of seeing, mostly in the first person (171, 19(0–)1, 192, 210, 218, (231–2), 233(–4), 254, (275), 295, 299), supplemented by voices heard before the sights themselves (177, 301), as well as during (216) and after them (294) – these are straightforward attempts at narrative and visual immediacy; cf. Introduction pp. 33–4. Focus varies: there are brief, distant glimpses, individual heroes being named but with scanty enlivening detail (principally in 185–205) and ship-squadrons numbered with their named commanders (throughout 235–93); and there are ‘close-ups’, brief (194–7 the board-game; 239–42, 249–52, 255–60, 275–6 ships’ ornamentation) and very long (206–30 Achilles running beside Eumelus’ splendid chariot and horses). Ships’ decorated sterns would be close to, if not on, the beach, and credibly visible for a detailed description (241, 258, 275). The IA’s heroes and ships stand in an imaginative tradition which began in the more staid Iliadic Catalogue (above (3) 1.c), but also in its ‘View from the Wall’, 3.161–244, when Priam of Troy asks Helen to identify the Greek commanders (with the Homeric teichoskopia compare esp. Pho. 88–192 when a servant describes to Antigone the assailants of Thebes: see R. Scodel, ‘Teichoskopia, catalogues and the female spectator in Euripides’, Colby Quarterly 33 (1) (1997) 76–93). One of the earliest reflexes of the Iliad appears to be in Sappho (early 6th century) F 16.1–3 PMG ‘some say that a host of cavalry, others of infantry, and others of ships, is the most beautiful thing on the black earth’ (trans. D. Campbell); then Ibycus (after 550 BC) F 282.15–46 PMG, beginning ‘nor shall I go on to the proud courage … of the heroes’ and including 25–8 ‘no mortal man … could tell each detail, the great number of ships that came from Aulis’ and 30–7 ‘with bronze-shielded warriors on board … among them foremost with the spear went swift-footed Achilles and great Telamonian Ajax … Cyanippus, the most handsome man’ (trans. Campbell). In Eur.

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the fragmentary Hypsipyle F 752f.216–8 are from the female chorus’ report of armour flashing from the Seven against Thebes, and Supp. 653–67 describe the Athenian and Theban combatants’ deployment in battle there after the Argives’ first, failed assault on the city. The IA’s descriptions of the emblems have a Euripidean precedent too, in those on the shield of Achilles at El. 452–86 (note 456–8 ‘such emblems (σήματα: IA 240, 275) were fashioned, terrors for the Phrygians’) – and behind them stands the extended sequence of shield-emblems pictured in A. Seven 369–676 (σῆμα ×7, e.g. 387). As for women’s ‘sight-seeing’ in particular, Euripides’ Ion, less than a decade earlier than IA, affords a much-adduced parallel, as the arriving chorus of women admire Delphi’s decorated architecture (184–218, cf. 233), and that too after Ion’s eyes take leisurely pride in the temple-front as he clears it of birds (102–83, in his entry-monody). These ‘tourists’ include personal responses to what they see, whereas especially in 231– 302 our Chorus views things largely in mechanical succession (this big difference fuels one major argument for the suspected authenticity of 231–302 ((4) below): see Matthiessen (2002) 29). The play’s list of ships in 231–93 indeed has little of the descriptive colour given to the ‘heroes’ of 192–230 – but does the poet excuse himself with his initial ‘something beyond words to describe’ (232)? Zeitlin (1994) esp. 145–7 and 157–71 on IA, and her briefer (1995) at 181–6, and Torrance (2013) 86–93, both discuss the ecphrastic aspects of the ship-emblems. These direct an audience to note meanings related to the plot: all four pictures, Torrance argues, suggest marriage and violence in their mythic backgrounds. One particular aspect: the descriptions of the heroes are found by some readers to ‘eroticize’ the women’s curiosity. They point to their abandonment of decorum as young wives leaving home (see 2.1 above), and their blushing as they near the Greek camp (187–8 n.); it is perhaps not unreasonable to infer that women eager to view warriors exercising physically would anticipate being excited by the ‘glamour’. Ach.’s beauty, a constant of myth, is nevertheless not explicit in the text, and that of Nireus, which is, reproduces Homer’s superlative (206 n.); but male beauty does end the antistrophe 205, as female beauty ends the strophe 184. Above all, these readers may be trusting too much to Wilamowitz’s misjudged emendation of 234, enshrined in most editions

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before Diggle and Stockert, which introduces a tonally incongruous adjective ‘gluttonous’ for the women’s curiosity (see 234 n.). 4. Text. Integrity and authenticity 164–230 ‘The majority of scholars have been prepared to accept 164–230 as genuine’, Ritchie: so e.g. recently Jouan (earlier (1966) 293–4), Günther (who does not even mention others’ suspicions in his apparatus), Stockert, Matthiessen and Kovacs (2002, 2003). Page thought the lines Euripidean but ‘probably unfinished’, Diggle ‘perhaps Euripidean’. We ourselves have no doubt of Eur.’s imagination here, and almost certainly his own hand; if we are wrong, then the passage is a brilliant imitation. 231–302 The majority of scholars until the early 20th century believed these verses inauthentic, most prominently England and Wecklein (1899, 1914), or at best very questionable, and some more recent ones still do, e.g. Page, Diggle, Kovacs (2002, 2003); even the conservative Ritchie was sceptical. Defence began with Weil and particularly Wilamowitz (1921) 282–4 (followed by Kranz (1933) 257–8); then e.g. Schreiber (1963) 99, Mellert-Hofmann, Günther, Ferrari (1990), Hose (1990) I. 160–1, Stockert, Matthiessen, Turato – and in passing Burkert (1993); some interference was suspected by e.g. Lesky (1983) 354, Jouan (1983: ‘not unworthy of Euripides’, p. 30). Ritchie listed many considerations, chiefly: for authenticity (a) The impressive size of the Greek fleet is relevant, for the expedition is Panhellenic (Introduction p. 17); it will be invincible against nonGreeks (296–8; cf. 1378–84, 1400–1). The ships complement the army of 189–230; 171–2 ‘to view the army and the sea-faring oars’ are a headline to both parts of the entry-song; this view was put strongly by Hose I.160, who argues that the conflict in the prologue (unknown, of course, to the Chorus) contrasts with the impression of confident outcome given by the parodos, especially its final sentences: the army’s present idleness will compel it to overturn Ag.’s wish to save his daughter. ‘The Greek host must be constantly in the background of the action’, Matthiessen (1999) 399. (b) Catalogues are not rare in Tragedy, most prominently in Aeschylus’ Persians (16–58, 865–900, 955–1001) and Seven 375–676; in

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Euripides see Pho. 119–92, 1104–40 and the sequences of heroes’ names in Supp. 860–908 and the hero’s feats in Her. 354–435. (c) Stylistic features are not unlike those of 189–230, especially echoes of Homer: see most recently Ferrari (1990); repetitions and a certain monotony are to be expected in ‘catalogues’. (d) Iambo-trochaic rhythm is common in late Euripidean lyric: see 3.1.c above. (e) A good debating-point: what motive could there have been for a lengthy lyric interpolation? The entry-song would be incomplete in the audience’s expectation of further detail (171–2 in (a) above); an end at 230 is impossibly abrupt, while 293–302 recapitulate both content and motive (all three points were stressed by Hose I.160). Contrast the endings of the odes 543–89 and 751–800 and their immediately following contexts, and the conclusive ending of the ode 1036–97. (f) The four ecphrastic emblems 213–4, 250–2, 256–8, 275–6 allude to marriage and violence in the underlying myths, themes linked in the whole progress of the plot (cf. Torrance (2013) in 3.2 above). against authenticity (g) Excessive length as an entry-song (but see 3.1.b above). (h) The matter is unsuitable for a choral narrative, esp. from women (but see 3.2 above, and (a) above). (j) The ‘theme’, the sheer numbers of the Greeks, is carelessly executed: the numbers tail off and are incomplete (none are given for the contingents of 277–87; numbers are lost, but together with text, probably in 261–2 and almost certainly in 274–5); the list is selective (unlike the Iliad’s completeness), but does not indicate this. (k) The lines in their dullness ‘spoil the climactic word-picture of Achilles, an image of supreme power and grace’ with which the previous stanzas end at 230 (Cavander (1973) 172–3 – an excellent observation), and weaken the impact of the third important male in the play (3.1 (b) above). (l) Poverty of imagination, vocabulary and style, the whole being rather ‘mechanical’; frequency of words found only here in Euripides or only once (seldom more) elsewhere, including prose; numerous repetitions, especially of words for ‘seeing’ (about 10: 3.2 above) and of ‘ship’ ναῦς (×12) and its compounds (×5): see esp. Page 142–5.

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(m) Monotony in metre (3.1.c above); versification is sometimes crude. (n) The distinction between Argos (242) and Mycenae (265) is incorrect (but see 3.1 b above). Conclusions.  The positive considerations (a–f) are attractive, but it remains unlikely that a single mind composed 231–302, as the lines now stand in ms. L, after the accomplished and lively 164–230, even if the ‘idea’ was that of Euripides. We therefore are unconvinced of ‘integrity’, and think of partial completion either by Euripides’ son or nephew or, perhaps, by a later composer altogether (see esp. Kovacs (2002) 186 and (2003) 83–4). 164–8, 185–9  The Chorus’ route from home (168) was the ancient one by boat and ‘road’: from Chalcis on Euboea just south of the Euripus where the waters are narrowest (about 70 metres; a bridge was built there as early as 410 BC (see Diodorus 13.47.3–6), but Euripides naturally ignores this), along and round the sandy bay of Aulis, through Artemis’ precinct, to the Greeks’ encampment. It is not clear from 231 whether the ships were right by the camp, or further along to the south. 164–84  The strophe is filled by a single long sentence: cf. e.g. A. Ag. 104–20, Hel. 191–210, Pho. 202–13. 164–70  I came … leaving: a common motif to begin a parodos, esp. in Aeschylus (Kranz (1933) 150, e.g. Supp. 4, Cho. 23), but rare in Sophocles and Euripides: ‘I come’ from an entering chorus too at Pho. 216, Cretans F 472.4. ‘leaving’: not ‘abandoning’, as e.g. Pho. 202, but as in English ‘we are now leaving London’, Cretans F 472.4. For verbs of ‘coming’ elsewhere in Eurpides’ lyric see 573–5 n.  sandy: Aulis also at IT 215 – but 211 below has ‘shingle’.  nurse: τροφόν as not just the ‘host’ location, but one ‘protecting, fostering, enriching’, cf. El. 54 night as ‘nurse’ of the stars; used of the food-bearing sea E. Stheneboea F 670.3; Stockert cites e.g. Pind. Paean 6.14 (Apollo’s grove protecting dedicated wreaths and feasts). One expects the spring to ‘nurse’ the city (England).  Chalcis both sheltered and fostered the famous spring Arethusa as a cult-site; though of fresh-water, it was close by the sea, south of the city. The nymph Arethusa was desired and pursued by the river-god Alpheus (his name in 276), but was saved by Artemis who took her to Sicilian Syracuse and changed her to a spring; a variant of

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the myth had the river Alpheus in the W. Peloponese flow under the sea and mingle his waters with hers. She became a common metonymy for any significant spring, first found at Od. 13.408 for one on Ithaca. The most celebrated ‘Arethusa’ continued to be that at Syracuse, where the spring is on the shore on Ortygia: Callimachus F 407.45 Pfeiffer, Strabo 10.1.13. Greek. 164 along on: ἀμφί: LSJ under C I. 2 translate most examples with the acc. of place as ‘somewhere on’, e.g. Or. 114 ἐλθοῦσα δ’ ἀμφὶ Κλυταιμήστρας τάφον ‘coming close round Clyt.’s tomb’, S. Aj. 1064 ἀμφὶ χλωρὰν ψάμαθον ἐκβεβλημένος ‘cast up on the yellow sand’. παρακτίαν is a compound adj. of the 2. decl. with 3 terminations; but this is no great rarity in Tragedy; again e.g. in the very next line, 165 ἐναλίας. [Text. 167 στενοπόρθμου Wilamowitz and many eds, of Euripus the place, known for its narrow strait; the adj. and the name thus embrace the phrase after putting in across the currents: -πορθμον L, a simple copyist’s error: -πόρθμων of the currents themselves Weil, Diggle.   169 ἀγχιάλων L, of the spring’s waters near the sea (above): the adj. describes Chalcis itself Il. 2.640, whence Monk conjectured ἀγχίαλον.] 171–3a  To view … was my purpose: the translation tries to reflect the emphasis on ‘viewing’ achieved through the postponed final particle ὡς and verb (a longer postponement in e.g. 233–4). The compound verb εἰσοράω means ‘set (and keep) eyes on’, a sense aided by the mid. voice, an Epicism, e.g. Supp. 1122 viewing the bodies of slain sons; cf. 274 below κατειδόμαν, 295 εἰδόμαν.  army … vessels: in unity, a powerful war-fleet, emphasized by the repetition Achaeans … Achaean beginning 171 and 172 in the Greek (but see Text below). Together with 174 ‘ships’ the words are a headline for the separate descriptions of 189–230 and 231–300, perhaps reflected in the final words 301–2 ‘host summoned together’: a mild consideration favouring the ‘integrity’ of the whole parodos?  demi-gods: ἡμιθέων, the word only here in Eur., and in Homer only at Il. 12.23 (also Hes. WD 159–60 ‘heroes whom they call demi-gods’, cf. Pind. Pyth. 4.12, 184, 211, the Argonauts). Even Achilles, son of a goddess (134), is never described as such elsewhere; so here the word may suggest the women’s excited curiosity and imagination? Cf. 232 ‘a spectacle beyond words to describe’.

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Greek. 172 πλάτας vessels lit. ‘oar-blades’, a common synecdoche for ships (e.g. 291, 765), like 174 ἐλάταις ‘oars’, and κώπη ‘oar’ IT 141. ναυσιπόρους sea-faring is Eur.’s coinage, probably imitated at Rhesus 48. [Text. 171 ἐσιδοίμαν: a neat correction by Elmsley, the preverb ἐσomitted by haplography with ὡς; L’s modal particle ἄν is incorrect in Attic Greek with the opt. in a final clause, except in Xenophon.   172 τε L and: Diggle in OCT points to Pho. 340 and his (1981) 55–6 for Monk’s δὲ, common with a second, repeated term, e.g. 17, 559, 1334; GP 163; but some eds have disliked the repetition of Ἀχαιῶν, and e.g. Camper suggested emendation in 172 to Ἀτρειδᾶν ‘of the Atreids’, preparatory to the naming of Men. and Ag. 175 and 177.] 173b–8a  whom: οὕς begins the first of three successive rel. clauses, a marked feature of Eur.’s style in lyric narrative: see 573–89 n.  our husbands say: for talk as spur to the women’s coming cf. Hipp. 129–30, cited in 164–302 n. 2.1 end; for ‘lyric’ narrative prompted by hearing cf. El. 452–3. For ‘husbands’ see Introduction pp. 30–1, on the Chorus.  fair-haired Menelaus: Iliad 3.284 etc.; the conventional English translation is ‘red-haired’, but the adj. ξανθός covers any bright colour in the yellow-red range (or red and white, Pl. Timaeus 108b); it is the colour of Iph.’s hair 681, 1366, and Cassandra’s 758. Men.’s light hair-colour figures in the contrived contrast in mettle between him and his black-haired brother Ag. (see Fraenkel on Ag. 115).  nobly-born: εὐπατρίδαν lit. ‘of a fine paternal lineage’, a word denoting at Athens ‘the old … aristocratic governing caste (e.g. Ion 1073), but in Tragedy … simply an archaic and more dignified synonym of εὐγενής’, Barrett on Hipp. 152.  are leading: indeed they are, and this sense of στέλλω is often extended from literal ‘forming and sending off’, e.g. A. Pers. 177 στείλας στρατόν; used again of Ag. at 661.  fleet of a thousand ships: lit.‘…oars’; a ‘thousand’ became the canonical and identifying number for this fleet, e.g. 355, E. El. 2; the Iliad totals 1186 in Book 2; Thuc.1.10.4 rounded this up to 1200. For the accumulation in 171–4 of near-synonyms cf. 131–2 n.; Breitenbach (1934) 188–9. Greek. 178 ἐπί to get: the prep. with acc. Smyth 1689.3c, LSJ C III.1; of a person e.g. S. OT 141 ‘to get Tiresias’, Ar. Frogs 1418 ‘to get a poet’. [Text. 173 οὓς Scaliger is inescapable: ὡς ‘as’ adverbial gives incorrect sense, even when stretched to ‘because (our husbands tell us

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that…)’.   175 Fritzsche: a metrical supplement; for τε postponed cf. e.g. 203.] 178b–81  Paris the oxherd: 76n. Eurotas’ reedy river: Sparta’s river (Hel. 492–3), with its ‘formulaic’ description, first at Theognis 785; cf. IT 399, Hel. 208.  gift of Aphrodite: Helen calls herself this Hel. 363–4, cf. 883 and 69 n. above. Aphrodite gave Helen to Paris so that he should choose herself as victor in the Judgement, 182–4 and n.; Stinton (1965) 18–19. Greek. 180 ἃν: a remarkable postponement of the rel. pron., to seventh place in its clause; next long is to fifth in Hel. 1498: see Breitenbach (1934) 263. The rel. here is placed as first object before the verb ἔλαβε with the second object δῶρον after it.   In 184 Κύπρις has the def. art., like Μενέλαον 175 and ῾Ελέναν 178: the implication may approach ‘the well-known or famous…’, as probably it does in 757 (n.). 182–4  dewy waters of a spring: the regular place of the goddesses’ strife and the Judgement (e.g. 1291–9, 1300–8, And. 284–6), in both myth and poetry, a suitable locus amoenus (‘delightful place’: 1295–9 n.) for the bathing with which they got themselves ready for the beauty contest (Hel. 676); but the bathing is simultaneously the ‘beginning of the trouble’, ἀρχὴ κακῶν: Stinton (1965) 15.  joined in strife, strife: doubling of words (anadiplosis: V. Bers, EGT 1369–70), not always ones of importance, was a marked idiosyncrasy of Eur. in his later plays: with ἔριν again 587, and e.g. an adj. like πικρός ‘bitter(ly damaging)’ 1315–16, cf. 1330; the mannerism was mocked at Ar. Frogs 1337, 1352, 1353–5: Breitenbach (1934) 220.  beauty: μορφᾶς lit. ‘shape(liness)’, explicitly ἔριν τῆς καλλονᾶς ‘strife over beauty’ 1307–8. Greek. ἔσχεν ‘joined’, ingressive aor.; for ἔχω with acc. and dat. cf. e.g. Hcld. 163 πόλεμον ᾿Αργείοις ἔχειν ‘to begin war against the Argives’. 185–6  I came etc.: similar to the opening of the parodos 164–8, but the Chorus are now moving closer to the army. The first word of the Greek sentence is the adj. πολύθυτον, lit. ‘of, with many sacrifices’, emphatically placed and ominous, for Ag. is trying to prevent yet another but hideous sacrifice there. We therefore slightly over-translate it with place of many sacrifices, to Artemis (91); cf. [1548] ‘his daughter coming into the grove to be slain’; [1544] has Artemis’ ‘grove … and flowery meadows’. Cf. Hcld. 777 πολύθυτος … τιμά ‘honour … through many sacrifices’.  grove: the usual English translation of ἄλσος, but the

Commentary

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word connotes not necessarily a place with trees (e.g. Iliad 20.8), just a sacred precinct (without trees e.g. Iliad 2.506, S. Ant. 844, and perhaps IA [1544] cited above). Strabo describes the ‘sacred Run of Achilles’ in Scythia (see on 210–12) as ‘a bare place, but called an ἄλσος’). It can be an area big enough to accommodate the Lion of Nemea, for example, Her. 359. The word etymologically may derive from ἀλ(δαίνω) ‘nourish’, as a place of ‘growth’, or one made prosperous by the gods. Greek. 186 ὄρνυμαι mid. ‘hasten’: cf. IT 1149, Pho. 1569. [Text. Τhe aor. mid. part of ὄρνυμι is confused in mss. with ὁρῶμαι ‘see’, as here, A. Ag. 1408, Seven 87]. 187–8  turning red … the bashfulness of a young woman: why do the women blush in the grove? Because they are married, and no longer maidens in the presence of a maiden goddess? Or does the poet anticipate the shame of a woman come to view, and just about to view, men-at-arms exercising? Women’s properly modest conduct is a motif in the later action: see 164–302 n. 2.1 and 2; Introduction pp. 30–1, 34–5. ‘turning red’: φοινίσσουσα, but transitive: the Greeks often perceived emotions as generated by those who feel them; Headlam cites 1434 ‘you wet your eyes with tears’. More elaborate is the noun φοινίξ ‘red’ at Pho. 1488 τὸν ὑπὸ βλεφάροις φοινίκ’, ἐρύθημα προσώπου ‘the red beneath my eye, the blush on my face’. The colour in Eur. usually denotes shed blood, so the qualification with ‘bashfulness’ is necessary. [Text. 188 νεοθαλῆ Blaydes, with παρῇδα, confines ‘young’ to the cheek.] 189–91  guarding shields and armed encampment: a plain translation, and with the inherent ambiguity of the Greek. ἔρυμα is a ‘strong guard’, lit. a defensive bulwark, defined by the subjective gen. ἀσπίδος; with obj. gen. e.g. E. Antiope F 223.89 πολεμίων ‘(walls a bulwark) against enemies’; and ἀσπίς sing. or plur. may stand in synecdoche for ‘war’, e.g. Supp. 572, Pho. 1326, or ‘army (at war)’, e.g. Pho. 78, possibly 82 above. The Greek words are placed artfully and may interlace meaning: so, overall, perhaps ‘the Greeks’ defensive might (Ritchie) in their shields, and their encampment (of men) bearing arms’. Defence, though, is not what the women expect (or what we anticipate from the women’s descriptions, and think would not be needed at Aulis), for they know that the expedition is punitive (272), and are sure it will be invincible (296–8). They are as yet unaware that it has completely stalled.  encampment:

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κλισίη is the Homeric word for a military dwelling, lit. a ‘lean-to’, but it can mean a substantial structure, not just a temporary ‘tent’: at Iliad 24.448–54 Ach.’s κλισίη is lofty, made of pine, roofed with straw, with an αὐλή ‘court’ surrounded by a palisade and entered through a single pine gate; see also 24.644, 647 and 673.  horse-chariots: just ‘horses’ in the Greek, as Supp. 694 and in Homer, e.g. Iliad 5.13. 192–205  The heroes come in pairs, and are separated in the translation by semi-colons. 192–4a  the two Ajaxes: Iliad 2.527 and 557 in the Catalogue respectively; they are named with the Greek dual at 2.406, as here. Oileus’ son became notorious for violating the Trojan princess and prophetess Cassandra (named in our 757) at the city’s fall, and near a statue of Athena. (For the variant form of his name Ileus see Fries (2014) 183.) Telamon’s son competed with Od. for the arms of the slain Ach., and was humiliated into suicide by Od.’s patroness Athena (the plot of Sophocles’ Ajax). As a warrior he was indeed the glory (στέφανον lit. ‘wreath, crown’) of Salamis; for the metaphor in Tragedy cf. e.g. Tro. 565; compare ἄνθος ‘flower’ e.g. Pers. 59, Her. 876.  sitting together: as comrades, not necessarily ‘in counsel’ (LSJ). [Text. 193 τὸν Monk: τοῖς L; the acc. is necessary in apposition to γόνον, and the usage is as in 289 Αἴας … ὁ Σαλαμῖνος ἔντροφος.   194 Σαλαμῖνος P2: Σαλαμινίοις L, dat. ‘for the Salaminians’, is poorer idiom and difficult metrically.] 194b–8  Protesilaus: one of myth’s truly tragic figures, forcibly separated from his wife of one day to join the expedition, and the first Greek to be killed at Troy, while leading the disembarkation (Iliad 2.698–702); the gods permitted his return to life, perhaps as a phantom, for just one day for reunion with his wife, who afterwards killed herself. Most of his story seems to have been contained in Eur.’s Protesilaus: see test. ii TrGF and Collard and Cropp (2008) VIII 106–17.  Palamedes: not in Homer (see 164–302 n. 2.3 (b)). Son of Poseidon’s son the sea-lord Nauplius, and ‘a human counterpart of the intellectual and inventive demi-god Prometheus, he became a by-word for cleverness’, Collard and Cropp (2008) VIII 46. Myth credited him in particular with the invention of writing, and of boardgames; Eur. draws on the tradition that the Greeks diverted themselves with these at Aulis: see e.g. Soph. Palamedes F 479; Gorgias, Palamedes 20. Eur.’s Palamedes dramatised his destruction by the jealous Od. and

Commentary

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Diomedes (Cypria F 27 West = Paus. 10.31.2; Collard and Cropp (2004) VIII 92–101).  draughts: πεσσοί, but played with dice; of two forms of the game, one was called ‘cities’, πόλεις poleis, its intricate patterns alluded to at E. Erechtheus F 360.8–9 ‘cities established as in the differing moves in pessoi’; the same play on ‘cities’ at Supp. 409–10. For the moment the Greeks are playing at capturing cities, however; when the army learns how the real capture of Troy depends upon the sacrifice of Iph., the heroes’ interactions are in deadly earnest, e.g. 531–5, 1346–50; and Troy’s capture will be grim, 751–800. There survive many artistic representations of Ajax playing the game, particularly with Ach. on a famous vessel by Exekias (540–30 BC): LIMC I.1 ‘Achilleus’ 96–7 no. 397 = ‘Aias’ I.1 324 no. 67; Pausanias 10.31.1 described a painting by Polygnotus at Delphi depicting both Ajaxes, Palamedes and Thersites playing with dice. Note the emphasis on pleasure in 196 and 199–200 (and Ach. ‘bounds’ alongside a chariot in 229). Greek. 196 ἡδομένους: plur. verb-form standing between two sing. subjects, schema Alcmanicum, e.g. Alcman F 2 PMG; Smyth 965. 198 τίκτω lit. ‘beget’, seldom of a man, e.g. 474, Her. 3; usually ‘bear’ of a mother, e.g. 208 (where the unaugmented verb recurs: such forms in lyric are commoner in Eur.’s later plays; see also 578 n; Denniston on El. 1224).   199–202  Diomedes: first at Iliad 2.563, 567 and very frequently afterwards. pleasures of the discus: Iliad 2.774 (Ach.’s Myrmidons during his sulk) ‘delighting themselves with the discus’.  Meriones: first at Iliad 2.651 and very frequently afterwards, but there he is no more than a name; at 13.328 he is ‘like Ares’, but not his scion, ὄζος lit. ‘sprig’: the same metaphor as ἔρνος (116 n.), but a little higher in register (whence our translation here), like ἶνις ‘whelp’ (119 n.): Iliad 2.540 of Elephenor, Hec. 123 of Theseus’ twin sons.  a wonder to men: this phrase describes a beautiful woman at Od. 11.287; for its use of heroes see S. Trac. 961 (Heracles); Diggle (1981) 90. Greek. 200 κεχαρημένον: the rare poetic perf. mid. of χαίρω in -ηoccurs only here in Eur.   201 παρὰ beside: an adv. in the Greek, an Epic usage, e.g. Iliad 1.611 (LSJ E), but only here in Eur.   202 θαῦμα βροτοῖσιν: with the infin. ὁρᾶν e.g. Ion 1142 θαύματ’ ἀνθρώποις ὁρᾶν, ‘wonders for men to see’, below [1581]; and with the adj. ταυρόπουν 275: Smyth 2002, 2004.

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203–5  son of Laertes: Odysseus, Iliad 2.631 and frequently; for his mountainous island, Ithaca, see e.g. 3.201. Perhaps for reasons of emphasis, he is often referred to by his (disputed) father, either the heroic Laertes or, if the poet wishes to suggest ruthless and selfish guile, usually Sisyphus the trickster, e.g. 524 (see n.), 1362; cf. 106–10 n.  Nireus: only at Iliad 2.671–5, where as here he is impoverished, bringing only three ships, and handsomest κάλλιστος of the Greeks (if second nonetheless to Achilles in that); and so he makes a good transition to the greatest hero in 206. Nireus’ beauty became ‘proverbial’, e.g. Lucian, Timon 23; Dialog. Dead 19.4; Ibycus F 228.37–45 PMG however names Cyanippus as ‘handsomest’ of the Greeks and Troilus of the Trojans. Greek. In 203 connective τ(ε) has an apparently unusual postponement because the prep. phrase is treated as a linguistic unit; cf. GP 516.  204 Λαέρτα is the Doric gen. 206–30  Achilles: Iliad 2.685 with 50 ships (as in our 239). He enjoys the longest vignette (164–302 n. 3.1 (b)), founded on his fleetness of foot (207), with which it begins and ends. Homer’s most frequent adj. for him is ποδώκης ‘foot-swift’, Iliad 2.860 etc. (×20); ironically he does little running in Homer, except to escape from the raging river Scamander 21.251–4 and to pursue the fleeing Hector 22.138–66, 189–207; and he naturally does not compete in the foot-race at Patroclus’ funeral, for he donates the prizes, 23.740–97. His strength and prowess in battle are suggested by his running in full armour, 212–15, 227–8 and nn. For his depiction here see too Michelakis (2002) 120–1. 206–9  feet the equal of the wind: ἰσάνεμον … ποδοῖν, cf. Iliad 2.781 ποδήνεμος (‘foot-windy, wind-footed’) … Ἶρις, the gods’ aerial messenger in the Iliad; Collectanea Alexandrina F 106 Powell has ἀνεμώκης ‘wind-swift’ of a girl.  light-running: λαιψηδρόμον: the compound adj. happens to be unique, but the simple adj. λαιψηρός describes Achilles at Iliad 21.264.  whom Thetis bore: this identifier for him also 1075.  trained to perfection: the play will later give us an idea how successful Chiron’s moral training of Achilles (709) has been. In ἐκπονέω the preverb means ‘(work, toil) to a finish’; e.g. of horses and men trained for the hunt Xen. Hell. 6.4.28. πονέω ‘educate a boy’ Theocr. 13.14; cf. μοχθέω ‘toil to bring up’ Her. 281. Greek. 206 ποδοῖν is instrum. dat. (as 213), but pleonastic here before ‘light-running’; the dual number is usual of things one possesses in pairs,

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like χεροῖν ‘hands’ 1112.   207 τὸν: the def. art. as rel. pron. is Epic, poetic and Ionic (e.g. in Herodotus), occurring even in Tragic dialogue when metre requires (see e.g. Barrett on Hipp. 525, Diggle (1994) 32–3, 466–67).   208 τέκε unaugmented: 198 n.   209 ἐκπονέω is one of Eur.’s favourite compounds, e.g. 367 and n.; see Lee on Ion 375. [Text. 206 δὲ Monk, the stronger connective marking the transition to a major topic (206–30 n.); GP 170–71: τε L. Metre. 207 Ἀχιλλέα Hermann, Diggle, the two final vowels scanned as one ‘long’ syllable (synizesis), like 204–5 Νιρέα. Eds choose from the name’s variant forms according to their identification of the metrical colon: so e.g. Ἀχιλέα (Günther, Stockert; Ἀχιλῆ also Hermann.] 210–12  running in armour: both wearing armour and carrying shield and spear, an arduous exercise not found in Homer but familiar to an Athenian audience: the verb was ὁπλιτοδρομέω and the adj. ὁπλιτοδρόμος ‘running armed (as a hoplite)’. It was a competitive event at the great Panathenaic festival; it is described at Plato, Laws 833a, cf. Scholia to Ar. Acharnians 213, Pollux 3.151: the armed runner sprang from the chariot before running with it (Dem. 61.28); uncertainly attested in Inscr.Gr. I2 351. Burkert (1993) 88–90 traces competitive running in armour (e.g. Pind. Ol. 4.22), at the Games and in cult, and even at an ‘Achilles’ Run’ (a racetrack) in Scythia Hdt. 4.76.4 and Strabo 7.3.19 (cf. our 185–6 n) – but more importantly in Athens. He argues that Eur. here in IA wanted the audience to make the hero ‘at home’ in Athens as an ‘identification-figure’ (but also as an inconsistent one, ultimately helpless despite his ‘armour’: see Ach.’s final words at 1426–9). He combines this interpretation with a similarly suggestive discussion of Athena as emblem in 250–2: see n. there.  over beach, over shingle: not all sand, then (165), and much tougher for running, but probably there is Homeric influence, e.g. Iliad 2.773 discus-throwing παρὰ ῥηγμῖνι ‘by the surf’. Greek. 210 ἴδον: unaugmented aor. (ἐ- before lost consonantal digamma: Smyth 431 and p. 700); again in 218. παρά with dat. locates, and not always at rest. Only one ‘over’ in the Greek, but the two nouns are closely linked by τε ‘and’ placed after the prep. with the second: 543–4, 1085–6; Smyth 2983c; Diggle (1981) 117.   211 δρόμον ἔχοντα lit. ‘having a run’, a use of ἔχω not unlike that in 183–84 ἔριν … ἔσχεν ‘joined in strife’; And. 599–600 δρόμους … ἔχουσι ‘have races’. 213–15  four-horsed chariot: that of Eumelus, 216: see 221–4 n.

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Commentary

rounding (the course): at the sharp double–back turn ending a leg: see n. on 224. ἑλίσσω, here intrans., is usually trans., e.g. Pho. 3 of the Sun’s circuit while driving his chariot; of racing horses e.g. Iliad 23.309; it was a favourite verb of Eur. (×40), e.g. 1055 of girls twirling in round dances; the poet is mocked for it in parody, Ar. Frogs 1314, 1348.  in pursuit of victory: the phrase περὶ νίκης of chariot-racing Iliad 23.437, 496. Greek. 213 ἅμιλλαν … ἐπόνει raced hard lit. ‘toiled (in) competition’, the noun internal acc. with a verb of allied meaning, as e.g. Hipp. 1367–9 μόχθους … ἐπόνησα ‘toiled in troubles’.   214 πρός against of competition LSJ C I.4.   215 περί in pursuit of: LSJ A II.1. [Text. 215 ἑλίσσων ‘turning, twisting’ is found awkward by some eds, who ask: would a running Achilles be able to turn sharply? Turning battlechariots abruptly was a distinct skill, just as on the race-course where the end-turn (221–6 n.) was the point of greatest danger: see 744–5 in the exciting narrative in S. El. 681–756. For ἑλίσσων Diggle OCT notes Pikkolos’ conjecture ἐρίζων ‘in rivalry’ (this verb in chariot-racing Iliad 23.404).] 216–26  Eumelus: first at Iliad 2.714, and frequently thereafter, esp. 23.288–9 in the chariot-racing; at 2.763–4 his horses are the fastest at Troy; here in 218 and 225–6 their beautiful appearance is foremost, perhaps to add (literal) colour to the otherwise ‘physical’ description. 216–20  shouting: to the horses, e.g. Orestes at S. El. 737.  Pheres’ grandson: the patronym in -(ι)άδης here goes back two generations (Smyth 845), cf. 855 Ach. Αἰακοῦ γένεθλον ‘offspring’, i.e. Aeacus’ grandson, and in the frequent Homeric Αἰακίδης, e.g. Iliad 2.860. horses: Eumelus’ horses are male (220–3) (like those described racing at S. El. 721, 725), but in Iliad 2.763 they are mares.  bits gold-chased: ‘gold, golden’ recur in 239 and 257, naturally enough of rich ornamentation (see Greek).  struck: for a goad used on horses in Homer see e.g. Iliad 23.387, by a charioteer A. Eum. 157; such sharp prods were later used mostly on cattle. A horse-whip is used at e.g. Iliad 17.430. Greek. 219 in χρυσοδαιδάλτοις ‘gold-chased’ -δαιδαλ- denotes artificers’ work, craftmanship, ‘Daedalic’: DELG 246. στομίοις: the bare dat. is associative, a variety of the instrumental, Smyth 1507. [Text. 218 Hermann’s possessive gen. οὗ seems inescapable. Some eds take L’s dat. ᾧ as that of the agent, rare with a pres. pass., e.g. S. Aj. 539: Smyth 1490.]

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221–6  middle ones which carried the yoke: so too Scholia on Ar. Clouds 122a; cf. Jebb or Finglass on S. El. 722.  coats: θρίξ lit. ‘hair’; of a shaggy horse being combed at S. F 475.  trace-horses: either side of the yokers, and fastened only to the bottom of the rounded chariotfront, the ἄντυξ (229): see Jebb or Finglass as before. These horses not only gave extra pull, they also chiefly turned the chariot at the bend (IT 81 δρόμους … καμπίμους ‘turns on the course’). The outsider was trained to run more strongly, the insider to slacken speed; both horses help to tug yokers and chariot round. So they are said here to be countering (the turnings of the race-track); this must be the sense of ἀντήρεις, ‘opposed to’ and not ‘opposite’ the bend (for that is without point: the whole team and its chariot are that) nor ‘opposite’ each other (for that needs no saying). What is intended here, perhaps, is simply to distinguish the trace-horses from the yokers first in their principal function, then in their ‘colour’; this view approaches the translation of ἀντήρεις by England, that the yokers are ‘suited to’ such turnings. Cf. in particular Nestor’s instructions to his son on how to race at Iliad 23.306–48, esp. 336–7, cited by Finglass on S. El. 721–2.  with spotted fetlocks at their hooves below: lit. ‘spotted below on their single-hoofed ankles (pasterns)’. The passage may be imitated at Rhesus 355–6 ‘driving a chariot with spotted horses’ (see Introduction p. 59). Greek. 224 ἀντήρης: for argument that the element -ήρης is not inert, but reflects the verb ἀ(ε)ίρω, in the sense of ‘raise, rise against (ἀντι-); counter’, see DELG 1378.   225 ὑπὸ is adverbial not prepositional, e.g. Iliad 10.95; σφυρά is acc. of respect with the adj. ποικιλοδέρμονας. 227–30  went bounding: the simple verb πάλλω; the act.is used of horses themselves at El. 477.  beside … rail and … wheel-naves: parallel with the charioteer, who stood directly above the wheels. The nave σύριγξ is pierced for the fixed axle, e.g. Hipp. 1234. [Text. Notice the numbering of these lines: the first printed edition (the ‘Aldine’: see Introduction p. 60) used the line-divisions first introduced in L by Triclinius, after 225/26 μονο- and 226/27 after ποικιλο-.] 231–302  The ‘catalogue’ of ships: see 164–302 n. 2.3 (b), 3 and (authenticity) 4. 231–2  I went on to counting … and a spectacle: a mild zeugma in the Greek. For the noun ἀριθμός ‘counting, count’ cf. Hdt. 7.59.3 τῆς στρατιῆς ἀριθμὸν ποιεῖσθαι ‘make a count of the army’. beyond

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words to describe: ἀθέσφατον lit. ‘beyond a god’s saying’, an Epic adj., e.g. Iliad 3.4 a rainstorm; isolated here in Tragedy. With the whole phenomenon cf. Thuc. 6.31.1 ‘foreigners and the rest of the crowd came for the spectacle (κατὰ θέαν) … as if (to see) a noteworthy and incredible enterprise’ (the gathering of the Athenians’ expedition against Syracuse, 415 BC). [Text. ἀθέσφατον L: ἀθεσφάτων of the ships Willink, the two gens. ‘bracketing’ the clause; accepted by Kovacs (2002), but the adj. is much apter to θέαν ‘spectacle’ ] 233–4  fill … my woman’s eyes with seeing: cf. F 1063.7 τὴν ὄψιν ἐμπλήσασα ‘filling her eyes’, after line 3 there ‘her eyes desire the pleasure outside the house’ (in the context, any attractive man: see below on Text). Greek. γυναικεῖον: the 2-termination form of a simple adj. with fem. in -ος, (rare: LSJ, cf. Smyth 288) helps euphony [Text. The form was restored by Boeckh]. ὄψις active in force, ‘seeing’. with subjective gen. ὀμμάτων as e.g. Cyc. 628, Or. 513. ἁδονάν pleasure: acc. in apposition to a whole clause, as 241, 252, 832, 1308; Smyth 991b. The trope with adj. and noun often conveys an ‘emotive’ charge (Ritchie), e.g. Or. 727 ‘a pleasing sight’, 1105 ‘a bitter hurt’. [Text. 234 †honey-sweet† μείλινον L, translated as if a variant form of μέλινος ‘honeyed’, but it is unattested; a rather precious term here, although defended. The Epic adj. μείλινος means ‘made of ash-wood’, clearly incorrect. The obvious conjecture μείλιχον ‘gentle, mild’ was made long ago (Markland), but like μείλινον has a metrical shape not corresponding with the antistrophe at 245 ὃν τρε-; Ferrari (1990) 103–4 accepts both μείλιχον and metrical licence. Markland himself therefore altered the word-order in 245 to (ὃν τρέ)φει Τάλα(ος), but the rhythm, at this point of a trochaic verse, is very questionable (J. Diggle, CR 34 (1984) 67). Most recent eds (except Stockert and Diggle, cf. Matthiessen) have printed Wilamowitz’ misjudged conjecture λίχνον ἁδονάν ‘a gluttonous pleasure’, the adj. being 2-termination as in Hipp. 913 (better would be Jackson’s λίχνον ἁδονᾶν ‘gluttonous (i.e. a woman’s sight itself) for pleasures’). The English word jars here, the Greek one is ‘always disapproving’ (Barrett on Hipp.); it most often implies sexual interest or prurience, as in F 1063.[8] ‘curious for what is hidden’, of a male ogling women. Hermann’s emendation μᾶλλον ἁδονᾶν (gen. plur.) took

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a different course: ‘(that I might sate my sight) more with pleasures’. Numerous other conjectures are gathered (and added to) by Stockert, almost all based upon ‘honey’.] 235–8  the right wing: again at 290; the position of honour and leadership, accorded to the best combatants, e.g. A. Pers. 399 (the Greeks at Salamis), E. Supp. 657 (Theseus at Thebes), Hdt. 9.28.2 (the Spartans at Plataea). warrior force: the single word Ἄρης, ‘Ares the God of War’, a common metonymy, e.g. 283 Ἄρη Τάφιον ‘The warrior Taphians’, And. 106 ὁ χιλιόναυς … Ἄρης ‘war-force of a thousand ships’.  Myrmidons: eager fighters 814–18 (but content to go home if frustrated, 817: see n.); ferocious Iliad 16.156–64 (like wolves).  fifty: Ach.’s number at Iliad 2.685, 16.168.  fierce: θούριος, the Tragic form of Epic θοῦρος/θοῦρις, lit. ‘rushing’, i.e. furious in onslaught; of Ares himself Iliad 15.127; applied to armaments, weaponry e.g. 11.32 a shield, A. Eum. 628 bows. Greek. 235–6 ἦν ἔχων ‘was holding’: the verb ‘to be’ and pres. part. in periphrasis for a continuous action or state, here impf. εἶχε [Text. So Ferrari (1990) 105, supporting Jouan’s now widely accepted emendation]; cf. e.g. IT 721–2 ἔστιν … διδοῦσα ‘is giving’; Smyth 1857, 1961. 236 πλάτας gen. sing., not acc. plur. in apposition with κέρας ‘wing’. For the synecdoche as fleet see 172 n.   238 ναυσὶ: the dat. is probably comitative, e.g. of ‘military accompaniment’ Smyth 1526, or a variety of the ‘constituent’ instrumental dat. (239 n.). 239–41  In golden images: cf. the shields at A. Seven 644 (image of a man), 434 and 660 (inlaid lettering).  high up: lit. ‘at the high points’: on the sterns therefore, and easily visible (164–302 n. 3.2, end of 1. paragraph); cf. 241, 258, 275.  Nereid goddesses: nymphs, in fact, of the sea, sisters and companions of Thetis, Ach.’s goddess-mother (208), as an emblem doubly apt for his ships. The Nereids accompany his own ship in El. 432–41, for they had brought him his armour before he sailed, 442–4; but they do not appear on his shield in its description at 455–78. Neither in El. nor here are they numbered; a mesmerising passage at Iliad 18.38–49 gives 33 individual names, ‘and others’. Greek. 239 εἰκόσιν: ‘constituent’ dat., Smyth 1508c; cf. Od. 4.616 ‘the lips of a crater fashioned in gold’.   240 ἕστασαν plupf., again in 243, but nowhere else in Eur.   241 πρύμναις is normally taken as locative dat., but may be purposive ‘for the sterns’, particularly if dependent upon the verbal noun σῆμα emblem, which takes a dat. like its derivative verb

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σημαίνω ‘sign (to), indicate (to)’; cf. e.g. IT 387 θεοῖσιν ἑστίαματα ‘banquets for the gods’; Smyth 1502.   241 Ἀχιλλείου Achilles’: possessive adj., as e.g. Hec. 128 of his spear. [Text. 239 κατ’ ἄκρα Pierson, neut. plur. noun as Tro. 1297; L has the fem. sing. noun in κατ’ ἄκραν. Metre. The diphthong -ει- scans ‘short’, rare (West (1982) 12; see Barrett on Hipp. 1127 ὄρειος).] 242–7  Argives: separate here from the Mycenaeans of 265: see 164– 302 n. 2.3 (b). Usually the name ‘Argives’ in IA is used for the Greeks generally: see n. on 102 ‘Achaeans’.  equal in number: ἰσήρετμοι lit. ‘equal in oars’, i.e. in power as well as number. Iliad 2.559–68 gives the Argives 80 ships, not Eur.’s implied 50. Diomedes is the overall commander there, together with Sthenelus son of Capaneus (564: our 246–7) and Eurytus, son of Mecisteus (566: our 244–5, his grandfather Talaus). Capaneus was the infamous boaster destroyed by Zeus’ lightning in the assault of the Seven against Thebes, e.g. S. Ant. 134, E. Supp. 496; Mecisteus is outside the ‘canon’ of the Seven, but according to Hdt. 5.67.3 was killed at Thebes by Melanippus. Greek. 242 ἰσήρετμοι: the second member of the adj. (-ήρετμοι lit. ‘-oared’) is probably otiose; this adj., found only here, is discussed inconclusively in Fraenkel’s extensive treatment of ἰσο- compounds in his Agamemnon pp. 681–82, 695–97.   245 τρέφει brought up: for the Greek pres. tense see 47 n. The word-order in 244–5 is rare, the complement στρατηλάτας intervening harshly between the gen. Μηκιστέως dependent upon the subject παῖς; Ritchie compares the predicate adj. φίλιον in Supp. 372 γᾶν δὲ φίλιον ᾿Ινάχου θεῖτ(ο) ‘make the land of Inachus friendly’. 247–9a  the son of Theseus: unnamed, which is striking in an Athenian play, because very strong Athenian tradition gave him two sons, Demophon and Acamas (e.g. Hcld. 115, 119; neither is named in the Iliad): see e.g. Pausanias 1.28.8–9, where the two bring Athena’s sacred image the Palladion from Troy (after Odysseus and Diomedes have first removed it from that city). The poet here may be making a deliberate allusion to Homer, who has the Athenians led by a single son, but of a different father; he is named as Menestheus the son of Peteous Iliad 2.552; he has 50 ships (556), not sixty; the poet follows the Cypria perhaps, and certainly the Iliupersis fr. 6 West (Loeb). On the ‘sources’ see 164–302 n. 2.3 (b), at end.

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Greek. 247 Ἀτθίδας Dobree: the plur. of the adj. is very rare, and Eur. uses only the gen. sing. Ἀτθίδος (×4/5) [Text: so Stockert defended L].   249 ἑξῆς next in line: lit. ‘adjacently’, e.g. of just two corpses Hel. 986; from (σ)εχ-/ἑχ- the root of the verb ἔχω, i.e. ‘hold(ing to)’. ἐναυλόχει lay at anchor: the verb only here in verse, but the adj. ναύλοχος describes an on-beach lay-up safe for ships Hec. 1015. 249b–52  A description of the emblem significant for the shipcommander ends both strophe (240–2) and antistrophe; not so in the next strophic pair, 255–8 and 275–6. The lines here are rich in meaning. the goddess Pallas: Athena, emblem of her city in monumental artistry (the Parthenon, with Pheidias’ gold and ivory statue!) and on Athenian coinage; she was embroidered on the sacred peplos given to clothe her statue at the Panathenaic festival, Hec. 466–74. Her winged chariot was regular in her iconography; in poetry see e.g. A. Eum. 404, Hec. 467; in statuary on the pediment of the Treasury of Siphnos at Delphi of c. 525 BC: LIMC II.1.974 no. 174.  omen: φάσμα lit. ‘thing shown or showing’, most often a spectral apparition or phenomenon of any kind (LSJ 1–3); but as an ‘omen’, a portentous ‘appearance’, e.g. A. Ag. 145 the eagles and the hare, S. El. 1466 the corpse of Clytemnestra (LSJ 4).  of good fortune: the adj. εὔσημος is very much commoner in the sense ‘conspicuous’ (LSJ II), than ‘favourable as omen’, here being its first occurrence (LSJ I: it is emended at IT 1383). Burkert (1993) 90–2 argues that the emblem not only brings Athens forcibly into the catalogue, but reinforces the picture of Ach. running beside the chariot, evoking for the Athenian audience their ritual race at the Panathenaic festival, 210–12 n. Together the two evocations of ‘victory’ for Ach. and of Athens’ victorious goddess portend Troy’s defeat by the armada. Greek. 251 ἅρμασιν ‘chariot and horses’, e.g. Her. 881, metonymic like ἵπποι ‘horses and chariots’ in 191 (n.). μώνυχος uncloven: lit. ‘single-hoofed’, the Homeric form being μῶνυξ Iliad 5.236 etc., cf. 225 above μονόχαλος. This ‘formulaic’ adj., an unnecessary description, is perhaps justifiable with the metonymic ἅρμασιν.   252 The dat. ναυβάταις depends on the adj. εὔσημον of good fortune for sea-farers rather than on the verbal noun φάσμα (cf. 241 n.). [Text. 251 †θετόν† L, †made†: obelized by most eds, because (1) 2-termination forms of uncompounded verbal adjs. in -τος are very rare in Tragedy (A. Cho. 22, 236; PV 592; not in Soph. or Eur.; they are ruled

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out by Smyth 472); and because (2) θετόν is here imprecise in meaning with ἐν … ἅρμασιν: ‘made (in her chariot)’ or ‘made on (to the ship)’ or ‘put on, placed’? θετός is used elsewhere predominantly in the sense ‘adopted’, of a child, e.g. E. Erechtheus F 359. The wording of 250–2 does not locate the emblem of Pallas on the stern, but the responding verse 241 does have that of the Nereids: is the echo sufficient for this meaning? In 251 simple replacement with θετάν Bothe cures only (1) above; and e.g. ἅρμασι τ’ εὔθετον Madvig does not cure (2), for it gives awkward sense ‘having the goddess Pallas well-made in winged horses and chariot’. Writing θοὰν for θεὰν 249 (Weil) ‘(Pallas) swift’ is clever, but in 251 θεάν (also Weil) ‘goddess’ or θοάν (Firnhaber) ‘swift’ for θετόν does not explain how θετόν arose. Ritchie suggested that the word is a gloss which has ousted the original, e.g. φίλιον (with 252 εὔσημόν τε L) ‘precious (omen)’. Lastly, ἅρμασ’ ἔθετον Burkert (1993) ‘made on’ must be resisted as a solution to both (1) and (2): the dat. plur. of the 3. decl. is never elided in Tragedy, only in Epic (West (1982) 10). The verb ἐντίθημι happens to be unattested of works of art in this English sense ‘make on (to)’, although adverbial ἐν and τίθημι and e.g. ποιέω and τεύχω are not rare throughout Iliad 18.468–608 (five layers of metal ‘made on to’ Hephaestus’ Shield of Achilles). 252 γε Musgrave indeed: good instead of τε L, for no connection is needed, φάσμα being in apposition with 249 θεάν; and γε emphasizes the point; less well τι Markland, as in e.g. S. Trac. 961 ἄσπετόν τι θαῦμα ‘a marvel unspeakably great’.] 253–5  Boeotians: 50 ships, as here and at 509 in Iliad 2.494–510, where among the contributing places ‘rocky’ Aulis appears at 496, and at 494 Leïtus (our 259) is among five leaders named.  emblems: not σήματα (241), but σημεῖα as in Thuc. 6.31.3 ‘trierarchs using costly emblems and furnishings (i.e. ornamentation)’. Greek. 255 στολίζω ‘fit out’, usually ‘dress with clothing’, but in the pass. of men ‘armed’ with spears at Supp. 659 (see Text). [Text. 253 Βοιωτῶν L, with inexact responsion with 265 ἐκ Μυκή(νας), is acceptable to metricians, it seems: a licence with names? Tr3’s Βοιώτων responds only if -οι- scans ‘short’ (not rare: West (1982) 11). Nauck rejected Tr’s suggestion and proposed the same scansion by deleting ἐκ in 265 (but see n. there). Also 253: πόντιον Weil/ England defining ὅπλισμα armament as naval (at Supp. 714 this noun

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is a hand-weapon), cf. 260 ναΐου … στρατοῦ ‘naval host’: so nearly all eds; ποντίας L is ‘otiose’ with νῆας, Ritchie, but some compare IT 70 ναῦν ποντίαν.   255 ἐστολισμένας Scaliger fitted out: εὐστολισμένας L ‘well-equipped’: εὐστολίζω is an unattested verb, despite the adj. εὔστολος, used of ships at S. Phil. 516.] 256–60  golden dragon: that of Ares, guarding a prominent spring at Thebes named for the god (Pho. 657–73). Cadmus, the city’s founding king, killed it and sowed its teeth in the ground, generating men whose descendants bore the name Spartoi (‘Sown Men’). One such was earth-born Leïtus, whose name is etymologically uncertain: ‘Reaper’, ‘Plunderer’ and most probably ‘People’s Man’ seem possible; he was one of the city’s defenders against the Seven Against Thebes, but was a Boeotian from Plataea, with a memorial there (Pausanias 9.4.3); he is named at Iliad 2.494.  curving sterns: the meaning usually given to κόρυμβος (its neut. plur. is alternative to the masc.) when used of ships; its base-sense is ‘high point’. The curved timbers of the stern (e.g. Iliad 9.241, A. Pers. 411) swept upward, not round. Greek. 256 τοῖς For them: def. art. as pron., And. 284, Med. 740; Smyth 1112. In 432 below the pronominal article τῶν (δέ) stands as ‘others’ after preceding suppressed οἱ (μέν) ‘some’.   260 ἆρχε led is Doric for impf. ἦρχε. [Text. 260 Diggle suggested ἄρχε impf. without lengthening, equivalent to lack of augment in e.g. 208 aor. τέκε.] 261–4 have lost text: see below.  Phocis: in Iliad 2.517–26 the land contributes 40 ships, led by Schedius and Epistrophus; 262 equal to these refers to a now missing number, perhaps 40.  Locris follows Phocis at Iliad 2.527–35.  son of Oileus: given his name Ajax in the Iliad above, but distinguished there from Ajax the son of Telamon (193 above) by his speed on foot and ‘much smaller size’.  famous … Thronium is named among his cities, Iliad 2.533; it was the chief city of Locris and possessed its principal harbour, opposite the NW extremity of Euboea. Greek. 262 Λοκράς Locrian: fem. acc. plur. of the adj.   263 κλυτός is an Epic adj., only here in Eur. [Text. Textual loss is clear: cf. our Introduction p. 54, Text 1.c. After 261 space is expressly left in L (enough for two lines); Tr3 erased L’s λείπει (‘there is a deficiency’) and indicated that the text should run on into 262, and P2 joined the lines across the space left by P (copied from L),

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in which the first hand may have written the same word λείπει (see Zuntz (1965) 98). Two lines are also lost towards the end of the antistrophe, between 273 and 275, revealed by defective syntax and sense, but also by lack of metrical responsion (not noticed by Tr); the slightly different location of the losses is hard to explain. We follow the markings of all recent editors. Two interventions are necessary: (1) 262 Λοκρὰς and ταῖσδ(ε) Markland, both fem., the ships: Λοκροῖς … τοῖσδ(ε), masc., the people, L; cf. 238 ναυσὶ … 242 ταῖσδ’ ἰσήρετμοι. (2) 263 sense and metre require the supplement of a monosyllabic finite verb; Matthiae’s is more stylish, with two dependent parts., than Hermann’s or Nauck’s in periphrasis with ἄγων, ‘was leading’ (cf. 235–6 n.).] 265–7  Mycenae … a hundred ships: led by Agamemnon, Iliad 2.569– 80. For the separation here of Mycenae from Argos, see 164–302 n. 2.3 (b); in the lyric 1499 it substitutes as usual for Argos, which is Ag.’s home-city in the play’s dialogue, 112 etc. (×9). We might have expected an ‘emblem’ for Ag. as supreme commander, perhaps the apotropaic lions still standing over his citadel’s gateway at Mycenae. At A. Ag. 1259 Ag. is a ‘noble lion’.  Cyclopean: 152 n., where IT 845–6 are cited, another rare instance of Μυκήνη sing. as the place-name. Greek. 266 πέμπω of ‘sending’ those you yourself direct and lead, cf. Supp. 23, and n. on στέλλω 177 above.   267 ἀθροΐζω with dieresis, metrically required, is found at e.g. Ar. Birds 253; cf. (Page) Hcld. 915 χροΐζω, also lyric. [Text. 265 For the metrical problem in the responding 255 see n. there; here the retention of the prep. ἐκ is necessary, like ἀπό with a place-name in 261.] 268–72  brother: Men. (see Text below).  as a commander: jointly with Ag., 175–7, although Ag. was superior, 84–6, 343. The word ταγός only here in Eur., but it is Tragic (see Fraenkel on Ag. 110); of naval commanders in Persians 324, 480.  kin supporting kin: 85, a relationship made much of by Men. in his agon with Ag.: see 317–414a n. (i). The Chorus’ straightforward view of the brothers’ harmony in the pursuit of punishment is interestingly placed between the uneasy prologue and the agon.  reparation for the woman: i.e. Helen 62–5, cf. Ag. at 384–5, Men. at 487–8. ‘Reparation’ is the regular legal sense of πρᾶξις: LSJ VI.1, cf. the verb πράσσω LSJ VI and the agent-noun πράκτωρ LSJ II; the gen. states

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the person (or object) for whom compensation is sought, not punishment (see Iliad 2.581–90 cited under Text below); and Helen was indeed not to be killed. There are nevertheless many places where this vocabulary nears, or does mean, ‘retribution upon’ – and LSJ πρᾶξις VI.2 gives IA 272 as its sole example for this noun; so ‘revenge for’ is clear where ‘bloodshed’ stands in the gen., e.g. S. El. 953 (πράκτωρ).  Greece … barbarian: a continuation of the Panhellenic theme, 65 n., Introduction pp. 15–18; cf. Men. in the agon 370, 410. Greek. 269 φίλος φίλῳ: for the figure polyptoton in adjacent words see 73b–6 n. [Text. 268 ἀδελφὸς Markland brother: ἄδραστος L ‘Adrastus’. The correction is disputed but indisputable (cf. Renehan (1998) 265), accepted by all recent eds except Günther and Turato; like Murray in the first OCT, they supposed adulteration or confusion with Adrastus of Sicyon, Iliad 2.572; see too Ferrari (1990) 107–8. But ‘brother’ is appropriate to the insistence on kinship (above), let alone the simple facts of the expedition (84–5 n.). It is no adequate objection that Men. has been mentioned in 175 but not again in the catalogue, or that Spartan ships, under his sole command, may have been lost from a gap to be located between 272 and 273. The simplest explanation of the error is that a scribe miscopied one of the two words so similar in lettering, esp. since a proper name had no ‘capital’.] 273–6  From Pylos … Nestor: Iliad 2.591–602, with 90 ships, a number second only to Ag.’s 100 (our 267). There Nestor follows Ag., with Men. in between: cf. 268–72 n. Text.  Gerenian: Nestor’s formulaic identification in the Iliad (×25), but its origin and meaning were lost even in antiquity. visible: English makes for a slight exaggeration in translating the Greek inf. ὁρᾶν ‘to see’: see Greek. with a bull’s feet … their neighbouring Alpheus: Jouan 70 n. 2 says that Alpheus is always depicted in human form, unlike other rivers; see our 170 n. (his pursuit of Arethusa). River-gods were normally male (water being generative: 697 n.), and with some bull’s attributes, an allusion to their patron ‘god’ Poseidon (horned River Oceanus Or. 1378, famously River Achelous S. Trac. 508–9, cf. 11). In Iliad 2.592 there is a ford of the Alpheus at Thryon, a place in Pylian territory; 11.711–12 locates it ‘far’ from Pylos, and indeed Alpheus was the great river at Olympia to the N, so that ‘neighbouring’ here is vague at best.

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Greek. 275 ὁρᾶν is dependent upon the adj. ταυρόπουν: see 202 n. [Text. Lines 273–6 are defective, lacking an object for 274 I saw, perhaps the number of Nestor’s ships, and probably both sense and syntax preparatory to 275 the emblem (see 261–4 n. Text).   275 πρύμναις Diggle dat. plur. as in 241 (πρύμναισι earlier Markland): πρύμνας L gen., and sing., a little awkwardly when Nestor brought 90 ships (above); πρυμνᾶν gen. plur. Murray.] 277–302  have an indeterminable metrical structure: see 164–302 n. 3.1 (c). 277–93  In this last part of the list, detail of the peoples and leaders becomes thinner, just four (apparently) in 17 (corrupt) lines; the last picture, of Ajax (288–93a: n.), is longest; all but he are minor figures. 277–9a  Aenians: Aenis was an area NW of Locris and inland from the Malian Gulf. Its people are not, probably, the Enienes of Iliad 2.748–9, although their leader is named here in IA as Gouneus, for there he comes from an unknown city Cyphus, and has with him the Perrhaebians of Thessaly well to the N; and they have 22 ships, not 12. This man is shadowy in myth; [Apollodorus] Epit. 6.15a and Lycophron, Alexandra 899 add a few but different details.  fleet: translates -στολος in the adj.; the noun στόλος registers anything put in order for sending off, a fleet again IT 10, a chariot Or. 990; or a departure itself and its purpose, an ‘expedition’ 816 below. 279b–82  Elis: Iliad 2.615, coupled with an unlocated Buprasion, 40 ships. Elis was in the NW Peloponnese, so that its place in the fleet near the Aenians in mainland Locris is not ‘geographical’. Iliad 2.618–24 names four ‘rulers’ (ἄρχοι) of Elis, each with ‘many Epeians on board’: these ‘rulers’ may be reflected in 280 masters (δυνάστορες), and Od. 13.275 has ‘where the Epeians rule’.  army: the usual meaning of λαός in the Iliad, ‘the people (at war)’ (LSJ I.1), whereas λαός in the Odyssey and λεώς in Tragedy usually mean ‘people, population’ (LSJ I.2).  Eurytus: named in Iliad 2.621, but as father of Thalpius, one of two leaders (apparently) of the Epeians (see Text). Greek. 281 ὠνόμαζε called: for the idiomatic impf. rather than aor. of this verb, see 416 and e.g. Supp. 1218; Fraenkel on Ag. 681. [Text. Hermann wrote the gen. Εὐρύτου here, with ‘son’ missing in the gap which he established after 282]. 283–7 †were led by Meges their lord†: only an approximation to the

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sense which may have been intended (see Text).  Taphians: not named in the Iliad, but at 2.625–30 Meges leads 40 ships from the Echinae islands. Modern geographers locate the Taphiae islands NW of them, and both were among many islands NW of Elis (the Iliad has ‘opposite Elis’, 626). The islands were normally called the Echinades (Hdt. 2.10.3 [Text: conjectured by Voss, despite his likely ignorance of P2’s comment ‘he means the Echinades’]). The name derives from ἐχῖνος ‘hedgehog’: the islands were ‘spiny, jagged’, and decidedly unsuitable for sailors; but some have interpreted this adj. from the nearby Taphians’ reputation for piracy, Od. 15.427; with their white oars: Od. 1.181 calls them ‘lovers of the oar’; splashing oars throw up white foam, 12.172, cf. perhaps E. Hypsipyle 844. Greek. 285 λόχευμα child, abstract verbal noun in -μα personified (lit. ‘birthing, thing birthed’), cf. Pho. 803; see also on πόρευμα 300 n. [Text. 285 is obviously corrupt (many editors have obelized all of 282 Εὔρυτος to 284 ἄνασσε): there is no syntax; the two finite verbs ἦγεν ‘led’ and ἄνασσε ‘ruled’ are near-synonyms; the plur. rel. pron. ὧν is problematic if its antecedent is sing. Ἄρη. Musgrave/Tyrwhitt’s conjecture ἡγεμὼν, replacing ἦγεν ὧν L, would seem to meet the difficulties, ‘Meges as leader commanded the warrior Taphians’, and attractively, for Iliad 2.627 has the words ἡγεμόνευε Μέγης; but ἄνασσε (translated as ‘their lord’, nowhere controls an acc., and in repetition does not sit well close to ἄνασσε in 282, esp. when there the verb indeed means ‘ruled’. Hermann deleted 284 ἄνασσε, but as part of his reconstruction of the line.] 288–93a  Ajax … of Salamis: 193–4 and n.; Iliad 2.557 similarly gives him 12 ships. The stationing of his vessels in relation to others is described the most fully in the entire list; elsewhere we have just ‘near’, 243, 249, 279; and Ajax’s final placing appears to be on the left wing, just as the first placing, that of Achilles, was on the right, 235–6 – but the obelized words lack sense as translated (see Text below) and are metrically uncertain.  linking: lit. ‘interweaving’; the verb συμπλέκω and its noun συμπλοκή are used not just of ‘close engagement’ of ships and forces at war, but expressly of ‘entanglement’ (LSJ II.1 cite e.g. Hdt. 8.84.1 ‘(ships) entangled and incapable of separation’); but no contingent would combine and mix anchorages with another, despite Ajax’s having very manoeuvrable ships. The word furthest is perhaps due to its use at Iliad 8.225 = 11.8, where it indeed describes the location on the wings

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of both Ajax and Achilles, ‘confident in the courage and strength of their hands (literally, χειρῶν, not naval ‘hands’)’. Greek. πλάταισιν vessels: for the meaning see 172 n. [Text. There are successive problems. (1) 290 ξύναγε L: the accentuation is correct only if the verb is impf. without temporal ‘lengthening’, but its metrical shape is very difficult at colon-end: so ξυνᾶγε (Doric) impf. Hermann (but as part of his reconstruction). (2) The inescapable meaning of L in 290 is (Ajax … united) the right wing (held by Ach.: above) to the left (held by himself): Diggle’s apparatus puts the difficulty concisely, ‘the one who holds the left wing, as Ajax does, is incorrectly said to bring the right together towards the left. He can perhaps be said to bring the left together towards the right, provided the fleet is shaped into a round’. (3) 291–2a The masc. gen. plur. def. art. τῶν serving as rel. pron. (Smyth 1105) appears to have as its antecedent the neut. sing. δέξιον κέρας, in the construction ‘according to sense’ (967 and n.; Smyth 2502a), despite the word-order. The literal sense is ‘nearer whose vessels (Ajax) was moored’ (those of Achilles on the right); the dat. adj. ἐσχάταισι ‘furthest’ goes readily with the preceding noun ‘vessels’ πλάταισιν; only the extreme ships of the two squadrons would be adjacent. We translate τῶν ἆσσον ὥρμει πλάταισιν ἐσχάταισι as he was moored near its furthest vessels, in parenthesis. The second dat. ναυσίν appears to be appositional to πλάταισιν. (4) 292b–3a The number twelve must relate to Ajax himself, not to Ach., who has 50 ships (238), and our ‘translation’ linking (them) with his … ships gives not the literal meaning, but the desired one. LSJ συμπλέκω I.1 cite our passage with just the first dat. (πλάταισιν), ignoring the second, and commenting ‘perhaps binding the whole together’, where ‘the whole’ is an acc. ‘understood’: so we put them in our translation. Blaydes’ conjecture of the acc. εὐστροφώτατας ναῦς very manoeuvrable ships, as object to συμπλέκων, would indeed restore sense; but the conjecture has severe consequences for restoring metre.] 293b–5  That was the way I heard and saw: the conclusion of the list, phrasing repeated but reversed in 299 and 301. The pairing ‘heard’ with ‘saw’ may be ‘automatic rhetoric’ (e.g. Supp. 849–50, with Collard’s n.), but perhaps looks back to what the Chorus heard from their husbands (176) and have now seen. Note the recurring words for ships in 293, 297, 300.

Commentary

317

Greek. 293 ὥς accented, ‘thus’, adverbial, very rare in Tragedy and always disputed, e.g. Hec. 441, S. El. 65. The simple verb ἀΐω has no aor. forms recorded (LSJ); here its impf. ἄϊον is combined with aor. εἰδόμαν. [Text. 293 ὥς ?Murray. Some eds print ὡς L, the relative adv., ‘as (I heard…)’ – but relative to what? The clause has its own independent syntax, and gives complete sense.] 296–9  sets … against: a unique hostile sense for προσαρμόζω ‘fit to, attach to’, but the notion may be close to the English metaphor ‘measure against’; cf. συνάπτω ‘fit together’, of engaged weapons e.g. Pho.1192, Or. 1482.  boats: βᾶρις, an Egyptian (loan-?) word; properly flatbottomed vessels like punts, for river-freighting (Hdt. 2.96 describes their construction). Τhe poet here uses the word of sea-going vessels for exotic colour, like the ‘barbarian’ ships of A. Pers. 553, Supp. 836; perhaps he was drawn by the alliteration bar- bar- in the Greek (for alliteration see V. Bers, EGT 1369). The Panhellenic theme again? see Introduction p. 15. Greek. 298 ἀποφέρομαι mid. win, lit. ‘carry off, bring away’ a prize for oneself; LSJ B II; the verb is used bleakly of a man whose broken skull will prevent him ‘bringing his life home’ to his mother Pho. 1161. The conditional sentence has the fut. indic. in both clauses, a usage often threatening, i.e. ‘if you will not … you shall not’: Smyth 2328.   299 οἷον equates here with (δι)οτι τοιοῦτο, ‘(because) such … have I seen’; it forms a dependent explanatory clause, ‘exclamatory in origin’, Bond on Her. 816–17; it is frequent, e.g. Hel. 74, twice 664; LSJ II.2; Smyth 2687.   300 πόρευμα lit. ‘crossing, means of crossing’, a neut. verbal noun personified of the ‘crosser’, the armada; the usage is typical of Euripides, e.g. Supp. 173, Hel. 191. Cf. A. Ag. 73 ἀρωγή ‘help, support’, an army as a means, of this same force against Troy. [Text. 299 οἷον ‘such etc.’ Hermann, palmary: ἄιον L ‘I heard’ was an easy error, the pairing with ‘saw’ being idiomatic (294–5 n.); but the asyndetic verbs are awkward.] 301–2  hearing … at home: from their husbands, 175 and n.  called together: some commentators take the adj. σύγκλητος here as an echo of the Athenians’ technical vocabulary for convening an extraordinary meeting of the assembly (see Jebb on Ant. 159): unlikely, but the word may link with the play’s ‘democratic’ contexts (see Introduction pp. 12–14). Greek. κλύουσα from hearing pres. tense after aor. εἰδόμαν, well

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illustrated by Tro. 687 ἰδοῦσα καὶ κλύουσ’ ἐπίσταμαι ‘I know after seeing and from hearsay’. [Text. 302 Editors have suspected the adj. σύγκλητου called together, and Dindorf suggested the noun συλλόγου, dependent upon τὰ κατ’ οἴκους ‘the things at home (of, about) the gathering’; then στρατεύματος host alone depends upon μνήμην.] 303–542 First Episode There are three parts: A: 303–414a confrontation (agon) of Menelaus and Agamemnon; B: 414b–41 a messenger reports the imminent arrival of Iphigenia, in the charge of Clytemnestra; C: 442–542 reconciliation of Men. and Ag. For suspect authenticity within the episode see the nn. on 303–16, 366–75, 404–14a (407), 414b–41, 520–1. A: 303–414a  Confrontation of Men. and Ag. The sun now shines (156–8) on the hugger-mugger dealings of the sons of Atreus. 303–16 are an introductory incident, an angry encounter between the OM and Men., who has intercepted the OM on his way to Clyt., seized Ag.’s second letter and read its contents. The two enter quarrelling in agitated stichomythia about each other’s behaviour, and a tussle over possession of the letter ensues 303–13. Failing to recover it, the OM calls out to Ag. in his hut, and he appears 314–16. The agon itself follows: see 317–414a n. Staging.  The episode starts in a lively way with a dialogue, recalling the play’s beginning (see 1–163 n. Staging). As Ag.’s lantern there immediately focussed the issues at hand, so Ag.’s letter here at once draws eyes and attention to a further crisis for him. His confrontation with Men. in 317– 414a begins and ends in anger; it gives actors the chance of expressive movement and gesturing; indeed the whole episode 303–542 affords such opportunity, including weeping 450–2, 477–8, and many shifting tones of voice (473–503 n., para. 2 at end). Some details: 303–16 Men. enters, holding in one hand his staff of rank 311 while with the other struggling to keep hold of Ag.’s tablet-letter 310. Men. speaks scornfully to the OM and threatens him with a bloody beating 311; he appears to regain possession of the letter in 313, prompting the OM to

Commentary

319

cry out to Ag. who is in his hut 314–16.   Art. The tussle is imagined on the 2nd century BC ‘Homeric’ bowls nos 6 and 7: see 111–14 n. In Tragedy such talking entries are not rare in scenes of tension (Taplin (1977) 363–4), esp. Hipp. 601ff., Supp. 381–2 and 838, Alexandros F 62a (a vigorous argument); also A. Eum. 64, S. Phil. 1222–40; see Stevens’ note on And. 146, Fries on Rhesus 565–94. For threats of violence cf. And. 588 Peleus’ threat to give Men. a bloody head; Hel. 1628–9 a servant grips his master’s robe to prevent his movement. For physical touch in Tragedy see K. Kaimio, EGT 972–4. Two characters entering already engaged in conversation or a quarrel is particularly a technique of New Comedy (‘a device much favoured by Menander’, Gomme and Sandbach on Dyskolos 233, with references); compare the disputes over trinkets, perhaps already underway, at Menander, Epitr. 218ff., and over the chest at Plautus, Rope 938 ff. This similarity, and the comic elements of the scene in IA, esp. the physical struggle, raised doubts about its authenticity from England and Stockert (1982b); but Stockert abandoned his case in his edition (1992, 277); he also observed that the iambic trimeters of 303–16 are metrically conservative, untypical of Eur.’s late plays. Stage-properties: for Men.’s staff see 311 n. The tablet: Men.’s threat to show it to the Greeks 324 is overtaken by the brothers’ reconciliation 506–7, and we hear no more of it: either Men. hands it over to Ag. (cf. 323) or takes it away on his exit at 542. In the 2015 Syracuse production he flung the tablet to the ground, smashing it. 314–16 For shouting to someone off-stage, see Mastronarde on Pho. 1069–71 and Allan on Hcld. 642–3. It appears from the following stichomythia 318–34 that Ag. hears the summons but does not grasp that Men. has seized the tablet; cf. Mastronarde (1979) 28–9, with interesting parallels, esp. ‘a character not yet in full contact with those on stage can both hear and not hear, that is, both hear the summons and not hear the details of the lines that are ostensibly addressed to the emerging character’. 317 Ag. enters upon hearing not just the OM’s summons, but the ‘noisy argument’: see 317 n. 318–19 The OM may well be on stage still when he is referred to here, but can go out at any time after that: silent exits by minor characters are often indeterminable from the text: see Taplin (1977) 8 n. 4, 88–91

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(messengers); 309–10 (major persons exiting without a final word). Are we nevertheless supposed to believe that he eavesdrops on the rest of the scene? At 865ff. he knows that Ag. has changed his mind since 316; but when and how does he know this? Ag. does not reenter his hut at 543 (see n.) and is on stage until 750 when he goes off to the army. 303–16  Men.’s tussle with the OM is vividly reflected in their direct, urgent Greek: there is simple emphasis through repeated verbs in 303, 306, 309–10; the cluster of colloquialisms (Stockert II.278; Collard (2005) 358) has however an admixture of poetic diction (see esp. 305 n.); and the stichomythia breaks into two voices within one line (antilabe) in 310 at the height of the tussle (compare the disputes at Menander, Epitr. 218ff. and at Plautus, Rope 938 ff. described under Staging above). For antilabe cf. 1–3 (n.), 739, [1537] and esp. 1336–1509 n. and (E) 1475–1509 n. Form. In the parodos, the Chorus had presented an idealized view of the Greeks, referring to them as demi-gods (ἡμίθεοι 172). By his undignified behaviour, with its possible comedic overtones, Men. brings us abruptly down to earth. 303  you are committing an outrage: cf. Ag. to Men. at 331. The OM speaks in familiar language, lit. ‘you are daring terrible things’; cf. τολμᾷς…; with infin. in other protests Alc. 552, (lyric) Or. 827. The wording is like that of 98 and 133, but can hardly echo those graver moments. 304  Away with you!: ἄπελθε ‘go away!’, perhaps literally, rather than ‘Get lost!’, for which Stockert compares Hcld. 273, El. 223.  all too faithful: the audience will recall that this reverses the OM’s assertion of his value to Ag. his master 114 – and in his own eyes 45, 153; Men. attacks again in 313. But see Introduction p. 25 for the OM’s subsequent breach of fidelity to Ag. 855–95. Greek. δεσπόταισι ‘master’: the unmistakably allusive plur. is idiomatic, e.g. Hec. 557, 1237 the same word; Smyth 1007; in 312 below the plur. is perhaps general. 305  What you reproach me with brings me honour: καλόν γέ μοι τοὔνειδος ἐξωνείδισας, lit. ‘fine is the insult you insulted me with’. The emphatic particle γε frequently follows καλός, καλῶς ‘fine’ in sarcasm (1170 n.; GP 128), but is surely to be taken at face value here in view of the speaker; the OM’s 312 repeats this tone in his objection. The oxymoron (Smyth 3035; V. Bers, EGT 1372; in lyric Breitenbach 1934,

Commentary

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236–8) καλὸν ὄνειδος ‘fine insult’ is something of a cliché, e.g. Med. 514, Pho. 821; indeed it became part of a proverb, Diogenian 4.85. While the OM voices his sentiments with simplicity, here the expression’s use as a cognate acc. with ἐξωνείδισας moves his language to a higher register, as he stands on his dignity; cf. Bacc. 652 ὠνείδισας δὴ τοῦτο Διονύσῳ καλόν ‘A fine insult to Dionysus, indeed!’ For the topos of the noble slave, cf. e.g. Hel. 726–33, Ion 854–6, and J. Gregory, G&R 49 (2002), 145–62, at 153–60; Brandt (1973) 5, 21–2 on loyalty. Greek. ἐξωνείδισας: for the ‘dramatic’ aor. see 440 n. 306  You’ll be sorry: κλαίοις ἄν is colloquial (Stevens (1976) 15–16). The idiom with κλαίω is common in Aristophanes (κλαύσῃ fut. ‘you’ll be weeping (with pain) if…’, i.e. from a beating), but not infrequent in Tragedy, e.g. And. 577, 758; (together with a conditional protasis) A. Supp. 925. 307  undone: λύω as in 38. 308  And you shouldn’t be…: Greek. οὐδέ γε … σέ: understand χρῆν from 307. οὐδέ γε unseparated by an intervening word or words is uncommon, but cf. S. El. 1347, also in an answer (GP 156); our 310 οὐδ’ (ἔγω)γε illustrates the commoner usage. [Text. The papyrus confirms Kirchhoff’s correction of L, where the invasion of δεῖ is perhaps explicable as continuing the sense of 307 χρῆν.] 309–10 Quarrel: The verb ἁμιλλάομαι and the phrase ἅμιλλα (λόγων) ‘quarrel (of words)’ often herald a Euripidean agon, e.g. Supp. 195, Her. 1255.  about this: ταῦτα: internal acc. with this verb, as Hipp. 971.  with someone else: the plur. ἄλλοις ‘others’ is either generalizing (i.e. ‘not with me’) or alludes to Ag. In the tussle for the chest at Plautus, Rope 938ff. cf. esp. 1015 Mitte rudentem, sceleste. Mittam: omitte uidulum. ‘Let the rope go, you rascal.’ ‘I’ll let it go: forget the chest!’ Greek. ἁμιλλῶ is 2. pers. sing. pres. mid. imperative. οὐκ ἂν μεθείμην I won’t let it go, opt. with ἄν in a refusal, e.g. Alc. 1114, Hcld. 344; Smyth 1826a. The mid. voice of strong personal intention is at once matched in fut. indic. ἀφήσομαι. [Text. The papyrus confirms Markland’s correction to ἄλλοις of L’s ἄλλως, which in the sense ‘otherwise (than successfully)’, i.e. ‘vainly’, is inappropriate with an imperative, even when used sardonically.]

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311  Then I’ll soon … with my staff: similar wording And. 588 σκήπτρῳ γε τῷδε σὸν καθαιμάξας κάρα, Peleus’ threat to Menelaus (there is a fut. verb in 587). The verb καθαιμάσσω strikes a tragic register: cf. also e.g. Hec. 1126, Or. 1527. There may be a reference here to Hom. Il. 2.265–71 where Odysseus uses the royal sceptre to beat up the lowly and stroppy Thersites, much to amusement of the Achaeans. Sommerstein (2010) 48–55 argues from our scene and others that violence is never visibly inflicted in tragedy, with the one exception of PV in which a wedge is driven right through the hero’s chest (64–5); even without Men.’s carrying out his threat, the unique nature of this on-stage action would have made it highly effective dramatically (see 303–414a n. Staging). Greek. τάχα ‘soon’ in a threat e.g. 970. ἆρα inferential Then is a frequent alternative form for ἄρα (GP 45); here it is required by metre. 312  a glorious thing to die for one’s master: again the topos of the noble slave (305 n.): cf. Hel. 1640–1 ὡς πρὸ δεσποτῶν | τοῖσι γενναίοισι δούλοις εὐκλεέστατον θανεῖν (‘very glorious for noble slaves to die…’, in a parallel scene). Greek. ἀλλὰ … τοι ‘Well, it is’, with the latter particle emphatic to the person addressed; cf. [1629], GP 549). 313  Let it go: probably Men. succeeds in wresting the tablet from the OM at this point (Paley); so the OM cries out suddenly to Ag. in 314.  you are talking far too much: μακρούς = ‘overlong’ (Headlam); cf. Hec. 1177, Pho. 592. For the speech of slaves restricted cf. Ion 674–5, Pho. 391–2. Men. makes a curt rejoinder to the OM’s ‘glorious thing … for one’s master’. Brandt (1973) 123 observes that the OM is differently ‘wordy’, i.e. reluctant to come to the point, in 861–71. Greek. δοῦλος ὤν for a slave: for this idiom of the part. without a restrictive rel. adv. such as ὡς (Smyth 2993; LSJ Ab. II.2), cf. Hel. 1629 ἀλλὰ δεσποτῶν κρατήσεις δοῦλος ὤν ‘Will you control your master when you are a slave?’; the part. itself is circumstantial, but the idiom is not illustrated by Smyth 2086. 315–16  An early contrast between force βία and ‘justice’ δίκη at e.g. Hom. Il. 16.387–8, Hes. WD 275. In Athenian law, violence (ὕβρις) towards another man’s slave was illegal: see MacDowell’s discussion in his edition of Demosthenes, Meidias 21.46–8. Greek. χράομαι lit. ‘use (justice)’ is a very flexible verb, its translation dependent on context; e.g. with τοῖς βελτίστοις ‘the best (conduct)’ at

Commentary

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503, νόμοις ‘law’ at Med. 537–8 ‘you know justice, and to use law without force’; cf. 87–8 n., 1147, 1428. 317–414a Agon of Men. and Ag. (i)  The animosity of the brothers in the opening stichomythia 317–34 springs from their sense that each has failed their mutual obligations as kin, as well as those to friends: the Greek word φίλος embraces both meanings, here chiefly the first, and it is used repeatedly by Men., 334, 344 and 347 in his speech; later, 404–5, 408, cf. 414a, all three in the closing stichomythia: note Mastronarde (2010) 235–6, Men.’s hammering repetitions of the word philos. Ag. uses the word just once in retaliation, 405. The theme returns strongly in the brothers’ reconciliation 470–541: cf. 473–503 n. See M. McDonald, ‘Philia: motivation in Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis’, QUCC 34.1 (1990) 69–84; for philia in Tragedy see S. Lawrence in EGT 1451–3. Men. is angry at Ag.’s secret betrayal of his own and the Greek cause through his second letter to Clyt. 322–8; Ag. is angry at Men.’s interference in his personal affairs 329–31. Although in the Iliad Ag. is a protective elder brother, and Men. a sympathetic figure (whom like Patroclus Homer is liable to address in apostrophe), quarrels between them nevertheless became part of the poetic tradition after Nestor’s words in Od. 3.136–56, on which see B. Sammons, Mnem 67 (2014) 1–27; the quarrels, which mirror those between their father Atreus and their uncle Thyestes, are reflected in Tragedy, e.g. S. Polyxena F 522 and E. Telephus F 722–3, their disputes about sailing to Troy and back to Greece; on IA see Sammons 10–14. Both main speeches (335–75, 378–401) start by deprecating mutual offensiveness, but both claim the higher ground morally (Men. 335–6, Ag. 378–80); then each mounts four principal arguments. In summary: 335–75 Men.’s speech is long and impassioned (‘he rushes headlong into his tirade without pausing for breath’, Ritchie); yet the speech is both well–organized and full of rhetorical turns. (a) Ag. sought the command against Troy through open canvassing, but once he had gained it, he closed his mind to all ‘friends’ 337–49; (b) Men. saved Ag.’s ‘face’ when the winds failed, and he had been reduced to utter helplessness 350–7; (c) When Calchas assured Ag. that, if he sacrificed his daughter to Artemis, the expedition could sail, he joyfully agreed and summoned the girl to Aulis under the pretext of marriage with Achilles (but with Men’s ‘joyfully’ contrast Ag.’s own defensive account 80–103); then Ag.

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Commentary

reversed his agreement in his second letter to her mother 358–65; (d) He thus endangers the Greeks’ noble intention against barbarians, making the Greeks ridiculous to the non-Greek Trojans 366–75. Men. charges Ag. with moral ‘badness’ (κακός 349, cf. 367); and Ag. throws the word back at him repeatedly (384–7, 395; cf. 389, 397, of Men.’s ‘bad’ wife Helen). The narrative elements in this scornful speech bring to vivid life Men.’s portrait of the shifting Ag.; they have a cumulative effect assisted by the clearly placed conjunctions, esp. 343 κᾆτ(α) ‘And then…’, 350 ὡς δ(έ) ‘Then again…’ followed by 356 κἀμέ ‘And … my…’, 358 κᾆτ(α) ‘And then…’, 363 κᾆτ(α) ‘And then…’. 378–401 Ag.’s speech begins crisply, promising a rejoinder to Men. – but ‘brief’ 378; the word marks his peroration too 400, and this may be the poet’s way of drawing attention to the differing length of the two speeches. In particular Ag.’s 381–4, with their ‘short, jabbing questions’ (Cavander (1973) 96), have an attacking style unlike anything in Men.’s speech. Ag. however also attempts a note of moderation, starting with (a) ‘Who is wronging you?’, but at once counter-attacks Men.’s selfish sensuality in trying to rescue his disastrous marriage; its consequences are for Men. 381–7; (b) that, and his own change of mind upon realising his mistake while Men. persisted, are the ground for his third attack on his brother’s motive 388–90; (c) Men. swore to the suitors’ foolish oath (see 58–65) out of hope, not understanding the gods’ view of it 391–5; therefore (d) Ag. will not kill his daughter to enable Men.’s retaliation upon a worthless wife 396–9. In his curt peroration 400–1 Ag.’s words ‘if you do not wish to be sensible’ echo his 388 and 394a, and ‘I shall put my affairs in good order’ echo his 331. Of the whole speech Conacher (1967) 254 remarks that ‘we find the whole projected war, and so the threat to Iph.’s life, appearing as a shabby affair, the result of personal ambition on the one hand and of lust or, at best, a misplaced uxoriousness, on the other’. Ag. in effect replies only to Men.’s (d), esp. that Ag. will betray Greece to save his daughter’s life (370–2), but this does not mean that he has no answer to his brother’s most extravagant charges: rebuttal is not dramatically necessary because the audience can make its own judgement in the light of what it has already seen of Ag.’s present state of mind (so Ritchie). Mastronarde (2010) 236 argues that ‘the agonistic setting of rhetorical display’ has given Ag. ‘a more decisive voice’ than he had in the prologue.

Commentary

325

The concluding stichomythia 404–14a, like the first, is a sequence of irreconcilable hostility: Ag. rejects Men.’s appeal to aid Greece. The typical agon in Euripides at its finish leaves things unaltered from its start; it normally ends with the exit of one of the main contestants – but here both Ag. and Men. remain on stage to hear the Messenger’s speech (B: 414b–41) and then achieve harmony of a kind in an anti-agon (C: 441–542, esp. 471–541). This overall structure is unique to this play: see Lloyd (1992) 3–4, 15 (see (ii) below), who on 130 draws attention to the fact that while Euripides’ three agones immediately before this one (in Troades, Phoenissae and Orestes) ‘may have indicated a tendency … later … to complexity and abstraction’, the agon in IA ‘is a quarrel in which the contestants concentrate on points of an essentially personal nature’, thus recalling that of the early Alcestis 614–740. (ii) The agon (ἀγών lit. ‘contest’) has the structure regular in this scene of formalised argument; it is a favourite dramatic mode of Euripides. In general see Duchemin (1968), Rutherford (2012) 190–200, Collard in EGT 534–6. For our scene see Lloyd (1992) esp. 15–16; Stockert 276; S. Halliwell in Pelling (1997) 135–7; Dubischar (2001) 114–17, 123–4, 364–70; see also the scene 1098–1275 and n. For Euripides generally see Collard in Mossman (2003) 64–80; Lloyd 1–18, 130–2; Dubischar; Mastronarde (2010) 222–45. The structural elements are: introductory encounter of the two opponents, setting out the grounds of dispute 317–34; two opposing long speeches, the end of each marked off by a choral couplet 335–75 + 376–7 and 378– 401 + 402–3; a closing stichomythia confirming two intractable positions 404–14a. Unusual elements here (Dubischar 115–16) are (1) the casting of the introductory matter not in a brief irregular exchange but in antagonistic stichomythia (comparable introductions e.g. And. 577–89, Pho. 482–90); (2) the abruptness of its beginning immediately upon Ag.’s entry; (3) the great disparity in length between the two speeches, Ag.’s being little more than half that of Men.’s – greater than the one other significant disparity, between And. 147–80 and 184–231 (Lloyd (1992) 6; see also below); (4) the unique employment for the speeches not of iambic trimeters but of more vigorous trochaic tetrameters (see below). Equality in length of the speeches in an agon is usually taken not only to reflect the practice regular in real-life forensic speeches (where the

326

Commentary

use of a waterclock was intended to ensure equal timings), but to mark an equivalence in cogency between two positions which leads plausibly to continued disagreement. Here, Ag.’s patronising attitude and brevity contrast with Men.’s passion, so that Men.’s subsequent capitulation to pity in 471–510 is more effective, and significant for Ag.’s later lack of feeling. The question is often asked: do Eur.’s agon-scenes lead to a ‘winner’, in that many of them resemble judicial trials and that all deploy forensic rhetoric? An older and common view is that the second speaker normally ‘wins’; but Lloyd (1992) 15–17 begins the most balanced discussion of the issue by observing that ‘The agon in Euripides rarely achieves anything’ and that ‘the rule is that the plaintiff or claimant speaks first’ (pp. 15 and 17). Is the second speaker then normally ‘more sympathetic’ in the theatre (16)? Very often – but not always; in IA Ag., the play’s tormented protagonist, is certainly more sympathetic: cf. e.g. 442–542 n., Introduction pp. 20–3. (iii)  Trochaic tetrameters are used in Tragedy in ‘scenes of heightened tension’, West (1982) 78, who 91–2 analyses their rhythmic variety. They occur in the earliest surviving play, A. Persians, in two episodes at 155– 75 and 215–28, and 697–9 and 703–58, and once in Agamemnon, 1649– 73. Otherwise, Euripides is their great exponent, first at Tro. 444–61 (415 BC) and increasingly after that; Sophocles uses them only briefly, in the extant late plays Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. The IA has three spans, 327–401 here, 855–96 a fraught scene between Clyt. and Ag., and 1338–1401 Iph.’s long speech resolving upon self-sacrifice; all three scenes portray strong emotions. In an interesting discussion Mastronarde (2010) 239 remarks that in IA Euripides seems to be experimenting ‘with … trochaic tetrameters to modulate the pace and tone of dialogue toward the excited or even the feverish’. The best treatment of the metre’s dramatic use by Euripides remains W. Krieg, Philologus 91 (1936) 42– 51; for Tragedy in general see M. Imhof, MH 13 (1956) 125–43 (127–8 on IA); T. Drew-Bear, AJP 89 (1968) 385–405 (403–5 on IA); for both Tragedy and Comedy see A. N. Michelini, Tradition and Form in the Persians of Aeschylus (Leiden 1982) 41–64. Also: M. Centanni, Metro, ritmo e poesia nella tragedia greca: le scene in tetrametri trocaici (Lecce 1996: not seen by us). 317–34  Stichomythia between Ag. and Men. The metre now changes to trochaic: 317–414a n. (iii), at end.

Commentary

327

317  What’s going on?: the single word ἔα in the Greek: ‘without exception in Eur. ἔα expresses the surprise of the speaker at some novel, often unwelcome, impression on his senses’ (Fraenkel, Agamemnon p. 580 n. 4, cited by Stevens (1976) 33 and n. 81 on this colloquialism, cf. Collard (2005) 362). It stands usually outside the metre, in an emphatic signal of its abruptness; 644, 1132, cf. Med. 1005, Hec. 1116. at my gates: cf. 803, 862. Ag.’s ‘hut’ (1 n.) is substantial: see 189 n. Ag. enters upon hearing not just the OM’s summons, but the noisy argument – just as Agamemnon enters Hec. 1109 (on hearing the noise of Polymestor’s agony when blinded). Greek. ‘noisy argument’: hendiadys of θόρυβος and λόγων ἀκοσμία. This last word (only here in E.) refers both to literal disorder (Pl. Gorg. 509a) and unseemliness (S. F 846). The figure hendiadys is common in Euripides, 53 n. [Text. For a full discussion of L* and Triclinius’ interventions (and P) see Zuntz (1965) 99–100.] 318  My words have a better right: Men. seizes the initiative: cf. e.g. And. 153, Hcld. 181–3; Lloyd (1992) 25–7. Greek. For κύριός εἰμι + inf. meaning ‘I am entitled to, I have authority to’ (famously A. Ag. 104) see LSJ I.2. 319  into strife: the Chorus are made to pick up this phrase in 377. Greek. σύ: you: the emphatic pron. is further emphasized by the postponement of the interrogative, as e.g. 700, 728, 730 in a tense dialogue; see e.g. Dodds on Bacc. 471, Mastronarde, Medea (2002) 95 § 35; Smyth 3028. ἄγω ‘pull, drag’ e.g. 1365; Med. 1216 also with πρὸς βίαν (but in an attempt to escape); Tro. 998 with βίᾳ. [Metre. Three resolutions in this line, as in 356, 884 in IA; this is rare in tetrameters, but the three lines all express extreme emotions.] 320  Look at me: for a comparable demand for a face-to-face confrontation, before an agon, cf. Hipp. 946–7 and Her. 1155–6 (despite its being with a polluted killer; such a killer tries to avoid it); even more blunt is S. OT 1121 φώνει βλέπων ‘Look (at me) and speak!’ Men. will not start his complaints against Ag. until they have full eye contact; see Ag. at 378–9 (n.); for such rules of encounter see D. Lateiner, EGT 654–56; Introduction pp. 33–4. Even after this, Ag. must face the eyes of Clyt., Iph. and little Orestes: 455, 644, 743, 1245 (for this point see Smith (1979) 176); as for Ach., the OM has already warned Ag. of his likely anger, 124–6.  this start: marking

328

Commentary

out the stages of an agon is common; speech-beginnings e.g. Supp. 403, 517; Lloyd (1992) 4. 321  …that I, the son of Atreus, am going to tremble…?: the point here lies in the etymology of the name Atreus. Among Socrates’ three suggestions for it at Plat. Crat. 395b–c only the second, τὸ ἄτρεστον (‘not trembling’, α-τρε-, a-tre-, i.e. fearlessness) comes into play: the son of Atreus can ‘eyeball’ his brother without trembling; the other two are τὸ ἀτειρές (a-teir, stubbornness) and, a little different in spelling, τὸ ἀτηρόν (ate- ruinous nature). Ironically enough, Socrates says (395a) that Ag.’s own name (ἀγα-με(μ)ν- aga-me(m)n-, ‘admirable for remaining’) is apt for him, but in IA steadfastness is far from being one of his virtues: cf. Men. at 332 and Clyt.’s innuendo at 1012, 1457; Introduction pp. 18, 20–1. Eur. is particularly fond of etymological play upon proper names: see Rutherford (2012) 100 n. 89 (bibl.).  not look you in the eye: lit. ‘not uncover my eyes’, i.e. keep them open in a level gaze, not lowered and so hidden, whether from fear or shame: here, perhaps, from both. Cairns (1993) 283 n. 10 writes ‘Men. accuses (Ag.) of shame before kin’: at Med. 470–2 Medea accuses Jason of looking directly at her, without shame ‘when he has done ill to his kin’; cf. Hec. 968 ‘I am ashamed to look at you directly’. 322  the servant of a most disastrous message: lit. ‘…of very bad letters’ (γράμματα 118 n.): ‘fanciful, but quite Euripidean: the servant bears the tablet, and the tablet in its turn performs the same office, and bears the writing’ (England). For the trope cf. El. 716–17 λωτὸς … Μουσᾶν θεράπων ‘pipe … servant of the Muses’. Art. The 2nd century BC ‘Homeric’ bowls (details in 111–14 n.) depict Men. showing Ag. the tablet: nos 6 and 7. 323  Greek. ἀπαλλάσσω let go of … from your hands: cf. Hec. 1222 (gold). 324  to all the Danaans: cf. 308. Ag. later says (528–35, after the arrival of Iph.) that the consequences of the Greeks’ discovering his present intention would be disastrous for him, his family and his city. Kovacs (2003) 79 argues that Men.’s threat here ‘would make sense only if [all the Greeks] knew Calchas’s prophecy’. Gurd (2005), who on pp. 169–71 discusses this issue with regard to 87–91, 324, 538–40, 814– 18 and 1259–75, 1345–57, responds on 170, ‘But the revelation of the plot and the announcement of the letter could happen at the same time.

Commentary

329

The main point of Men.’s denunciation, Ag.’s failure to do his duty as generalissimo, would be the same’ (indeed: cf. 370–72). 325 (not) the time (…to know): καιρός: W. Race, TAPA 111 (1981) 197–213 examines most 5th century uses of the word; at 210 he compares our line with Med. 80–1 οὐ γὰρ καιρὸς εἰδέναι τάδε | δέσποιναν ‘…not the time for our mistress to know’; on our 1109 he writes of ‘appropriate need’. Greek. ἦ γάρ Why, have you really…? in surprised questions, e.g. Or. 739, 1595; GP 284–5. The negative μή is indefinite, ‘the kind of things not’: Smyth 2505–7. 326  Yes, to your cost: lit. ‘with the result that I cause you pain’; the verb ἀλγύνω and pron. as in Hipp. 1297.  revealed: here the meaning shifts from the literal ‘opening’ of the letter to the metaphoric. Greek. ἀνοίγνυμι ‘open up, reveal’ as e.g. Ion 923 (passive), 1563. [Text. For the aor. form ἠργάσω see Diggle (1994) 415; cf. Smyth 432.] 327  it: the pron. νιν (fem., as e.g. 1273, Cyc. 113) refers to the tablet δέλτον in 322 – distant, but to take it as masc. of the OM, as some commentators do (pointing to Men.’s immediate mention in 328 of Iph., the person he was hoping to ‘get’), is harder still, and after 319 the OM may well be no longer present as the subject of argument (303–414a n. Staging).  shameless: the adj. ἀναίσχυντος ‘shameless’ again in 329 and 1144; see Introduction pp. 34–5. Greek. καί Just where… ? following but emphasizing the interrogative: GP 312; more often it stresses the next word.  what a shameless mind you have!: σῆς … φρενός gen. of the thing exclaimed over, one of cause: Smyth 1407, ‘often preceded by an interjection’, cf. Stevens (1976) 62; e.g. And. 394; S. El. 920 with Finglass’s note, Ar. Birds 61. 328  Greek. παῖδα your child is both the obj. of προσδοκῶν and, by idiomatic transference, the subject of ἀφίξεται; the usage is a form of anticipation or prolepsis: Smyth 2182. προσδοκάω … εἰ has no parallel in Eur., but εἰ ‘in case’ is not rare after expressions of expectation or anxiety, e.g. 354, And. 61; Smyth 2354. ἀφίξεται: verbs of motion are often used without a prep. in poetry. 329  my business: τἄμα: 396 n.  Isn’t that the action of a shameless man?: Cicero Tusc. 4.77 quotes a fragment of a vituperative stichomythic exchange between Ag. and Men., attributed by some to Ennius’ Iphigenia: Ag. ‘Which man of any people has ever surpassed you in shamelessness?’

330

Commentary

Men. ‘Or you in soldiering?’ (but Jocelyn (1969) 321 rejects attribution to Iphigenia). On the other hand Iphigenia 203 Jocelyn seems to echo IA 331, ‘Menelaus rebukes me: the command is an obstacle to my own affairs’: see Jocelyn pp. 339–40. [Text. Diggle cites Herwerden’s conjecture (τἄμ’) ἔδει impf. ‘Why had you to keep…?’, attractive because of the past tense of ἔκνιζε ‘kept chafing’ in 330. Metre. West (1982) 91 quotes 329–2 to illustrate Euripides’ free use of resolutions: five in these few lines. The intention at the end of the stichomythia may be to quicken already strong feelings.] 330  kept chafing me: the metaphorical use of κνίζω ‘scratch, gash, chafe’ is usually in the context of love, e.g. Med. 555, 568, but sometimes of other emotions such as satiety, anxiety e.g. Med. 599 (LSJ II.2) and anger, e.g. Pind. Nem. 5.32. Here the point is that, unlike a slave of Ag., Men. can take action after the wish. Greek. τὸ βούλεσθαι ‘the wish’, articular infin. as again in Men.’s 338. 331  Is this not outrageous?: οὐχὶ δεινά; cf. on 1406.  manage my own affairs: τὸν ἐμὸν οἰκεῖν οἶκον lit. ‘…my own house’, cf. Pho. 486, 602, οἰκεῖν τἀμά ‘my own business’ Ion 1295; ‘perhaps colloquial’, Stevens on And. 581–2, cf. Collard (2005) 376; see also οἰκέω trans. ‘live one’s lifetime’, 1508 n. Stockert suggests that the point lies in the literal meaning, ‘to be the master in my own house’, picking up Men.’s reference to slavery in the previous line; but Ag. means his entire family (328). Greek. ἐάσομαι fut. mid. as pass., e.g. 1436, [1513], is common also in prose, e.g. Thuc. 1.142.7; Smyth 807–9. 332  your thoughts keep shifting: the meaning of the adj. πλάγιος lit. ‘wandering, astray’ (the verb is πλάζω) seems here, at its only occurrence in Eur., to be determined by the following some now, some long since, some soon to come, simple phrases of time; for its use with φρονέω, φρήν cf. φρένες πλάγιαι (Pind. Isthm. 3.5, prose); Hipp. 283 has πλάνος φρενῶν of wandering wits. It is tempting however to adduce And. 448–9 ἑλικτὰ … φρονοῦντες ‘with twisted, i.e. crooked, deceitful, thoughts’, esp. in the light of Hesychius π 2413 Hansen πλάγιος· δόλιος ‘full of tricks, deceitful’ (without attribution, but the use is Homeric), and some commentators translate it so (Stockert has ‘dishonest’); but Men. in 334 and his speech accuses Ag. only of inconstancy and indecision. The flux of Ag.’s thoughts is clear from 84–110 (see also 6–11 n.). There is irony here too, for Men.’s

Commentary

331

own thinking is to undergo an abrupt change from 471. Line 332 could surely serve as a motto for the play: Introduction pp. 18–19. Greek. γάρ in stichomythia often carries the meaning ‘yes, for…’ or ‘no, for…’ depending on the context: GP 74. For αὐτίκα meaning soon to come, see LSJ I.1; for the three-fold formulation with τὰ μέν etc., cf. IT 1264–5, Supp. 550–1 (with Collard’s note). 333  a smart gloss you have put upon: translates both εὖ and κεκόμψευσαι, where the adv. εὖ ‘well’ and the contrasting grammatical obj. ill-doing πονηρά frame the verb κομψεύω ‘be smart’; for such wordplay Stockert compares Bacc. 475 εὖ τοῦτ’ ἐκιβδήλευσας ‘You faked that answer cleverly’ (Dodds). The verb κομψεύω is often pejorative about a speaker, as e.g. Pl. Laws 197d πρέπει … σοφιστῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα κομψεύεσθαι ‘it’s appropriate for a sophist to show such smartness’; so too the adj. κομψός, e.g. Supp. 426 (see Collard’s n.), Cyc. 315, Antiope F 188.5 (see Text below); unlikely to be colloquial, Collard (2005) 375. In Aristophanes’ Clouds Socrates is represented as a sophist to whom one would go to learn how to make the worse argument prevail over the better; for this verbal equivocation in Eur. see 1115–6, Hec. 1191; cf. Egli (2003) 196–7.  A clever tongue is a hateful thing: cf. Med. 303 σοφὴ γὰρ οὖσα … εἰμ’ ἐπίφθονος ‘because of my cleverness … I am odious’. Note Men.’s rejoinder in the next line. Greek. ἐπίφθονον neut. adj. as complement to fem. subject, Smyth 1048. [Text. εὖ κεκόμψευσαι Ruhnken, a fine correction: ἐκκεκόμψευσαι L, in which ἐκ- means something like ‘(you’ve been) very (smart with)’. πονηρά Monk, with punctuation following: rightly, an allusive plur., i.e. ‘(all) your base (deeds)’, like Hec. 1190; πονηρὸν L. Bothe conjectured πονηρῶν, gen. plur., with punctuation preceding it as in L, ‘(a clever tongue) in base men’.] 334  Men. ends the stichomythia by again remarking on his brother’s lack of stability (cf. 332).  mind not steadfast: cf. φύσις a person’s ‘nature’ not ‘steadfast’ βέβαιος El. 941; with possession cf. Or. 703 θυμὸς μέγας … κτῆμα τιμιώτατον ‘a great heart is a most valuable possession’; for σαφής ‘sure, reliable’ cf. Or. 1155 οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν κρεῖσσον ἢ φίλος σαφής ‘there is nothing better than a sure friend’. The theme of usefulness to one’s friends looks forward to the main body of the speech: see nn. at 344–5, 347–8; earlier at 303–542 (A) n. Greek. δέ γε Yes, but: 21 n.

332

Commentary

335–75  Menelaus’ speech: see 317–414b n. for a summary in context. 335–6  prove you in the wrong: ἐξελέγξαι LSJ II, e.g. Hipp. 944 ‘expose’, also opening an agon speech (Lloyd (1992) 26); in both places the word sets the entire tenor. Ritchie remarks laconically that in 335b–6 ‘Men.’s opening provides an expectation of veracity and moderation which is hardly fulfilled’. Greek. The two lines are cleverly made: the apparently anomalous correlation μήτε .. οὔτ(ε) reflects the syntactic coupling of negative command and negative future statement (noticed only by Headlam among commentators, and very hard to find illustrated even in GP; but see Jebb on S. Ant. 686); more important is the way the correlation becomes emphatic contrast through the deliberate word-order σὺ μήτε … οὔτε … ἐγώ.   636 κατατείνω lit. ‘stretch taut’, but here intrans.  press … hard, ‘be vehement’ (LSJ II.2), cf. Protesilaus F 654 (with dat., ‘oppose vehemently’), Xen. Anab. 2.5.30, Pl. Rep. 358d.; pass. Hec. 130 σπουδαὶ … λόγων κατατεινόμεναι ‘eager words pressed hard’ (LSJ I.7). [Text. 336 L has multiple errors, all but οὔτοι unmetrical and the final καταινῶ λίαν σ(ε) impossible sense, ‘I do not approve you too much’. The forceful οὔτ’ αὖ Blomfield and … for my part … not is far preferable to simple οὔτε Hermann ‘and … not’.] 337–8  when you were eager to command … – to all appearance not desiring this, but willing it as your wish: there is surely no conflict here with Ag.’s own wish at 85–6 that someone else had assumed the role. Since he became commander, the threat to his daughter’s life has changed the situation radically. Men. here concedes that Ag. did not appear eager for the post. Greek. ἄρχειν with dat. ‘lead’ (e.g. And. 666, Hel. 396), rather than the gen. (‘rule over’): LSJ II.2. [Text. Hennig wished to delete 338.] 339–42  Since generals were not popularly elected in the heroic world but were so elected in 5th century Athens, in 339–49 we are plunged into the world of politics contemporary with Eur. (for ‘anachronism’ in Tragedy, see P. E. Easterling, JHS 105 (1985) 1–10; EGT 98–100). Men.’s account of his brother’s canvassing certainly strikes echoes from the 5th century: generosity and accessibility to one’s fellow demesmen (δημοτῶν 340) was a key; the great politician and general Cimon was a notable exemplar of this (Arist., Ath. Pol. 27.3; cf. Plut. Cimon 10.1–8).

Commentary

333

For the same behaviour in Rome see Horace, Epistles 1.6.51–2, Cicero, For Plancius 27.66. Tragedy early noticed the syndrome: in Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women, a play of the 460s, the proto-democratic king Pelasgus of Argos is dependent on his citizens, 517–18 ‘to get their goodwill’, cf. 616–24. Simply knowing people was important: Themistocles is said to have been able to call every citizen by name (Plut. Them. 5.4). Eur. F 1053 typically admits such a view, ‘I hate it when a country’s general does not use winning ways towards everybody in everything’. A valuable account of this kind of politicking in Eur.’s day is P. J. Rhodes, JHS 1986 (106) 142–4.  humble: there may well be an overtone of abasement to the Greek word ταπεινός, here of Ag.’s pretended demeanour: cf. Hec. 245, Telephus F 716.4; Hdt. 7.14.  keeping doors open: lit. ‘had doors unlocked’.  common man: δημότης lit. ‘a man of the people’, a word found as early as in Tyrtaeus, 7th century (LSJ I); in Eur.’s Athens a ‘demesman’, a political category (×5 in Eur.); cf. the milder and more frequent ‘anachronism’ πολίτης ‘citizen’, 368.  you sought to buy … openly: ‘buy’ suggests generosity expecting a political return, perhaps bribery; ‘openly’ is the likely translation of ἐκ μέσου lit. ‘from the midst’, locating Ag.’s public activity (LSJ III 1.c); cf. 345a–9 n. The idea of ‘in the middle political position or stance’ is usually expressed by ἐν μέσῳ ‘in…’; these phrases and ἐς μέσον ‘into…’ are discussed without clear distinction by Denniston on El. 797.  ambition: τὸ φιλότιμον, 22 n. and Text; cf. 385, 527 and [520]. Ambition stands in political contexts at Supp. 907 (if the text is sound) and Pho. 532; as to its contemporary Athenian signficance, Thuc. 2.44.4 describes it as ageless, and at 3.82.8 as the cause of all political troubles.  behaving like this: τοῖς τρόποις, and the same word in this sense ‘your ways’ in 343, 346, 502, 559. Greek. δημοτῶν: for this partitive gen. with ὁ θέλων, lit. ‘the one of the common people who wanted’, cf. Ion 1167, S. Aj. 1146. 343–5a  no longer as friendly … to your one-time friends: for the reciprocal nature of friendship and enmity, cf. e.g. Med. 809, Hec. 1250–1; Supp. 867–8 with Morwood’s note.  behind barred doors … rarely to be seen: this seems to have been a perfectly acceptable stance of Athenian politicians, no doubt alternating with the self-interested openness of which Men. accused Ag. in 339–42 (n.). Both Pericles (Plut. Per. 7.4–5) and Nicias (Plut. Nicias 5.1–2) kept out of the public eye. The latter was ‘difficult of access’ (δυσπρόσοδος, used of the Spartan

334

Commentary

Pausanias in Thuc. 1.130.2; the word hard to approach δυσπρόσιτος occurs here and S. OC 1277), since he stayed at home with his ‘doors bolted’ (contrast ‘doors unlocked’ 340 above); his aim was to avoid informers and apply himself to his work. Greek. 343 μεταβάλλω is used with the acc. of the thing to which change is made at 363, cf. LSJ II a; similarly μεθίστημι 346 μετατίθημι 288.   345 σπάνιος ‘rarely-seen’, cf. Pl. Euthyphro 3d, Plut. Crassus 7; at 1162 below it describes a wife as a ‘rare catch’. [Text. 345a ἔξω Portus is an attractive conjecture: ‘(since you were rarely to be seen) outside (barred doors)’.] 345b–8  steadfast to his friends … when his success enables him to help them most: Athens provided prominent counter-examples. Cleon formally renounced all his friends on entering politics (Plut. Mor. 806f–907b), and may have advertised himself as a lover of the dēmos (inferred from Ar. Knights 732, 1340–4). Earlier, while Themistocles was happy to advantage his friends in the public arena, Aristides ‘walked the way of statesmanship by himself, on a private path of his own, … thinking it right that the good citizen should base his confidence only on serviceable and just conduct’ (Plut. Arist. 2.4–5). W. R. Connor, The New Politicians of Fifth-Century Athens (Princeton, 1971) 87–198 (esp. 117– 18) argues that a change in the style of politics towards the end of the 5th century was characterized by the cessation of working through friends and by appealing directly to the people en masse (cf. 342 n. on ‘openly’). We might view such principled avoidance of cronyism on Ag.’s part as laudable and some members of the audience may well have found Men.’s criticism here questionable. Ag. may have resolved to devote himself to the Panhellenic cause, at least until that cause threatened his family. Indeed, he had wished to make an open announcement of the abandonment of the expedition (94–5), according to Men. in line with the army’s wishes (352–3, cf. Ach. at 804–18), until Men. got him to change his mind.  steadfast … to his friends is a heavily pointed reminder of 334.  his success: the Greek causal part. εὐτυχῶν ‘(as) being successful’ is placed emphatically at the end of the sentence. Greek. 346 μεγάλα πράσσω: ‘be busy with great things’; for μεγάλα see LSJ A II.4; for πράσσω ‘be engaged with, manage’ see LSJ III.5–6, cf. πράγματα ‘affairs of state’ 366 n., 1020–1; LSJ II. 349  This is the first point etc.: the ordered structure of the line with

Commentary

335

its repetition of ‘first’ πρῶτα, and its self-containment, lend an air of rhetorical deliberation to Men.’s speech: see 335–75 n. in 317–414b n. The signal ‘first’ occurs early in agon speeches at e.g. Hipp. 991–2, Med. 475; Supp. 517 ‘First I’ll answer your first points’ (all three with the doubling); cf. 1148 n. below.  base: i.e. morally; for κακός ‘bad’ in Men.’s speech, see 317–414b n. Greek.: ταῦτα This is a limiting acc. of respect (Smyth 1253), which looks both backward and forward before ἵνα on which (lit. ‘where’); at 1194 it is also ambiguous. LSJ οὗτος VIII.1 define the usage here with ‘therefore’, and this works as well. The phrasing with σ’ ἐπῆλθον attack occurs in an agon also at And. 688. 350–3  Then again: after ‘first’ πρῶτα 349, αὖθις effectively means ‘secondly’: cf. Alc. 503, Hel. 714.  the united army of the Greeks: the Panhellenic theme again. you were nothing: enlarged upon in 354.  panic-stricken: lit. ‘struck out of yourself’; ἐκπλήσσσω is a common image for the sudden and crippling loss of self-command, most often owing to fear ([1535]) or grief: Ag. was struck dumb and helpless.  by the fortune the gods gave us: for the combined workings of the gods and τύχη cf. 864 n., 1403 n., Med. 671, Her. 1393 (with Bond’s note: ‘A τύχη is often regarded as sent by a god, for the gods are [rulers of fortune] (El. 890–1).’).  disband the ships: at 95 it is Ag. who tells Talthybius to issue this command, but the ‘deception’ prevents it; at 495 it becomes Men.’s own wish, after his change of mind.  no wasted effort: the words πονέω, πόνος often connote both ‘effort’ and ‘suffering’, as e.g. in 410; but in 367 ἐκπονέω the sense ‘successfully use effort’ is clear. Greek. 350 ἦλθες: the verb retains the 2. pers. of the first and more important subject though coupled with a 3. pers. noun (here a collective): Smyth 968.   351 οὐδέν (and μηδέν) nothing: cf. 945 ἐγὼ τὸ μηδέν and n. Greek, 968 νῦν δ’ οὐδέν εἰμι (both, Ach. of himself); also ὁ οὐδείς, μηδείς, cf. IA 371 τοὺς οὐδένας ‘nobodies’, And. 700 ὄντες οὐδένες (with Stevens’ n.), S. Aj. 1114.   353 διαγγέλλω with the infin. in indirect command like πέμπω at 360–2, cf. 99–100 (n.), 115–19. 354–5  How helpless you looked, how confused: lit. ‘how helpless an eye (i.e. expression) you had, and confusion’, but possibly hendiadys (53 n.), ‘How helplessly confused’; 1128 σύγχυσιν ἔχοντες καὶ ταραγμὸν ὀμμάτων ‘with confusion and agitation in your eyes’ is an exact parallel

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Commentary

for the trope and for the sense; compare the OM’s picture of Ag.’s turmoil 39–42. For the inference of feelings from the eye, cf. 381, Pho. 1366.  at the thought that … you would not fill… : lit. ‘if (328 n.) you will not fill…’; the Greek fut. indic. implies that Ag., in Men.’s view, had thought that the expedition was a certainty. a thousand ships: 174 n.  the plain of Priam: a Homeric echo, esp. of ‘the Trojan plain’, e.g. Iliad 10.11, 23.464. Cf. 755–6 below ‘to Ilium, to Phoebus’ ground at Troy’, similarly evocative in context. Greek. war: δορός: see 80 n. [Text. 354–5 εἰ μὴ … ἐμπλήσεις Musgrave: the part. ἐμπλήσας in L is not impossible syntactically after εἰ μή, ‘except by filling’, but is rare (e.g. Med. 369; KG II.487) and here gives inappropriate sense; its aor. tense would however be idiomatic, even of a future eventuality, e.g. IT 99.] 356–7  ‘What am I to do?’: for direct speech reported within a speech cf. 463–4, 815–18, 1168, 1177–9, 1197–8, 1223–5, 1228–30; in a messenger-speech 430–4 (n.), [1552–60, 1570–6, 1596–8]; in lyric description, where it is specially evocative 791–3 (n.), 1062–75 (n.): there are unusually many cases in IA (Page 154). Many of these places are discussed by V. Bers, Speech in Speech (Lanham 1997); F. Chiecchi in G. Avezzù (ed.), Didaskaliai II (Verona 2008) 225–30. See Addenda.  so that you shouldn’t lose your command and forfeit splendid glory: here again (cf. 354–5), Men. is attributing thoughts to Ag., the truth of which cannot be validated; he is developing further his attack in 343–5, Ag.’s change after achieving the ‘command’. Compare Ag.’s envy of the man ‘without glory’, 18–19 and n. However, in the Iliad, on two of the occasions when Ag. proposes abandoning the expedition in Troy, Ag. says that Zeus is ordering him δυσκλέα Ἄργος ἱκέσθαι (2.115, 9.22) ‘to go to Argos in dishonour’. For καλὸν κλέος ‘glorious honour’ in the play see Introduction pp. 36–7; the phrase occurs at Hec. 1225, with the superlative κάλλιστον Hel. 941, Tro. 386. [Text. 356 Tr3 restored the metre, but Matthiae’s placing of after the phrase τίνα πόρον may be thought better idiom. Dindorf restored the second interrogative (πόθεν where (from)?) in the one sentence, for which cf. e.g. Hel. 1543, Bacc. 579; Smyth 2646.] 358–62  Calchas … bade: the plainer meaning of εἶπε ‘said’ asserts itself in the next line. 358–9 largely repeat the wording of 90–2, as 361–2 do

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that of 99–100.  the Danaans could sail: no mention of the sack of Troy (92), but this is not spelt out with every recall of Calchas’ prophecy: 529, 879–81 – it is however at 1261–3, [1596–7], and implicit in the Chorus’ expectations 588–9, [773–8].  your heart rejoiced. You gladly promised to sacrifice your child: Men.’s words appear to many scholars to contradict Ag.’s declaration in the prologue-scene (94–6) that after Calchas’ terrible words, he ordered Talthybius to announce the dismissal of the army since he would never bring himself to kill his daughter. It may however be possible to make some sense of the discrepancy. Men.’s version appears to be articulated with deliberate rhetorical exaggeration; he has interpreted – or is now pretending to interpret – his brother’s reluctant capitulation as joyful agreement. Furthermore, when Men. says that Ag. sent the letter summoning Iph. to her death ‘willingly, not out of compulsion’, this verbal conceit is a Euripidean habit: for the antithesis ἑκών, οὐ βίᾳ, cf. e.g. Tro. 373 ἑκούσης κοὐ βίᾳ λελῃσμένης ‘willingly, and not by force, taken as plunder’ (Helen abducted by Paris), Hcld. 885. Indeed, Ritchie remarks at 358–62 that ‘this is by any standard so obvious a distortion of the truth that it considerably weakens the force of Men.’s whole case’. For a good discussion of this passage see J. Griffin in Pelling (1990) 142–43, ‘The fact is that Euripides has not shown us how and why Ag. took his fatal decision…’.  don’t say that: a parenthetic command during a speech, like IT 1073 φθέγξασθε ‘say!’, cf. e.g. Hcld. 224–5, Bacc. 341–2. Ag. may well react with a dissenting gesture or exclamation. If so, Jason’s silencing of an erupting Medea (Med. 550 ἀλλ’ ἔχ’ ἥσυχος ‘Keep quiet!’) and Theseus’ of Adrastus with similar words (Supp. 513 σῖγ’, Ἄδραστ’, ἔχε στόμα) may be comparable, both also places in an agon. On Med. 550 Mastronarde notes that the ‘gestural style of the speaking actor himself was varied and probably became more lively in the late 5th and 4th century: see Arist. Poetics 1461b34–2a1’; and Mossman (also on 550) notes that ‘it is a remarkable freedom to take with the agon form to have even the possibility raised that one speaker might interrupt the other in the formal pair of speeches’. See also 303–542 n. Staging. Greek. 358 λέγω ‘bid’, 91 n., A. Cho. 553, S. Phil. 101.  360–2 πέμπεις is vivid historic pres. (47 n.); on the syntax of the infin. ἀποστέλλειν see 353 n. on διαγγέλλω.   362 πρόφασιν adverbial acc. is used with the meaning ‘ostensibly’, on the pretext: cf. 884, Bacc. 224, Hdt. 5.33.1, Th. 3.111.1 etc.; LSJ I.2.

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[Text. Nauck deleted 359, probably because of the apparent duplication ‘your heart rejoiced’ and ‘gladly promised’, but verse-end separates the two ideas and they reinforce each other, the first expressing the feeling, the second qualifying the action. With the deletion, 358 θῦσαι is repeated very closely in 360 θύσειν – perhaps acceptable rhetorically.] 363–5  sending a different message: for the wording here, cf. 343 n.; Ag., says Men., changes his messages just as he changes his character.  killer: φονεύς, ‘one who sheds blood’: a strong word, pointedly implied by Ag. himself at 512 ἐκπρᾶξαι φόνον ‘carry out the bloody killing’ (n.), by the OM of Ag.’s intention at 875 (φονεύειν verb ‘to bloody’), by Ach. at 939 and 947, and by Iph. herself at 1317; cf. 91 n. on θύω for σφάζω ‘sacrifice’.  Most certainly (you have been caught): μάλιστά γε e.g. Hel. 851, a colloquial expression with a real punch, answering one’s own question: Stevens (1976) 16.  This is the same sky above us as heard your former words!: an implicit appeal to ‘the all-knowing witness, … typically Euripidean’, Stockert, citing Tro. 1023–4 ‘You saw the same sky as your husband’, cf. Hippolytus Veiled F 443, Wise Melanippe F 487. The phrase ‘your former words’ translates just ‘this’ (τάδε) in the Greek, but the reference is to Ag.’s undertaking, 361–2. Greek. 363 ὑποστρέφω intrans.  did an about-turn (here metaphorical), as Alc. 1019, Melanippe Captive F 495.5.   364 ὡς ‘since’ with the fut. indic. is used of a presumed intention, like the more frequent ὡς with the fut. part. (Stockert); Smyth 2086c, 2996. γε (in μάλιστά γε) in affirmative answers contradicting a denial as e.g. Bacc. 484; GP 132. [Text. Monk moved 365 to follow 362; Hennig deleted it – but the line is in place, and spoken with the same passion, like the end of 364; compare Men.’s 406.   364 Kovacs’ conjecture γένῃ ‘you will be(come)’ for ἔσῃ L ‘you will be’ alleviates sigmatism; on this phenomenon in Tragedy see L. Battezzato in EGT 1334–5. For γίγνομαι in such contexts cf. e.g. Ach. at 974 (θεὸς) γενήσομαι ‘I shall become (a god for you)’.] 366–75 [Text. A major problem, the lines being suspect to editors in whole or part. 368–9 and 373–5 give Men. a heavily rhetorical, and gnomic, peroration; but they savour of interpolation, because their references in 373–5 to citizens’ government and to leadership within (Athenian?) democracy by ‘a leader’ jar strongly; differently the political

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allusions in 339–48 (see nn.). Page 149 rightly argues that 368–9 ‘are incongruous with Ag.’s position’, but 151 wrongly that without 373–5 ‘we miss a general sentiment to conclude the speech’: see the end of Ag.’s speech in reply, 396–401. 366–7 suffice as an illustrative truism, but Men. needs to finish a personal attack on Ag. by emphasizing his particular failing towards Greece, just as he began the attack in 337 (cf. also 350). There is no rescue for 368–9 and 373–7 in appeal to Supp. 508–10, where an agon speech ends with a gnome of similar content, for there the entire subject of argument has been leadership, the comparative merits of autocracy and democracy. 368–9 and 373–5 have been defended by appeal to Men.’s similar comparison of military and civic leaders at S. Aj. 1071–83; practically all recent editors delete them, as we do, but Matthiessen 397 suggests that 373–4 are authentic, if corrupt.] 366–7  your experience: the translation attempts to convey the apparent meaning of αὐτό: see Text. They keep toiling away at affairs of state: the context lends the noun πράγματα ‘affairs’ the political significance it often bears (346 n.); and 370–3 follow pointedly; we translate ms. L’s text but it is insecure (printed by Diggle, however): see below. Greek. 366–7 ἐκπονέω ‘work hard to achieve’, intrans. with prep. phrase πρὸς τὰ πράγματα like the simple verb πονέω e.g. Theognis 919 ἐς ἄκαιρα ‘at untimely things’; intrans. also e.g. Or. 653, Supp. 318–19 (see Collard’s n.). The verb is trans. at e.g. 209 (n.), Hipp. 381.  367 The part. of ἔχω ‘adds a notion of duration to that of present action’ (LSJ), i.e. ‘keep toiling away’: cf. Ar. Clouds 509, Pl. Gorg. 490e; Smyth 2062a and LSJ B.IV.2 cite only Comedy and prose, cf. (satyric) S. Ichn. 133; possibly colloquial, Collard (2005) 370: see Text below. Alternatively: ἔχω and prep. phrase ‘having to do with’ is certainly attested only in Xenophon, e.g. Anab. 5.2.26 ἀμφὶ ταῦτα ‘with these things’, Hell. 7.4.28 περὶ τοὺς Ἠλείους ‘with the Eleans’. ἐξεχώρησαν back out, gnomic aor. For this sense see LSJ I.3; LSJ give no parallel to support ‘come out of (badly), fail’. [Text. 366 αὐτό: this use of the pron. commonly carries forward the meaning of a preceding sentence (393 n.). Diggle, OCT fairly remarks that ταὐτό ‘the same thing’ or τοῦτο ‘this’ (prospective of 367–9) is required for adequate meaning here.   367 Doubt of ἔχοντες (above) can be dissolved, and the word-order of L maintained, and economically, by Canter’s simple conjecture ἑκόντες, ‘(they toil away) willingly (at affairs, but then…)’;

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it is commended by Diggle and Matthiessen. West’s slight reordering of L to ἐκπονοῦσιν, εἶτ’ ἔχοντες (BICS 28 (1971) 71) gives a very different meaning, ‘they toil away at affairs of state, but when they have them (done, i.e. successfully), they back out…’ Weakness after success more logically precedes the thought of 370–2, but one would expect an aor. part. instead of a pres. Wecklein’s ἐγκονοῦσ(ι) ‘hasten, quickly get busy’ is momentarily attractive: the verb is attested most frequently in Tragedy in urgent, familiar commands, e.g. Hec. 507, Her. 521.] [368–9]  citizens’ foolish misjudgement: Stockert remarks that ‘the folly of the many is a familiar topos’, cf. 1357 and n. ‘the many are a great evil’; and Collard on Supp. 420b–2 observed that the theme starts in the earliest writers, citing Theognis 683, Solon F 8.2. But interpretation of each instance depends on its speaker as well as its context. Men. is a fixer (77–9, 97–8), confident that he and his brother, a fellow-king, are entitled to make the arrangements that suit them best. He is slighting of the democratic process (but if the couplet is after all authentic to Eur., in the theatre Men.’s criticism of the citizens, particularly at the play’s date, might not go down well).  justly: early eds took ἐνδίκως with ἀδύνατοι ‘since they are really incapable of keeping…’, but verse-end after the adv., and the phrasing of 369, are against them: the incapable fail because of their own errors. Greek. τὰ μέν … τὰ δέ: 332 n. [Text. For Hartung’s deletion of the two verses see 366–75 n.] 370–2  Unhappy Greece … barbarians: yet another but now important statement of the Panhellenic theme: the issue leaves Men. and Ag. wholly divided at the agon’s end, 410–11 (n). The theme returns strongly later in the play, from Ag. at 1265–6, 1274–5 and Iph.’s echo of her father at 1378–82, 1400–1. Note the apparent echo of 370 in Eubulus F 67.10 PCG (see the apparatus).  (something) fine: the adj. κεδνός is variously ‘valued, true-hearted, wise’ according to context; similarly Tro. 683 δρᾶν τι κεδνόν, cf. Alc. 605 κεδνὰ πράξειν ‘will do fine things’; Hcld. 795 ἡγωνίζετο τι κεδνόν ‘he fought with true valour’ (the aged Iolaus); LSJ II. In these expressions τι is meiotic, i.e. ‘something very (fine)’: see 609 n.  nobodies who laugh at her: laughter from one’s enemies was intolerable humiliation, to be avoided or punished; it is a major theme of Sophocles’ Ajax, e.g. 79, 955–8, 1042–3; in Eur. see e.g. Med. 383, Her. 285, Bacc. 842.

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Greek. 370 Ἑλλάδος is gen. of cause after στένω, approximately as in Hipp. 1409 στένω σὲ μᾶλλον ἢ ’μὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ‘I grieve for you more than for myself over your error’; Smyth 1405; correspondingly after the verb ‘praise’, 1371 below.   371 τοὺς οὐδένας ‘nobodies’: 351 n.   372 ἐξανίημι let … escape: Pho. 670, Bacc. 707; LSJ I.2. [Text. 372 Note Markland’s alternative ἐξαφήσει, a simpler ‘let … go’, LSJ ἐξαφίημι II]. [373–5]  Interpolated: 366–75 n.  leader: the noun προστάτης has a clear ‘Athenian’ ring, as the ‘champion’ of democratic interest, e.g. Supp. 243: LSJ II.1; but LSJ II.2 has IA 373 as a ‘leader in general’, citing also Hcld. 964, with χώρας ‘country’ (see Text below). See also 449 n.  †every man … † if he possesses intelligence: for the sentiment, cf. Or. 909–11 ‘all those who constantly give good, sensible counsel … are useful to a city’. Wecklein cites Xen. Mem. 3.9.10 τοὺς ἐπισταμένους ἄρχειν ‘those with the knowledge to rule’. For σύνεσις of intellectual qualities in Eur. see Willink on Or. 396. Greek. 373 ὅπλων lit. ‘arms’, army by metonymy, e.g. Ion 1292, Pho. 113; cf. δορός ‘war’, 80 n. [Text. 373 L offers ἄν and potential opt., I †would† never etc., in a ‘polite’ hope expressing confidence, acceptable in (any) context; but χρείους (because of) †need† is clearly corrupt, and improvement has been sought most commonly through Reiske’s ἂν γένους ἕκατι ‘(because of his) birth’; or through Pantazidis’s ἀνδρείας, with change to a bare and pure opt., ‘I wish I never make … (because of his) bravery’. ἀνδρείας was printed in Murray’s and in Diggle’s OCT (but Diggle categorizes 366–75 as ‘scarcely Euripidean’); while it makes a good connection in sense with ὅπλων ἄρχοντα ‘commander of an army’, Page 150 remarks that this is ‘highly perplexing’; its implication is that Men. considers his brother brave rather than sensible (374–5 – if the lines are authentic). Also 373 χθονὸς L: πόλεως Nauck (4), making the same change after προστάτην as he wished in Antiope F 194.4, and giving the lines immediately an Athenian resonance (above). In 375 †πόλεος ὡς ἄρχων† L ‘†For … is ruling a city† if…’ scarcely gives meaning; also, the ellipse of ἐστι with a pres. part. is against usage (see KG I.38–9, cf. Smyth 945). Diggle puts Weil’s conjecture ἀρκῶν in his text: πόλεος· ὡς ἀρκῶν ἀνὴρ … ‘a city’s (374 general must have sense). For every man is adequate if…’; but the noun πόλεος is then superfluous and its enjambement (50–1 n.)

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before the stop appears to give it inappropriate emphasis; and the ellipse survives.] 376–7  It is a terrible thing etc.: a generalisation typical of a chorus’ iambic couplets which regularly follow the iambic long speeches in an agon; compare 402–3; see Introduction p. 32 on the Chorus. Here, the ‘responding’ couplets stand in iambic trimeters uniquely after trochaic tetrameter speeches (Rutherford (2012) 192 n. 59); but it is more the tetrameters themselves that are unique (317–414a n. at end). It would weaken that effect if the Chorus were to speak in the same metre; in fact it helps to mark their detachment. That the two men are brothers is an argument lacking from Men.’s speech (despite his emphasis on philoi), but one he uses in disgust in the closing stichomythia 406, 412. Ag. however makes the point at once, as he begins his speech, 380. For conflict between brothers in Eur., see esp. Pho. 446–637 (Eteocles and Polynices) and the famous scene from the fragmentary Antiope F 183–202 (between Amphion and Zethus on the rival merits of music and agriculture, representing political quietude and activity); cf. also F 975 χαλεποὶ πόλεμοι γὰρ ἀδελφῶν ‘wars between brothers (are) cruel’. [Text. 376 ψόγους Musgrave blame, printed by Diggle, is slightly preferable to L’s weaker λόγους ‘words’ (although this stands in Stobaeus’ text); the noun ψόγος and verb ψέγω are sometimes confused with λόγος and λέγω in mss., e.g. Supp. 565, And. 419, Bellerophon F 297.5. λόγους would stand in hendiadys with μάχας, ‘fighting words’, for which compare 53 ἀπειλαὶ καὶ … φθόνος (Markland: φόνος L): see n.] 378–441 [Text. All these lines were suspect to Günther, who in his apparatus on 376–7 wondered whether Eur. himself wished to continue in iambics – but that would have left the trochaic tetrameters awkwardly used just for Men.’s speech (see also 376–7 n.); note Diggle (1994) 411 ‘(378–403) are largely inoffensive textually’. Most editors’ suspicions have begun with 404–12 (Page and Diggle suspected them strongly) and particularly 407, 413–14a and 414b–39 (–41): see nn. below. 378–401  Agamemnon’s speech: see 317–414b n. for a summary in context. 378–80  Lines packed with meaning (for their textual uncertainties see below).  I wish to criticise you … more moderately: the lines echo and balance Men.’s proem ‘I wish to prove you in the wrong … and I … shall not press … hard’ (335–6).  not raising my eyes too much in

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unashamed scorn: then the unqualified adversative ‘more moderately’ shows that Ag. rejects such behaviour in himself, not that of Men. earlier (when a directive ‘you(r)’ would be expected); but with since you are my brother Ag. explicitly acknowledges the relationship when Men. has failed to do (cf. Ag.’s 321).  After all, a good man is accustomed to show respect to others surely implies criticism of Men. Raised eyebrows (ὀφρύες) provide the usual image for scorn or contempt, e.g. F 1113a.3, Ar. Ach. 1069, and Menander F 857.3 (ἀνασπάσας ‘drawing the brows upward’); amusingly, Amphis F 13.3 ‘eyebrows arrogantly lifted like a snail’. England quotes from Proverbs 30.13: ‘There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.’ Cf. 320– 1 (n.), where Men. demands that Ag. look him straight in the eye; see Introduction p. 33. Greek. 378 εἰπεῖν κακῶς + acc. of the person, and sometimes an acc. of what is said (e.g. κακά), has the meaning ‘speak badly of, criticise’, e.g. Or. 556, Alc. 704; Smyth 1591b, 1622. βραχέα: the substantivised neut. plur. adj. ‘brief things’ is used almost adverbially, ‘briefly’. βλέφαρα lit. ‘eyelids’ frequently mean ‘eyes’, in synecdoche, e.g. S. Aj. 85, Trac. 107.   379 σωφρονεστέρως: the ending -ως of the comparative adverb is uncommon but unproblematic: cf. Hcld. 543, IT 1375; Smyth 345c. [Text. 378 αὖ P2/Markland in turn, rightly: εὖ L is difficult in oxymoron (305 n.) in ‘(criticise you) well’, an awkward contrast reinforced by the adverb’s place before the mid-verse division (note that position after the cohesive οὐκ εὖ in 388); also, εὖ ‘well’ cannot be justified by appeal to e.g. Tro. 914 ‘both if I seem to speak well and if badly’ κἂν εὖ κἂν κακῶς δόξω λέγειν (not ‘and if I abuse’), also the beginning of an agon speech. The oxymoron itself is however defended from Hipp. 694 μὴ καλῶς εὐεργετεῖν ‘to benefit (friends) not well’ (Wecklein) and from IT 559 εὖ κακὸν δίκαιον ἐξεπράξατο ‘he performed a just evil well’ (Stockert); Turato supports it as part of Ag.’s rhetorical criticism of Men.’s rhetoric.   379 ἄνω … ἀγάγων L ‘raising (my eyes)’ is satisfactory: for ἄνω … ἀνάγων Naber ‘drawing (my eyes) up(ward)’ cf. perhaps ἀνάγω with the half-redundant adv. ἄνω Alc. 986–7 (leading the dead up from Hades).   380 χρηστὸς (or χρηστὸν) Stobaeus good: αἰσχρὸς οὐκ L, with an intrusive negative when a positive expression is required, gives neither sense (‘base … (is) not (accustomed)’) nor metre, and (Stockert) sits badly with αἰδεῖσθαι. Diggle cites Willink’s χρηστοῦ

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γ’ (δ’ preferred by Diggle) ἀνδρὸς αἰδεσθεὶς φίλους ‘(It is) a good man’s part to show respect to kin’ – excellent sense, and a better continuation, but an improbably violent alteration.] 381–4  snorting so dreadfully, your face flushed with blood?: ‘snorting so dreadfully’: δεινὰ φυσᾷς: Phrynichus (see apparatus) glosses the expression (but does not cite Eur.) with ‘such as in getting angry’; cf. 125 μέγα φυσῶν. ‘face flushed’: αἵματηρὸν ὄμμα: we have followed Monk’s interpretation, but the expression could equally well mean ‘eye(s) bloodshot (in rage)’. One play-character here fills out with his description what the other’s mask could not convey. Note Ag.’s series of rhetorical questions in 381–4, a sign of defence through attack: cf. 1185–8 (Clyt. to Ag.), and e.g. And. 388–94, 404–5, 450–2, Hec. 258–63. A sense of justified indignation is the keynote in these passages.  Who is wronging you?: ἀδικεῖ: the OM had used the verb in protesting at Men.’s seizure of the letter, a ‘wrong’ to his master, 314.  What do you want?: τοῦ = τίνος neut., confirmed by the continuation – but momentarily taken as fem., ‘whom’, i.e. the wife who indeed has ‘wronged’ Men., 397.  a good wife: lit. ‘a good marriage’, λέκτρα as e.g. 124 (n.).  You certainly proved a bad master of the one you had: similarly Peleus’ attack on Menelaus And. 591–641 (in an agon). Ennius 204–6 Jocelyn took the cue from our lines for a passage in his fragmentary Iphigenia: ‘Am I the scapegoat because you are at fault? You †commit† (sense good, grammar and metre faulty) a wrong, but I am accused? Is Helen to return as reward for her wrong-doing? Is an innocent girl to die for her husband? Is your wife to be reconciled, but my daughter to be slain?’ Cf. also Telephus F 722, Ag. to Men.: ‘I’ll not die for your Helen’s sake.’ As to ‘had’: for the verb κτάομαι used of a husband see 715 n.  I … who made no mistake: Ag. claims that he belongs to the class of people who haven’t been tripped up (see μή under Greek); for σφάλλω of sexual misbehavour and its consequence see (Paley) esp. Hipp. 5, Ion 1523. Greek. 382 The perf. of χράομαι usually occurs in the part. when the meaning is ‘want’, but see also Med. 334, Theoc. 26.18.   383 Τhe rel. pron. ὧν is attracted into the gen. of its antecedent λέκτρων, understood from 382.   384 The negative μή is indefinite, generalising (with a part., Smyth 2705.g). [Text. 382 Reiske corrected L’s unmetrical order of words, and the

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here senseless λέκτ(α) ‘(to be) spoken (of)’. 384 δῶ (deliberative subj.) σῶ Dawes is palmary; L’s fut. indic. δώσω is against idiom.] 385–7  ambition: for the meaning of τὸ φιλότιμον see 22 n.  needles: δάκνει lit. ‘bites’, a very common metaphor of painful or rankling emotions, e.g. 689 the marrying-away of daughters ‘tears at’ parents; Hcld. 483 anguish. Cf. Men.’s metaphor of ‘chafing’, 330.  beautiful: εὐπρεπής of Clyt. at 822. But the adj. is often ambiguous, with the sense ‘well-seeming, specious’ (see Fraenkel’s n. on Ag. 615f.); here it may hint that Helen’s looks do not correspond to the reality of her nature. reason: a main theme of Ag.’s speech is the contrast between rational and irrational behaviour. He sets his own εὐβουλία ‘sound counsel’ (388) against the lack of it in Men. (401), who shared the infatuation of the foolish suitors (391–2).  a base man: πονηρός ‘base’ is a strong word: e.g. 333 (also Ag., his ‘ill-doing’), Hec. 596 ‘the base man is nothing other than evil’. Greek. 386 τὸ λελογισμένον, def. art. and neut. part. making a noun (33–4 n., cf. 1017, 1270), common in verse and esp. Thucydides: Smyth 1153b, 2051; Barrett on Hipp. 248 cites the perf. part. Or. 210 τῷ λίαν παρειμένῳ ‘excessive prostration’. Note 1021 below λελογισμένως adverbial, ‘according to reason’. παρίημι ‘put aside, abandon’ as 1376 τὸ δυσγενές ‘meanness of spirit’, Pho. 508 τοῦτο … τὸ χρηστόν ‘this good’, i.e. sovereign power; cf. [1609] below χόλον ‘anger’. [Text. 385 οὐ Murray restores the necessary negative statement; ἢ L ‘or…?’ continues the questioning; but Ag. changes here to direct accusation. Similar error, similar correction in 959.   385–7 were condemned by Wecklein, but Ag.’s 385 ‘ambition’ τὸ φιλότιμον echoes Men.’s 342.] 388–90  thought better of it: lit. ‘changed to sound counsel’, εὐβουλία: this word e.g. Hcld. 110, Hel. 757; for its contemporary currency see Egli (2003) 203.  am I out of my mind?: μαίνομαι may be colloquial: Stevens (1976) 16, noting 1256 φιλῶ τ’ ἐμαυτοῦ τέκνα· μαινοίμην γὰρ ἄν ‘And I love my children, otherwise I should be mad’. The word is emphasized here by enjambement (50–1 n.). Greek. 388 μετεθέμην mid.: cf. Or. 254 μετέθου λύσσαν ‘you changed to madness’; for the acc. of the thing changed to, see 343 n. on μεταβάλλω.   390 διδόντος: pres. part. serving as an ‘imperfect’, was giving: Smyth 1872a.1. The gen. absolute participial expression with δίδωμι is not rare, sometimes with an adverb or the like, e.g. 702 with

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εὖ ‘give good fortune’: pres. and sing. there, plur. e.g. Hipp. 1434, aor. e.g. Supp. 214–15; cf. And. 750 θεοί σοι δοῖεν εὖ καὶ τοῖσι σοῖς ‘May the gods give you and yours good fortune!’, Med. 879. [Text. 388 μετεθέμην εὐβουλίαν Monk, one of his best emendations: μετετέθην εὐβουλίᾳ L means ‘I was changed by sound counsel’.   389 L glossed μᾶλλον ‘rather’ with 2. pers. μαίνῃ ‘you are mad’; interpretative glosses are rare in L, but sometimes invade the text: see Zuntz (1965) 117–18, 228–9.   In 390–2 P. Köln has only a few letters at line-ends; they match L.] 391–4  Ag.’s next point is introduced by asyndeton ‘explaining’ what has preceded, as often (444, 655, 1170; Smyth 2165a, 2167b; V. Bers, EGT 1370).  The suitors … Tyndareus’ oath: cf. 58, 79.  were thinking badly: the meaning of κακόφρονες is as at e.g. Hcld. 372, Or. 824 (and clearly not ‘ill-minded’); cf. previous n.  hope … a god: cf. Theognis 1135–46; also 637–40. Eur. half-personifies hope here, but for deifications of psychological functions and abstract nouns, cf. 1136 (fate), Tro. 768 (envy), 989 (sexual love), Bacc. 415 (desire), Cyc. 316 (wealth).  made it happen: ‘it’ is the suitors’ hopeful swearing of the oath, 391–2a, primarily to win Helen (53–4), secondly to destroy Troy (64).  you and your strength: σὺ καὶ τὸ σὸν σθένος: contemptuous, with its hissing sigmas; cf. S. Aj. 1147 σὲ καὶ τό σὸν λάβρον στόμα ‘you and your loud mouth’, Ar. Birds 893 καὶ σὺ καὶ τὰ στέμματα ‘both you and your garlands’; ‘hissing’ sigmatism also 524 n, 1361–4 n.  In their hearts’ folly: 394a–5 n. Greek. 392 δέ γε is ‘strongly adversative’ in continuous speech, with the speaker often countering his own words (GP 153); Stevens (1976) 23–4 entertains δέ γε as colloquial, describing it as a ‘confident assertion’. Perhaps Ag. is anticipating an attempt of Men. to interrupt with an objection: cf. 361 ‘don’t say that’ and n. οἶμαι (μέν) ‘I think’ parenthetic as Alc. 794, cf. 780.   393 ἐκπράσσω ‘make happen’, as e.g. Her. 1383, Bacc. 1161; for ἐκ-compounds in Eur. see 209, 367 (n.), 1070, 1450. αὐτό refers to the preceding idea, that of 391–2a (see above), cf. 366 ~ 363, Bacc. 1151 ~ 1150, Or. 610 ~ 609. [Text. 394 στράτευ’· ἕτοιμοι δ’ εἰσὶ Monk, another excellent correction: στράτευε· οἶμαι δ’ εἴσῃ L seemingly perpetuated ancient but simple copying errors; apart form the metrical hiatus before οἶμαι, there is no rescue for it as ‘I think’ (see 392) or for εἴσῃ ‘you will know’.] 394a–5  gods … not devoid of wisdom: for the intelligence of the

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gods in punishing false oaths see Polyidus F 645.5, employing the same adj. ἀσύνετος; a positive view of the gods with adj. συνετός by Iph. 1189–90. The gods see through Ag.’s own σοφίσματα ‘clever plans’ 444 and n. (cf. Supp. 216–18); ‘gods should be wiser than men’ at e.g. Hipp. 120.  oaths … basely sworn: compounding the swearers’ stupid indifference to the gods 391–2, esp. after Tyndareus’ ‘neat scheme’ 66–7, where Ag.’s attitude to the oath is consistent with his description here, cf. 56–8. Zeus was the god of oaths (e.g. Med. 169–70; he is Ὅρκιος 208 there, Hipp. 1025); cf. Med. 492–5. Castor at El. 1349–55 recommends avoiding the company of perjurors on their ships. For a discussion of the two cases in Tragedy in which a human and a god commit (the Guard in Antigone) and advocate (Apollo in Eumenides) perjury unscathed, see Mikalson (1991) 84–6. For oaths in IA see esp. 58–60 nn.; in Tragedy J. Fletcher, EGT 903–5. Greek. 394a τὸ θεῖον = οἱ θεοί, e.g. Or. 267, 420. ἔχω and infin. is ‘be able to’, IA 1421, Med. 492 etc. συνίημι ‘understand, recognize’ and acc. of a thing e.g. Pho. 422 θέσφατα ‘oracles’.   395 For the passive of πήγνυμι ‘strike’ as ‘irrevocably fixed, established’, see LSJ IV, and cf. A. Ag. 1198 ὅρκου πῆγμα γενναίως παγέν ‘the striking of an oath genuinely struck’. [Text. 394a is preserved by Theophilus of Antioch (2nd century AD) and Stobaeus (5th century), who have it together with 395 in quotations attributed to Eur. (but not to IA). The omission in L’s tradition may have been due to the similar letters beginning 394, 394a and 395. Other verses omitted for this reason are Hel. 561 and Supp. 974b; cf. our Introduction p. 54, Text 1.c.  συνιέναι: Diggle mentions Wecklein’s διειδέναι ‘to know apart, distinguish, discern’ (e.g. Med. 518), which Wecklein ‘expected’ in avoiding the echo of (ἀ)σύνετον – but this sound-effect occurs in 466, 653–4, Pho. 1506.   In 395 all recent eds accept κατηναγκασμένους made under compulsion from Theophilus and Stobaeus, rightly: L’s συνηναγκασμένους (‘collectively enforced’) was retained by early eds; this compound is found nowhere else in Tragedy. The error was probably assimilation of κατ- to συν-, which stands twice in the preceding line.] 396–9  I will not kill my own child: wording like Ag.’s at 96.  weeping days and nights: a Homeric echo, Iliad 24.745; cf. Bacc. 237, 425.  the daughter I fathered: cf. Ag.’s emphasis on this point, 90 n. Greek. 396 the negative in κοὐ applies to both the μέν and the δέ

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clauses (the latter in 397–8): e.g. Hec. 576–7, IT 116–17; GP 371, Smyth 2904.b. τὸ σόν = ‘you, anything of yours, your fortunes’, and frequent, e.g. 1402, And. 1185; cf. 329 τἀμά ‘my business’; cf. 1403 n. The words τὸ σὸν do not go with εὖ as ‘your success’, as some have taken it, but belong with 397 ἔσται, a separation rare in Eur.; cf. 610–11.   397 τιμωρίᾳ instrumental dat.   398 (συν)τήκω often has a personal subject, e.g. Med. 25, 141, but cf. Med. 689 χρώς ‘flesh, body’, El. 240 δέμας ‘body’.   399 παῖδας οὓς generalizing masc. plur. standing for a singular fem. individual, e.g. Hel. 1184–5; this is regular idiom: Smyth 1015. [Text. 396 κοὐ Lenting is inescapable; καὶ L leaves too much to counter-inference, ‘and (if I don’t kill her) your fortunes…’.   397 Porson’s παρὰ δίκην is generally accepted; but L’s phrase πέρα δίκης with similar meaning (‘beyond justice’) occurs at PV 30.] 400–1  what I have to say to you: such phrasing is common at the end of formal speeches, e.g. Supp. 456, Pho. 953: see commentators.  brief: as Ag. promised, 378 n.  easy: i.e. ‘easy enough, in the circumstances’; Od. 11.146 ‘I will tell you an easy (ῥηΐδιον) word and put it in in your mind.’ Greek. καλῶς τίθημι put … in good order: e.g. εὖ τίθημι 672 (n.), Hec. 875, Hipp. 521; at play-end A. Ag. 1673; cf. εὖ τίθημι IA 672. [Text. 400 some editors find ῥᾴδια ‘easy’ otiose after σαφῆ ‘clear’, but the two adjs. reinforce Ag.’s chief point: ‘Let me not have to kill my daughter!’ For ῥᾴδια Stadtmüller conjectured καίρια, ‘what meets the (need of the) moment’, as in 829; cf. καιρός 325 n.; Stockert fairly objects to the mild jingle καὶ (σαφῆ) καὶ καί(ρια).   401 εὖ L has point – and the word has exactly the same metrical position as in Ag.’s first line, 378 (see n.). But Markland’s σύ ‘you’, emphatic, makes a good contrast with Ag.’s my own; it leaves φρονεῖν unqualified as ‘think sensibly’, but this is not rare, e.g. 877, And. 666, Ion 521.] 402–3  different from what you said before: the Chorus infer this from Men.’s accusation of Ag. that he at first ‘gladly promised to sacrifice his child’ 359–60, but then ‘did an about turn’ 363; the Chorus base their comment also on the shifts – and shiftiness – of Ag. of which Men. has spoken throughout 332–64. Ag. has now in 396 restated his determination not to kill his daughter 364 with unhesitating, indeed superb, confidence. The Chorus’ couplet 402–3 matches that which follows the first long speech

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(cf. 376–7n.), and it returns the metre to iambic: see 404–14a n.  good that you talk of sparing a child: the Chorus of young women is naturally sympathetic to Iph.’s plight (see Introduction p. 31). The single enjambed word μύθων carries no emphasis (see 71–3 n.). Greek. φείδεσθαι: the infin. after οἵδε (μῦθοι) falls between an appositive use (Smyth 1987) and a defining one, nearing ‘a datival meaning, of purpose’ (2001, 2004): cf. 511–12 ἀναγκαίας τύχας … ἐκπρᾶξαι lit. ‘necessity in our fortunes to carry out’, and e.g. Tro. 1031 νόμον … τόνδε … θνῄσκειν ἥτις … ‘this law that any woman who … should die’. τέκνων allusive plur.: 1015 and n. 404–14a  On this style of irreconcilable stichomythia closing an agon see n. on 303–542 A: 303–414a, at end. The theme is still that of philia, the value of kinship and friendship both reciprocated and betrayed, esp. 404 and 405 (317–414a n. (i)). [Text. These verses have long been suspected as non–Euripidean: see n. on 407 Text.] 404  Greek. ἄρα ‘inferential’ in realization, Then, ‘after all’: cf. e.g. 882, 944, 1330 with a past tense: GP 36–7, 44–5; Smyth 1902; colloquial: Stevens (1976) 62. [Text. οὐκ ἐκεκτήμην Heath, Diggle, who mentions οὐχὶ κέκτημαι Monk ‘I do not have’: οὐχὶ κεκτήμην L. The (Ionic) plup. without augment is esp. a Herodotean usage (Smyth 438.d), not attested in Euripidean dialogue.] 405  Ah, but you do have: γε, 364 n. [Text: see on 406.] 406  How can you show: The word ‘show’ is emphasized by the postponement of the Greek interrogative: 319 n. Greek. ποῦ implies ‘how’ rather than ‘where’ and doubts the possibility, cf. Or. 802 ποῦ γὰρ ὢν δείξω φίλος…; ‘How shall I show I am your friend…?’ This line illustrates too the nom. part. construction with a verb of showing; also e.g. Med. 548. [Text. The fut. indic. δείξεις matches the indic. θέλεις in 405. West (1981) 71 prefers the opt. θέλοις (‘if you were not willing’): ‘Men. does at present wish to destroy his friends. If he were to change his attitude, he would find that he does have friends.’ This application of precise logic, however, seems de trop.] 407  share … in sick folly: for the sickness imagery in συννοσεῖν, see 411 n.

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[Text, Metre. L’s elision of final -αι (in βούλομαι) has no certain parallel in Tragic dialogue; the four places listed by West (1982) 10 n. 15, including this line, are readily emended: see Diggle (1994) 313. So here e.g. βούλομαι κοὐ Nauck (the best conjecture); βουλόμεσθ’, οὐ Fix (but Ag. has used only the 1. pers. sing. since 321: note Men.’s ἡμᾶς of himself 320); βουλόμενος, οὐ Vitelli. All are cited by Diggle, who nevertheless follows L. He doubts the authenticity, however; similarly, this metrical anomaly, the importance of 407 within its context (cf. esp. 411), and the mid-line entry of 414, persuaded particularly Page 152 to suspect that the whole of 404–14 is probably a 4th century BC confection; Wecklein observed that Men.’s 413 ‘I shall go to other friends’ conflicts with his denial of having them in 407 – but see 413–14a n. Some editors have replaced L’s wording with a quotation by Plutarch at Mor. 64c συσσωφρονεῖν γάρ, οὐχὶ συννοσεῖν ἔφυ, but he does not attribute these words to author or play; and they may be a conflation of our line with S. Ant. 523 οὔτοι συνέχθειν, ἀλλά συμφιλεῖν ἔφυν ‘I was certainly not born to join in hatred, but to join in friendship’. συσσωφρονεῖν occurs only in these two places; συννοσεῖν is found at e.g. And. 948 and four other places in Eur., including Oedipus F 545a.11 (the fragment’s lines 8–12 contain – very deliberately – four συνcompounds).] 408  Friends should join in their friends’ distress: for the bond of friendship dishonoured, see 334 n. and e.g. Or. 735, And. 376–7, Hec. 1226–7. Greek. ἐς κοινόν adverbial (‘in common’): LSJ B.III. 409  Ask for my help: a rejoinder to Men.’s 356 ‘You called me to help’. 410  to share in the efforts of Greece: Men. appeals again to the Panhellenic cause (cf. 350 n., 370–2), which Ag. repudiates, 411. ‘efforts’: probably a recall of Men.’s (gnomic) 367. 411  Some god … has brought this sickness: the god is left unspecified (like δαίμων, 444 and n.); Achilles is similarly vague about a different issue at 809, ‘not without the gods’. Ag. now sees the expedition as a symptom of disease, a common metaphor for anything irregular or flawed, e.g. 407, 982, 1403; And. 1043 νόσον ῾Ελλὰς ἔτλα, νόσον ‘it was a sickness Greece endured, a sickness.’ Greek. κατὰ θεόν ‘by the agency of a god’: for the expression, see LSJ κατά V.

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412  Well, take pride in your sceptre: Men.’s bitter sarcasm recalls his 337–8, 342–8, 357; Ag.’s ‘sceptre’ is similarly scorned by Clyt., 1194–5. For αὐχέω in such sarcasm cf. Collard on Supp. 504–5, citing Hipp. 952 ‘Well, take pride in…’ (Theseus condemning Hippolytus’ life-style). Greek. For αὐχέω ‘take pride’, rather than ‘boast’, see Barrett on Hipp. 952–5, modifying Fraenkel on Ag. 1497. 413–14a  to other plans and to other friends: Ritchie suggests that these ‘other friends’ (φίλοι are not ‘kin’, here!) may be Calchas and Od., the two others who know about the planned sacrifice (106–7; note Ag.’s fear of them at 517 and 524–35); the apparent contradiction of Men.’s 404 ‘I had no friends’ fuels suspicion of 412–39 overall. Ritchie remarks that ‘substance is given to this threat here by the fact that Men. still has in his hand the tablets which give proof of Ag.’s volte-face’ – but see 303–542 n. Staging, at end. Thus there is genuine menace in this line, which is not untypical at the end of a disagreement (cf. Ag. at 401), particularly when ‘friends’ have been a significant theme (317–414a n. (i); see also the next paragraph below). μηχανάς ‘plans’ is ‘loaded’, in view of Men.’s scheme for the false marriage, 97–105, cf. Ag. in 129 of the same deception; at 444 Ag. describes it as σοφίσματα ‘clever plans’ and 745 as τέχνας ‘schemes’. For μηχανή/αί cf. e.g. Hel. 813 ‘plan’, IT 112 ‘device’. I shall go etc.: in fact Men. does not leave: he is addressed by the Messenger at 436, hears Ag.’s monologue 442–68, responds to it positively and speaks again at 471 – with very great effect. On this, Lloyd (1992) 3 notes that an agon normally continues for as long as the two opposed characters are on stage together, and observes that this is the only instance where its end is not clearly marked by an exit. In a remarkable development of the form’s tradition, worthy of Euripides in modifying conventions which he himself had largely set, it continues with the arrival of new information which causes both brothers (in a kind of anti-agon) to reverse their positions. In doing so, they win through to harmony. Lloyd 17 observes too that ‘Euripides thus sometimes makes a point of the tragic futility of rational discussion’. See also C: 442–542 n. B: 414b–41 Messenger-scene. The M(essenger), one of Clyt.’s household who has accompanied her to Aulis and come on in advance to prepare Ag. (424), bursts in to announce

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her arrival together with Iph. and the infant Orestes (see below on Staging and Text): they are at the moment resting in a pleasant pastoral spot 415– 423. The news of their coming has spread through the army and all the soldiers are rushing to see Iph. and speculating why she has come: is her marriage in the offing? 425–435 (see on 414b–19). The M. concludes by urging that the preparations for marriage, with singing and dancing, should begin 435–8; for his exit see 440–1 n., at end. Two unusual features of this speech are observed by A. Rijksbaron, ‘How does a messenger begin his speech?’, in J. C. Bremer etc. (eds), Miscellanea Tragica in Honorem J. C. Kamerbeek (Amsterdam 1976), 300–1: its beginning is abrupt (see Staging) and does not give the source of the news; and it reports an event still happening, although this has parallels at Bacc. 660–774 and Rhesus 264–342 (see Fries (2014) 216); see Text below. Furthermore, the M.’s abrupt arrival gives Ag. no chance to acknowledge him, as Tragic practice requires (which the interpolator of [1534–9] knew), but Ag. follows practice after the report, 441.   Staging. A new character enters unannounced, and mid-line. This striking effect is typical of New Comedy, e.g. Men. Epitr. 382, and its use here has been taken to disqualify 413–41 from 5th century Tragedy, but there is one good enough analogy, near in date to IA: at S. Phil. 974 (409 BC) Odysseus suddenly interrupts, mid-line, when a fraught episode long under way between Neoptolemus and Philoctetes has reached an impasse, and Philoctetes cries ‘Oh, no! Who is this man? Do I hear Odysseus?’; his amazement implies that Odysseus has not been ‘visible’, and there is no indication that he has returned. The hurried entry of our M., impatient to spill out the news, is theatrically effective; the actor’s timing at mid-verse must have been critical to its success. Hasty entries in Tragedy are discussed generally by Taplin (1977) 147 and n. 2; conversely, Men.’s intended exit at 414a is abruptly abandoned, or prevented, like that of Achilles stopped by the OM’s intervention at 855; cf. And. 1070 and four other examples from Soph. and Eur. given by Taplin 300 n. 2. Art. The 2nd century BC ‘Homeric’ bowls (details in 111–14 n.) depict the M. announcing Iph.’s arrival to Ag.: nos 6 and 7. [Text. The authenticity of this scene was suspect to editors early enough for Hermann (1831) to defend it; but later 19th century scholars athetized it, followed in the 20th century by Page and Diggle, and Kovacs

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(2003) 87, 97–8. Further grounds for suspicion are the observations of A. Rijksbaron (above). The scene has been retained with differing confidence by some editors since Jouan (1983); also by Matthiessen and Michelakis (2006) 99–100. Arguments in defence were marshalled by Stockert 318–19, turning chiefly on the dramatic and theatrical advantages, above all the (ironic) contrast between Ag.’s bleak determination in 378–411 and the M.’s joy (later shared by the Chorus in 590–606 – but these lines too are very strongly suspected), and the important first extended mention of the army’s feelings as a factor in 425–34 (leading to Ag.’s further dilemma in 528–37: see n.; Introduction pp. 21, 28). Even athetizers admit that news of Clyt.’s arrival must have reached Ag. somehow before 442, and they need to suggest the content which may have been lost, as well as why, and how and when the ms. text we have was substituted, e.g. after physical damage or deliberate expansion. The lines are fraught with pathos which will move spectators; and they emphasize the theme of the family, one of the play’s central motifs. Cavander (1973) 99 allows that the speech as we have it may not be authentic, but argues strongly that Euripides may have conceived it as a ‘counterweight to the acrimonious quarrel’ and a bridge to Clyt.’s arrival; also that ‘it motivates Ag.’s change of mood and contributes to the “fated” atmosphere of the story’. Wecklein (1899, 1914, following England (1891)) deleted (or suspected or emended) all passages in the play which refer to the infant Orestes, beginning with 418 (as part of 413–41); the others are 465–6 (part of 465–8), 602–3 (588–606), 621–6 (619–30), 1117–19, 1164–5, 1241–8, 1449–52, 1623 ([1510–1629]); these passages were examined by Page 206, who attributed 418, 602–3, 621–6 and 1117–19 to interpolation, but pointed out that 465–6 presuppose the imminent arrival of Orestes, and that 1164–5, 1241–8 and 1449–52 are interdependent for their pathetic effect; Page’s remarks are considered favourably by Gibert (2005) 245 n. 55. Athetizers misjudge in particular the effectiveness of the infant Orestes, whose poignant silence Iph. uses in appeal to Ag. (465–6 (cf. 622), 1241–5, 1450–2); compare the dramatic effect of other non-speaking infants or children in Tragedy when addressed or apostrophized, e.g. Ajax’s son with his mother Tecmessa S. Aj. 340, 552– 3, Andromache’s infant son And. 309–463, 754–5, the similarly doomed Astyanax with his mother Tro. 740–79, the infant Opheltes sung to by

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Hypsipyle, before she later carelessly brings about his death Hypisyple F 752f.1–14 (= 187–201), and, above all, the same infant Orestes used as hostage by Euripides’ Telephus in his name-play (see esp. Michaelakis cited above). The analogies are not, of course, a pointer to, let alone ‘proof’ of, Euripidean authenticity for our scene: Aristophanes’ marvellous parody in Thes. 689–758 of 411 BC shows that the theatrical device was familiar enough for any poet to employ. For ‘silent children’ see PickardCambridge (1988) 144, A. Tzanetou, ‘Children in Greek Tragedy’, in EGT 218–20, and C. W. Marshall, ibid. 1249–50. It is unknown whether infants or babies were consistently played by live children, or represented by dummies. Gibert (2005) 239–40 has helpful comments on the stage-handling of Orestes. Further: (1) the news of Clyt.’s imminent arrival, with Iph. and Orestes, brings Ag.’s torment to an extreme (442–5, cf. his 137–8; 446– 50; earlier, his 16–23). Then 451–66 (cf. 538–41) ‘anticipate’ his later emotions when he fails to deceive Clyt. 742–5 and both her and Iph. 1255–75; (2) Men. in fact has not left Ag. alone, despite his intention in 413–14a (n.); he hears the M.’s news and during that time the reality of what Ag. must do shows him the cost, and plausibly stirs him to unexpected pity (471–84 and ff.). We therefore leave the scene as it is.] 414b–16  lord of all the Greeks: This formal address to Ag. looks heavily deliberate, even clumsy, given that the M. brings what he believes to be personal news of his wife Clyt., but in context appears to serve the introduction of the army’s reaction to Iph.’s arrival, 425–34 (above, 414b–41; the Panhellenic motif yet again). Greek. 416 ὠνόμαζες: for the impf. idiomatic in such formal namings see 281 and n. [Metre. 416 Ἰφιγένειαν: an anapaest in the 2. foot of the trimeter, to accommodate a proper name; this one again at IT 771: see Diggle (1994) 317, modifying West (1982) 82.] 417–19  (your Clytemnestra) in person: δέμας: lit. ‘the body (of your Clytemnestra)’, a style of periphrasis, usually complimentary, influenced by Homer’s βίη, σθένος etc. (‘might, strength’) with personal gen.; with δέμας e.g. Hec. 724–25 τοῦδε δεσπότου δέμας | Ἀγαμέμνονος ‘Agamemnon our master in person here’ (Ag. is about to enter); Or. 107,

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El. 1340–1 (but see Text). The epicism adds to the formality (previous n.). For the presence of Orestes see 414b–41 n. Text. Greek. For the possessive ‘your’ Wecklein compared Tro. 1135 ῞Εκτορος τοῦ σοῦ γόνος ‘son of your Hector’.  after … long (absence): χρόνον παλαιὸν lit. ‘during an old time’, acc. of ‘time how long’. Barrett on Hipp. 908 is helpful here: ‘παλαιός (‘old’, in the sense of ‘having existed since long ago’) is often used of a period of time continuing from long ago up to the present’; cf. 479 below (not long, in fact), e.g. Hel. 626 (with Kannicht’s n.), S. OT 561. [Text. 417 Elmsley rejected the periphrasis with δέμας and proposed σὴ Κλυταιμήστρα δάμαρ ‘your spouse Clytemnestra’, the ending of IT 22; for the word δάμαρ see 1163 and n.   418 ὡς σφε Vater, restoring syntax (and pron. ‘him’) for irregular ὥστε L and opt. Less well ὥς τι Hermann ‘(take) some (pleasure in…)’.] 420–3  their feet: θηλύπουν βάσιν lit. ‘female-footed going, going on women’s feet’ (our translation transforms ‘female’ into women for αὐταί ‘themselves’ in 422 (see also Text). The adj. occurs only here, but is characteristic of Euripidean diction: cf. Oedipus F 540.2 λεοντόπουν βάσιν ‘going on lion’s feet’ (the Sphinx), Hec. 66–7 βραδύπουν ἤλυσιν (ἄρθρων) ‘the slow-footed coming (of my joints)’ (the aged Hecuba’s), cf. βάσις LSJ II. For the verb ἀναψύχω ‘refresh’ cf. Hes. WD 608 ‘(servants) refresh their own limbs’, with West’s n.  women and fillies alike: not alone among scholars, Page 153 finds this conjunction of women and horses ‘somewhat absurd’, and he deletes 422–3; J. Jouanna, REG 101 (1988) 521–5 not altogether successfully proposed an underlying sense ‘recover one’s breath (after fatigue)’, citing the prayer Hel. 1094 ‘(Hera,) give (two pitiable wretches) recovery from their sufferings’, ἀνάψυξον … πόνων. Whatever the sense intended, the M. must say why he has appeared ahead of the women (Stockert): 424 πρόδρομος (n.). There is a simple informality about the scene, characteristic of Eur., e.g. the Fisherman-Messenger’s concern for details of his gear Stheneboea F 670. Greek. μακράν far: the fem. acc. of the adj., used adverbially as ‘afar, to a distance’, has been explained through ellipse of the noun ὅδον as internal obj. ‘(on a) far (road)’; cf. 664 μακρὰν ἀπαίρεις ‘you’re sailing far away’, Cyc. 12 ὡς ὁδηθείης μακράν ‘so your road should be far away’; LSJ μακράν Ι.1, DELG. But both in such cases and esp. the expression μακρὰν ἔτεινον ‘they spoke at length’, e.g. Med. 1351 and A. Ag. 916,

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it seems likely that this use of the fem. is a generalised phenomenon: Fraenkel on Ag. 916, who describes it as colloquial (see Collard (2005) 372); KG I.313 n. 12; LSJ I.2. βορά: lit. ‘food’; it is commonly ‘flesh’, often human flesh when eaten; of ordinary human fare e.g. El. 425, 429. In γευσαίατο feed (lit. ‘taste’) the ending -ατο is Ionic (Smyth 465f and footnote, 35b); its use in Attic at this time seems to be an archaism; cf. Kannicht on Hel. 159. [Text. 422 Porson had anticipated Page’s ‘absurd’ (above) with his ingenious conjecture αὐτοῖσι (improved by Gaisford to αὐταῖσι) πώλοις: ‘fillies and all’ instead of ‘women and fillies alike’.] 424–6  I have come: ἥκω: an excited repetition from 415? running on before them: πρόδρομος: the M. is in a hurry, trying to catch up with, if not beat, rumour!  so that you may make preparations: σῆς παρασκευῆς χάριν, lit. ‘for the sake of your preparation’: the meaning of the phrase is confirmed by 435–6 where the M. suggests the preparations that Ag. should make (see Greek).  the army: see 414b–16 n., and for its progressive introduction into the off-stage factors with which Ag. in particular must deal (beginning at 87), Introduction pp. 27, 28–30. Greek. 424 σῆς: poss. adj. standing for subjective gen., not objective ‘(so as to) prepare you’; the latter is the commoner use, e.g. And. 660 προνοίᾳ τῇ τε σῇ κἀμῇ ‘out of forethought for both you and me’, Pho. 365 σὴ πίστις ‘trust in you’, Smyth 1197; for both uses see KG I. 560 n. 11.   425 γάρ in successive clauses as 1422–3, and twice in a line, IT 1325; see GP 58.   426 διᾴσσω lit. ‘rush, speed through’; the verb only here in Eur., cf. PV 133 with subject ἠχώ ‘(resonant noise,) echo’. 427–9  to the sight: like the Chorus viewing the encampment 171, 190–1 and the fleet 231–2; by implication, the army later viewing the sacrifice [1545–7].  (famous among all men, and) widely admired: περίβλεπτος: lit. ‘seen, looked at from all round’, used of Amphitryon as youthful hero Her. 508. Greek. ὅμιλος … ἴδωσιν: collective sing. subject, plur. verb, as e.g. 914, [1589]; Smyth 950, 996. 430–4  Quoted direct speech is a regular feature of Euripides’ surviving messenger-speeches, appearing in almost all of them (de Jong (1991) 131–9, 199–200); see 356–7 n. for its frequency elsewhere in IA. Two voices are reported, 430–2a ‘Does this mean … daughter?’ and 432b–4 ‘They are consecrating … marrying her?’. Metrical resolutions help

Commentary

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to convey the general excitement, as again in 436–7. The scene recalls the bystanders’ malicious gossip at Od. 6.276–85, when Nausicaa fears taking the handsome Odysseus to her home; with our 434 compare 6.277 ‘He’s going to be her husband!’  a marriage: translates Ὑμέναιος Hymenaeus, the god’s name used in metonymy for his function; he is depersonified as ‘marriage-song’ in 437 (see n.).  what is going on: πράσσεται: this use of πράσσω is perhaps colloquial: cf. Ar. Wasps 767 ταὔθ’ ἅπερ ἐκεῖ πράττεται ‘The very same as is going on there’, cf. Wealth 181. For this verb used of secretive action cf. 129 n.  And you would have heard this from others: τῶν δ’ ἂν ἤκουσας τάδε: compare Bacc. 1085 θηρῶν δ’ οὐκ ἂν ἤκουσας βοήν ‘you would not have heard the call of wild creatures’, also a messenger-speech (cf. our [1582] n.); for the idiom with ἄν and aor. indic. of ἀκούω cf. Ar. Lys. 510–11; colloquial: Stevens (1976) 60.  They are consecrating the young girl to Artemis: the army’s ignorance of the true situation is given poignant emphasis, and irony. προτελίζω ‘initiate or consecrate by a preliminary ceremony’ occurs elsewhere only at Cratinus F 191 PCG (which has interesting matter on the ritual at Athens) and as a variant reading in Pollux 3.38. The cognate noun προτέλεια is used of Iph.’s sacrifice (at Artemis’ order) before the fleet may sail at A. Ag. 227 – and below at 718 (see n.; Introduction pp. 5–6, 10–12); the poet almost certainly had A. Ag. 224–7 in mind, Ag. steeling himself to sacrifice Iph. as προτέλεια ναῶν ‘an advance payment/sacrifice for his ships’ (i.e. to enable the voyage to Troy); Ag. 224–7 are cited also on 443, 451–2, 463–4 below. But here the questioner thinks of Artemis as the goddess whose precinct was nearby (91) and as the goddess of young girls on the brink of marriage (718 n.). Greek. 430 Note L’s πράσσετ(ε), more likely a simple copying error than a genuine variant; the 2. pers. plur. has no reference here, appearing first in 436.   432 The second reported voice is introduced with pronominal τῶν δέ (256 n.) ‘and/while from others…’, perhaps implying the omission of pronominal οἱ μέν with λέγουσι ‘some are saying’; for such omission see Smyth 2838, GP 166.  434 ἄγομαι mid. of the bridegroom, ‘lead, bring (to his home)’, e.g. Med. 1331 (Jason’s bringing Medea from Colchis), And. 104, Or. 248. 435–9  Come then: ἀλλ’ εἷα: 111 n.; from a messenger e.g. Pho. 970, 990.  begin with the baskets: ἐξάρχομαι here has the sense of

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ἐνάρχομαι in sacrifices, ‘begin the offering’, by taking the barley meal from the baskets: e.g. 1470, El. 1142. It would be sprinkled over the head of the animal victim and on the altar fire, e.g. 1471; and the baskets would also contain the sacrificial knife [1565–6]: see Denniston on El. 791ff.; Burkert (1983) 4–5; Foley (1985) 69–70 notes that the rituals described here are common to sacrifice and marriage: see Introduction p. 11.  garland: all were garlanded at a wedding-rite (cf. 436). Iph. herself is to be such, 1080, 1477–8; the passage 1080–9 plays on the irony of her being brought up as a valuable bride, not a country girl like a mountain heifer reared for bloody slaughter – also garlanded, 1080–4.  rehearse the wedding-song: εὐτρεπίζω ‘get ready’: 1111, IT 470, both also of ritual sacrifice. ὑμέναιος means both the song (as here) and the marriage itself (430 n.). Hymenaeus, the god of marriage, himself leads the music and dancing at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis 1036–40. He was of course addressed in marriage songs, e.g. Phaethon 227 (a chorus of girls sings); at Tro. 310 ff. the bride Cassandra herself sings (in deluded possession by Apollo). Here, the instruction would no doubt be more appropriate to Ag. as the putative bride’s father; but in his excitement our M. is not too worried about precision. Let the pipe sound … stamping feet: for music at weddings cf. Hel. 1433–5, Tro. 335–9, Phaethon 218, 248; the λωτός ‘pipe’ at weddings e.g. 1036 below, Her. 10–12; the verb βοάω lit. ‘cry’ naturally suits the sound of a blown instrument, but is used of a stringed one at e.g. Hypsipyle F 752g. Dancing: e.g. 1040–3, 1054–7, Phaethon 247; stamping feet in the dance at a wedding 1042–3 below.  with the promise of happiness: lit. ‘blessed (day)’, the adj. μακάριος typifying indeed the happiest day of a marriageable girl’s life, and in particular the ‘song of blessing’, the μακαρισμός, sung on it, e.g. 832, 1076; Phaethon 227–44 is a complete example of the song. 435–7 The three imperatives begin, garland, rehearse are directed successively to Ag., apparently to Ag. and Men. jointly, and expressly to Men.; but why should Men. be involved in the wedding ceremony? It may be that the M.’s casting of Men. as loving uncle to Iph. is one of the factors in Men.’s subsequent change of heart (491–5). England complains of the ‘clumsy’ changes of person in 435–6 – apparently the interpolator (whose work he supposed) is showing ‘signs of fatigue’ – but, as Page 154 justly remarks, ‘of course it would act well on the stage’.

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Greek. τἀπὶ τοισίδ(ε): τὰ ἐπὶ: neut. acc. of an articulated phrase in apposition to the clause (here ἐξάρχου κανᾶ); the prep. with dat. is here ‘following from (this)’, what follows, expressing both time and cause, as e.g. Ion 256 τἀπί τῷδε, Pho. 1208. 440–1  Thank you!: ἐπῄνεσ(α): lit. ‘I (have) approved, praised (you’)’; for the idiom of ‘thanks’ with (ἐπ)αινέω see J. H. Quincey, JHS 86 (1966) 155.  As fortune takes its course: the expression here is unsurprisingly vague: Ag. must politely acknowledge the M.’s celebratory announcement in a way that will deflect his further questions or encouragement, and that the audience will recognize as non-committal; no one must learn what is really intended: 538–42, at the end of the episode. Greek. 440 ἐπῄνεσα: for the ‘tragic’, ‘dramatic’ or ‘instantaneous’ aorist see ᾔνεσα again at 655, ᾤκτισα ‘I pity (her)’ 462, cf. 499, 509, 607, 874: M. Lloyd, CQ 49 (1999) 24–45; C. Bary, Glotta 88 (2012) 31–51, developing Lloyd’s ‘performative’ explanation; Smyth 1937, 1939.   441 ἰούσης: for a simple verb of motion, lit. ‘goes, comes’, with τύχη ‘fortune’, cf. Antiope F 223.7 ἔρχεται; also e.g. Supp. 89 ἠχοῦς ἰούσης ‘noise coming’. καλῶς adv. with ἔσται, when a form of ἔχω might be expected; but cf. Med. 89, Or. 1106; note IA 396–7 εὖ … ἔσται; LSJ εἰμί C 1. The M. is now sent into Ag.’s hut 440, appropriately as a member of his household; he must be got off stage very decisively before Ag. begins his powerful monologue. Messengers in Tragedy sometimes give their own reasons for exiting, sometimes leave without notice: see Taplin (1977) 88. C: 442–542  Reconciliation of Agamemon and Menelaus. In this remarkable sequel to the agon 317–412, both brothers reverse their previous positions. They still cannot find agreement but the fraternal bond is renewed and affection speaks loud: thus the scene is a kind of anti-agon. The quickness of this reconciliation, within the same episode, is a further unusual feature of the agon-form’s use, for 442–542 appear to repeat its basic structure (see 317–414a n.): two contrasting long speeches 442–68 and 473–503, each marked off by a choral couplet 469–70 and 503–4, followed by an exchange 506–42, consisting of two short speeches surrounding stichomythia 513–27 (see nn. on these lines). This outward appearance is illusory, however: in 442–68 Ag. delivers

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a monologue of agonized doubt, with no word to Men.; he responds to news of his wife’s and daughter’s arrival and its certain consequence. In 473–503 Men. responds to that agony with altered sympathy and change of mind; in 506–42 Ag. ends in the same agony (535–6), but with Men. silently complicit in Ag.’s renewed plan to sacrifice Iph. before Clyt. discovers his purpose. 442–68  Ag.’s monologue. While he listened to the Messenger, he has realized that the arrival of Iph. at Aulis in full sight of the army means that her sacrifice is inevitable. Appalled, he contemplates his situation 442–5; he again laments his high birth and its constraints upon showing emotions 446–53, and he foresees with horror greeting his wife and daughter, encounters which will be made the more harrowing by the presence of the infant Orestes 454–66. He ends by exclaiming against Paris, the cause of his plight 467–8. His monologue is essentially a soliloquy, but Men. observes his distress and reacts first to his tears (477–80, 496), only later, and again, to what he has said (481–4 ~ Ag.’s 396–9). Throughout his speech, Ag. shows a touching empathy with the feelings of his wife and particularly his daughter. For the emotional techniques written into his monologue, see next n. and the comparison with Men.’s speech in 473–503 n. 442–3  Alas!: οἴμοι: Ag. at 136, 742. Other emotional interjections and deliberative questions mark this speech at 443, 446, 454–6 (twice), 467, cf. Ag. in 136–7, 536, 655, 1132, 1136, 1140.  What am I to say? Where begin?: approximately the same two questions at A. Cho. 855 (but beginning a choral ode); ‘What … say’? twice at Hel. 483; ‘begin’ in an indirect question Hel. 631.  What a yoke of necessity I have fallen under!: a clear reference to A. Ag. 218 where Ag. ‘put on the yokestrap of necessity’ ἀνάγκας ἔδυ λέπαδνον in this very same predicament; compare our 1257–8 ‘it is terrible for me to brave doing this deed’ with Ag. 224–5 ‘he endured becoming the sacrificer’. Necessity’s yoke also Or. 1330, Licymnius F 475, S. F 591.6 (all with ζύγον). [Text. 442 ἄρξωμαι Burges, deliberative subj. for L’s fut. indic. ἄρξομαι, restores idiom in such paired questions introduced by an interrogative pron., as e.g. Ion 758. The fut. indic. following a subj. at e.g. El. 967, IT 96–8 stands in fuller, consequential questions. Here, in place of ἄρξωμαι πόθεν;, both the change of grammatical mood and the fut. verb’s emphatic place before the pron. will be dissonant.]

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444–5 in the Greek begin with asyndeton, explanatory of 442–3: A god has outwitted me: ‘outwitted’ ὑπῆλθε: 67 n. ‘god’ δαίμων: a nameless divinity which ‘distributes’ (Greek δαίομαι daiomai/daimon) man’s μοῖρα moira ‘part, share’ as his τύχη tuche ‘that which befalls, fortune’: Ag. uses all three words in 1136 ‘O mistress Fate (Μοῖρα), and my fate (τύχη) and destiny (daimon)’ (see 1136 n.), speaking of it as his own, as also e.g. Alc. 499, Med. 1347. So the word daimon itself becomes synonymous with ‘fate’, the power controlling the destiny of individuals; e.g. And. 1007–8 and Hcld. 935 it changes a man’s ‘fate, fortunes’; Or. 1545 it ‘has an end for men, an end wherever it wishes’. On Med. 1208 ‘which of divine powers (daimones) has destroyed you?’, Mastronarde remarks that ‘it is in the nature of tragic story-telling that characters are quick to assume the intervention of a divine force’ (like Phaedra at Hipp. 241); certainly Ag. does so: 393–4, 537, 1136 (above), 1264; cf. his 24–7. For daimon see esp. Burkert (1985) 179–81 and Mikalson (1991) 22–9; a careful analysis of its range in Tragedy by Stevens on And. 98. Here in 444, then, the impersonal daimon is active, undermining Ag.’s ‘clever plans’ (see below) for no apparent reason except that such powers are gods, often self-interested; the implication of ὥστε with the infin., lit. ‘so as to…’, is their general assertion of power superior to men, e.g. with their own ‘clever plans’; cf. F 972 ‘The gods (οἱ θεοί) trip us up with clever devices of many forms, for they are superior by nature.’ For fortune τύχη in the play see Introduction pp. 35–6. clever plans: σοφίσματα: at 744–7 Ag. again acknowledges total defeat for his schemes, conceding that Iph.’s sacrifice is prized (not by any nameless power but) by ‘the goddess Artemis’ (91 n.); cf. Iph.’s own criticism IT 380 of Artemis’ σοφίσματα: ‘clever plans’ (– or, ironic, ‘wisdom’?). The word is used of the Greeks’ intention to sacrifice Polyxena to Achilles’ ghost Hec. 258 and (in Pentheus’ words) of Dionysus’ designs against Theban women Bacc. 489; cf. Odysseus’ scheme to capture Philoctetes S. Phil. 14 and (the verb σοφίζω) 77. In Eur. in particular the noun σοφιστής ‘sophist’ is generally pejorative, e.g. Hcld. 993, Hipp. 921; for the 5th century Sophists and intellectualism in Eur. see G. B. Kerferd, The Sophistic Movement (Cambridge 1981), Conacher (1998), Egli (2003) 181, W. Allan in Gregory (ed.) (2005) 71–82 (bibl.). There is implicit play here between this slanted sense of σοφός ‘(over-)clever’ and ‘wise’, as if Ag. nears admitting that the gods

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have been wiser than himself; cf. the much cited Bacc. 395 τὸ σοφὸν δ’ οὐ σοφία ‘cleverness is not wisdom’ (Dodds), and 1139 below ὁ νοῦς ὅδ’ αὐτὸς νοῦν ἔχων οὐ τυγχάνει ‘This mind of yours is really no mind at all.’ Greek. Explanatory asyndeton: 391 n. Note the effect of σοφίσματα and σοφώτερος ending successive lines. 446–50  Ag.’s words on the handicaps of noble birth chime with his earlier ones on the drawbacks of high office (16–27).  Low birth … usefulness: the words give an instant of relief, quickly reversed in Ag.’s gloom, 449b–53; for χρήσιμον ‘useful’ in a political context see 915 of common sailors, 925 of personal moderation. Contrast Hcld. 302 ‘High birth protects against misfortune more than low birth.’  men: translates αὐτοῖς 447, i.e. ‘them, those of low birth’; the pron. personifies the abstract noun δυσγένεια in 446. These lines may have been a model for Ennius Incerta 388–9 ‘In this the common people have the advantage over the king: in an appropriate place the people may weep, the king decently may not’. See also Text below.  (of noble) birth: most commentators here adduce noblesse oblige.  dignity: ὄγκος, here stuffy, empty and inhibiting: Tro. 108 in one’s ancestors, Melanippe F 504.1 in ostentatious wealth; the verb ὀγκόω Hec. 623 in wealth and political fame; the word in context is hard to capture in English without importing its pejorative sense, ‘swollen pride, haughtiness’ (see Text below). Stockert cites Plut. Pericles 4.6 for a positive meaning, the philosopher Anaxagoras seemingly without criticism attributing ὄγκος to the statesman, a ‘magisterial demeanour’; Here it seems calculated in its expressive symmetry and contrast with the similar sounding ὄχλῳ the masses. The term ruler προστάτην in 449 therefore is an effective metaphor (see below) in the light of we are slaves ‘to the masses’, because it was used of popular ‘leaders, champions’ who at Athens in the later 5th century increasingly influenced that part of the citizenry, e.g. [373] and n., Ar. Knights 1128; cf. esp. Supp. 243 their control of the poor, Or. 772 of the many, οἱ πολλοί; their equivalents at Corcyra manipulate the people Thuc. 4.46.4. So ‘the masses’ emerge as a dramatic factor here, and even more strongly in 517 ‘you must not fear the masses too much’, cf. 526, 1357 (at Hec. 868–9 Ag. is accused of ‘ceding more to the masses’ out of fear). In IA the word ὄχλος is not always contemptuous, ‘mob’ as e.g. Supp. 411 (see n. on 526): at 191, 735 and 1030 it is simply ‘mass, body’

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of the army. In general see J. Ober, Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People (Princeton 1989) 11. Two metaphors: 449 προστάτης ‘one standing at the fore, ruler’ e.g. Pl. Rep. 572e love as ‘ruler’ of lazy desires; the adj. προστατήριος is used at Α. Ag. 976 of fear ‘ruling’ a heart; compare the noun ἐπιστάτης S. El. 76 the moment ‘ruling’ every action. Cf. προστάτης as (political) ‘leader’ 373 (n.).   450 δουλεύω ‘be a slave to’ e.g. Her. 1357 to fortune, Pho. 395 to profit; the noun δοῦλος Her. 251 to supreme power. Greek. 447 ἔχει and adv. (ῥᾳδίως) for ἐστί and adj., also 483, 1257, 1402; cf. 440 n. Greek. The repetition of ἔχει between 446 and 447 is innocent, like that of γάμους … γάμων in 485–6: contrast αἰδοῦμαι in 451–2 (n.). [Text. 448–9 ἄνολβα L’s first word in 448 gives bare sense, ‘(easy for the low born … to say) profitless things’, but ἅπαντα in 449 no sense at all, ‘(these things are) everything’. Most editors have accepted Musgrave’s transposition, as we do, but with misgiving, which we share; but for interchange at line–beginnings in mss. see e.g. Hel. 680–1 proper names, S. OC 1234–5 single words; cf. Jackson (1955) 228–31. Conjectures therefore abound, many cited by Diggle (1994) 492–3, among them Apelt’s 449 ἄφαντα (for L’s ἅπαντα) ταῦτα ‘these things (are) not to be revealed’, “exactly the sense required here” Ritchie. Diggle accepted Musgrave’s ἅπαντα in 448 but in 449 proposed and printed ἄνολβα (Musgrave) πάντα (D. himself, for ταῦτα L) ‘all is profitless’. Renehan (1998) 265–6 however defended 449 (ἄνολβα) ταῦτα this in association with the man of noble birth from the fragment of Ennius cited above (Incerta 388–9 Jocelyn); it is ascribed by some scholars to his Iphigenia as reflecting Eur.’s 448–9, plebes in hoc regi antestat: loco licet | lacrimare plebi, regi honeste non licet, but Jocelyn p. 323 is doubtful. Whatever change to L is accepted, its γε in 449 must be replaced by a connective, either Plut.’s adversative δὲ, Diggle’s own preference, or Matthiae’s simple τε ‘and’.   450 ὄγκον is in Plutarch’s citation; δῆμον L gives exaggerated emphasis to nobles’ submitting like slaves to an enfranchised populace (the word’s Athenian connotation): it is false to Ag.’s insistence on the constraint which birth puts on his emotions: see on ‘For’ 451–3 n. Greek. L’s error probably came through the prominence of ‘political’ προστάτην in 449 (above).] 451–3  Ag. must suppress his personal feelings as constrained by his nobility, 446–50. For the idea in Tragedy, see e.g. A. Seven 656–7, S. Trac.

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1070–2. The repetition of αἰδοῦμαι ‘I am ashamed’ at the same metrical place in successive verses emphasizes Ag.’s predicament heavily, like δεινῶς beginning both 1257 and 1258.  ashamed to pour out tears, but … ashamed … to hold them in: and weep he does, 477, as often in this play, 39–40, 496–7, 650, 683–4: the powerful precedent is A. Ag. 203–4, where he and Men. cannot forbear to weep at their terrible dilemma over the sacrifice, 206–11. Male tears have Homeric precedent (Il. 8.245 and 9.13–15, Od. 11.391, 466, all shed by Ag.), and are not rare in Tragedy, e.g. A. Seven 656–7, S. Ajax 1208–9, E. Ino F 407; but Kannicht on Hel. 947–53 detects stiffer upper lips in the later 5th century. This is one of many places where spoken words must convey changes of facial expression in masked actors (for Men. too, 478); they may have suggested weeping though their voices or by raising their hands to their eyes. Ag. has already rejected shaming behaviour in his brother 327, 329, and avoids it himself 1144; cf. Ach.’s sense of αἰδώς ‘shame’ when facing the great lady Clyt. 821, 824, and preparing for the unmarried Iph.’s presence 994, 997: it is a theme in the play (Introduction pp. 34–5), and Turato p. 216 n. 43 gives it the significance of Phaedra’s ‘shame’ in Hippolytus (see Halleran’s Commentary p. 44 and esp. the problematic line 385). Greek. 451 γάρ For, moving from generalisation to particular case: GP 66.   452 The def. art. with infin. after (the second) αἰδοῦμαι is idiomatic with verbs of emotion etc.: Smyth 2238. 454–5  Well then: speakers regularly use εἶἑν to signal their next point, as Clyt. does in 1185 (where the interjection stands outside the verse, as often): Mastronarde on Pho. 1615. It is probably a colloquialism (Stevens (1976) 34 and Collard (2005) 362). See on Greek. The weeping Ag. may recover his composure here  what shall I say to my wife?: Ag. had hoped that Clyt, would stay at home and send Iph. to Aulis without her. It is Clyt.’s decision to accompany her daughter that has given Ag. the coup de grace. Not only will it make what he sees as the now inevitable sacrifice far more problematic to accomplish, it will also add greatly to the trauma for him: see his 742–5.  What look shall I meet hers with?: the implication of συμβάλλω is clear: ‘join (with hers), meet her eyes with’ (LSJ I.6), an action as significant as words joined with a lady 830, hands joined in an oath 58; related are 648 ‘give me a loving look’ ὄμμα … ἔκτεινον φίλον, 1238 ‘Look at me, give me your eyes and a kiss’ βλέψον πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὄμμα

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δὸς φίλημά τε; for the dramatic moment cf. Plaut. Casina 938 ‘how to look my wife in the face?’ For eye-contact in this episode see 320–1 n., in the play Introduction pp. 33–4; cf. S. Aj. 462 ‘What sort of look shall I show my father Telamon when I appear?’, OT 1371. Greek. εἶἑν is perhaps related etymologically to εἷα (111 n.). With -ἑν compare Latin hem: see DELG; for the aspirate see also Mastronarde on Pho. 849, citing Plut. Mor. 393b, where εἶ ἕν is stated to be an older form of the exclamation εἶ. [Text. 455 P2’s fut. συμβαλῶ is a necessary correction after the two futs. φήσω (for which cf. And. 84) and δέξομαι; for the idiom see e.g. 1447 τί … ἀγγελῶ;, Smyth 1916. L’s aor. subj. συμβάλω has been defended, in (rare) transition from a fut., as e.g. Ion 758, S. Trac. 973: Smyth 1916a.] 456–9  likely: εἰκότως (e.g. IT 911) understates Ag.’s wish to keep his wife well away from Aulis; for ‘probability’ in argument see 501 n., 1134–5 n.  her dearest: cf. our ‘close family’; ‘daughter’ is the usual sense of τὰ φίλτατα in Eur., e.g. 1170: see Mastronarde on Pho. 434.  will discover my baseness: κακός, the adj. Men. used of Ag.’s betrayal, esp. 349 ‘where I found you base’. εὑρήσει fut., like Protesilaus F 657.3 ‘you will find one (woman) bad’ τὴν μὲν εὑρήσεις κακήν. Greek. νυμφεύω trans. marry of either parent, as e.g. 885 (but of the groom 461), like δίδωμι in the sense of ἐκδίδωμι ‘give away’ (e.g. 132). ἵνα is originally locative where, thus ‘to a place where, to an occasion or matter where’, e.g. 924, Alc. 319. [Text. 456 πάρα P2, i.e. πάρεστι ‘(troubles) are present’, is necessary; cf. Or. 713 τῶν κακῶν ἅ σοι πάρα: πάρος L ‘previously’ requires understanding the verb ἦν ‘were…’, but such ellipse of the past tense is extremely rare in Tragedy: KG I.41 n. 2 (Smyth is silent).] 460–2a  the wretched maiden – why say, maiden?: τί with a word repeated in its grammatical form in an indignant or incredulous question is colloquial: Stevens (1976) 40, cf. Diggle (1981) 50–2; a verb is repeated at e.g. Alc. 807, Bacc. 1181. Commentators adduce Hec. 612 παρθένον ἀπάρθενον ‘a maiden no maiden (now)’, Polyxena sacrificed, and as if for marriage to Achilles, himself dead (Hec. 108), in the underworld ruled by Hades. The question ‘why?’ may seem to relate to ‘wretched’ rather than Iph.’s virginity, but its explanation follows in Hades, it seems, will soon marry her (whence the punctuation as parenthesis); ‘it seems’ is

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Commentary

an understatement, given Ag.’s despair in 456–9: he believes that Iph. is doomed. For the idea of marriage to death, cf. A. Supp. 791 (apparently the earliest occurrence) with Friis Johansen-Whittle’s n., S. Ant. 654, 816, IT 369, Or. 1109: R. Seaford, ‘The Tragic Wedding’, JHS 107 (1987) 106–30, at 110; R. Rehm, Wedding and Funeral Rituals in Greek Tragedy (Princeton 1994). On a fragment of a relief which deals with the story of Medea, Hymen, the god of marriage, who presides over the nuptials of Jason and his new bride, bears in his hand the symbols of Death, thus signifying the imminent fate of the bride (LIMC V 1.633 no. 66). Greek. 460 δ’ αὖ ‘in turn, next’, conveyed in the translation by As for; cf. e.g. 279, for the acc. παρθένον is not one of respect but the obj. of the verb pity 462, delayed and set in enjambement for emphasis, as in 71–3 (n.).   462 ᾤκτισα: for the ‘tragic’ aorist, see 440 n. 462b–4  How I pity her!: note the Chorus’ pity for both Iph. and Ag. at 469.  she will supplicate: Ag. constructs his own tragic sketch (462–6), even acting the part of Iph. in direct speech (463–4: see Bers cited in 356 n.). His envisaged scene is very close to what indeed transpires in Iph.’s impassioned supplication 1211–52: see esp. her words in 1216, 1226–7, 1233, 1246–7; with 463 ‘will you kill me?’ cf. 1218, 1232, 1239, 1249– 52; for 463 marriage see 1235–6; for 465–6 appeal by the voiceless infant see 1241–8. Note too the inescapable echo from Iph.’s supplication at A. Ag. 234–8 – stifled to prevent its becoming a curse, feared here by Ag. in his imagination of Iph.’s words. May you make such a marriage yourself, may anyone you love!: Iph. is later to hear her mother reveal the harsh beginning of her own marriage to Ag., when Clyt. lets out her repressed animosity, 1148–56 (cf. 1454–5). For the phrasing ‘such … yourself’ cf. the bleak Tro. 724 ‘May he win such a victory in the matter of his own children’, S. Phil. 275 ‘the kind of things I wish may happen to them’. [Text. 462 ἱκετεύσειν Markland, fut.: L’s aor. ἱκετεῦσαι can mean only ‘did supplicate’.] 465–6  Orestes will be there nearby, to shout out: in fact Orestes joins the supplication through his tears, and silently, 1242–5.  incomprehensibly, though comprehending: polyptoton, one word-root in different grammatical forms (73b–6 n.), and , juxtaposed, in paregmenon (587–9 n.); the same polyptoton in 394a; Pho. 1506 δυσξύνετον ξύνετος μέλος ἔγνω ‘unintelligible … intelligent(ly)’, Oedipus solving the Sphinx’s riddle; cf.

Commentary

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Tro. 625 αἴνγιμ’ οὐ σαφῶς εἶπεν σαφές ‘a riddle unclearly spoken but clear’, itself an unclear statement. The figure in oxymoron (305 n.) is poignantly expressive of the emotional battering that Ag. (rightly) feels is in store for him. Greek. παρών pres. part. ‘being present’ is an idiomatic redundancy here given emphasis by its position at the start of the Greek sentence, i.e. ‘to my (Ag.’s) face’; with a fut. indic. also at And. 738, other verb-forms e.g. El. 331, Ion 1468, sometimes with no special weight. [Text. The two lines were excised by scholars wishing to remove the infant Orestes from the play: see n. on 414b–1 Text.  466 Musgrave unwisely altered L’s meaning with εὐσύνετ’ ἀσυνέτως ‘readily comprehensible … without comprehension’. A better conjecture, but still inferior to συνετῶς L, was Pierson’s συνετοῖς ‘(incomprehensibly) to those comprehending’: that is, hearers would grasp the infant’s distress. The words ἔτι γάρ ἐστι νήπιος recur in 622 – an unconvincing argument for deletion of 462–6 (above).] 467–8  A powerful conclusion, with yet another cry of despair; destroyed repeats the impact of Clyt.’s sudden arrival, 456–7 ‘she has destroyed me’. In the Greek note the advanced position of Helen’s name, the exclamation lit. ‘how he destroyed me’ interrupting ‘his marriage with Helen’, and the common emphatic figure of verb and cognate noun made (lit. ‘married’) … marriage (figura etymologica; see below), the juxtaposed and alliterative names Priam and Paris, and perhaps the metrical resolutions in each of the three accursed names, suggesting agitation. It is likely that the names themselves, and their mythic resonance, are more effective than the resolutions. They have necessarily to be accommodated within the trimeter – just as the expansion of Tragedy’s general vocabulary in later Eur. brought expanding metrical freedoms in both dialogue and lyric: see e.g. Dale (1968) 25 n. 2, Willink, Orestes (1986) liii. The ‘etymological’ figure, figura etymologica, verb with cognate acc. object (Breitenbach (1934) 229–30; V. Bers, EGT 1371) is very common in Eur. and sometimes carries a strong adj., e.g. Tro. 357 Ἑλένης γαμεῖ με δυσχερέστατον γάμον ‘Agamemnon will marry me (Cassandra) in a very difficult marriage’ (one worse than Helen’s); El. 247 ‘fatal’, 926 ‘impious’. Helen’s marriage to Paris and its consequences become more and more a theme, first at 49–79, esp. 70, then in Ag.’s 382–97 and later 683–4; the Chorus in 178–84, 581–9, 794–7 and 1253–4; Iph. at 1236–7,

368

Commentary

1283–1318, 1333–5, 1382. Compare the increasing frequency and often association of ‘Troy’: Introduction pp. 29–30. [Text. 468 ὅς μ’ L is unmetrical; Heath’s deletion of μ’ is simpler than Markland’s ὅ μ’ ‘which (i.e. his marrying Helen) had done this to me’; and rel. words followed by μ(ε) in successive lines create unstylish duplication.] 469–70  foreign woman: we are reminded that the Chorus are distanced by their presence in a military camp, 171–2, 185–91 (see 164–302 n.) – but distanced too from the all or largely male and mainly Athenian theatre-audience by their status and foreign birth. Here their leader (coryphaeus) speaks for them, whence the singular; in their lyric voice they often use the plural, and are so addressed by Ag. at 542 (for which 469–70 seem to prepare), by Clyt. at 1276 (cf. 629), by Iph. at 1491. Cf. the chorus at Pho. 497–8 ‘even if we were not reared in a Greek land, you do seem to me to speak with understanding’, and at Rhesus 904–5 ‘as far as one who is no blood-relation may, I pity you for his painful death’ (trans. Fries (2014) 448: see her n.). For this particular couplet 469–70 see Introduction p. 32. kings: perhaps implying ‘we are not ourselves royal’, but more a generalisation: see the word τύραννος at e.g. Med. 597, 700, where it has its older sense ‘supreme ruler’, with ‘no negative overtones’ (Bond on Her. 29). Cf. e.g. Phaethon 91 ‘happy days for kings (ἄνακτες)’, Hec. 352 ‘a bride for princes (βασιλεῖς)’. Greek. ὡς as far as: the probable sense (Smyth 2993 includes ‘as much as could be expected’ in his range of meanings), rather than plain ‘(exactly) as’; but the meaning ‘since’ is well possible (Smyth 2240). Compare ὅσον ‘as far as’ (Smyth 1468). 471–72  Two important and theatrical lines, bridging Ag.’s despair and Men.’s unexpected sympathy.  take your right hand: the regular gesture and symbol of pledging, 339, earlier 58 in an oath (n.); Hel. 838, Med. 21–2, S. Phil. 941–2 etc. victory: for κράτος in this sense, over an issue, cf. S. Ant. 485; κρατέω Aj. 1353; cf. A. Ag. 94(2–)3, Clyt.’s verbal victory over Ag. In 472 the prominently chiastic order is reflected in our translation. Greek. δός with dat. and infin. ‘grant, allow me to touch your right hand’, Hec. 540, Her. 600 etc.; cf. [1528–31] n. Text; Smyth 2009. For simple ‘give me your hand’ see Ag. to Iph. 679 (with a kiss of true love), Hec. 410, Erechtheus F 362.32.

Commentary

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473–503 Men. has completely changed his position. He swears by his grandfather and father that he will now speak sincerely 473–6. Moved by his brother’s tears, he advises him not to kill his daughter 477–81. It is wrong that his own interests should trump Ag.’s: he could marry other women than Helen and does not wish to destroy his brother; he realises now what killing one’s child is like 482–90. He now feels pity for Iph. (as he had for Ag., 478) and takes kinship to heart 491–4. Let the army be disbanded, let the two of them end their tears! The prophecy is now Ag.’s alone to deal with 495–9. His change of mind has been natural, he claims, motivated by refound love for his brother: such behaviour is that of an honourable man 500–3. The speech is far from agonistic – it could not be after Ag.’s mental torment – but it is not less clearly organized, and as carefully paced by rhetorical techniques. Men.’s reasoning is bracketed by 480 ‘nothing to fear from me’ and 500 ‘have I changed from … frighteningly’. The emphasis continues to be on family bonds, philia (see 317–414a n. (i)), at start 473–4 and finish 500, and throughout at 484, 487, 493, 497. Men. is as confessional as was Ag. in 442–68: his doubting questions 485–94 even outdo Ag.’s at 442, 454–5. The speech contains many asyndeta, 473, 477, 489, 495, three in the closing 501–3. These, and short sentences at 485, 499, 501, perhaps imply jerky exposition, conveying Men.’s scarcely controlled emotion: a fine opportunity for the actor. Erasmus was the first of a number of scholars who have felt that Men.’s recantation is false (e.g. England xvi), designed to ram home, behind a facade of sincere fraternal support, the true dangers Ag. would face if he did not kill Iph. (see Introduction p. 17). While Men.’s opening oath and the double-edged praise of the Chorus that follows his speech combine to set his words in an unstable context (see nn. on 473–4, 504– 5), dramatic characters should not be taken as meaning the total opposite of what they are saying unless there is conclusive evidence that they are doing so. An extreme shift in Men.’s view is entirely characteristic of this play (Introduction pp. 3, 18–19).   473–6  I swear by Pelops … and by Atreus: the father and grandfather of Ag. and Men., these are famously treacherous characters in Greek mythology; but there can be no such tone here, and Iph. appeals to her father through the same ancestors at 1233. The formulaic phrasing who was called is also innocent of deceit; for its use in a family relationship

370

Commentary

see e.g. 908, Alc. 637, And. 75. Pelops had won his bride Hippodameia by cheating in a chariot race and murdering his charioteer; Atreus had vengefully tricked his brother Thyestes into eating his own children. Pindar however had already given an entirely laudatory account of Pelops, ‘running counter to the tale told by former poets’ (Ol. 1.37–98). After his tirade of 335–75, Men. may appear to speak with an ingenuous simplicity, and so the actor must emphasize his sincerity. Another way of reading these lines would be to remark with England that ‘he protests too much’; but see 473–503 n., at end. Greek. 473 κατόμνυμι and acc. ‘swear by a person’ e.g. Med. 752, Hipp. 713.   475 For ἦ μήν ‘I swear’ introducing oaths and strong assertions both in direct and (as here) indirect speech see GP 350–2. For the expression τἀπὸ καρδίας lit. ‘the things from the heart’, translated as open my heart, cf. Ino F 412.3; with its corollary here, what (lit. ‘as much as’, i.e. ‘all that’) I think (similar expressions at Hipp. 523, Telephus F 707), it contrasts in meaning with (without) deceit.  476 (ἐ)πίτηδες is lit. ‘to serve a purpose’; this word is found only in a bad sense (LSJ), e.g. Od. 15.28, Ar. Knights 893; it is an isolated adv., as if from an adj. ἐπιτήδης. 477–80  pitied: as Ag. instinctively pitied his daughter, 462. in (my) turn: πάλιν (see Collard on Supp. 569). The language is pleonastic: ἀντι- in ἀνταφῆκα means ‘in response’, and gives its force with You have nothing to fear from me; this is Paley’s wording. δεινός, as again in 500 (Men.’s change from speaking ‘frighteningly’), is a difficult adj. to translate when used of a person, but cf. e.g. Med. 44 Medea’s nature, Bacc. 856 Pentheus threatening the women of Thebes, 861 the god Dionysus towards mankind; but Hipp. 921 a clever (and therefore ‘dangerous’) sophist. Greek. 478–9 the double-compound verb ἐξαφίστημι only here and S. OC 561; the double ἀνταφίημι only here. παλαιός: see 417–19 n.   480 The participle ὤν of the verb εἰμί is omitted from the adj. δεινός, a rarity, but cf. e.g. Med. 737, Pho. 442 with Mastronarde’s n.; Smyth 2118. [Text. 480 εἰμὶ Kirchoff I am, a certain correction of εἶμι L ‘I shall go’: note the paired εἶ ‘you are’.] 481–4  For it is not right … light of the sun: 482–4 recall, and largely reverse, Ag.’s wording at 396b–9.  all goes pleasingly for me: a fine understatement.  your child … my family: τοὺς σούς … τοὺς ἐμούς, masc. serving as common gender, and plur. – but only Ag.’s one daughter

Commentary

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Iph. and Men.’s one daughter (Hermione, 1201 n.) are meant, and in an unreal argument: there is no threat at Aulis to Hermione (although Clyt. at 1201 uses just this argument with Ag.). Perhaps ‘sees the light of the sun’ is meant to hint that today’s sun is the last that Iph. will see: see 1218–19, her own words. Greek. 482 τοὐμόν and 483 τἀμά plur. have the same literal meaning my business (see 329 n.), but the first is translated with ‘all … for me’.   484 ὁρᾶν φάος ‘sees the light of the sun’, i.e. ‘is alive’, a common poetic expression, first in Homer, e.g. Il. 18.61, Od. 4.540; ‘of the sun’ is often omitted, as here and e.g. 1218–19, 1250, and sometimes also ‘the light’, when the context is clear, e.g. Alc. 142, S. Trac. 828. [Text. 481 ἀποκτεῖναι Elmsley, aor. infin., perfective like Ag.’s κτανεῖν 96, and paired with ἀνθελέσθαι; L’s ἀποκτείνειν pres. infin., durative, may seem to be matched by 484 θνῄσκειν, but that infin. too stands with three other pres. ones in 483–4.] 485–8  choice: the adj. ἐξαίρετος as e.g. Tro. 249, 273 (of a bridegroom 485); the word is not rare of girls chosen from spoils (e.g. Iliad 2.227); this high value is put poignantly on Iph. by herself when she imagines Ag.’s pleasure in his daughter 1223–5, and by Ach. 1404–5. At 1199 Clyt. describes Iph. as a ‘choice sacrifice’.  destroy: cf. 456.  choosing Helen: but ἕλωμαι in part echoes 482 ἀνθελέσθαι ‘prefer’ (note exchanging). There is word-play here in the first syllables of the words Ἑλένην ἕλωμαι. Previously in poetry Helen’s name, with the root ἑλ- ‘capture, destroy’, was often related devastatingly to the fall of Troy (e.g. A. Ag. 689, Tro. 891–2); cf. 68, 1316; 1476 ἑλέπτολις ‘destroyer of a city’ and n. there. Through the echo here of the Agamemnon Eur. may be making Men. imply that the fate of Helen will not in fact lead to the capture of Troy. Helen’s name is emphasized by its enjambed position: 71 n. etc. Greek. 486 λάβοιμ’ ἄν, εἰ … ἱμείρομαι: mixed conditional syntax, but idiomatic as in English (see Smyth 2300e): with ἄν and opt. in the apodosis, one might expect an opt. in the protasis, ‘…if I were to desire’.   488 ἕλωμαι is deliberative subj. without interrogative pron. or particle: Smyth 1805a. [Text. 487 ἐχρῆν: towards the end of the 5th century this form gradually replaced the older past χρῆν (ἥκιστα χρῆν was conjectured here by Nauck/Wecklein) and is better retained where attested in Euripidean mss: Barrett on Hipp. 1072–3.]

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Commentary

489–90  foolish and raw: Men. means, his entire conduct over Helen has been foolish since his youth; only Ag.’s imminent filicide has brought him to his senses. For the topos of raw immaturity, the colouring given here to the adj. νέος ‘young’, in Eur. cf. Hipp. 114–15, And. 184–5; Melanippe F 510 ‘young and gauche’; cf. A. Pers. 753–8, the young king Darius.  realised: The prefix ἐσ– (‘into’) in ἐσεῖδον suggests insight. i.e. ‘(perceived and) understood’; cf. Her. 144, S. El. 997. Compare Ion 585–6 ‘things far away and those seen close up do not have the same appearance’.  matter is plur. in the Greek, implying that there were several aspects to it, as again at 1020; cf. 366 and n.; contrast the specific sing. in 1009. Greek. 489 ἦ: the older Attic form for the 1. pers. sing. of the impf. of εἰμί (always used by Aesch. and Soph.); in Eur. the mss. overwhelmingly attest the newer 5th century form ἦν (as in 1158) except where metre requires ἦ (as in e.g. the possibly inauthentic 944): Barrett on Hipp. 700 and Kannicht on Hel. 992 judge that ἦ should be restored when metre does not require ἦν.   490 οἷον and infin. as e.g. Med. 35 ‘what it means not to have abandoned a native land’, Supp. 1090. ἦν is assimilated to the past tense of the ruling verb, as in e.g. ἔγνω ὡς θεὸς ἦσθα ‘he knew you are a god’ Hom. Hymn Aphr. 186; Smyth 2623b. [Text. 490 ἦ Cobet, and again in 1158: ἦν L: see Greek above. τὰ πράγματα Lenting cures two faults in πράγματα δ’ L, which lacks the def. art. required before πράγματα, and ends the preceding clause with πρίν as adv.] 491–4  And besides that: for this meaning of ἄλλως τε, cf. e.g. (appropriately) Ion 618 ἄλλως τε τὴν σὴν ἄλοχον οἰκτίρω ‘Besides, I pity your wife’, Supp. 417; LSJ I.2.  pity: Men. has already pitied Ag. (478) but here his feeling for Iph. matches Ag.’s in 460–2; see 473–503 n.  is about to be: enjambement (50–1 n.) gives a strong emphasis to the verb μέλλει. Like Ag., Men. feels that as things stand the sacrifice is imminent (Stockert).  sacrificed: the mitigating synonym for ‘slaughtered’ (91 n.; Introduction p. 11): Men. earlier used the bleaker ‘kill’, 481.  What has your maiden daughter to do with Helen?: ‘maiden’ may echo Ag.’s despairing 460. With Men.’s question compare Iph.’s plea to Ag. 1236–7. Were Men. not himself speaking of his wife, his question could imply that ‘Helen was not exactly a maiden’ (A. Fries). 492 is a ‘three-word trimeter’, and its words have successively 3, 4

Commentary

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and 5 syllables (in metrical terms). There are three others in the play, 1154 (3, 3, 6) and 1451 (5, 3, 4), both differently effective, but 510 (6, 3, 4) is hardly so. M. Marcovich, Three Word Trimeter [sic] in Greek Tragedy (Königstein 1984) 140–1 contends, as most do, that the device is one of emphasis, here upon the line’s central word kinship. Such trimeters are very common in Aeschylus, and invariably taken to give grandiose weight to his style. Marcovich counts 80 examples in Eur. Greek. 492 ἐννοουμένῳ dat. as though ἐσῆλθέ μοι had preceded it (the verb takes the dat. at e.g. Ion 964), unlike the expected acc. ἐννοούμενον (cf. 1374 ἐννοουμένην): the dat. part. similarly e.g. Med. 57–8 ἵμερός μ’ ὑπῆλθε γῇ τε κοὐρανῷ | λέξαι μολούσῃ δεῦρο; Smyth 2148d.   493 θύεσθαι pres. infin. after μέλλω, as e.g. 1141; Smyth 1959 a little understates the usage in describing it as a ‘periphrastic future’.   494 μέτα = μέτεστι, cf. 498 and 499. A question τί δὲ … μέτα; also IT 1300. [Text. 491 σῆς Dawe: the poss. pron. is attractive: cf. 498.   492 ἐννοούμενον Markland: see on Greek above.] 495–9  Disband the expedition: Ag. at 95 and 352; cf. Achilles 817 – and Ag.’s agonized question at A. Ag. 212–13 ‘How am I to abandon the ships and fail the alliance?’  exciting (me to tears): παρακαλῶν; that is, simply through my seeing ‘tears falling from your eyes’ 477–8; the same verb at e.g. Or. 1583, ‘exciting’ to fear. Earlier the verb signified positive invitation, 356 and 409.  concern … concern: for the emphatic repetition see on 451–2 ‘ashamed’. The doubling of the prefix μετ(α)in 498–9 as ‘sharing’ may be thought careless before its repetition in 500 and 502, even though its sense there is of ‘change’; but the Greeks seemed often indifferent to such things. Greek. 496 παῦσαι and part. (τέγγων) as a sharp negative command is a Euripidean habit, e.g. Bacc. 809 ‘stop speaking’: see Fries on Rhesus 273.   498 κόρης σῆς objective gen. after θεσφάτων; cf. 842 λόγος γάμων ‘word of (the) marriage’, Med. 451 λόγος σέθεν ‘word of (i.e. about) you’; Smyth 1331–3.   499 νέμω μέρος ‘make over part’ as e.g. Supp. 241 (LSJ μέρος is inadequate); νέμω πλέον ‘grant more (to)’ e.g. Hec. 868, Hel. 918. 500–3  The repetition from 479 δεινός ‘fear’ of δεινῶν frighteningly marks the end of Men.’s argument (477–80 n.); then But … begins his peroration and requires punctuation of 500 as a question to begin his conclusive point.  What I have been though is natural: like

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Commentary

e.g. Tro. 467–8 ἄξια | πάσχω τε καὶ πέπονθα ‘I am going through and have been through what is deserved’. ‘natural’: εἰκός lit. ‘(something) probable’, i.e. both likely and here ‘natural’ between brothers, just as Clyt.’s accompanying Iph. to her expected marriage was both probable and natural, 457. The idea and word εἰκός however are redolent of rhetorical argumentation in the later 5th century, common in Euripidean dialectic, e.g. adv. εἰκότως 457, noun εἰκότα 1134 (n.): Lloyd (1992) 22, 29 etc. (use Index); J. A. Bromberg in EGT 1178; see also Greek. (the parents) we share: the sense of the adv. ὁμόθεν as at Temenidae F 736.4, cf. S. El. 156. With the sentiment compare Or. 486 ‘it’s good to respect one’s brother always’, cf. ‘cousins’ at IT 918. To act … behaves: in its sententiousness Men.’s conclusion recalls that of Ag.’s speech at 400–1 (see Text below). ‘behaves’ translates τρόποι ‘ways’; the noun in 343, 346, 559. Greek. 500 ἀλλά But: for the powerful usage here cf. Hipp. 966–7 and see GP 9–11, esp. (iv).   501 εἰκός: for the sing. cf. esp. Cretans F 472e.11 ἔχει γὰρ οὐδὲν εἰκός ‘why, it has no probability’, and the expression εἰκός (ἐστί) ‘it’s likely and natural that’ 1400, Hipp. 615; the plur. (τὰ) εἰκότα is usual, e.g. 1134 (and proposed here by Hartung).   502 στέργω of deep affection, e.g. F 1064.4 ‘I cherish my father’. μεταπίπτω ‘change (one’s mind suddenly)’ LSJ I.b; cf. Ar. Birds 627 ἐξ ἐχθίστου μεταπίπτων ‘changing from very great enmity’.   503 For χρῆσθαι cf. F 1035.2 χρῆται τοῖς καλοῖς (also neut.) and above 316 n.; τοῖσι βελτίστοις is neut., lit. ‘things’, Andromeda F 138a; it cannot here be masc. (‘the best men’). [Text. The sententiousness of 502–3, and the apparent finality of 498–9, caused Dindorf to delete 500–3, but Men. restates his total change with contrition repeated and enlarged from 475–80.   502 τρόποι is certainly preferable to L’s variant τροπαὶ ‘turns, changes’, a ‘pejorative prose word’ (Stockert). For variant readings in L, esp. its scribes’ corrections of their own copying which may seem to have greater authority, see Zuntz (1965) 132.   503 τό written above χρῆσθαι L: unmetrical (a ‘2. foot’ anapaest), and more likely a gloss to indicate that the infin. acts here as a noun.] 504–5  As in the formal couplet marking the end of Ag.’s speech (469–70), the Chorus pick up the last topic, honour for one’s own bloodkin.  Tantalus: a surprising choice of ancestor as moral example. He was

Commentary

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the father of Pelops, Men.’s and Ag.’s grandfather (473 n.) and founder of the dynasty, and received a famous punishment in the Underworld because of his evil dealing on earth (first described at Od. 11.582–92). Included however in the Chorus’ blithe approval is that his own father was Zeus; and e.g. at Or. 5 he is μακάριος ‘blessed’, because of his wealth before his disaster (see Willink’s n.). While Men.’s words are noble, communicating generous fraternal feeling, the Chorus’ mention of Tantalus may stir doubts about the sincerity of his speech; but see on 473–6. [Text. 505 Hermann, but a connective particle is weaker than the explanatory asyndeton (391 n.).] 506–12  Ag.’s short speech endorses Men.’s refound fraternal feeling, deprecating the destructive enmity which is its opposite 506–10; then he abruptly introduces a further difficult confrontation, not with a daughter who will plead for mercy (462–6), but with the army who will press for the sacrifice, 511–12. 506–7  I thank you: idiomatic αἰνῶ hovers between ‘I approve, praise’ and ‘I thank’: cf. 824 n., 1372 n., and Tro. 890 αἰνῶ σε, Μενέλα’, εἰ κτενεῖς δάμαρτα σήν, ‘…Menelaus, if you will kill your wife’. Thanks are clearer at e.g. Hipp. 483, Bacc. 944 (it is perhaps related to colloquial (ἐπ)ῄνεσα ‘Thanks!’: 440 n.).  against my expectation: παρὰ γνώμην ἐμήν (also e.g. Her. 594, Med. 577) bears out his sudden warmth towards Men.’s 501–3: see Ag.’s 379–80; his correctly and worthily pick up the Chorus’ praise of 504–5; similar commendations by the Chorus 975–6, by Ach. 1407.  set out: ὑποτίθημι lit. ‘put underneath’, i.e. ‘suggest, propose as fundamental’ (whence 508–10; but see Text there). Greek. ὑποτίθημι is usually mid. as ‘propose’, but cf. Bacc. 675, Xen. Cyr. 5.5.13; LSJ I.2b wrongly translate as ‘advise’. σοῦ pers. pron. for reflexive (as often in English), e.g. 677, 975, El. 507; Smyth 1222. [Metre. In σοῦ τ’ ἀξίως the combination of a monosyllable, an elided enclitic and a cretic word at verse-end does not break Porson’s Law, and is frequent in late Eur.: 975 again, 1026 χρή μ’ ἀθλίαν; Dodds on Bacc. 246–7. Without the enclitic, 49 and n.] 508–10  Strife between brothers: ταραχή … ἀδελφῶν is a bold but easily intelligible use of the gen.; cf. e.g. Thuc. 5.25.1 τ. … τῶν συμμάχων ‘among the allies’, IT 572 ταραγμός ‘among the affairs of both god and men’. Are these lines a generalisation, or do they allude to the brothers’ own family? If so, love means adulterous love: Thyestes

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Commentary

had seduced Atreus’ wife Aerope; but ἔρωτα ‘love’ may perhaps stand also with πλεονεξίαν … δωμάτων, making a hendiadys (53 n.) ‘passion to take over the house’. Again, this ‘passion’ may be just a particular allusion: the corrupted Aerope gave Thyestes a golden lamb which had been presented to Atreus as a divine authority for his claim to the throne. When Atreus was on the point of succeeding to it, Thyestes produced the lamb and was declared king instead of his brother (the story at e.g. El. 699–746); see also on Text below. For desire to take over, the noun πλεονεξία ‘grasping for more’, see e.g. Thuc. 4.61.5, 62.3 (the Athenians in the 420’s; alluded to at E. Supp. 576); Eur. dos not use the verb πλεονεκτέω, but periphrasis e.g. Supp. 239 πλειόνων τ’ ἐρῶσ’ ἀεί ‘they (the rich) always desire more’ (see Collard’s notes on both passages from Supp.) or e.g. Ino F 417.4 ζητῶν τὰ πλείονα ‘(an individual) seeking more’.  leads to bitterness: the adj. πικρός often implies a subsequent recoil into disaster, e.g. 679, 955; also 1316 (Helen’s marriage to Paris), Med. 399–400 πικρούς δ’ ἐγώ σφιν καὶ λυγροὺς θήσω γάμους | πικρὸν δὲ κῆδος καὶ φυγὰς ἐμὰς χθονός ‘I’ll make their marriage bitter and hideous, their pledging and my exile from the land bitter too’ (Medea destroying Jason’s new marriage in revenge for her exile). Greek. 509 ἀπέπτυσα: I detest, cf. 874; for the aor. see 440 n. [Text. 508–10 are given to Men. in L (with Ag. resuming at 511); Hermann gave them to Ag. In particular, rivalry for power (πλεονεξία) between brothers is not relevant to Ag. and Men. (as it was between their father Atreus and uncle Thyestes, and between Eteocles and Polynices in Aeschylus’ Seven and in Phoenician Women), only the danger of one brother interfering in the other’s affairs (Ag. at 329–31). Page observes that 507, 508 and 509 all begin with anapaestic ‘feet’, but none to accommodate a proper name and so more acceptable in that position; and both ταραχή and πλεονεξία occur nowhere else in Eur.: all grounds for suspicion. The verses were deleted by Boeckh: if they are kept, who better speaks them? If Men., he continues but varies his theme of 501–3, and this continuation is unexpected after Ag.’s concise approval in 506–7; if Ag., he too unexpectedly continues the theme, but kinship (συγγένεια) echoes 492, forcefully. Neither attribution affects the impact of 511 (see 506–12 n.), but deletion strengthens it further, and for this reason will seem acceptable to many. We retain the lines with misgiving. Günther’s transfer of 508–10 to follow Men.’s 499 makes them impossibly interruptive before

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500.   508 Hermann’s δ’ for L’s γ’ and Porson’s economical cure for Tr’s wretched interventions are inescapable (for Tr here see Diggle (1994) 407); so too 510 Markland’s dat. ἀλλήλοιν, giving point to πικράν. Metre. 509 is a three-word trimeter: see 492 n.] 511–12  the bloody killing: the grim reality of the sacrifice (Men. at 364: n.) now dominates Ag.’s thoughts; at 396 he had used the plain verb ‘kill’ and abstract expressions in 399, cf. his imagination of Iph. asking ‘Will you kill me?’ in 463. Again see 91 n., Introduction p. 11.  compulsion from my fortunes: the phrase with adj. ἀναγκαῖος ‘necessary’ and τύχη is Sophoclean, e.g. S. El. 48, sing. Aj. 485, 803; for ‘come to necessity’ cf. Her. 1281. Men. moves any ‘compulsion’ to human agency with 513 ‘Who will compel you…?’ Greek. 511 ἀλλὰ … γάρ (However) ‘breaking off … marking the contrast between what is irrelevant or subsidiary and what is vital, primary, or decisive’, GP 103. Cf. Ag. at 443.   512 ἐκπράσσω φόνον as Her. 1079, Or. 416 etc. For the use of the infin. see 403 n. 513–27  Stichomythic exchange between the brothers. Men. fails to dissuade Ag., who rides over his negative arguments: note οὐκ beginning Men.’s 515, 519, 525 and οὔτοι in 517. 513  Greek. πῶς; How? incredulous: 874 n. γε (your) own emphatic between article and noun as e.g. 674, Bacc. 844, Ion 965. 514  mustered host: σύλλογος as 825 (see Text below), and e.g. Thuc. 1.67.3, 4.114.3; cf. 301–2 συγκλήτου … στρατεύματος. A now fragmentary play of Soph. bore the title Ἀχαιῶν Σύλλογος, usually translated as ‘Gathering of the Achaeans’ (F 143–8 TrGF): see A. Sommerstein (ed.), Select Fragmentary Plays of Sophocles I (2006) 84–140. [Text. The wording Ἀχαιῶν σύλλογος στρατεύματος recurs in [1545] and this may support the separate gen. plur. dependent on the gen. στρατεύματος against Nauck’s conjecture Ἀχαιοῦ; such combinations are often avoided, and suspect, e.g. at Alc. 448–9.] [515  Text. Tr’s was his common panacea (Zuntz (1965) 194), but here gives good emphasis, ‘back to Argos’; a different means to this emphasis is Bothe’s (?) reordering of the verse. For γε’s limitative function after ‘if’ (Not…) Diggle compared 519, GP 142. ἀποστείλῃς Markland, aor. subj. for ἀποστελεῖς L fut. indic., preceded Bothe’s suggestion. For internally disordered verses in L cf. e.g. 1, 39; Supp. 303, Hel. 446; in mss. generally Jackson (1955) 228–31.]

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516  I could do that secretly … secret: the translation does scant justice to the chiastic structure of this beautifully shaped line; there is a similar arrangement with forms of λανθάνω in Ion 1028 λήσεις … λαθεῖν. In τοῦτο and ἐκεῖνο, accs. of respect (see e.g. Stevens on And. 212, Smyth 1601c), the former refers to the previous line and the latter as often (cf. 522, 1133) to what follows. 517  Why, what is that?: for the def. art. with ποῖος in a very surprised question cf. Pho. 1703–4 – χρησμὸς … – ὁ ποῖος; – ‘…oracle…’ – ‘The what?’, IT 1319 etc.; it is perhaps colloquial: (Stevens in) Collard (2005) 368; Smyth 1186, 2648.  fear the masses: see n. on 450 ‘slave to the masses’. Greek. ποῖος; without art. but with repetition of the surprising term gives less emphasis, and is marked as colloquial by Stevens (1976) 38–9; cf. Diggle (1981) 50–1, who calls it ‘indignant’: e.g. Hel. 566 – … σῆς δάμαρτος … – ποίας δάμαρτος; – ‘…your wife’. – ‘What wife?’ 518–19  Calchas will tell: i.e. without authorisation: see on 95. If Calchas does not reveal it, Ag. fears that Od. may, 528–9. Calchas, like all grim prophets, is regularly suspect and unpopular, implicitly at 956–8. Ag.’s reaction to him at Il. 1.105–8 is typical (cf. 89–93 n.); but Calchas was correct there, and at 746–8 below Ag. goes off to work with him. See [520–1] n. Stockert compares Creon’s anxiety, about what the seer Tiresias may reveal to the city at large, Pho. 925.  No, not if he dies first: Ag. does not seem shocked by this chilling suggestion, but the brothers’ emotions are running high. At IT 533 Iph. expresses great joy at the news of the seer’s death. Ag. and Od. contrive the death of the intellectual warrior Palamedes in his fragmentary name-play, but the elimination of a seer would be beyond the pale. Like all priests, seers were inviolable, so that Ajax the son of Oileus committed a monstrous offence when he raped the prophetess Cassandra in Athena’s temple (see e.g. Tro. 69–71), and Minos risked one when he shut Polyidus alive in a tomb in the name-play by Eur. (test. iva: Hyginus, Fables 136.5). In IT 1173–4 when Iph. tells the barbarian king Thoas that two Greeks shared killing the mother of one of them, he replies, ‘Apollo! Not even a barbarian would do that!’  easy: εὐμαρές, e.g. E. Antigone F 176.2; the adj. differently in 969 below, ‘the army is easy (i.e. comfortable) that I do both well and not well.’ [520–1]  seers … an evil – always ambitious: cf. S. Ant. 1055 ‘the whole race of seers loves money’ (Creon about Tiresias: he is very much

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mistaken), Pho. 772–3 with Mastronarde’s n.; for ambition see also 527 n. (Odysseus).  breed: in context pejorative; σπέρμα of demagogues Hec. 254 (ἀχάριστον ‘unlovely’), of heralds F 1012 (λαλόν ‘loquacious’). [Text. These lines are deleted by most editors; they interrupt the finality of Men.’s ‘not if he dies first’ and the transfer of Ag.’s anxiety to Od., 522–32. Invasion of texts by illustrative parallels once noted in margins receives a classic discussion, esp. for Eur., by Fraenkel on Ag. 570–2; cf. Mastronarde on Pho. 558. A good example is Hel. 744–60, similarly on seers, including a denunciation of Calchas, but with intrusive verses; excellent notes by Kannicht, Burian and Allan there. The appearance of φιλοτιμ- and σπέρμα in 527 and 524 strongly suggests that these words were keys for the invasion from the margin. Against the deletion: Stockert observes that ambition is a theme of the play (22 n.); less cogently, that 520–1 if kept give Calchas and Od. six lines each as subjects. 521 in L is nonsense, †Yes, and nothing of use, nor useful, when it’s there†. The last word παρόν is otiose; but παρών half-redundant of persons is not rare, e.g. And. 80, Supp. 391 (but see 465 n. above). Both vocabulary and phrasing may indicate Euripidean pedigree, therefore: cf. 914–15 ‘a fleet lacks discipline … but is useful when (the sailors) are willing’, Hcld. 4 ‘(a profiteer) both useless to a city and hard to deal with’. Turato well remarks that ‘whatever the correct text, the intention was to reinforce the negative judgement of 520’. Nauck conjectured γ’ ἀρεστὸν for γ’ ἄχρηστον, ‘Yes, and nothing pleasing…’, Canter more simply γε χρηστὸν ‘Yes, and nothing good…’ Other rewritings followed Hermann’s conjecture πικρόν ‘bitter’ (510 n.) for the otiose παρόν: see OCT apparatus.] 522–3  But are you not afraid … if you don’t tell me: this kind of stichomythic manoeuvre is parodied by Housman in his famous Fragment of a Greek Tragedy:

ALCMAEON: A shepherd’s questioned mouth informed me that… CHORUS: What? for I know not yet what you will say. ALCMAEON: Nor will you ever, if you interrupt.

The manoeuvre is however highly effective here as Ag. introduces what he sees as a worse danger than Calchas. For similar examples cf. Ion 1023, IT 658–9, Hec. 743–4. Greek. 523 For μή indefinite with the indic. see 325 n.: ‘the sort (of word) that you say’. ὑπολαμβάνω meaning ‘I understand’ is rare, only here

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in Eur.; LSJ I.3 cite Pl. Rep. 338d, Euthyd. 295c, both also in dialogue. [Text. 522 οὕμ’ Markland i.e. ὃ ἐμέ, ‘me’ (see ‘Housman’ above): Tr erased L’s unemphatic (and unmetrical) ὅ μ’ in trying to correct it.   523 ὑπολάβοιμ’ ἂν Markland again is palmary: a 1. pers. sing. not plur. (L) is needed; and the bare opt. without ἄν has limited use in Tragedy (Barrett on Hipp. 1186). Note how rel. pron. and antecedent taken into the rel. clause bracket the line.] 524  Sisyphus’ seed: Od. is usually regarded as the son of Laertes (as by the Chorus at 204). The tradition which makes him the son of Sisyphus, his mother Anticleia’s lover before her marriage to Laertes, is insulting to him since it makes him out to be a bastard and tarred with his father’s criminality – and esp. his deviousness, which Ag. alleges in 526, for which see also 1362 n.; cf. on ‘Laertes’ in 203–5 n. Cf. Hec. 131–2 (cited in 526 n.), S. Phil. 608 and esp. E. Philoctetes F 789d §§ 8–9 TrGF; S. Phil. 417 ‘the son of Sisyphus foisted on Laertes’. Turato makes much of Sisyphus’ genealogy and its implication here. The line’s beginning is sibilant and the actor playing Ag. could hiss it out. For ‘seed’, contemptuous, see on ‘breed’, 520 n. 525  There is no harm that Odysseus will do you or me: the Greek word-order is contrived to emphasize the last of Men.’s negative objections, beginning with οὐκ (513–27 n.), and Od.’s name is put before the rel. clause begins. Greek. ὅτι i.e. πῆμα, internal cognate acc. with πημανεῖ; for the two accs. see Smyth 1622. 526  sly: on the adj. ποικίλος lit. ‘variegated’, metaphorically ‘shifty, double-dealing’, see Collard’s n. on the verb ποικίλλω Supp. 187, writing that the word-root ‘often expresses disapproval of moral inconsistency’ in Tragedy: e.g. Med. 300–1, and esp. Aeolus F 16.2 τὰ κομψὰ … ποικίλοι ‘devious in their sophistries’. At Hec. 131 Od. is ποικιλόφρων ‘shifty-minded’ (and associated with the mass interest at 254 there: 517 n. above). the masses: ὄχλος (450 n.), but here nearing ‘mob’: see Hec. 607 cited in 914 n. 527  has him caught: ἐνέχομαι pass. as Or. 516 ‘caught up in bloodshed’, Hdt. 1.190.2 ‘in doubts’; literally, in a net Hdt. 2.121.β2. The force of μέν following φιλοτιμίᾳ ambition with no contrasting idea expressed but implicit (GP 380), is to lay emphasis on the preceding word. Headlam suggests: ‘Ambition he is enslaved by’, i.e. ‘so far, I

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agree with you’. For ‘ambition’ as an evil, cf. e.g. Pl. Rep. 347b ‘or don’t you know that ambition and love of money are both said to be a reproach – and are?’ Cf. 520. 528–42 [Text. Page gave eleven reasons, almost all linguistic, to justify Dindorf’s deletion, but observed that emendation would remove most of them. We judge that the lines both conclude the episode satisfactorily – indeed, without them it is incomplete, and Men. leaves far too abruptly – and point the action forward; for Od.’s future role, but off-stage, see 1361b–4 n., Introduction p. 14. Ag.’s deceit of Clyt. continues, but with the personal cost he fears (541).] 528–31a  Don’t you think…?: Ag.’s question keeps the emphasis on Od.’s populism (526, cf. 1364). stand in the midst: the automatic focus of any gathering; the phrase first in Homer, e.g. Iliad 7.277, 19.77; a herald at Iph.’s sacrifice [1563], at that of Polyxena Hec. 531; a public tribunal Bellerophon F 305.2.  the prophecies which Calchas expounded: θέσφατα, lit. ‘divine words, i.e. decrees’ (498, 1486), matches μαντεύματα ‘prophecies’, predictions by a μάντις, in 518, cf. 760 (Cassandra); but it also matches the vocabulary of 89–90, esp. ἀνεῖλεν ‘announced’, in the first statement of Calchas’ activity as a μάντις (see 89–93 n.). ἐξηγέομαι here expresses the seer’s disclosure, and clarification, and often his injunction to fulfil the divine word: Pho. 1011 and e.g. A. Cho. 552, Eum. 595; LSJ II. The first clause 529 sets Od. rather than Calchas as the discloser, the second 530 (say) of me puts Ag. himself under attack for falseness and betrayal, precisely Men.’s own personal charge in 335–72; compare 360 θύσειν ὑπέστης with 530–1 ὑπέστην θῦμα … θύσειν and 363 κᾆθ’ ὑποστρέψας ‘and then you did an about-turn’ with 530 κᾆτ’ ἐψευδόμην and then tried lying: this clause interrupting the promise emphasizes the antithesis; for similar interposed statements cf. e.g. Hipp. 402, And. 691–2; Diggle (1981) 116. κᾆτα ‘and then’ again recalls Men.’s accusation, marking out Ag.’s change of mind, 343, 358; see Stevens (1976) 47. Greek. For the broad difference between lively οὔκουν questioning the previous speaker’s words and unemotional οὐκοῦν see GP 430–6. [Text. 530 κᾆτα ψεύδομαι L (pres. tense) breaks ‘Porson’s Law’ (49– 50 n.) and gives awkward sense: κᾆτ’ ἐψευδόμην Murray creates a past tense (impf.) matching, but contrasting with, the aor. ὑπέστην in aspect: Ag. did give an undertaking, but then began upon falsehood. Porson’s

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own fut. perf. ἐψεύσομαι is different, ‘(say of me … and then) that I shall have lied’.] 531b–5  carry the whole army along with him: ξυναρπάσας: metaphorical as ‘seize, carry headlong away with one’, and rare: of the rapid power of love Call. Epigr. 30.5 Pfeiffer. ἀναρπάζω in 535 is literal, ‘seize by storm, ravage’ (see Greek).  raze: κατασκάπτω is the verb of 64, in the suitors’ pledge to do just this to any oath-breaker’s city, as they hoped to do to Troy, 92.  Cyclopean walls: see 152 n. A small awkwardness is noted by Stockert: those who may rise against Ag., ‘Argives’ 532, may also attack his and their own home city Argos 535 (but on the name ‘Argives’ see 102 n.). For collective retaliation upon the homeland of one who fails a cause cf. S. Phil. 1405. Michelakis (2006) 79 at n. 16 well remarks, ‘Ag.’s claim … is not as outrageous as it has sometimes been argued … Rather it echoes historical practices used against allied cities which revolted in the course of the Peloponnesian War’, citing the case of Mytilene Thuc. 3.37–50. See Introduction p. 17. Greek. 534 αὐτός with comitative dat. Smyth 1525; 5 times in Eur., e.g. Med. 164 αὐτοῖς μελάθροις διακναιομένους ‘being rubbed out with their palace and all’. The idiom appears to be colloquial, Stevens (1976) 52, cf. Collard (2005) 364. [Text. 531 οὐ…; Reiske makes a rhetorically superior question: ὃς L is a much flatter rel. pron. in place of the negative.   535 ἀναρπάσουσι Markland, cf. Hel. 751 πόλις ἀνηρπάσθη: L has the same compound συναρπάζω as in 531, an easy copy-error. Wecklein notes that the prefix συν- is against usage in the ‘αὐτός’ ‘…and all’ idiom.] 536–7  torments: πήματα, perhaps a delayed echo, and expansion, of Men.’s πημανεῖ ‘harm’ in 525.  to what helplessness the gods have now reduced me: Ag. returns to the gods as cause, 443–5 (n.); cf. the OM at 33–4; for Ag.’s ‘helplessness’ cf. the term ἀπορία in 401, described in 34–3, 351–5 (note πόρος 356), 451–5; also 511 ‘the compulsion from my fortunes’. Greek. ἠπόρημαι lit. ‘I have been made helpless’: the medio-passive voice is rare for this act. but intrans. verb, but is found at Adespota F 904 PCG, Dem. 27.53. Wecklein compares Alc. 78 σεσίγηται δόμος ‘the house is brought to silence’. For πρός + gen. ‘from, at the hand of’ see Smyth 1695b, LSJ II.1. τὰ νῦν τάδε now: the adverbial acc. phrase (Smyth 1611) is idiomatic, extending the usual τὰ νῦν: see Bond on HF 246.

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[Text. Ag.’s ‘helplessness’ (ἠπόρημαι L) is more appropriate than ἠπάτημαι Hartung ‘I have been deceived’ and ἠμπόλημαι Kirchhoff ‘I have been trafficked, traded by the gods’ (to their advantage, through the prophecy).] 538–41  take … and hand her to Hades: Ag. will marry her to Death; the same idea at Hec. 368 (cf. our 461 n.); cf. Clyt. of Ag. at 1278 ‘he has handed you (Iph.) over to Hades’. For προστίθημι in similar contexts cf. e.g. Pho. 964, And. 1016. Greek. 538 ἕν is defined in dependent syntax, the clause ὅπως μάθῃ, as e.g. 1005 ἕν … μὴ ψευδῶς μ’ ἐρεῖν; initial ἕν abruptly, and with a particle, is common, e.g. 1249, Barrett on Hipp. 715–16. μοι is ethic dat., ‘please’ (Smyth 1486).   538–9 φυλάσσω ‘be on guard that, secure’ regularly takes ὅπως and fut. indic., but Eur. can use ὅπως ἄν and subj. (Smyth 2215); cf. Hel. 742–3 φρουρεῖν ὅπως ἂν … σωθῶμεν ‘secure our safety’.   540 πρίν (ἄν) and subj. is regular after a negative, μή 539 (Smyth 2444), but ἄν is omitted here, as e.g. Alc. 849, Or. 1218. λαβών lit. ‘taking’: the aor. part. is often idiomatically superfluous, meaning little more than ‘with’ (Smyth 2068a); but here it adds something, as in e.g. S. OT 641 κτεῖναι λαβών ‘take and kill’.   541 ἐλαχίστοις: the adj. ‘fewest’ makes ἐπί and dat. approximate to ‘with a view to, with the result that’, 29 n.; cf. e.g. Pho. 1555 ἐπ’ ὀνείδεσιν ‘for abuse’, Hipp. 511–12 (LSJ B III.2); this meaning is here superior to ‘in circumstances of’ e.g. 1175 ἐπὶ δακρύοις ‘in tears’, for which phrase cf. El. 133 with Denniston’s note. πράσσω with adv. ‘fare (in some way)’: see Barrett on Hipp. 377–81. [Text. 538 φύλαξον L act., as 145 φυλάσσων (with μή and subj.); the mid. is usual, e.g. 989, whence φυλάξαι Headlam.] 542  keep silent, you foreign women: Ag. abruptly addresses the Chorus, whose presence is now a factor in Ag.’s continuing deception: their complicity becomes a dramatic necessity, as at e.g. Hipp. 710–12, Med. 259–63; see Barrett’s and Mastronarde’s notes for full examples; a useful comment by Rutherford (2012) 359 n. 84 and his p. 44 on Or. 1103–4, the planned murder of Helen. When such complicity is broken, it has strong dramatic importance, e.g. Ion 666–7 (when silence is brutally enjoined on the chorus with a threat) and 756–60. Ag. knows that the women are ‘foreign’ from 469 (n.). The women are addressed as such by Iph. at 1276 and by Clyt. at 629 – but as ‘young women’ by Iph. at 1468.

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Men. goes off towards the army, not to reappear. Ag. remains onstage, it seems, hearing the choral ode and observing Clyt.’s and Iph.’s arrival silently until they address him, 630, 633–4; it is much less likely that he enters his hut and comes out after 630: see 590 n. Staging. 543–89 First Choral Ode (stasimon) The Chorus became aware at 454–68 and 511–42 that Iph. will be sacrificed and that the Greek expedition will therefore sail to Troy (cf. 542 n.). Their ode begins with an unexpected subject, moderation in love; it is a long way back to Ag.’s criticism of Men.’s faults in this regard (382–97). The strophe 549–57 strongly recalls Med. 627–37 where the chorus react in song to the disastrous marriage between Medea and Jason: ‘When passions are over-excessive, they bring with them neither good reputation nor virtue to men (our antistrophe 558–72 moves to these topics); but if Cypris (Aphrodite) comes in due measure, no other goddess is so full of favours. Never, O queen, shoot at me from your golden bow your inescapable arrow, having anointed it with desire. May self-restraint, most beautiful gift of the gods, favour me…’; for similar warnings and wishes cf. esp. E. Melanippe F 503 ‘Moderation in their unions, and moderation in their marriages, with self-restraint, are best for mortals to find’, Hipp. 525–34, Hel. 1097–9, 1102–6, F 967; see also the references to Sophocles in Metre (below). The antistrophe 558–72 states that education and upbringing, and a sense of shame, are the way to virtue and reputation; while women’s virtue finds expression in the home, men’s can raise their city to greatness. The epode 573–89 (see n.) initially dissolves the tone of moral seriousness: Paris is seen against a romantic pastoral background playing his pipes, on Mt Ida (cf. 76, 1289). After a glance at his Judgement of the goddesses there, the Chorus whisk us to Sparta for a headily sensual evocation of the mutual passion, a coup de foudre, as Paris and Helen gaze into each other’s eyes; it has led to the strife between Greece and Troy. The ode’s theme – passionate love’s perils – takes up the earlier references to Helen’s disastrous effect upon Men. (68–70, 77; Ag.’s criticism of him as besotted 382–97 and Men.’s own remorse 485–95) and upon Paris (71–6); and Ag.’s realisation of the consequence for himself

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(467–8). Aphrodite’s power was already explicit in 69: here she is named in 545, 553, 557 and 569, and Eros in 548. The long moral and didactic analysis of love and virtue in the strophic pair is striking; cf. the ode And. 274–308 ‘where only at the end is contact made with the action of the play’, also with a Paris-Helen incident (Stinton (1965) 26); and two other and better-known choriambic odes ‘to’ Eros (and Aphrodite) start with the same tone: 781–800 in S. Ant. 781–882 and 525–32 in Hipp. 525–64. The moral theme serves also the play’s other two choral odes, the Second 751–800 developing the fatal narrative of Helen and Paris as far as the imminent attack on Troy, and the Third 1036–97 the story of one particular wedding, also tragic in its outcome, that of Peleus to Thetis, the mother of Achilles; this ode ends with further reflections on virtue (1089–97). Stockert 355–7 (in part anticipated by Cavander (trans. 1973) 10–11) begins a wide-ranging appreciation of the morality by stressing that this First Ode is placed critically between the failure of Ag.’s deception of Clyt. and Iph. and their arrival: an ideological basis is thus established for the remainder of the drama, and it is encapsulated in the word-play ἔρως/ ἔρις ‘love/strife’ in 585–7 (see nn.). Stinton (1965) 25–9 has a superlative general appreciation of the ode, noting reflections of the epode’s incidents in vase-paintings, with pp. 75–6 on the text; Turato has a crisp analysis of the ideas. The function of the ode is discussed by Hose II (1991) 92–3, 98; and its theme of ‘wrong’ love reviewed against the Greeks’ ‘love’ for war, esp. in conjunction with 1080–97 in the Third Ode, by U. Bittrich, Aphrodite und Eros in der antiken Tragödie (Berlin 2005) 124–9.   Metre. (For the lyric metres of IA and the difficulties of appreciating them as apt to content and context see Introduction pp. 48–50.) One pair of corresponding strophes and a long epode as again in both the Second Ode 751–800 and the Third 1036–97; it is a form frequent in Eur., e.g. Ion 452–509, Or. 807–43. For the metre, aeolo-choriambic, the commonest in the play, see 164–302 n. 3 (c); here there is considerable variety in the cola. In the strophic pair sense-breaks occur only in weak responsion at period-end, and only at 545 = 560 and probably at 553 = 568. It is striking that the strong sense-break at 551 βιοτᾶς does not respond metrically with that at 567 βιοτᾷ. The strophes include a remarkable sequence of eight consecutive and fully choriambic cola; in the antistrophe the sequence fills 561–8, giving a suitably maintained rhythm to a complete

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section of the argument (note that 562 ἀρετάν is repeated in 568); there is no comparable structure in the strophe, only the recapitulation of 543–5 in the final 554–7. The epode begins with three 3-cola periods and sense-breaks (at 575, 578, 581) marking stages in Paris’ path to the Judgement. The final eight cola move from his and Helen’s mutual infatuation in Greece (582–6) to the consequent Trojan War (587–9), but different metres replace choriambic from 585. Such a change of rhythm occurred in the parodos at the epode’s end 225–30, but it is not repeated in the play’s other two odes. For schematic analyses see Dale (1968) 151–2 with commentary on 543–57 and (1981) 148–9; Günther 63–4; Stockert II.357–9 with very full commentary. See too Parker (1997) 506. [Text. Despite earlier critics’ suspicion, even to the extreme of complete deletion, few now doubt the authenticity of this ode; Page 158–9 conceded that there is ‘nothing very tangible’ to occasional doubts of expression. We judge it wholly Euripidean. There are however damage and difficulties at 547, 561, 564, 566, 570–2, 578, 580–3, 587–9. P. Köln 67 preserves 569–83 in a very damaged state; it gives a little help.] 543–5  Happy are they…: μάκαρες introduces a beatitude (‘blessed are they…’); the motif is traditional in Greek poetry, introduced both by μάκαρ and μακάριος. The word is usual of the gods unique in their bliss, but applied commonly to mortals at their wedding, e.g. 439 n., 688 μακάριος, and esp. in wedding-hymns such as 1036–79 (μακάριος at 1076) and Phaethon 227–44 (μάκαρ at 240: see Diggle’s n.). These two adjs. stand in cultic contexts at e.g. Bacc. 72, 1180, Cyc. 495, Hel. 375, and in general contexts at e.g. Archelaus F 256, F 1057; further ὄλβιος e.g. Alcman 1.37 PMG (Partheneion or Maidensong), Pindar F 120, S. F 837.1 τρισόλβιος ‘thrice-blest’. So there may be a hint here for Athenians of metaphorical initiation into a cult of Aphrodite such as the annual Aphrodisia and Arrephoria. In 543–4 note the remarkable doubling in μετά/μετ(α)-, and the alliteration on μ and triple assonance in μετ-: deliberate, probably, for it recurs in the disguised beatitude of 590 (n.); for alliteration see 297 n.  moderate: μετρίας of Aphrodite: this hope in e.g. Hel. 1105, F 967; cf. Hipp. 529 μηδ’ ἄρρυθμος ἔλθοις ‘and may you (Aphr.) not come in uneven measure’; for her status in charge of the marriage-bed cf. e.g. 553, Hipp. 539 ‘of bedrooms’.

Commentary

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Greek. The adj. μάκαρες is of ‘common’ gender, not the masc. regularly used by women in generalisations about themselves (Smyth 1009). The prep. μετά with in 544 stands with both θεοῦ and σωφροσύνης and is connected by τε which follows it (cf. παρά 210 n.). [Text. 543 εἰσὶν L is merely an explanatory gloss; put in the text it would be against the idiom of beatitudes (see above), and unmetrical.   545 θέλκτρων Nauck ‘enchantments’, an aptly seductive conjecture. It puts Aphrodite’s devices in place of their common consequence λέκτρων L ‘marriage-beds’; but the Chorus sing as women already married 552–3, cf. 569–70. The noun θέλκτρον is rare (only S. Trac. 585 in Tragedy, φίλτροις (‘philtres’) … καὶ θέλκτροις); the adj./noun θελκτήριον is usual, e.g. Hipp. 509–10 φίλτρα … θελκτήρια | ἔρωτος; of Aphrodite’s girdle Iliad 14.215.] 546–7a  experiencing a calm free from the stings of mad desire: ‘calm’ is a metaphor from sea and storm; also Pl. Phaedo 84a γαλήνην τούτων (‘from pleasures and sorrows’), Pl. Rep. 329c (τῶν ἀφροδισίων) εἰρήνη … καὶ ἐλευθερία ‘peace and freedom from sex’, cf. A. Ag. 740 mental calm, IT 345 adj. γαληνός of the sentient ‘heart’. For ‘experiencing’ χρησάμενοι cf. 88 ἀπλοίᾳ χρώμενοι, the Greeks’ inability to sail, apparently from a windless calm, the literal experience which Turato suggests may be recalled here. ‘stings (of desire)’ οἴστροι as e.g. Hipp. 1300 (Phaedra); the ‘madness’ (μαίνομαι, μανία) of love e.g. Hipp. 241, 1274 (also Phaedra), Cretans F 472e.9 and 20 (her mother Pasiphae’s desire for the bull). Cf. 1264 ‘desire’ n. Greek. οἴστρων is separative gen. (Smyth 1427), matched in the Plato passages above. [Text. 547 μαινομένων Reiske, correcting μαίνομεν’ L by the simple restitution of omitted -ων, which is similar to εν in mss.: μανιάδων Wecklein (same sense) gives exact responsion with 562, and is favoured by Stockert.] 547b–51  golden-haired: Eros is χρυσοχαίτης Anacreon F 43.12 West; Hipp. 1275 he is χρυσοφαής ‘of golden light’. Eur. elsewhere uses the adj. χρυσοκόμης of Apollo, e.g. Tro. 254.  bends on: the mid. of ἐντείνω is unusual (see Text), perhaps implying Eros’ wilfulness with his two arrows, good and bad (550–1). This distinction between two kinds of love is common in Eur., see e.g. Hipp. 525–42, Theseus F 388 and esp. Stheneboea F 661.22–5 (where the good love leads to prudence

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Commentary

and virtue: cf. 561–8 nn. below); again see Med. 627–37 etc. cited at the start of 543–89 n.  delights: χάρις of love 555, Hipp. 527 and often, of Aphrodite Bacc. 236; for the gen. here cf. Adespota F 354 τόξoν μερίμνης ‘arrow of concern’.  lifetime of good fortune: the same Greek phrase at A. Pers. 711; εὐαίων of a person with such a lifetime e.g. Ion 126, 142.  life of ruinous confusion: cf. And. 291 πικρὰν … σύγχυσιν βίου; ‘no doubt a worn phrase’ (Stevens there). Greek. 547 ὅθι when lit. ‘where’ (1285, 1294 and probably 580), not used of ‘circumstances’ by Eur.; cf. οὗ ‘where’ in this sense in e.g. οὗ δή 97, IT 320, οὗ alone 1157, S. El. 1259 etc. We translate δή, emphasizing the rel. adv., as in 97, with the moment (when).  550 ἐπί with dat. bringing an objective or result, 29 n.; cf. e.g. [1523] ἐπ’ εὐτυχεῖ πότμῳ ‘a fate of good fortune’, Hec. 647 ἐπὶ δορί, the Judgement (our 580) resulting ‘in war’. [Text. 548 Tr3 offered a slightly more poetic word-order with ῎Ερως ὁ χρυσοκόμας.   549 ἐντείνομαι mid. (rare) is supported here by the citation in Athenaeus.] 552–3  this one: the second arrow (see Greek). most beautiful Cypris: Hel. 1348, Phaethon 232. This frequent name for Aphrodite comes from her birthplace (off-shore at Paphos on Cyprus), Od. 8.362, Hes. Theog. 193–4.  from our bedrooms: the Chorus are married, 176; the noun echoes 545. Greek. 552 ἀπεν(ν)έπω forbid, a Tragic verb and only here in lyric; a synonym is ἀπαυδάω, common in the 1. pers., e.g. Med. 813; the separative gen. θαλάμων is like that with e.g. κωλύω ‘bar from’; Smyth 1392. νιν is almost certainly neut. (e.g. And. 45, Hel. 503, A. Cho. 542, S. Trac. 145), taking up 551 τὸ δέ the second arrow. If it is masc., it takes up Eros 548 in his complete activity, for good or bad, but a little awkwardly before 554–7. [Text, Metre. 553 Tr2/3 deleτed ὦ to secure responsion with L’s corrupt 547 μαινόμεν’.] 554–7  delight … desires: chiasmus in the Greek, effective; for lyric see Breitenbach (1934) 264–6. The first noun repeats 549; for the second in the plur. cf. Alc. 1087 ‘desires for marriage’.  pure: ὅσιος ‘giving no offence to the gods’, also e.g. Ion 1092, Phaethon 107. The ‘impure loves’ of Hipp. 764 οὐχ ὁσίων ἐρώτων are nevertheless Aphrodite’s work.  have my part in Aphrodite: Aeolus F 26.3 similarly ‘when she

Commentary

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is kindly’. (may I) put her away: opt. now, against the indic. of 552 ‘banish’. For ἀποτίθεμαι see Theognis 1369 (disowning pederasty).  at her full: for the adj. πολλή of Aphrodite cf. Hipp. 443 ‘if she comes in full flood (ῥέω)’, Cretans F 472c.6; LSJ I.2c; cf. Hor. Odes 1.19.9 in me tota ruens Venus ‘in her whole (force)’, Racine, Phèdre 1.3 Vénus toute entière à sa proie attachée. Note that 554–7 echo 543–5 in ‘ringcomposition’. [Text. 556 P. Finglass, GRBS 49 (2009) 201 reports an unpublished 18th century conjecture by Valckenaer, μετέχοιμ’ ἴσας ‘…my part in (an Aphrodite who is) equitable, fair’ between lovers; the adj. of persons e.g. S. OT 677, Phil. 685: attractive, because it provides an antithesis to ‘at her full’; but the def. art. makes sufficient contrast between ‘sharing (μέν)’ and ‘resisting (δέ)’.] 558–60  introduce the theme of the antistrophe, as the three verses 543–5 do that of the strophe.  natures: plurals of abstract nouns are not rare, esp. when registering separate examples: 561, 591 etc. With what is truly good is always clear Eur. launches into high, abstract lyric style, esp. with a def. art. and neuter noun; again in 563, 566; Bacc. 386– 401 and the refrain 877–81 = 897–901 are classic examples, on σοφία ‘wisdom’ (our 563). ‘truly good’, i.e. morally correct, ἔσθλον as e.g. Med. 408, Hipp. 331: see (Stockert) K. J. Dover, Greek Popular Morality (Oxford 1974) 53. ‘Always’ in a moral axiom e.g. Bacc. 881, 896. Greek. 559 δέ in repetition (of διάφοροι) without μέν: 16–17, 1220 n. ὀρθῶς adv. ‘genuinely’ is attached to the noun phrase τὸ ἐσθλόν as to e.g. the adj. φίλος ‘friend’ at And. 376–7, IT 610; to e.g. the noun θεός ‘god’ Her. 1345. [Text. The corrections successively by Höpfner, Scaliger and Musgrave are palmary, and were made across three centuries.] 561–2  An upbringing with education greatly contributes to virtue: whether virtue can be taught was one of the great questions of later 5th century thought, and became constant in Plato: see e.g. Rep. 492e πεπαιδευμένον πρὸς ἀρετήν ‘educated towards virtue’: R. Sharples, Meno (Warminster 1984) 4–6, 14–16; W. K. C. Guthrie, History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 962–81) III. 250ff. Eur. often touches positively on the issue, e.g. 708–10, 926–7: see esp. Hec. 592–602, Supp. 911–17, El. 367–72 and commentators, Phoenix F 810. The play will later show whether Ach.’s moral education by Chiron (708–9, 926–7) leads him

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Commentary

to true virtue (see e.g. 800–1035 n., (C) 900–1035, subsection 919–74; 1358–61a n.; Introduction p. 24); for Ach. himself Iph.’s noble virtue is wholly inborn, natural (1411, 1422–3). Greek. 561 τροφαί ‘upbringing(s), rearing(s)’ is often plur., LSJ II.; in παιδευόμεναι ‘educating’ the mid. serves as act., LSJ II.1; for τρέφω also of ‘educated bringing-up’ cf. esp. 708, 710, of Ach. in the care of Chiron. These two word-roots often appear together in apparent pleonasm.   562 φέρω ‘contribute’ with neut. qualification μέγα greatly Pl. Rep. 449d μέγα τι φέρειν ‘benefit greatly’; Supp. 596 οὐδὲν φέρει ‘nothing’, Archelaus F 242 φέρει … οὐχὶ μικρόν ‘by no means a little’; LSJ VII.3.a. [Text. Diggle, Stockert and Matthiessen prefer θ’ αἱ παιδευόμεναι L to such conjectures as θ’ αἱ παιδευομένων Monk ‘(and upbringings) of (those) being educated’ or τ’ εὖ παιδευόμεναι Nauck lit. ‘(and upbringings) educating well’; instead of the latter Diggle OCT wanted τ’ εὖ παιδευομένοις ‘for (those) being educated well’.] 563–6a  A sense of shame: which divided Ag.’s conscience 451–2; see n. there and for αἰδώς in the play Introduction pp. 34–5. Here the shame relates to sexual moderation, 543–5 and 554–7; cf. 1090–1 (where it is associated with ἀρετή virtue).  wisdom: a desired and predicated quality in e.g. Bacc. 395 (cf. 877 = 897), Alc. 603, Med. 827.  exceptional: i.e. ‘superior’ or even ‘supreme’, a bold (and disputed) meaning of intrans. ἐξαλλάσσω lit. ‘change utterly, exceed’ (LSJ II.1), because shame leads through reason to the highest moral imperative, duty τὸ δέον, lit. ‘what is needful (to the particular behaviour or action)’. Greek. 565 ὑπὸ γνώμας: the prep. ‘through the agency of’, Smyth 1689b; the same phrase in 368.   566 τὸ δέον: in prose the def. art. is regular with the part.; in Eur. contrast e.g. Alc. 1101 τάχ’ ἂν … ἐς δέον πέσοι χάρις ‘perhaps a kindness may turn into what is needed’. [Text. 565–6 are insecure, and obelized by Diggle, because the apparent direct dependence on the noun χάριν of the infin. ἐσορᾶν without gen. of the def. art. is hard to parallel; but with ἔχει χάριν cf. perhaps Isocrates 16.11 ἔχοντα τιθασεύεσθαι φύσιν ‘having a nature (able) to be tamed’, Pl. Statesman 264a διδάσκειν τέχνην ἔχουσι ‘have the skill to teach’ (not ‘are able to teach skill’). 566b–7  reputation brings ageless glory to a life: rather ‘flat’ in feel, and suspect to Diggle; while ‘reputation’ δόξα and ‘glory’ κλέος appear weakly pleonastic, they are not quite the same, for δόξα is often ‘(good)

Commentary

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opinion’ (LSJ III 2), formed on appearances, cf. esp. Hipp. 431–2 ‘(sexual) restraint harvests a fine reputation (δόξαν ἐσθλήν)’; ‘fame’ 1399 below (Greek δοκ-: the versatile root is definitively examined in DELG for its semantics). κλέος ‘glory’ is from the versatile root (κλε-, κ(α)λέω ‘call’) and (κλυ- ‘hear’), i.e. ‘hear oneself called glorious’. For glory in the play see Introduction pp. 36–7.  ageless: of χάρις a favour Supp. 1178, ἀρετή virtue F 999 (in both places the form ἀγήρως). Greek. ἔνθα when rel. adv. of place used of circumstances, e.g. Tro. 647, 685: see 547 n. on ὅθι. Instead of ἀγήρατος Eur. elsewhere (above) uses the contracted Attic form ἀγήρως of Epic ἀγήραος [Text. Ritschl proposed ἀγήραον here].   568–72  It is a great thing … virtue: 568 summarises the disquisition upon virtue here in the antistrophe by echoing 561; 569–70a unsurprisingly relate its lesson of moderation in sexuality to the married women of the strophe 543–57, but 570b–2 relate it unexpectedly to men in public life. One might therefore expect Men. to be an illustration in the epode 573–89, but those lines link woman and man in Helen and Paris for the international not just public consequences of virtue abandoned.  hunt after: θηρεύω metaphorical as e.g. Bacc. 1005 ‘wisdom’, Pl. Theaet. 200a ‘knowledge’.  within a hidden love: ambiguous. Usually ‘hidden’ describes a love culpably concealed, e.g. a woman’s Ion 1524, a man’s Hipp. 154, both El. 922: is it here ‘a great thing’ and virtuous for women merely to hide it, or by implication to end it? Or to hide from the world a chaste love for husbands alone? Diggle writes furtum olet of the phrase, ‘it smells of theft’, suggesting incautious application; Stockert says that its multivalence contrasts with men’s single virtue, 571. Certainly there is heavy antithesis with the ‘moderate’ of 543 and 554, and the ‘pure desires’ of 555. In the Greek ‘(sexual) love’ is ‘Cypris’ (553 n.), in metonymy. The counter-moral for men (in their turn: δ’ αὖ, 1226, Or. 1063 etc.) is good order, in the context by implication founded on virtue as ‘good’ husbands, since household well-being conduces to public well-being (one of the moralities of Aeschylus’ Eumenides): whence increases their city to greatness (αὔξει: this expression e.g. Her. 793, our 967 ‘increase the common good’; a ‘city is increased’ e.g. Supp. 507). Unfortunately the close definition of ‘good order’ in 571 is uncertain. The word κόσμος there is used of order in the polis at Supp. 245, of mental (dis)order S. F. 846 – and of disciplined morality e.g. Pl. Phaedo 114e, and of order

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‘within’ a person at Laws 689b ‘fair words within (ἐνόντες ἐν) a soul’ (see Text below). Greek. 571–2 μυριοπληθής: in countless forms is an acceptable translation, although -πληθής is properly of number, i.e. ‘multitudinous’, μυριο- being ‘countless’, e.g. 366, 1388; the compound παμπληθής is applied to such sing. nouns as ‘species, property, fire’ according to LSJ, cf. πολυπληθία ‘multiplicity’ of men S. F 667.1.   572 μείζω is predicative (or proleptic) second acc. after πόλιν αὔξει, cf. e.g. φίλον 648, μαξάριον 1076. [Text. P.Köln 67 comes in at 569, but offers an insecure, defective or different text in 570–2, where L is partly corrupt: 570 εν α̣[ or εν δ̣[ against Tr3’s ἐν ἀνδράσι δ’ (ἐν δ’ ἀνδράσιν L*P), 570–2 αυ κοσμοσ οδεν̣[ | πληθει against δ’ αὖ | κόσμος ἔνδον ὁ μυριοπληθὴς L, lit. ‘and (among men in their turn) good order within, in multiple form’. All eds accept Tr3’s metrical correction in 570; most print (as we do), or at least commend, Markland’s conjecture in 571 ἐνὼν (‘being within’: cf. Plato, Laws 689b above) followed as in L by ὁ; some words remain obelized by Günther and Diggle.   571–2 P.Köln’s μυριο]πληθει is printed as -εῖ by Günther, a dat. adj. without a noun (unless -πληθει is the dat. of an unattested noun μυριόπληθος ‘multitude’); an adv. -εί has been posited (‘a thousand-fold’, with αὔξει ‘increases’), but the formation is anomalous.] 573–89  Narrative illuminating the didactic 543–72: Paris goes from Trojan pastoral Mt Ida to Greek royal Sparta (573–81); there he is fluttered by Helen, and their mutual passion leads to the War (582–9). Note that flow is given to the narrative through relative clauses, 573, 580, 581, 583, 587, with which compare e.g. 173, 180, 182; 757, 760, 764; 1287, 1289, 1294; it is a marked feature of Eur.’s lyric style. Other descriptions of the scene and Judgement by Eur. at 182–4, 1283–1311, And. 274–92, Hec. 631–46, Hel. 357–9; see esp. Stinton (1965) cited in 543–89 n. Choral narratives in Tragedy are illustrated from a variety of approaches by Rutherford (2007). 573–5  You came, O Paris: not necessarily ‘came back’ to Ida, though that is suggested by to where you yourself were reared (and appears to match And. 295), for he was exposed there at birth (1284–6 below). This detail is vague, and matched by omission in 579–80 of the water-spring regular as the scene of Judgement, e.g. 1294 and n. The aor. ἔμολον ‘came’ is particularly common in E.’s lyric descriptions, of Paris e.g.

Commentary

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Hel. 1118 (×2), the goddesses e.g. our 1300, Hel. 678; it begins our parodos 164, cf. El. 169 (×2) after ἤλυθον 167. ‘O’ ὦ begins epodes also Ion 492, (ἰώ) 714. Eur.’s particular fondness for apostrophizing persons and things mythical is parodied at Ar. Frogs 1309, 1331–41 (see Dover’s nn.); passages are listed by Rutherford (2007) 36. ‘reared’ ἐτράφης is a very clear link with 561 ‘upbringings’ τροφαί.  white: the epic adj. ἀργεννός is the colour usually of sheep and their wool, e.g. Iliad 3.198. But heifers or oxen intended for sacrifice were often white as symbolic of their purity (e.g. Iliad 21.30), and were necessarily perfect, e.g. ‘unblemished’ 1083 (cf. 1113 n.), and 579 full-uddered εὔθηλοι (a Homeric word, of a heifer πόρις Bacc. 737). [Text. 573 ‘if sound, scarcely Euripidean’ Diggle. Suspect in L are (1) ἔμολες (but see above), and a different verb was suggested by Kovacs with ἔμαθον ‘I learned’, which he claimed develops the preceding strophe’s emphasis on a good education leading to glory for virtuous citizens, 561– 72. Nor do we see cause to disturb ἔμολες in favour of Willink’s ἔμαθες (with 576 βάρβαρα συρίζειν) ‘you learned (to play barbarian music)’; (2) the Epic rel. adv. ᾗτε, not found elsewhere in E., but well enough here as Doric ᾇτε (Willink: for the principles governing the ‘Doric alpha’ in Tragic lyric see Barrett on Hipp. 61–71 or Mastronarde, Medea (2002) pp. 83, 105; in our epode cf. 581 ἅ; also e.g. 544, 553, 557); (3) the style of σύ γε, emphasis added to emphatic pron.: defended by Stinton (1965) 75 as anticipating Paris’ important role with Helen 582–9. P. Köln cannot help: the words are lost from it.] 576–8  playing barbarian music: see Greek. reeds: συρίζω and σύριγγες usually denote the multiple ‘Pan-pipes’ (σύριγξ syrinx), expressly with ‘reeds’ at 1038, cf. IT 1125; the god Pan himself ‘breathes’ on them at El. 703–4, cf. Or. 145 ‘the breath of the pipes’. Paris has them also Hel. 358. See West (1992) 109–12, with a list of literary references at 110 n. 126.  imitations: the verb μιμέομαι and cognates in the vocabulary of artistic criticism registered ‘representations’ of speech and song e.g. Pl. Rep. 605c, of rhythm and harmonies Laws 812c.  Phrygian pipes: their tone was exciting and passionate, Aristot. Pol. 1342a32–b12, cited by West (1992) 180–1; at Tro. 545 Phrygian pipe-music welcomes the entry of the Wooden Horse to Troy; it accompanies ecstatic cult Bacc. 126–8, 158–69.  Olympus: a mythical musician of Phrygia (or Mysia): Ar. Knights 9, Adespota F 53 TrGF, Pindar F 157; he was later confused

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Commentary

with the 7th century inventor of the harmonic scale, whose music ‘was agreed to possess the feelings’, Aristot. Pol. 1340a9–10; see West (1992) 163–4. Greek. 576 βάρβαρα: lit. ‘barbarian’ (pipings), συρίγματα being supplied from συρίζων; ‘music’ is not expressed in the Greek, which often leaves an acc. neut. plur. adj. isolated, the noun from the verbstem being omitted: cf. 644 n. and e.g. Smyth 1572–3; Breitenbach (1934) 242–7 with many examples. συρίζων and πνείων are two parts. in asyndeton, a lyric habit of Eur.: see e.g. Bond on Her. 700, Smyth 2147f. [Text. 577 P. Köln confirms Heath’s correction Οὐλύμπου.   578 The long penultimate syllable required at period-end in this abbreviated colon (reizianum) is easily supplied by Reiske’s correction of L’s πνέων to πνείων. P. Köln however has ]υ̣ων, prompting Günther’s ἀναπ]ύ̣ων ‘crying loud’, the Doric part. of ἀνηπύω, a compound occuring first in Hellenistic verse; better would be West’s Aeolic form πνε]ύ̣ων (Studies in Aeschylus (Stuttgart 1991) 176), entertained earlier by O. Musso, Prometheus 6 (1980) 229.] 579–81  sent: historic pres. (47 n.). The same verb and tense are used of Ag. and Men. in joint authority sending the Greeks to Troy, A. Ag. 109. [Text. 579 τρέφοντο L without syllabic augment, common in lyric, e.g. 198 (n.), χόρευσε Alc. 583, τέκετο Pho. 649; Smyth 438a, Diggle (1994) 213: Blomfield’s change to δ’ ἐτρέφοντο is unnecessary.   580 where (judgement etc.): both ὅθι ‘where’ (Bothe, Monk) and ὅτε (Aldine) ‘when’ suit the detail of 579; we prefer the former, with ὅθι as in 573 (n.); ὅτι L ‘because’ is impossible. There is a metrical problem in 580: in this epode there is no responding verse to validate L’s wholly resolved but apparent glyconic colon, which lacks one short syllable (and no choriambic colon in the whole ode is similarly resolved); Hermann’s remedy was to restore a complete glyconic with ἔμηνε ‘maddened’ (for the verb see 1264 n. Text) in place of L’s ἔμενε ‘awaited’. An attraction of the latter is that it provides a link correct in context: it implies that everything at and after the Judgement was inevitable once Aphrodite had craftily inflamed and bribed Paris with Helen (cf. Iph.’s lamenting monody 1283–1335, esp. 1301, 1303–4); and it was not the Judgement itself that ‘maddened’ Paris but his behaviour towards Helen under Aphrodite’s continuing influence, 587, cf. 547. Günther, Stockert and Diggle all obelize 580; Stockert prefers ‘when (ὅτε) … maddened’; Diggle suggests ‘where’, with ὅθι

Commentary

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(or οὗ) and κρίσις σ’ (or σε κρίσις L), but with ἔμενεν θεᾶν at verseend, also completing the glyconic, where judgement of the goddesses awaited you; we accept this. P. Köln cannot help: its few very separated letters match those in L, but apparently it had three fewer letters at linebeginning.   581 P. Köln confirms L. Dindorf’s correction.] 582–6  before the throne (see Text below) of Helen with its ivoried work: an echo of Od. 4.72–5, where the palace of Men. and Helen at Sparta is rich with gold, amber, silver and ivory: see Heubeck, West and Hainsworth’s n. there. The adj. ἐλεφαντόδετος at Ar. Birds 219 describes a lyre, probably inlaid with ivory, and this may be the sense here. A couch at Od. 19.55–6 has ivory as a component; at Plato Comicus F 230.1 one has ivory feet.  meeting of eyes … love: ‘love in the eyes’, Helen and Paris at Gorgias 82 B 11 (Helen), 19 DK, Men. and Hel. Od. 4.150, A. Ag. 742–3, cf. 418–19; Bacc. 236 the handsome Lydian alias Dionysus ‘has Aphrodite in his eyes’; S. F 474.4–5; famously Sappho F 31.7 and 12 Lobel-Page. ‘meeting of eyes’; Anth.Pal. 12.196.3 ‘I look and meet your eyes’, ἀντωπός βλέπω.  fluttered: πτοέω ‘excite’, of high emotion (LSJ 2), e.g. also Helen affected by Paris Alcaeus F 283.3, Clyt.’s anxiety in our 1029; Sappho F 31.4–6 Lobel-Page effect of a lover’s laughter. Mutual love … love: 75. Greek. 582 In the adj. ἐλεφαντόδετος and others similarly formed the second element -δετος lit. ‘bound on, bound with’ has little meaning beyond ‘made (partly) with’: see Diggle (1994) 343.   584 ἐν of circumstance (in the meeting), with δίδωμι as with ὀπάζω ‘give’ Med. 424.   585 correlative τε … τε just as; Smyth 2973, GP 504. [Text. 582–83 πάροιθεν θρόνων Hermann ‘before the throne’ is certain: Helen, the lady of the house in Men.’s absence (76), might just have welcomed Paris, a visiting male stranger, before the house (δόμων L), but would have given him courteous (and relative) privacy only inside, when herself seated; then amorous looks began. (At A. Cho. 663–4 the disguised Orestes has asked the porter at the dead Agamemnon’s palace for the ‘lady with authority’, i.e. Clytemnestra, to greet him at the door, but with heavy irony adds ‘but it would be more fitting for a man to come’.)   583 seems a bigger problem. Kirchoff’s restoration of στὰς from L’s ὃς τᾶς was brilliant (and simple: restoration of a lost sigma), but his δὲ στὰς gave δὲ an anomalous position; Jouan’s recourse to ὅς (στὰς) makes excellent sense and word-order. Musgrave had long ago restored

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an appropriate rel. word with οὗ τᾶς (‘where’). Wilamowitz replaced both pron. and def. art. with ἔστας, but the finite verb forced the supply of a connective to the next clause, with Ἑλένας (‘you stood, and…’). P. Köln against frustrates us.   585 τ’ ἔδωκας Blomfield restores the necessary coupling of the two aorists: δέδωκας L; but note δέδορκας W. Headlam ‘you see’ (‘love in the eyes’: above), on which Diggle OCT remarks ‘the meaning is apt but not the verb’s tense’.] 587–9  strife, yes strife: the doubling of ἔριν (Text below) echoes the repetition 585 ἔρωτα … ἔρωτι (the latter figure, differing forms of the same word, is paregmenon: V. Bers, EGT 1372); for ἔρις/῎Ερις as Helen’s effect cf. esp. A. Ag. l455–61; cf. also e.g. Hel. 1134–5.  Troy’s citadel: the coupling πέργαμα Τροίας, though questioned, occurs also at 762 and e.g. Stesichorus F 192 PMG = 91a Davies-Finglass. The n. plur. Πέργαμα is often used of Troy’s whole high city (e.g. Tro. 556, 1295), as is the fem. sing. in -oς ([773], Tro. 1065, in Latin usually changed to neut. Pergamum); both are then often capitalised in modern texts. πέργαμα is elsewhere used of any citadel, e.g. Pho. 1098 Thebes. Greek. 588 Ἑλλάδα the proper name is used as an adj. with strife, i.e. ‘strife with Greece’; similar use at IT 1292 a Greek ship, Rhes. 234 the Greek host, cf. our [1528–31] n. Text. [Text. 587–8 Page’s changes to L are convincing (and printed by Günther and Diggle), not only because L’s ἔρις ἔριν … ἄγει ‘strife brings … strife’ is ‘an odd sentence’ (Page), but because it was not the strife between the goddesses at the Judgement that brought Greek war to Troy, but Paris’ behaviour at Sparta (579–81 n. Text, cf. 71–82): compare esp. Or. 1365 ‘Paris, who brought Greece to Ilium’ (also with ἄγω; the verb is common in mythical narrative, e.g. Hel. 239, 1135). To defend L’s text, however, Stockert uses Hel. 248–9 ‘creating strife, strife for Priam’s sons with Greece’ (Hera sending Hermes to Sparta to take the real Helen to Egypt, leaving for Paris a phantom in her place); commended by Matthiessen. Page has two incidental benefits: doubled ἔριν ἔριν (emphatic anadiplosis as in 183 (n.) and Hel. 248: this same episode) is typical of E.’s lyric style (×4 in Iph.’s monody 1283–1335 alone), and ἄγεις | ἐς avoids metrical hiatus between cola of differing rhythm.   In 589 Blomfield restored a superior final colon and makes ‘Troy’ the effective last word.]

Commentary

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590–750 Second Episode Successively: entry of Clyt. with Iph., and the baby Orestes, in a carriage (590–630); scenes between Iph. and Ag. (633–85a) and then Clyt. and Ag. (685b–741); brief soliloquy of Ag. (742–50). See the introductory notes below on 590–7 and 598–606, 607–30 and 633–750 – which should be read in the light of the following paragraph. Yet again, the text has difficulties: there is almost certainly a short loss (after 739); there are a number of heavily suspect or almost certainly interpolated lines (590–630, 635–7, 652, 665, 741, 749–50); and the order of lines has been disrupted (between 651 and 666). We can be confident that only 633 to 748 represent Eur.’s own work, even if 590– 630 stem in part from his intentions. 590 Staging.  If the Messenger’s report 414b–39 is part of Eur.’s design, as we think, Clyt. and Iph. (with Or.) have remounted the carriage (618 n.) which is implied in 421–3 and repeatedly mentioned in Clyt.’s 610–23 (lines themselves suspect). Taplin (1977) 75–9 reviews chariot and carriage entries in Tragedy, finding that in the few other examples there are anticipatory announcements or greetings: A. Pers. 155 (but a vehicle is not mentioned until 607) and Ag. 783 (vehicle first mentioned only at 906); E. El. 988 (see 966), Tro. 572 (see 569); Rhesus 380 (see 301–4: doubted however by Fries (2014)); Taplin 77 however judges that IA 590–606 are a 4th century composition. The two Aeschylus passages can answer doubts about the omission of the greeting here, perhaps: spectators’ eyes tell them the mode of entry, and any special significance can be left to later words. Thus (cf. Taplin 79) at Ag. 783 Cassandra’s accompaniment of Ag. in his chariot, ominous for Clyt., goes unnoticed in the text until after he has been verbally defeated by Clyt. at 950–5; for Clyt.’s own important first defeat is imminent, and it is inflicted by Cass.’s obstinate silence throughout 1035–68. (For this reason we reject the contention by O. Thomas, CQ 63 (2013) 494–5 that Cassandra is in a second vehicle, as a spoil of war carried among other spoils.) It is effective that Ag. has not left the stage at 542 (n.), and that he ‘hears’ the Chorus’ song, and certainly their greeting of the travellers. Ritchie offers two considerations: (1) if Ag. goes unnoticed ‘theatrically’, then Clyt.’s taking charge of the arrival underlines his reluctance to encounter her; and (2) Iph.’s impetuous rush to embrace him suggests

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that she has only just seen him (‘but would not her rush be as effective if he had just returned?’, A. Fries). Ag.’s presence on the ‘Homeric bowl’ (below) may suggest that he has been on stage for the arrival, but the scene is likely to be an artist’s general impression, a composite picture. This is one of several entry-problems arising from textual silences which are listed by Taplin (1977) 8 n. 1, e.g. the entries of Adrastus at Supp. 381ff., Menelaus at Hel. 1369ff. Lines 631–84 give opportunities to a director for poignant embraces between daughter and father, 631 (?), 640–7, 679–84 (see n. there). Art. The 2nd century BC ‘Homeric’ bowls (details in 111–14 n.) appear to reflect (1) 613–27 Clyt. and Orestes (as a child, not a baby) in a carriage – but they are being helped to descend by a named Electra!: bowls nos 6 and 7; and (2) 623–80, in a composite scene, Clyt. caressing the child Orestes and Iph. bending to greet Ag. who is seated on a throne and has raised his right hand to his cheek in distress: bowl n. 8. 590–7 and [598–606] duplicate each other, but also conflict, as entryannouncements. [Text. Few scholars defend both passages, some delete both. 590–7  the chief issues are: (1) There is no anapaestic announcement ‘customary’ before theatrically distinctive entries at the start of an episode like that of Clyt. and Iph. (Matthiessen; cf. Taplin 75–9 cited above under 590 Staging); but Achilles’ entry at 801 has no warning at all, cf. e.g. Orestes at And. 881, Menelaus at Tro. 860 and a few other Euripidean places discussed by Taplin 11–12. Clyt.’s arrival and entry here are not unexpected after the Messenger’s 415–19 and Ag.’s 454–9, 538–9. (2) 590–7 greet Clyt. and Iph. fulsomely enough to justify her explicit thanks in 607–8, lines which would otherwise have no reference (see also 607–30 n.). It appears however that Clyt. and Iph. have not yet entered and therefore do not hear 590–7, lines which make no explicit mention of marriage (even if a theatre audience would take them to imply it); Clyt. makes the first mention at 609–10. (3) 590–1 and 596–7 are perhaps part of a disguised but personal ‘beatitude’ made to match the general one sung by the Chorus in 543–57 (see also 607–30 n., last sentence before Art). On the other hand, they know that ‘happiness’ is not coming, so that their knowledge may falsify their ‘beatitude’, and it can be objected that this only creates an ironic effect which is singularly

Commentary

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inappropriate. (4) There are two large faults, both in 592: the Argive Clyt., let alone the girl Iph., is not the Chalcidean Chorus’ queen, and the line is unmetrical. Both faults can be easily healed (see 590–7 Details below, Text). (5) 590–1 are the first confirmation that the Chorus will keep silent about Ag.’s plan (542); it is perhaps borne out by their later forecast that the Greeks will indeed reach Troy to attack it (Second Ode, 751–72 – and that is the next time we hear from the Chorus). In [598–606] there are strong reasons for suspicion: (1) Their emphasis on a gentle reception for the travellers preempts Clyt.’s own concern in 610b–27, esp. for Iph. in 613–16. (2) Some details are so similar to Clyt.’s arrival by carriage in El. 988–95 that they appear to derive from it. (3) The prep. ἄπο enjambed across anapaestic dimeters in 599–600 is clumsy at best. (4) 601–4 are textually and metrically corrupt (and irremediable except by wholesale conjecture); and they contain two egregious errors: (5) 602 Iph. is already ‘famous’ to wives from Chalcis (still worse would be the natural inference from 604 that it is the baby Orestes who is famous and to be spared ‘trouble’ and ‘alarm’); (6) 604 θόρυβον stands with long -υ-, not Classical. Most editors (and Ritchie) have condemned the lines. Lesser reasons for suspicion are given under Details of 598–606 below. Our judgement: we retain 590–7 rather than 598–606, like Jouan, Günther, Stockert (but see on 592 below), Matthiessen, Ritchie and Turato, against the doubts of Page and Diggle, but with our own misgivings (see also 607–30 n.). In the first performance text, something must have stood between 589 and 607, or between 589 and 633, whether Euripidean in conception at the least, or wholly interpolated.] Details of 590–7. 590–1 Hail, hail!: ἰὼ ἰώ is here an exclamation of delight, e.g. in various greetings Ion 1445, Pho. 310, S. Trac. 219; singly A. Ag. 503, 518.  happiness: εὐδαιμονίαι plur. also of a (past) wedding Supp. 997, cf. εὐαμερίαι ‘happy day(s)’ of an imminent one Phaethon 91.  the great: μεγάλων: also 594, Hipp. 1465 etc.   595 happily long: εὐμήκεις: a prose adj., but cf. μῆκος ‘length’ of e.g. joy S. Ant. 393, prosperity Empedocles 31 B 119 DK. The adj. is judged by some to be colourless here with the neutral noun τύχας fortunes, but the first member εὐ- ‘good-, well-’ suffices; Stockert cites Hel. 678 τύχης εὐδαίμονος ‘good fortune from the gods’.   596–7 the powerful: οἱ κρείσσους also e.g. Archelaus F 261.2. the wealthy: the adj. ὀλβοφόρος is unique,

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but cf. οἱ ὄλβιοι Supp. 238 the rich (in a polis), Danae F 327.1.  gods: mortals supreme in power are equal to gods (ἰσόθεος) Α. Pers. 80, Tro. 1169, and in wealth and happiness El. 994–5 ‘I revere you (Clyt.) equally with the blessed gods for your great wealth and happiness’ (possibly the model for our passage); for other exx. see Diggle on Phaethon 240. Recent editors generally dismiss Murray’s suggestion that 590–7 were delivered by a secondary chorus of Argive soldiers, whom 592 ‘my queen’ would suit; Stockert gives the proposal the fullest consideration, but inclines to delete the lines. The principle of Occam’s Razor is powerful against Murray: why posit an unannounced body of male singers, for just a few lines, who then fall from notice? The male slaves brought by Clyt., whom she tells to take dowry-gifts from the carriage (610–12), would be silent extras (see 607–30 n.), like Ach.’s silent soldiers (1359). A Tragic chorus always identifies itself upon entry, or its identity is announced, and that will have sufficed for the audience. The secondary chorus in Hippolytus of Hippolytus’ attendants is carefully introduced before they sing, and it is no less carefully taken off-stage a while later: 54–5, 61–71; 108, 114–16; but in some editions these attendants share 1102–41 with the main chorus. (A soldier-chorus was nevertheless deployed convincingly in the 2015 Syracuse production of IA, on which see Introduction pp. 44–5. Its helpful effect was to project the latent influence of the army 514 etc. and the army’s pejorative alias as the mass or mob, 526 etc.) Greek. 597 τοῖς οὐκ εὐδαίμοσι In the eyes of: for the dat. of reference cf. Med. 509 πολλαῖς μακαρίαν ‘blest in the eyes of many’ (a now embittered Medea speaking of her marriage), S. Trac. 1071 πολλοῖσιν οἰκτρός ‘pitiful…’; Smyth 1496. [Text. 592 Bothe’s deletion of ἐμήν from ‘my (queen)’ restores phrasing and sense, ‘princess Iphigenia’; and it removes a metrical fault in chanted anapaests impossible for Eur. (syllabic overlap between metra: Barrett, Hippolytos p. 368 n. 1), except at the end of metrical periods as in 597, 606; but there is a similar fault in 593. Matthiessen however suggested that ‘queen’ may be a polite recognition by the Chorus of Clyt.’s status. Healers must also ask, How did ἐμήν intrude? Metre. 593 Τυνδάρεω with -εω scans as one long syllable (synizesis) like 55 Τυνδάρεῳ; whence no accent upon -ω from enclitic τε.] Details of [598–606]. Suspicions and weaknesses, in addition to those noted above: 598 στῶμεν is suspect because of 619 στῆτε, as is

Commentary

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599 δεξώμεθα because of 616 δέξασθε; ἔκγονα is a near-synonym of θρέμματα, and although it is an adj. Eur. uses its plur. invariably as a noun, and its sing. almost always. θρέμμα is lit. ‘a fostered offspring’, used most commonly of animals, but of a child S. OT 1143, Phil. 243. 600–1 the successive two-word phrases are even poorer writing amid these wretched lines. 602–4 are faulty throughout in language and metre. 606 the word-play on foreign(ers) is pointless. [Text. 601 μαλακῇ γνώμῃ L with gentle intention is defensible as extending and emphasizing ἀγανῶς kind (lit. ‘kindly’): μαλακῇ ῥώμῃ (Hermann) ‘with gentle strength’, implying physical support, is nevertheless an attractive if mild oxymoron.  just arrived: νεωστί … μολόν is clumsy and superfluous. We ignore other attempts to improve the text.] 607–30  Deleted wholly or in part by many early editors; suspect to almost all recent ones; defended cautiously by Jouan (see also Matthiessen below). The greatest problem is the conflict between Iph.’s knowledge of her marriage to Achilles implicit from her hearing Clyt. allude to it in 607– 10a and 628–9, and her obvious ignorance of it as fact in her exchange with Ag. 631–85a, even if her question in 670 ‘Can it really be that you’re moving me to another home, father?’ is a shy allusion to marriage in general (on this problem see also 905 n.). Dramatic (and psychological) credibility rests upon Iph.’s ignorance in her exchange with Ag. Later she learns of her death-sentence only off-stage, between her exit in 685 and re-entry in 1120: we are told that she knows of it in 1102, and therefore of the falsity of her marriage, no doubt from Clyt. who herself learns of both only from the Old Man, 873–89. There is a second, less serious conflict: Clyt. in 625–6 knows of Achilles’ goddess-mother but asks to be told his parentage in 696 (but see 697–740 n., at start). Internal problems: (1) The males addressed in 611–12 must be slaves accompanying Clyt. The young women νεανίδες in 615, and you other young women in 619, are more likely to be her maids than the women of the Chorus (although they are addressed with νεανίδες by Iph. 1467, 1491): Clyt. could scarcely give orders to clearly independent women, who may be young but are married, 188; and their more elaborate dress and masks might make clear that they were not slaves (there is inadequate evidence for such differentiation

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in status by means of costume, both in real life and in the theatre; for example, [Xenophon] Athen. Respublica (‘The Old Oligarch’) I.10 says that ordinary people at Athens dressed no better than slaves); but the play’s director would ensure that Clyt. faced and addressed only the ‘right’ women. All these identities would be clear in performance, from gestures. (2) The command in 627 †sit† – if correct (see n.) – is difficult both if it is addressed to the infant Orestes, and if it indicates Iph. when she is at once sent to speak to Ag., 630. (3) Women are ordered to take men’s normal responsibility for steadying horses, 619. (4) Words and phrases are repeated unstylishly: 610–11 ~ 616 carriage; 613 ~ 619 ~ 620 ~ 623 horses; 613 ~ 618 leave; 627 ~ 30 the command here. (5) Expression is weak or inaccurate in 607, 623, 624, 630. (6) The end of 622 replicates that of 466 (but such distant repetitions are frequent in Eur. (7) There is a metrical anomaly in 615. (8) Orestes’ presence at all is questioned by some editors: see (B) 414b–41 n. Text. Some of the linguistic and stylistic problems are taken up in single line-notes below. We judge that while the theatrical conception is worthy of Eur., he could not have written Clyt.’s speech as it stands. Its deletion however is an extreme measure, and damaging to performance, whether or not 590–7 are kept (above). We therefore accept that the passage must be a theatreman’s (or -men’s) carelessly managed insertion where the play-text was incomplete or faulty; and it does contain good things, esp. the depiction of Clyt.’s proud satisfaction and motherly concern (Cavander (1973) 111 finds here ‘the kind of character drawing which became extremely popular through the naturalistic drama of the fourth century … it could have been written for a high comedy’). These qualities in Clyt. will underlie her anger and strength against Ag. when confronting him – and be part-cause of Achilles’ admiration for both mother and daughter. These arguments are stressed by Matthiessen; Jouan p. 84 n. 7 nicely observes that Clyt.’s extended concern for Orestes in 621–6 would pique an audience well familiar with his later matricide. Two small further points: while 607–8 presuppose something like the felicitations of 590–7, those earlier verses can exist without the later; 633–4 (when moved before 631–2: see n.) make a satisfactory entry-greeting to the person who matters, from Clyt. to her husband – and to her supposed master (see 725, 739). 607–8  omen: ὄρνις lit. ‘bird’, one observed for divination, becomes by metonymy the omen itself and is often accompanied by αἴσιος favourable,

Commentary

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e.g. Pind. Nem. 9.18–19, S. OT 52; the context sometimes colours the simple word ὄρνις as ‘unfavourable’, e.g. 988 below; similarly οἰωνός ‘bird’, explicit at 1347. Pho. 858 has ‘I count (ἐθέμην) your victorywreaths an omen’ (οἰωνός). Words spoken by chance are ominous Ion 1189–91 (also οἰωνός).  goodness: τὸ χρηστόν of a thing valued, here the friendly greeting; friendship Or. 451; even absolute power Pho. 507; in the context here cf. our idiom ‘Thanks: it’s good of you!’ Greek. 607 ποιούμεθα count; here the mid. conveys the personal interest: see LSJ A.V.   608 εὐφημίαν (trans. as adj. auspicious) is a noun without the def. art. coupled to a preceding one which has it, common enough (Smyth 1143), but here uncommonly the nouns have differing gender, as e.g. Dem. 2.9 τὰ χωρία καὶ λίμενας ‘the places and the harbours’. Hendiadys (53 n.) therefore seems close: ‘your auspicious fair words’. 609–10a  some expectation: ἐλπίς as e.g. A. Ag. 999, S. Aj. 606, cf. below 786 n. ‘some’ τινα is meiotic in understatement, i.e. ‘great’: 371, 983, 1012 and nn.; see e.g. Collard on Supp. 40, 288; Smyth 1268–9.  escorting a bride: as Ag. imagined Clyt. at 457–8, cf. her hopes at 693, disappointment 732, 734. The word νυμφαγωγός stresses that Clyt. has embarked on a mother’s role in the marriage – which she will not readily relinquish. It is a rare word, but so is 48 συννυμφοκόμος, the Old Man as part of Clyt.’s dowry (see 610b–12 n.).  excellent (marriage): ἐσθλοῖσιν, allusive plur.: marriage to a man of high birth and quality 625, 711–12; not, pace Stockert and others, ‘fortunate’, LSJ ἐσθλός II.3. Greek. δέ is continuative, approximating to γάρ, ‘explaining’ 607–8: see e.g. Mastronarde on Pho. 198; GP 189; there is no contrast with 607 μέν. for: ἐπί: 29 n. 610b–12  carriage: ὀχημάτων: for the translation see 618 n. attendants: Clyt. has male slaves, no doubt as protection for women travelling, and some perhaps to form part of Iph.’s dowry. The part. translated carefully is masc.; the gender helped to provoke Murray’s suggestion that 590–7 were uttered by soldiers from Argos: see ‘Details of 590–7’ above. Greek. ἔξω: enjambement (50–1 n.) of an (adverbial) prep. is very rare in Eur., cf. e.g. Or. 1216–17 δόμων | πάρος: see Platnauer on IT 987–8. 613–14  my child, please: ὦ τέκνον μοι as e.g. Alc. 313, Ion 1399.  delicate: ἁβρός of a fine, pampered lady, describing e.g. Helen’s

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walk Hel. 1528, Jason’s bride Med. 1164, Deianeira as bride S. Trac. 523. [Text. 614 ἀσθενές L ‘weak’ – but why the attribution of feebleness to Iph., as if needing support in dismounting, 615–16? She would be an adolescent. The emphatic coupling with ‘delicate’ by means of θ’ ἅμα is both wrong and empty, and may indicate incompetent haste in an interpolator. Both difficulties are removed by ἀσφαλῶς χαμαί Hermann safely to the ground, which fills out the picture well.] 615–16 [Text. Both νεανίδαισιν L and νεανίδεσσιν Tr are awkward as adjectival (e.g. Alc. 679), women’s ‘sturdy young’ arms. Pierson’s changed articulation of this word as νεανίδες νιν supplied an object pron. to δέξασθε, without removing the metrical rarity (see Metre); Monk’s improvements cost a violent transposition (see apparatus), but he preferred to delete both 615 and 616. Metre. 615 The scansion of νεαν- as one long syllable (synizesis) is very rare in Tragedy (Fries (2014) on Rhesus 886–8).] 617–18  For help in dismounting cf. El. 998–9 (possibly a model for our passage: 590–7 n.).  seat … carriage: an ἀπήνη was a four-wheeled vehicle with a sided body; Clyt. has one at El. 998. A synonym is ἅμαξα ‘cart, wagon’ (see DELG: thus Iliad 24.324 and 266 respectively, cf. A. Ag. 1039 and 1054). Both could accommodate seats for travellers: again cf. Ag. 1054. We use ‘carriage’ to translate also ὄχημα 610 and ὄχος 613, 623, words meaning lit. ‘conveyance’ (ὄχημα is a ship IT 410); they derive from the verb ὀχέω combining the senses ‘support’ and ‘transport’, itself deriving from a lost verb ἔχω etymologically related to Latin ueho (whence our ‘vehicle’): see DELG 2 ἔχω. Travelling vehicles were normally drawn by mules, ἡμίονοι: this word is metrically difficult for dramatic dialogue, which therefore uses ‘horse’, e.g. ἵππος or, as in our passages, πῶλος lit. ‘young horse, colt, filly’. a supporting hand: στηρίγματα allusive plur.; a rare word, of a house’s ‘supports’, i.e. its children, Adespota F 427 TrGF. Greek. 617 in ἐνδότω the preverb ‘in’ ἐν- looks ‘pointless’ (Page), but it emphasizes the context for the action; cf. Hec. 1239 ‘afford’ startingpoints for immediate argument. ἀπήνης attributive gen., as Tro. 572 ἀπήνης νώτοισι a carriage’s ‘back’, its body; Smyth 1320a.   618 ὡς ἄν and subjunctive of purpose, not rare in verse: [1425]; Smyth 2201a. 619  frightened: φοβερός of horses e.g. Pl. Rep. 413b (by noise); fretful therefore, tempting the alternative translation ‘frightening, to be

Commentary

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feared’.  looks: lit. ‘the eye (is frightened)’: ‘a horse shows its fear in its eyes’, Stockert. Greek. αἱ δέ (you) other (young women) presupposes αἱ μέν, lacking with the ‘young women’ of 615; such omission is common, e.g. 430–2 (n.); Smyth 2838, esp. b, KG I.584–5; GP 165. Grammars afford no parallel for the def. art. as a vocative pronoun, even in this idiom. ἐς τὸ πρόσθεν at the front of with gen. happens to recur at Pl. Rep. 550e (for the adv. see on 610–11); without gen. in Eur. at Hel. 1579. [Text. Because of the seeming impropriety of women managing horses (607–30 n.), Dobree/Höpfner conjectured οἱ δέ, ‘you other men’.] 622  baby: νήπιος ‘infant(ile)’: of Orestes again 1244; it was his age when the War began, IT 230–2, 834–6, Or. 377–8. For the speculative etymology (it is not ‘not speaking’, Latin infans) see DELG. But Or. indeed does not speak, 1245. 623–4  We understand δαμείς (ὄχῳ) lit. ‘laid low, overcome’ as exhausted by the motion of the carriage, the Greek expression being elliptical (see Text); but it is tolerable, as in our ‘exhausted by the train’. Greek. ἐγείρω intrans. ‘wake (up)’ has no certain parallel (on Ar. Frogs 340 see commentators). There are comparable verbs, however, e.g. ἔπειγε ‘hurry!’ S. El. 1435; Smyth 1709d. εὐτυχῶς adv. ‘in happy fortune’ goes not with ‘Wake up’ but with the whole sentence; similarly IT 1481, Pho. 1206. [Text. 623 Stockert suggested δρόμῳ for (πωλικῷ) … ὄχῳ, ‘exhausted by the run(ning), pace (of the horses)’; for the idea he cites And. 992 πωλικοῖς διώγμασιν ‘pursuit on horseback’.] 625–6  connection: κῆδος lit. ‘care, concern’ and so a ‘relationship bringing obligation’, esp. marriage e.g. Med. 400, 700.  excellent: see 609 n.; the adj. ἀγαθός often registers the qualities of the high-born, e.g. 346, and its superlative form ἄριστος generated the poetic noun ἀριστεύς ‘one supreme in war’, e.g. 28 (n.), Iliad 2.404 etc. Achilles’ high birth is a constant of the play, 100–1, 134, 695–712 (n.), 819, 836, 855–6, 896, 901, 903, 1339: see Introduction pp. 23–4.  god-like: 596–7 n. The Chorus describe the Greek heroes at Aulis as ‘demi-gods’ ἡμίθεοι 173 (n.). [Text. 626 Diggle (1994) 494–5 asks how L’s acc. γένος (‘offspring’, e.g. Cyc. 104) can stand in apposition with acc. κῆδος meaning ‘connection’, and emends to the gen. γένους in apposition with ἀνδρός (as in our text and translation as man, the … offspring); most eds accept

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the acc. as apposition of one noun to another near in sense, ‘defining’ it (the new ‘connection’ will be Thetis’ ‘son’): see Smyth 976, 988. Diggle prefers κόρης Murray to τὸ Portus (retaining L’s def. art.) as remedy for both syntactical and metrical deficiency; he compares 701 Νηρέως κόρην and 1062 ὦ Νηρηῒ κόρα.] 627–30  have multiple problems, of stage-realisation as well as in language and metre; they hardly represent a clear intention, let alone Euripides’ own wording: see 607–30 n. and nn. below. 627  †sit … my child: Or., it appears: an infant (622 n.) is improbably told to seat himself – ‘unless Clyt. puts him down herself with this word’ (A. Fries); for the question whether a live infant or a dummy was used see B 414b–41 n. Text. Then in 628 Clyt. calls Iph. to join them, so that Ag. may see this family group about to celebrate a marriage: with due formality she addresses Ag. to announce their presence in obedience to his commands 633–4 (see n. on Text there), before Iph. preempts Clyt.’s wish she should call to her father 630 by running forward to embrace him 631–2. For an attempt to visualise and reconstruct the staging from the ‘Homeric’ bowl (590 n.) see Stockert. [Text. Not all eds agree on the movements, however. Markland changed κάθησο †sit to καθίστω ‘stand, place yourself’ (Iph., not Or.), matching 629 σταθεῖσα ‘stand in place’; cf. 861 ἕσταμεν ‘we’re standing here’. Indeed, on what should anyone ‘sit’? It means nothing that the ‘Homeric’ bowls show Ag. himself seated on a throne (see 590 n. Art). The phrasing ἑξῆς … μου ποδός ‘beside my feet’ is clumsy with the double gen., although πούς with gen. sometimes means ‘a person (moving)’, e.g. Her. 336 ὁμαρτεῖτ’ ἀθλίῳ μητρὸς ποδί ‘accompany your wretched mother as she goes’.] 628–9  blest: as mother of the bride-to-be, 610 and n.; for μακάριος see 439 n. [Text. 628 πρὸς μητέρα To your mother, a command without an explicit verb (cf. 630 n.) is superfluous and awkward.   629 θές Camper make me (blest) looks a necessary correction, cf. 1076–8 μακάριον … ἔθεσαν (the marriage of Peleus to Thetis, 1404 (Achilles’ dashed hope of the marriage): δός L means at best ‘present (me to…)’, but then a second predicative acc. meaning ‘as blest’ is unparalleled.] 630  here!: δεῦρο δή, another command without a verb, as in English, e.g. Bacc. 341. The whole line is suspect, however: it was devised to

Commentary

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prepare for 631–2 when they were (impossibly) followed by 633–4; now it is at best clumsy directly before Clyt.’s greeting of Ag. [Text. There is an irregular caesura, dividing the line exactly in half and unjustified by any special effect, and easily corrected by Fix’s transposition. The line was deleted first by Porson.] 633–750  After Clyt.’s formal address of Ag., Iph. runs to embrace her father. She is disconcerted by his evasive greetings and then his answers to her innocent questions, and learns only that, after an already long separation (640, 660), there is to be an even longer and distant one (651). She infers this will be his absence at Troy (662), for which she curses Menelaus’ ‘wrongs’ (658 n.: a dramatist’s echo of Ag.’s 380– 411, 467–8). Ag. deflects her hope to sail with her father into further unanswered questions about her role in a coming sacrifice (673–6). Their exchange is blackly ironic, mostly in stichomythia (640–77 n.). Ag. cannot control his tears 684 (cf. 451–2, 477, 496), and dismisses Iph. into his hut (678, 685a). D. Lateiner in EGT 655 outlines concisely the ‘disconnect between (Ag.’s) word and body language, between affection and duty, that he cannot hide’ in his exchange with Iph. At 685 Ag. then turns, as he can no longer avoid, to Clyt.; Ritchie well observes that ‘it is good dramatic technique to keep us waiting for this encounter’, so feared by Ag. (see n. on ‘590 Staging’), after we have first seen ‘the genuine tenderness’ between daughter and father. Ag. asks Clyt.’s pardon for his tears (685b–90), which she grants sympathetically (691–4). When she turns naturally to enquire about Achilles as the bride-groom (695–711) and then the wedding itself, dismay overcomes her as Ag. hides details of the ceremony and gives the bride’s mother nothing of her expected role (he says, to maintain decorum in a military camp). Refusing to obey him, she nevertheless goes into the hut; but text is almost certainly lost after 739 from her response which may have illuminated her subsequent behaviour. Their exchange, like that of Iph. and Ag., is mostly in stichomythia (697–740 n.). Ag. is acceptant, but again in despair, defeated in his plans (745: n.), hoping only to manage the sacrifice ‘for the best’ (741–8, a short speech). This Second Episode’s ending, bleak for Ag., clearly reprises that of the First (536–41). In its course Eur. finishes developing the father to prepare for his moral collapse when he makes his next and final entry for

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the Fourth Episode 1098–1275; and he begins shaping the characters of both mother and daughter for the turmoils that lie ahead. The Chorus are silent throughout the episode, from 607–750: similarly e.g. IT 658–899; and IT 1156 is their one perfunctory line throughout 1152–1233. See Introduction p. 32. 633–4  Clyt. is at first properly respectful of her royal husband. revered: the noun σέβας ‘august majesty’, addressing a (much) superior person, has no parallel in Eur.; addressing a divine power, Justice, Or. 1242. Its use here may stem from A. Cho. 157 σέβας … ὦ δέσποτα ‘Your Majesty … master!’, also Ag. – but there he is addressed as retaining his living majesty in death; cf. also A. Pers. 694–5 the chorus’ awed address to the ghost of Darius, σέβομαι μὲν προσίδεσθαι, σέβομαι δ’ ἀντία λέξαι ‘I am in awe to look at you, I am in awe to speak directly to you’. Note however the verbs of deference to rulers σέβω Hcld. 25, Dictys F 337.2, σεβίζω A. Ag. 785 (Ag. again). we have not disobeyed: obedience is again demanded of Clyt. by Ag. in 725, 739, a wife’s duty 726. Ag. has been reduced to this impasse by her arrival: he did not send for her, only Iph. (456–7). [Text. These two lines must be transposed before 631–2 (Porson) to restore logic to the stage-movements: see 627 n. Page however favoured deletion, suspecting the use not only of σέβας but also the nom. form Ἀγαμέμνων used vocatively (but he ackowledged Ἀμφίων as parallel, Antiope F 223.91 TrGF = 97 Diggle TrGFS (1998)/Collard and Cropp (2008)). Kovacs (2002) suggests a lacuna before 631, deleting 633–7 with Bremi.] 631–2  run out ahead of you: Iph. is eager, but wary, unnecessarily as it proves, of her mother’s reaction, do not be angry; this is a plea interrupting a sentence as e.g. 361 (n.).  clasp … breast to breast: for such filial affection cf. Polyxena to her mother Hecuba at Hec. 410 ‘grant me cheek to press to cheek’, and our 681, Ag.’s delayed response to this physical contact. Greek. 631 (ὑποδραμοῦσα): ὑποτρέχω ‘intercept (another’s movement)’: see LSJ III (not I); Willink on Or. 670 compares ὑποθέω ‘cut in before’, LSJ I.2. [Text. 632 προσβαλῶ Porson ‘press … to’ is a necessary correction of περιβαλῶ L ‘embrace’, just as the reverse change must be made in [636].]

Commentary

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[635–7]  Deleted by Porson: 635–6 clearly duplicate the wording of 631–2, and the end of 637 that of 631. 635 and 636 have metrical problems. The sense of 637 ὄμμα … σόν is uncertain, either ‘your looking at me’ or ‘my sight of you’. With we translate P2, emphatic; its relation to γάρ here is doubtful: GP 244. 638–9  all the children: four (1164–5, Or. 22–4), Iph. (the oldest, 1020), Electra, Chrysothemis, Orestes.  loved him most: El. 1102–4 Clyt. to El. ‘My child, affection for your father is in your nature. This happens; some children belong to their fathers, while others are more devoted to their mothers’ (trans. Cropp). Daughters more pleasing to a father Supp. 1101–3, cf. Her. 536. Iph. indeed expresses her closeness through repeated appeals to him with ‘O father!’ ὦ πάτερ, not only in their following exchange 640, [652], 656, 662, 664, 670, 676, but also in her final supplication 1211, 1229 (the penultimate line of the intensely filial 1216–30), 1237, 1245. The styling of her often oblique requests may owe something to Nausicaa’s to her father in Odyssey 6; note her initial ‘Daddy, dear’ 6.57. In our 669–71 Ag. has to fend off her likely mention of marriage, while at Od. 6.66–7 Homer can offer a narrator’s commentary, ‘Nausicaa was ashamed to name marriage and its new joy outright to her dear father’; later the impressionable girl fantasizes about Odysseus (244–5), but is wary of reproachful gossip (273–5): cf. Iph’s different shame on first encountering Ach. 1341–2. See too our 426–34 n. Greek. εἶ pres. tense and ἀεί ποτε ‘always and ever’ where English has a perf. ‘have … been’; but with a past tense at 870. 640–77  Stichomythia, shot through with ironic ambiguities as Ag. dissembles: 640–51 awkward exchange of feelings, with Iph.’s joy in contrast with Ag.’s gloom, ending with Ag.’s explanation that a long parting faces them; 662–4, 653–61 its causes: Paris of Troy and Menelaus’ troubles; and Ag. has already been too long at Aulis; 666–77 Iph.’s questions about accompanying her father, and assisting at the sacrifice he must make, are evaded by Ag. Note that the last section begins with a heavy sigh from Iph., 666. The stichomythia is analysed at length by Schwinge (1968) 186–90 (who resists Jackson’s transpositions, for which see 652–65 n.), together with Alc. 509–45, Med. 922–31 and 1008–20 as examples of slowmoving exchanges in which one party tries to conceal facts from the other. Other good analyses are by Jouan and esp. of the ironies by Turato

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(and by Ritchie); the ironies are observed by Rutherford (2012) 329–34, at 333, among ‘(malign) scenes of entrapment’ such as Med. 922–31, El. 1123–41, Or. 1323–46. The dialogue relies greatly on couplets or successive lines coordinated in wording and effect, a feature of the most effective stichomythia. 640  Greek. ἐσεῖδον I am glad to see: ingressive aor., of the start of seeing: Smyth 1924–5.  after … time: χρόνῳ: for this sense of the dat. of time, ‘at (the end of, over)’, cf. e.g. IT 306, Tro. 20; Smyth 1540. 641  yes, and your father…: on the surface a make-weight line, but the reciprocation with 640 is part of the irony, cf. 649; Ag. is hardly ‘glad’, 460–2. Greek. καὶ γάρ: 651 n. [Text. Kovacs (2002) deletes both 640 and 641; without them 642 is rather cool as Iph.’s first words to her father.] 642  Greetings!: χαῖρε accepts the sentiment of 641.  me: the position of the Greek pron. (as an enclitic advanced as usual: 1153 n.) permits its association with both done well (for me) and bring, making poignant irony: Ag. has done well by and for Iph. by bringing her to her death. Greek. In the colloquial idiom εὖ … ποιέω and a part. (‘thank you for …ing’) the aor. ἐποίησας is usual (Stevens (1976) 54), e.g. Med. 472. 644  (with a start): ἔα What?: marking surprise rather than consternation (Ag. at 317, with n.). So ὡς How…! is exclamatory rather than explanatory (see Greek). Greek. εὔκηλον ‘at ease, relaxed (from care)’ is an adj. ‘agreeing’ with an idiomatically suppressed acc. neut. noun βλέμμα with the verb (οὐ) βλέπεις, cf. e.g. Alc. 773 σεμνόν ‘look solemn’; 576 n. Greek and 1055 n. Greek. The form εὔκηλος is commoner in verse than its doublet ἕκηλος (see Text), e.g. S. El. 786–7 ἕκηλα … ἡμερεύσομεν ‘spend our days peacefully’): see DELG. [Text. Iph.’s surprise permits consideration of Nauck’s conjecture πῶς οὐ… ; ‘How is it that you look uneasy when you are glad to see me?’ εὔκηλον L: ἕκηλον Blomfield, printed by Stockert.] 645  king … many cares: the idea recalls Ag. 16b–27, and is as old as Iliad 2.24–5; cf. ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown’ Henry IV Part II 3.1.29. For the phrase ἀνὴρ βασιλεύς cf. e.g. Iliad 3.170, Supp. 444; it is a usage of ἀνήρ (often ‘real man’) as expressing status, respectful here and e.g. 711, cf. 1450 n.; Smyth 986b.

Commentary

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646–7  Be with me now … I am with you: a very telling example of stichomythic reciprocation: again see the end of 640–77 n.  altogether, and nowhere else: but he is ‘elsewhere’ throughout, and Iph.’s words reveal her anxiety about the ‘distance’ between them, past, present and future, 662, 664, 656, 660, 666, 672, 676. Greek. 646 The prep. παρά is powerful here, ‘be wholly engaged with, stand by’; contrast 1352 where the Myrmidons do not ‘stand by, support’ Ach.; see LSJ πάρειμι I.4. (ἐ)πὶ φροντίδας to anxieties also Ion 583, F 964.2. 648  Away with this frown: ὀφρῦν lit. ‘eyebrow’, with λύω ‘undo’ Hipp. 290; for μεθίημι here cf. Med. 590 of giving up anger. Frowning e.g. Alc. 777, Hipp. 172.  give me a loving look: this must be the meaning, lit. ‘extend (ἔκτεινον) a look of love’, with φίλον predicative/proleptic ‘(so it becomes) loving’; cf. 1238 ὄμμα δός φίλημά τε ‘give me your eyes and a kiss’, where Iph. appeals to Ag. for the last time, and Ag.’s 679 φίλημα δοῦσα δεξίαν τέ μοι ‘give me a kiss and your hand (i.e. to clasp)’. ἔκτεινον in 648 is usually translated ‘smooth, clear your face’ on the strength of S. F 902 ὡς ἄν Διὸς μέτωπον ἐκταθῇ χαρᾷ ‘so that Zeus’ brow may be cleared by joy’, where the fragment’s sources offer it as illustration of this idea, and Pearson adduces Greek examples (including Hipp. 290 above), and Latin Ter. Brothers 439 exporge frontem. 649  Look: ἰδού: compliant, very common and near-colloquial, cf. 1120, 1144; ‘There!’, Stevens (1976) 35. Ag. tries to match Iph.’s lighter tone.  I have all the joy I can have: γέγηθα … ὡς γέγηθα: a main verb repeated in a rel. clause is a marked Tragic locution, very often euphemistic and evasive, as e.g. 659, 721, 1182; cf. esp. Tro. 630 ὄλωλεν ὡς ὄλωλεν ‘she died as she died’ (the sacrificed Polyxena); copiously illustrated by Denniston on El. 1141. Ag. throws up a smoke-screen. 650  Greek. κἄπειτα and κᾆτα And then esp. in stichomythia mark a ‘surprised, indignant or sarcastic question’, a frequent colloquialism (Stevens (1976) 47), e.g. 894, Or. 419. Distinguish their use in a structured speech, e.g. 343 and n. 651  coming absence: has the marked assonance in the Greek (ἐ) πιοῦσ(α) ἀπουσία significance? Hardly Ag.’s ‘tension’ (Jouan)? Does it emphasize the issue which dominates the rest of the exchange? Is it unconscious? Clyt. uses the same words ‘long absence’ in 1172. Greek. γάρ Yes, for, e.g. Or. 410, ‘very common in stichomythia’ GP 74; cf. 641 καὶ γάρ ‘Yes, and…’; GP 109–10.

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652–65 [Text. In L’s order of lines Iph.’s [652] is a wholly inadequate ‘prompt’ for Ag.’s 653 (and clumsily echoes 643 as well as containing anapaestic prosody impossible for the Classical period); 662–4 illogically renew attention to Troy after Ag.’s conclusive 661; [665] is senseless after 664 (and is metrically corrupt at mid-verse: see Jackson (1955) 1–2, Diggle (1994) 93–4). Jackson’s deletions of 652 and 665, together with transposition of 662–4, superseded earlier attempts at cure, and almost all recent editors adopt them; cf. Bain (1977b) 48–50 at 49 n. 1: ‘essential … that 664 should precede 653’. Two awkward transitions remain, however: 662 now following 651 requires accepting a remarkably quick deduction by Iph. that a ‘long absence’ will mean that of Ag. at Troy; similarly 653 as a reply to 664 is unconvincing unless Ag. means that Iph. has been intelligent enough also to deduce from his unhelpful answer that Troy is far away. A judicious discussion by Stockert.] 662  Where do they say…?: Iph.’s naively innocent enquiry leads to Ag.’s reply heavy with his earlier agony (467–8 n.), and incomprehensible to her. dwell: lit. ‘are now settled’, οἰκίζω meaning ‘settle, establish a (new) home’, 670, 706; see Text and 663 n. All eds cite A. Pers. 231 ποῦ τὰς Ἀθήνας φασὶν ἱδρῦσθαι χθονός; ‘where on the earth do they say Athens is established?’ In this line too the proper name Phrygians at its first mention unusually has the def. art. (Smyth 1136); perhaps therefore ‘those well-known Phrygians’ (Stockert). [Text. τοὺς: because of the unusual usage (above) Elmsley proposed to substitute (ποῦ) γῆς ‘(Where) on the earth…?’, a phrase found e.g. El. 233, Hel. 492.] 663  (Paris … not) living (there): the verb οἰκεῖν is suggestive, in addition to its response to 662 ‘dwell’. Does the dramatist intend to recall 573–89, Paris’ fated and fatal return to live on Ida, where he was exposed? Greek. οἰκεῖν: a pres. inf. in an unreal wish with (μὴ) ὤφελον registers ‘if only (not) now’, but usually as the effect of a past action, e.g. Alc. 881: Smyth 1781; it is much rarer than an aor. infin. (for which see e.g. 70, 1322). [Text. Note Porson’s interchange of οἰκίζω and οἰκέω L in 662 and 706.] 664  Greek. μακράν a long way: see 420 n. ἀπαίρεις are sailing is ‘dynamic’ pres., as in 670, allied to the ‘prophetic’ pres.; Smyth 1879. [Text. Wecklein conjectured ἀπαρεῖς fut., ‘you are about to sail’.]

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[665] Greek. ἐς ταὐτόν … ἥξεις: for the idiom ‘come to the same’ cf. e.g. El. 787 with fut. verb, Hec. 748 with ‘dynamic’ pres. [Text. For the deletion see 652–65 n. ἥξεις Bothe, Weil fut.: ἥκεις L pres.] 653  The understanding in your words: i.e. ‘you understand me only too well’; for this as an unconvincing response to 664 see 652–65 n. England’s idea that 653 is half an aside is rightly dismissed by Bain (cited in 653 n., and again on 655). 654  with no understanding: for the word-play upon (ἀ)συνετα 653 cf. 466 and n. The line’s unexpected playfulness evokes the loving intimacy between father and daughter. Greek. νυν ‘so, in that case, then’, e.g. Hel. 1237, IT 1203. In the latter place, as here, enclitic νυν has the less frequent long vowel: LSJ II.1 cite also e.g. Or. 1678. 655  Oh no!: the exclamation marks not just Ag.’s sudden pain, but also an emotional transition in the stichomythia, like that in 666. That the sentence I do not have … silent explains (through asyndeton: 391 n.) Ag.’s agonized groan brought Bain to concede that this part of the verse is perhaps an aside. Possibly, but the connective δέ ‘and/but’ which follows in the Greek is then a little awkward if Iph. is to hear only Thank you, though. Greek. παπαῖ expresses any agony, mental e.g. Alc. 226, Cyc. 110, or physical (Bond on Her. 1120). For the articular inf. τὸ σιγᾶν as obj. to σθένω cf. S. Trac. 545 τὸ … ξυνοικεῖν … ἂν … δύναιτο ‘would be able to share a home’, and below 657 n.; Smyth 2034e. ᾔνεσα: in thanks, 440 n. 656  Greek. For the prep. ἐπί for see 29 n. 657  Greek. τὸ μένειν articular inf. as acc. obj. with ἔχω as e.g. Peliades F 610 τὸ γὰρ δρᾶν οὐκ … ἔχεις ‘you cannot do it’. [Text. τὸ θέλειν L as obj. of οὐκ ἔχω ‘I cannot wish (it)’ is nonsense after θέλω γε That is my wish. The obvious emendation is τὸ μένειν stay, originating with England; it reflects ‘stay’ in 656. He wanted however to punctuate after it, ‘That is my wish, to wait; but since I can’t, I feel pain’; he distrusted γε approximating to μέν before δέ; this doubt is invalidated by Diggle (1994) 495–6, adducing e.g. And. 5–6, 239 and GP 140–1. Diggle nevertheless confined τὸ μένειν to his apparatus, citing with it only Markland’s clever τὸ τελεῖν ‘to accomplish, do (it)’ (for the confusion τ/θ in mss. see Diggle (1994) 470); this verb could here hint at the ritual of

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sacrifice, e.g. IT 464: see Ag.’s 673! Günther (1992) 123 suggested that τὸ θέλειν was a gloss displacing an original τοῦτο ‘not being capable of this’, i.e. staying: supported by Stockert, Matthiessen and Kovacs (2002). It is likely that θέλ(ειν) was an assimilation to θέλ(ω) at line-beginning.] 658  A curse on: the imprecation is commonly directed at people, e.g. Ion 704, IT 535, but cf. e.g. Auge F 275.1–2 in a moral generalisation. Such a curse seems surprising pronounced by a young girl, but at the same time illustrates her naivety.  wrongs: κακά, done to him: 383–4 and n. 659  ruin … ruin: in the Greek the same word-root as ‘curse’ in 658: for this manoeuvre in stichomythia see 640–77 n. others first: the effectiveness of the exchange depends upon Iph.’s not asking who ‘others’ are, like her not asking in 661 what ‘something’ is; with the expression cf. Med. 1016 ‘I shall bring down others first’. Greek. διολέσαντ(α) ‘has brought … ruin’: aor. part. with ἔχω ‘emphasizing permanence of result’, Hel. 718, Bacc. 302; Smyth 599b, 1963. 660  bay of Aulis: [1600] has ‘hollow bay of Aulis’, cf. 120–1 n.: μυχός is a recess, a hidden place often difficult of access; Aulis’ distance from Argos distresses Iph. Both Sicily and Greece are described as μυχοί when imagined each from the other Cyc. 291, 297. 661  something: see 659 n. 666  Alas!: φεῦ, outside the metre: 710 n.  right: καλόν: morally ‘good, honourable’, as e.g. 735 (n.), Or. 108 ἐς ὄχλον ἕρπειν παρθένοισιν οὐ καλόν ‘it is improper for maiden girls to approach a crowd’ (cited by Stockert). [Text. Corrupt: lit. ‘(right) for me and you to take me as your fellowvoyager’: accepted by most eds, but illogical, for sense and syntax require disjunction between σοι τε ‘and you’ and the rest, ‘for me and for you to take me’. Hermann conjectured σε κἀμέ σοι συμπλοῦν ἄγειν ‘that you take me also with you on the voyage’ and Diggle σοι κἄμ’ ἄγειν συμπλοῦν ὁμοῦ ‘for you to take me also together with you on the voyage’ (printed by Kovacs); for both see the apparatus.]     667  voyage: Ag. means crossing Hades’ river, the Styx. where †you will remember† your father: an unsolved difficulty. In her innocence Iph. can take comfort from this idea (but her father hardly so in voicing it), and pass to her next question, 667, about her mother’s accompanying her. If ‘not

Commentary

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remember’ is substituted (see Text below), she would naturally respond unhappily to this final parting from her father, and that before asking her next question. Ambiguity is no doubt intended, but with what purpose? She herself seeks a very different final memory in 1238–40, a loving kiss. Greek. ἔτ’ ἔστι There is still: dynamic pres. in both English and Greek, like 664 ἀπαίρεις (n.); cf. Med. 366 ἔτ’ εἴσ’ ἀγῶνες ‘There are still (to be) struggles…’. Triclinius in ms. L glossed ἔστι … πλοῦς with ἔσται fut., ‘There will still be…’ [Text. We judge the text insecure at best. Editors use daggers, and are divided between (1) ‘where … remember’, e.g. ἀμμνήσῃ Murray fut. indic. of ἀναμιμνήσκομαι (with syncopation of the preverb ἀνα-: Smyth 75D): supported by Matthiessen; and (2) ‘where you will not remember’, e.g. ἵν’ μνήσῃ Musgrave, Kovacs (2002) fut. indic., or ‘in order that you may not remember’, e.g. ἵν’ ἀμνηστῇς Diggle pres. subj. – this verb ἀμνηστέω in Eur. at Telephus F 727b.13.] 669  Greek. μόνη, μονωθεῖσ’ ἀπό: expressive pleonasm; the doubling with Greek adj. and part. is increased by the prep. ἀπό with gen., an idiom found e.g. Stheneboea F 668 ἀνεῦ τύχης … μονωθείς ‘alone … without fortune’; gen. without prep. e.g. Alc. 296, 380. 670–80  Ag. pretends that he is performing ‘the role of a fond father’ in marriage ritual: Foley (1985) 71–2. 670  Can it really be that…?: as in 668 Iph. seemingly touches on the idea of marriage taking her to a new home, and away from her mother and Argos: see 638–9 n. Ag. cuts her off in 671 in case she infers that the other ‘home’ is that of Hades (cf. his 461); he cut her short similarly in 675, between his black ambiguities in 673 and 677. In his last ambiguous words to Iph., however, his 680 ‘live away from’ ἀποικήσειν acknowledges 670 ‘move to another home’ οἰκίζειν. Greek. οὔ που has the tone ‘Surely … not…?’, e.g. Ion 1113, Hel. 135; GP 492: ‘colloquial’ Stevens (1976) 24. [Text. οἰκιεῖς Wecklein fut., matching Iph.’s tense in 668.] 671  let … be: ἐάω as Her. 1125 τὰ δ’ ἄλλ’ ἔα ‘Let the rest be’, Tro. 361. Greek. The neut. plur. gerundive ἐατέ(α) without subject and verb ἐστί is idiomatic; again in 734 and 1368 (Diggle (1994) 506–7); Smyth 1052. [Text. L has ἔα γε, a brusque ‘Let be’, but Stadtmüller’s correction of one letter to gerundive ἐατέ’·.  We must let this be is rightly preferred

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by eds. In Jouan’s explicit ἔα γέ ‘Let me be’ the pron. ‘me’ is unwanted; and Ag. is still tender towards Iph. in 677–84.] 672  Greek. εὖ τίθημι put things right: a common phrase, e.g. 401; Her. 605, Bacc. 49. 673  sacrifice: translation cannot reproduce the strong effect in the Greek of the doubled word-root in differing grammatical forms ‘sacrifice a sacrifice’ (e.g. El. 1141; cf. Greek) and with evasive τινα a certain. Note Ag.’s similar deception of Clyt. in 721 – but there with tripling of ‘sacrifice’ (see n.). Greek. Such doubling of the word-root is the rhetorical trope figura etymologica, 467–8 n. 674  with religious rites … have regard for what is holy: vague, but suiting expected propriety (673, 676) if ‘rites’ is the meaning of ἱεροῖς; but the verb σκοπεῖν ‘(have) regard (for), consider’ (e.g. Supp. 301 τὰ τῶν θεῶν ‘what is the gods’; S. OT 286) has suggested to some that ἱεροσκοπία ‘examination of the entrails (during sacrifice)’ is meant, as if Iph. hopes it will be wise also to get favourable omens before the formal marriage. Greek. σύν ‘(in conformity) with’: Smyth 1696d, LSJ A.6. [Text. The nature of Iph.’s remark and its wording, and the initial ἀλλά ‘but’ (translated as Well), have caused unease (e.g. Stockert, Diggle): Rauchenstein began the line ποίοισιν ἱεροῖς ‘With what kind of rites…?’, to make a better transition to Ag.’s answer in 675; supported by Kovacs (2002), but the change is violent and implies a gross scribal error. Some eds have suspected the entire couplet; while 675 may seem presupposed by 676, 674–5 do savour of a theatre-man’s eagerness to prolong the ironies. Paley deleted 674–7, chiefly for linguistic reasons.] 675  You will come to know: εἴσῃ σύ: a formula, Hel. 811, but often threatening, e.g. γνώσῃ σύ Hcld. 65, Supp. 580; such a tone here is perhaps for the audience rather than for Iph.  sprinkling of the water: χέρνιβες, pure and purifying water, over the sacrificial offerings, Ag. again at 1111 and e.g. Ach. at 955, Iph. at 1479; cf. El. 792 ‘so they stand round the altar near the sprinkling’. [Text. ἑστήξεις Elmsley stand fut. perf. act. and intrans.: -ήξῃ L pass. ‘made to stand’. Such active forms are rare in late 5th century Greek, e.g. τεθνήξω from θνῄσκω (Smyth 581, cf. 584).] 676  dancing and song: the most frequent implication of χορός ‘a dancing chorus’ (as that of Tragedy itself).  set up: ἵστημι, here trans. (as Alc. 1155

Commentary

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also with χορούς) against the intrans. form of the same verb ‘stand’ in 675: a conscious stichomythic effect, no doubt, but a little ‘cold’. Some eds make the line a statement, ‘Then we shall…’: hardly less effective. Greek. ἄρα ‘surprised’, Then, with the fut. as 1360; GP 37. 677  I envy you … because you do not understand: Iph. has been prevented from understanding, and is enviable still, unlike Ag. who has long been forced to realise what he now must do, 511, 540–1, 747–8. But the verse is artfully ambiguous, for μηδὲν φρονεῖν can mean ‘have no care’, but this sense is rejected by Bain (1977b) 51; in contrast with Iph., anxiety has attended Ag. from the start of the play, 1–43. The verse works less well as an ‘aside’. Greek. ζηλῶ with gen., like ἄγαμαι 28 n. ἐμέ = ἐμαυτόν ‘myself’: Hipp. 1409 στένω σε μᾶλλον ἢ ’μέ, IT 608 etc.; Smyth 1222–4. 678–94  Ag.’s parting from Iph. is as effective as his turning to Clyt., in his words 685b–90 and her acknowledgement 691–4; the emotion of losing a daughter, ostensibly to marriage (688 and n.), marks the instincts of both parents (689) at the beginning of Ag.’s closer dialogue with Clyt., but it turns her gradually from sympathy to baffled distancing. 678–80  hut: for the name see 1 n.  girls are seen at their cost: that is, in public, and esp. among males: their sense of shame, as far as good character for decorum is concerned, is harmed (Iph. herself fears this 1340), and their marriageability, cf. El. 343–4, Hcld. 43–4 etc.; at Pho. 89–95 a princess is culpably out of doors; maiden girls are to be kept secluded, our 738, cf. 149 n. Clyt. is similarly at risk: Achilles fears she too will be damaged if seen in a military camp, 825–6, 1029–32. The adj. πικρός lit. ‘bitter’ conveys once again the unpleasant recoil of an action ‘to one’s cost’ (510 n.), e.g. And. 225, Pho. 892; the word is emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.). For such statements in parenthesis, cf. e.g. And. 691–2; questions or imperatives (e.g. 361 and n., 691–2) are commonest: see Diggle (1981) 116 and (1994) 429 n. 40.  Give me a kiss etc.: the climax of the scene, at Iph.’s first parting from her father; it is she who asks for Ag.’s kiss at their next and final on-stage parting in 1238: see n. there and on 648.  live far away … for a lengthy time: earlier 651 and esp. 670 (see Text). [Text. 680 suspect to England, and ‘as if 670 was forgotten’ Page, but the verse (cf. above) is essential to the emotion of 681–4.] 681–5a  breast … cheeks … hair: ‘breast’ recalls the embraces of

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632; the moment and words call to mind other partings of parent from child before death, e.g. Polyxena’s farewell to her mother Hecuba Hec. 424 ὦ στέρνα (‘breast’) μαστοί θ’ (‘breasts’); Jocasta’s farewell after her sons’ mutual fratricide Pho. 1434; even more intimate parting-words (and stage-scene) from parent to child(ren) Med. 1069–77.  blond: the colour has no significance here, as often (but see 175 n.); used e.g. of Jason’s new bride Med. 980, an older Clyt. El. 1071, the young Hippolytus Hipp. 1343, the tyrant Lycus Her. 233.  burden of sorrow: ‘burden, toil’ literally (410 and n.), cf. Ag.’s 645; ‘sorrow’ ever since Ag. found tears inevitable (398, 451–2); they are natural in him at this moment too, 684, just as Iph. noticed them earlier, 650.  Helen: for the emphatic enjambement see 51 n.  now that I have touched you: for a third time since 632 (or was that hopeful on Iph.’s part?) and 640–7; and here it is her response to Ag.’s request of 679. Later she recalls their physical closeness when she was a child, which she feels that Ag. has forgotten, 1220–32. See Addenda. Greek. 683 παύω τοὺς λόγους I’ll say no more, lit. ‘I stop my words’: Pho. 1309 παύσω … γόους ‘I’ll stop my laments’.   684 διώκω lit. ‘pursue’; ‘press (on)’ in a different metaphor Supp. 156 ‘press me hard (in argument)’, S. El. 871 ‘pressed hard (by pleasure)’. [Text. 682 Note Musgrave’s ὑμῖν ‘(burden) for you’ (Iph.’s breast, cheeks and hair) – not Iph. and Clyt. together, for Ag. turns to Clyt. only in 685: that would be a remarkable transference of Ag.’s own distress.   684 διώκει L ‘presses on’ is much more vigorous than διαίνει Herwerden, the verb of tears ‘wetting’ the eyes, e.g. A. Pers. 1064.] 685b–7  The division of 685, between Ag.’s dismissal of Iph. and sudden first words to Clyt., betrays emotion. Ag. can’t go on, but pulls himself together and acts to Clyt. the part of loving father of the bride. Surely the actor playing Ag. would make a pause in the verse? offspring (of Leda): she is dignified as γένεθλον also 855, 1106 (as at A. Ag. 914: see Fraenkel’s n.); cf. above ἔρνος 116 n.. Greek. 685 τάδε: the neut. plur. pron. (English idiom does not translate it) is an internal acc. with παραιτοῦμαι and at once defined in the conditional clause εἰ κατῳκτίσθην; this verb’s pass. here expresses personal distress, explained in 688–90 (n.); at A. Pers. 1062 it is ‘lament for’ with an object acc.; its mid. means ‘grieve’ at IT 486.

Commentary

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688–90  is a happy event: translates the adj. μακάριαι, an echo of μακαρίαν ‘blest’ in 628, Clyt.’s pride in (the) marriage: for clarity, we have added these words to ‘send away’. The ‘sending’ of course has tones only Ag. knows: it is a final separation, and a further ironic ambiguity is that the adj. μακάριος is sometimes used of the dead, LSJ I.3.  tears … at: δάκνει lit. ‘bites’ in metaphor as 385 (envy ‘needles’); of catastrophes Oenomaus F 572.4.  hands over: the literal sense of παραδίδωμι, but in context it seems to double for ἐκδίδωμι ‘give in marriage’; so Hel. 225 is compared, βάξις ἅ σε βαρβάροισι | … παραδίδωσι λέχεσιν ‘rumour which hands you (Helen) over to a barbarian husband’ (‘personifying the rumour’, Allan in his n.); the verb has its common meaning of passing information (e.g. Ion 689–90 a god’s voice).  other houses: 670, but without the ambiguity there.  labour etc.: μοχθήσας: at 1230 Iph. recognizes her father’s ‘tasks’ πόνοι; cf. Hcld. 448, Tro. [862]. Ritchie links Ag.’s parental μόχθος with that as general, 160, 748. Greek. 688 ἀποστολαί: a plur. noun in the Greek, ‘sendings away’, and only here in Eur.; but cf. εὐδαιμονίαι 591 n., τροφαί 561. [Text. Murray conjectured μακάριον, neut. sing. complement to fem. plur. subject, ‘sendings away’ are a ‘thing of blessing’; but this introduces a syntactic rarity, Smyth 1047–8.] 691–3  devoid of understanding: ἀσύνετος: describing the feelings equally with the intellect: 1255 τά τ’ οἰκτρὰ συνετός εἰμι καὶ τὰ μή ‘I understand what calls for pity and what does not’ (Ag.).  I … shall suffer … when I lead the girl out: 688–9 mothers cry at daughters’ weddings. 692–3 anticipate Clyt.’s expectations of her own role, in 720–36; Ag. can ignore the implications here for his continuing deception because Clyt. at once asks easy questions about the bridegroom.  rebuke: νουθετέω LSJ 1 ‘admonish’.  accompanied by wedding-songs: e.g. Alc. 915–16 σὺν πεύκαις Πηλιάσιν σύν θ’ ὑμεναίοις (‘accompanied by pine–torches from Pelion and wedding-songs’), Admetus taking Alcestis into their married home; for σύν see Greek. Greek. 691–2 ἐμὲ | καὐτὴν myself as well: in this rare idiom with the two prons. καί appears superfluous; in Tragedy also 1349 ms. L (see n.), Med. 302, 1142, S. Phil. 319, all nom. sing., and all mostly unnoticed by commentators; even GP 320 is silent (but cf. Jebb on S. Phil. 620); see also Text.   692 δόκει 2. sing. imperative with acc. and infin. as e.g. IT 1402, Or. 675.   693 σύν of attendant phenomena, Smyth 1696.c; LSJ

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A.4. The Greek clauses in 691–3 are interlaced (as in the translation): 692 the ὥστε clause depends upon 691 οὐχ ὧδε etc., and 693 the ὅταν clause depends upon 691 πείσεσθαι etc.; the latter is a parenthetic full clause with δέ interrupting the syntax of the first clause, as e.g. Alc. 1085, Ion 699: see also 678–9 n. In the ὥστε clause μή is idiomatically redundant with the infin. after a controlling verb or expression itself negative, ‘sympathetic’ Smyth 2759b, cf. KG II.215(f). [Text. 691 δ’ ἐμὲ Matthiae, supported by Ritchie, the emphatic pron. ‘required’ before καὐτήν (above), as in Ar. Thes. 1117–18 ἐμὲ δὲ καὐτόν: L has δέ με.] 694  A troublesome line, although the sentiment is clear; one would expect time to be the principal comforter, as e.g. Alc. 381, 1085, and as subject of e.g. μαλάσσω ‘soften’. Further: the custom: the most frequent translation of ὁ νόμος, and the def. art. points the way to it; Ritchie appealed to Clyt.’s 734 ὁ νόμος οὗτος ‘the custom (in marriageritual)’. Jouan translated with ‘la loi commune’. Matthiessen suggested ‘the complete rite of marriage’, and this may well be correct. Translation as ‘customariness’ or (Morwood) ‘getting used to it’ would otherwise be better. it: n. plur. αὐτά takes up 691 τάδε, the parents’ pain of 689–90; so too Ritchie, Stockert. Others refer it to Ag.’s now distant tears of 684, translating συνισχνανεῖ (help reduce) in its literal sense ‘dry up’; but the metaphor here has a direct parallel in Or. 297–8 σύ μου τὸ δεινὸν καὶ διαφθαρὲν φρενῶν | ἴσχναινε παραμυθοῦ θ’ ‘you (are to) reduce my irrational terror and comfort it/me’ (Willink): LSJ ἰσχναίνω 2. Greek. αὐτό/ά in weak referral, or without specific antecedent: Diggle on Phaethon 52 cites e.g. Alc. 421, El. 373. συν- as preverb often controls a dat., here χρόνῳ: see 640 n.; Smyth 1545. [Text. Doubt with regard to the language, particularly the sense of νόμος, caused Page to judge the line non-Euripidean; so too Diggle. In the light of Or. 297–8 (above), συνισχνανεῖ Musgrave ‘will help reduce’ is superior to Heath’s συνισχανεῖ ‘will hold in check’ (literal and metaphorical, LSJ I) as a correction of L’s unmetrical συνανίσχει (also ‘holds in check’). Subsequently to his edition J. Jouanna, REG 101 (1988) 515–21 proposed the Epic verb κατισχανεῖ ‘will check’.] 695–6  promised: καταινέω, lit. ‘approve’, here signifies a formal action, a father’s promise of his daughter to a potential husband – as Ag. told Clyt. in his first letter he had promised Achilles, 130, 134–5.

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Clyt. has relied on it in coming to Aulis, 610, 625–26, as she does still when she meets Achilles, 832–47. The uncompounded αἰνέω occurs of ‘approving’ a marriage Or. 1658, the compound ἐπ- 1092; note also Pind. Pyth. 4.222–3 καταίνησάν τε … γάμον | … ἐν ἀλλάλοισι μεῖξαι ‘(Medea and Jason) promised to join (in) marriage with each other’. Distinguish ἐγγυάω ‘betroth’ 703 n.  his family … where he was born: formulaic questions at first encounters, or details in accounts, after e.g. Od. 7.238; in Eur. e.g. Ion 785–800, Hel. 1202–13, Bacc. 460–75 throughout. Greek. 695 Idiomatic omission of an antecedent poss. gen. ἐκείνου between τοὔνομα and ὅτῳ, as e.g. El. 33, Hel. 1039; Smyth 2509.   696 ποίου χὠπόθεν: direct and indirect interrogatives together in an indirect question: Diggle cites IT 256–7, Ion 785–6 [Text. – places which counter Porson’s indirect (δ’) ὁποίου]. (695–) 697–740  Stichomythia of Ag. and Clyt., developing from her questions about Achilles’ lineage; its stylised beginning means there is no contradiction with her part-knowledge in 625–6. In 697–715 Ag. gives straightforward answers, even ‘casually’ (Cavander (1973) 115); but in 716–24 he moves into ambiguities and evasions about the wedding formalities, and black ironies begin like those in his dialogue with Iph.; in 725–41 he continues these in deflecting all Clyt.’s questions about what her own role in the wedding is to be, and he tries to insist on her wifely obedience (his 725 ‘Obey me!’ is repeated peremptorily in 739) – contrast the quickly compliant Agamemnon of A. Ag. 931–43! Husband and wife become more and more at emotional odds; and Clyt. can go only into his hut (740), just as Iph. did, but not submissively, for she goes with a purpose, to organize things inside. The whole exchange builds smoothly to a climax, with a subtle increase in tension through 714 to 724; it prepares convincingly for the final estrangement in 1098–1275. The outcome is Ag.’s despair that his deceptions have failed – and his remorse at the cost to his family; he now sees no way of avoiding the sacrifice, recalling his fear of Calchas at 518, though now he plans to work with him (brief soliloquy, 742–8). Stichomythic techniques here are quite different from those in 640–77 (see n.), where there are mostly statements and inferences, and few questions (only 650, 662, 670, 676); but both dialogues are full of ironic ambiguities. Now information comes chiefly in response to

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questions 696–709, 712–3, (mid-line in) 725–6, 728–33; finally there are counter-statements at the end 734–9, with the wording of 735–6 and 737–8 tightly correlated. In 697–709 close continuity is achieved through linked and repeated nouns; in 712a and 716b ideas carried over maintain continuity across disparate subjects. For Schwinge (1968) 224–8, in a detailed appreciation, the exchange exemplifies very well the capacity of stichomythia for ‘information and persuasion’; he compares esp. And. 64–87 where there is also a collapse into distrust. Mastronarde (1979) 44 and 47 cites Hypsipyle F 752k.3–11 as a (damaged) ‘genealogical’ exchange enjoyable for its own sake. 697–712  The best commentary on Ach.’s grand lineage comes from his own mouth at Iliad 21.187–9 as he triumphs over Asteropaeus, a descendant of the river Axios; in Pope’s splendid paraphrase, ‘How durst thou vaunt thy wat’ry Progeny? | Of Peleus, Aeacus and Jove am I.’ Clyt. recognized Ach.’s heroic status 625–6, just as Ag. used it to weigh with her in his first letter 101–3 and the Old Man feared the consequence 124–5; she defers to his lineage 819, 836, 896, 903–4: see Michelakis (2002) 95–100. 697  Father Asopus: Greek rivers are normally masculine (the Alpheus, 276 and n.); the name ‘Father’ recognizes their special importance to fertility; cf. 713 the Apidanus. Here the daughter of a (river-)god begins Achilles’ female line, significantly, and Zeus himself begins his male, 698–9. 698  married: ζεύγνυμι lit. ‘yoke’ is normally accompanied by explicit γάμοις ‘in marriage, in union’, as e.g. 805, 907, Pho. 1366; unaccompanied e.g. S. F 583.11 (Stockert). Ritchie asks whether the assonance of ἔζευξε with 699 Ζεύς is deliberate; if it is, it lays a neat stress on the idea of ‘harmonious union’. There is a similar play on the name and the verb at Bacc. 467–8, part of Dionysus’ cruel cat-and-mouse game with Pentheus. Greek. Our translation tries to reproduce the striking position of interrog. τίς at clause- and line-end [Text. Interrogative pron. restored by Lenting] after two dependent gens.; it emphasizes the matter of identity, no less than ‘Zeus’ beginning the answer in 699. τί ending short clauses e.g. 1354, S. El. 1402. Different postponements in 722, 821. 699  Aeacus: renowned for wisdom e.g. Pind. Nem. 8.8, and justice Isthm. 8.20–4; as son of Zeus, supreme in both, he was rewarded in Hades as one of the three judge-kings of Elysium, together with two other sons

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of Zeus, Minos and Rhadamanthys; Gantz (1993) 219–21.  Oenone: the old name of the island (see Bowie on Hdt. 8.46.1), renamed for Aegina, a nymph of the island, when Aeacus, its foremost man i.e. ‘king’, married her. 700  inherited: κατέσχε lit. ‘secured’, of a succession e.g. And. 156, Supp. 15. [Text. L’s def. art. τοῦ is correct with the name Αἰακοῦ repeated from 699 (see Smyth 1136), against Elmsley’s τὰ; cf. 701 Πηλεύς· ὁ Πηλεὺς δὲ κτλ.: so Diggle (1994) 497 n. 22 (and Ritchie), allowing the gen. Αἰακοῦ to go with both παῖς and δώματα.] 701  Nereus’ daughter: Thetis, 626 and n. For the wedding see 1036– 79, and for its background Gantz (1993) 228–31. The line is parodied for bathos by the early 4th century comedian Philetaerus F 4.1 Πηλεύς· ὁ Πηλεὺς δ’ ἐστὶν ὄνομα κεραμέως, ‘Peleus; and Peleus is the name of a potter’ (πηλός pelos means ‘clay’). Greek. ἔχω ‘married’ e.g. Bacc. 1332; cf. κτάομαι 715 n. 702–3  Two clever lines.  a god: Zeus (e.g. Ritchie, Turato), not, as many eds, ‘the god’, i.e. Nereus 702 (a sea-god, 948–9), Thetis’ father, although betrothal and bestowal were the father’s prerogative (see Ag.’s insistence in 727–34).  in defiance of the gods is thus the apt alternative to Did a god give in a line deliberately worded as a ‘feed’ to 703 (note also the chiasmus; Zeus had everything under control): Zeus betrothed her, arrogating this office from the father (695–6 n.); ἐγγυάω (LSJ I.2) as e.g. κατ- Or. 1079, 1675; lit. ‘put into the palm of’ (a timeless gesture of guarantee). Eur. follows the myth-version which had Zeus at first desire Thetis for himself, only to be deterred by a prophecy from the goddess Themis (‘Right’) that any son of himself and Thetis would seek to depose him from his supremacy. Themis advised Zeus to cede Thetis to Peleus: this explains why the gods were happy with her marriage to a mortal (1041 below), and why ‘in defiance’ is raised here. Themis also advised that glory should be guaranteed for the son (Achilles), and this too was agreed among all the gods (Pind. Isthm. 8.26–48), who attended the wedding, 1041 below (cf. Iliad 24.62). Zeus’ presence, implicit in 1049, was the ultimate endorsement: cf. Catullus 64.298, earlier 26–7. Nevertheless Nereus gave … away his daughter as ὁ κύριος (translated with in his full right), the man authorised (in Athenian law) by position as head of the family, normally the father: El. 259, And. 558. The

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distinction between betrother and bestower is conveyed in the change in 703 from aor. (the single act) to pres. (the lasting one): see Greek. Greek. δίδωσι the ‘registering’ or ‘annalistic’ pres. tense, as in e.g. Supp. 6, Hel. 568, cf. γαμεῖ in our 704 and τίκτω 1164 (n.): ‘its purpose is to identify persons or earmark things’ (Pearson on Hel. 568); Smyth 1887a: so e.g. Jouan and (an excellent n. on the two lines) Turato. 704  beneath … the sea: her father’s home, the normal place of a marriage (720 n.), but here impracticable because Peleus was mortal. 705  Chiron: 209 n., 1066; appointed by the gods to superintend and ‘host’ the marriage, Pind. Isthm. 8.41; Gantz (1993) 231.  sacred: σεμνός (σεβ-νος) of anything to be honoured as divine (σέβω, σεβίζω), e.g. the oracular buildings (βάθρα) of Dodona Pho. 982, Mt Olympus Bacc. 411; similarly σέβας of royal majesty, 633 n.  Pelion: for this mountain see 1045–8 n. 706  Centaurs: 1046, the half-horse, half-man progeny of the depraved Ixion’s son Centaurus who mated with mares on Mt Pelion, Pind. Pyth. 2.43–8.; Gantz (1993) 143–7. 707  feasted … wedding: 123, 720, 1041. 708–9  Did … bring up: as a mortal Achilles required a mortal’s moral education, as 709 shows; mythological material on his childhood is gathered by Jouan (1966) 87–92, cf. Gantz (1993) 231; for Achilles with Chiron in art see LIMC I.45–56, nos 19–3 and 198–9. After his birth, Thetis returned to the sea, her father’s home: [Apollodorus] 3.13.6, cf. Ap. Rhod. 4.87–. Given the gods’ will (702–3 n.), Peleus had no option but to yield his father’s role to Chiron, despite the compliment paid him in 710 (n.). 710  Ah!: φεῦ expressing ‘joyful wonder’, 710 n., Jebb on S. Phil. 234; the same exclamation ‘outside the metre’, marking an important moment 977 (Clyt. exclaiming over Achilles’s promise to save Iph.); distress 666, 1124. wise: σοφός in its widest poetic meaning, i.e. skilled in the art of poetry, sage, shrewdly conveying the truths of life, intuitive of the gods’ will and teaching their wisdom. Chiron was a familiar of both gods and men, himself semi-divine, even prophetic (1064–6): see esp. Pind. Pyth. 9.29–66, where Apollo the god of prophecy asks his advice and Chiron responds with a prophecy for Apollo himself. As the one who brought (Achilles) up (209, cf. Iliad 11.832, Hesiod F 204.87–9), he was preeminently the best (West on Hes. Theog. 1001). His humanity offsets his

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outward appearance as half-beast; and his humane instruction of Ach. showed in the hero’s supreme gesture in giving the body of his son Hector to the grieving Priam in Iliad 24. Chiron also ‘brought up’ (ἔτρεφε) Jason as part of ‘Zeus’ intention’ for the hero (Hes. Theog. 1001–2), and indeed minor gods as well: see Gantz (1993) 190–1. Note the chiasmus, and the use of ‘wise’ at start and end of the verse; the latter effect also in 1252 (n.). [Text. σοφώτερος L wiser, stating a different, pragmatic acuteness in Peleus the father: σοφωτέροις Musgrave ‘to ones wiser (than himself)’ is attractive and approved by Weil and Wecklein (‘schön’) but only by Diggle of recent eds (1994) 497 n. 22 (and Ritchie).] 711  man: i.e. ‘real man’, one of the highest standing: 645 n. At 1063 the Chorus describe Achilles as a ‘great light for Thessaly’ (see 713 n). 712  He is without fault!: οὐ μεμπτός in litotes; as e.g. Pho. 425 a marriage, Med. 958 marriage-gifts; for the figure see Smyth 3032; V. Bers, EGT 1372; in lyric Breitenbach (1934) 213. Greek. ποῖος, not τίς, is idiomatic in enquiries about countries, e.g. IT 495; illustrated by Diggle (1981) 98. 713  Apidanus: a smallish river, a tributary of the Peneus in Phthia, part of Pharsalia (812) in Thessaly. 714  your and my daughter: the one both parents prize and will be pained to lose, 681–93; Clyt. is still in sympathy with Ag. παρθένος here is clearly just ‘daughter’, as e.g. S. OT 1462 (Stockert). [Text. ἀπάξεις 2. sing. Dobree, Kovacs (2002) – but the groom, not the father, takes the bride to her new home.] 715  gets: κτάομαι ‘gain possession of, own’, to us a seemingly aggressive word, but usual of husbands, e.g. 383, IT 825, and of children, e.g. IT 696; it registers husbands’ absolute power as ‘masters’, e.g. 726 and n. on 703; in particular A. Supp. 337 ‘Who would despise her owners (τοὺς κεκτημένους) if she loved them’ (trans. Bowen). Cf. 701 n. on ἔχω ‘marry’. [Text. κείνην Hermann, ‘her’ expressly, mentioned by Diggle, OCT but not in his Euripidea (1994); and κείνῳ L the one (who gets her) is superior, for it indicates a further evasion by Ag., after Clyt. has readily inferred that Iph’s husband will be Ach., 712–14.] 716–31  Problems of text and interpretation are exhaustively discussed by Diggle (1994) 497–503, with many doubts of ms. L’s text in 732–50 in his notes there.

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716–23  The rituals of marriage: 435–9 n., 702–3 n.; Introduction pp. 11–12. 716  Greek. εὐτυχοίτην 3. pers. dual opt.  meet with good fortune: this wish at e.g. Med. 688 2. sing. to a would-be father, also with ἀλλά (GP 15); 2. pers. opt. in farewells e.g. sing. A. Cho. 1063, plur. IA [1557] and Alc. 1153. 717  moon’s orb … fullness: optimal for weddings, e.g. Supp. 990–2 (see Collard’s n.), Pind. Isthm. 8.44–5 (also the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, but the moon is absent from our 1036–79); Hes. WD 800 with West’s n. With the Greek cf. Ion 1155 κύκλος … πανσέληνος ‘orb of the complete moon’. [Text. ἐντελής Musgrave lit. ‘in its fulfilment, complete’ is right; accepted by West (above), Stockert, Diggle. The arguments for εὐτυχής L ‘fortunate’, retained by many eds, are the common association of ‘luck’ with the full moon (see refs. above), and the word-play upon -τυχ‘fortune’ in 716; cf. also 624.] 718  preliminary sacrifice … for our daughter: προτέλεια … παιδός, made to the goddess Artemis (virgin-goddess), for her to favour the bride’s transition from girl to woman, 1111–14 (430–4 n.); the ‘deadly irony’ in the goddess’s paradoxical role is noted by Stinton (1965) 34 n. 2. Others find a different irony: Clyt. means not Artemis but Hera, the goddess of marriage (739 n.). The objective gen. παιδός ‘for our…’ stands as in the famous precedent A. Ag. 226 προτέλεια ναῶν ‘…for the ships’, Iph.’s sacrifice so that they might sail (cf. our 879; recall Calchas at 90–1 and see e.g. 746–8). Schwinge (1968) 225–6 wrongly questions this interpretation of our 718 by Fraenkel (n. on Ag. 65), proposing ‘of our daughter’ instead; but that grim undertone is brought out here through the juxtaposed words παιδὸς ‘daughter’ and ἔσφαξας ‘made the (throat-cut in) sacrifice’. 719  the very point of fortune I stand at now: tellingly vague, but Ag. means ‘I am helpless in the situation as it is now’; cf. e.g. 1272 τούτου (the sacrifice) δ’ ἥσσονες καθέσταμεν lit. ‘I stand overcome by this’, Hel. 1660 ‘by fate’ Greek. For καί ‘very’ lit. ‘actually’ cf. 126 n.; for ἐπί pointing to an outcome cf. Alc. 1155 ἐπ’ ἐσθλαῖς συμφοραῖς ‘upon our good fortune’; 29 n. above. 720–6 [Text. Diggle (1994) 497–9, cf. 410, suspected 723–6, esp.

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723–4 which like Günther he judged ‘scarcely Euripidean’: see n. there; Kovacs (2002) deleted all of 721–6. Certainly the transition from 720 straight to 727 would be compelling; but much of the dynamism of the exchange would be lost if 721–6 were deleted, esp. the first sign of a thwarted Ag.’s impatience in 725, whether 723–4 are kept or not; and a strain of grim humour in the confrontation of husband and wife (esp. 739–41) would be weakened.] 720  the marriage feast: usually at the bride’s home, and with its own rituals for the mother and the couple, before she is taken to the groom’s house: see 727–34. 721  Ag.’s evasions intensify with Yes (γε: 326 n.). English translation cannot reflect the assonance of the four aspirated t’s and the triple repetition of sacrifice; the word was doubled in 673 (n.), and it is hard to know the rhetorical figure’s point here except to emphasize Ag.’s evasion: Clyt. employs tripled ‘welcome’ against Ag. in 1182. 722  And we: the pron. is emphatic, and Ag.’s answer suggests that the women must act for themselves, for they cannot attend a feast among male soldiers, 735: cf. 727 n. Diggle (1994) 499 asks ‘Who are these women?’ Ritchie suggested that both Clyt. with her attendants and the Chorus are meant, noting the participation of ‘young women’ in the sacrificial hymn, 1467, 1491. Clyt.’s question in 722 stems from her still happy expectations. Ritchie points to some evidence of women’s separate celebrations at a wedding-feast, Men. Dyscolus 847–9, (Dunbar on) Ar. Birds 132. Greek. τίθημι with θοινάν hold (a feast), e.g. Hec. 1073. For the postponed interrog. adv. ποῦ see 698 n. 723–4  Here by the … ships: since Ag. and Clyt. are standing outside his hut, Ag. may be pointing across the open space in which the Chorus watched the Greeks exercising (185–230) before they reached the ships (231–300). Iph.’s death near the ships might further encourage Artemis to grant the Greeks their voyage.  May all be well even so: suspect in expression (see Text); ‘even so’ must qualify Clyt.’s reservation ‘necessary’. [Text. 723 εὔπρυμνος fine-sterned used of oars has roused needless suspicion (Page, Diggle 499 n. 29), for πλάται ‘oar-blades’ stands for ‘ships’ in synecdoche (172 n.); εὔπρῳρος ‘fine-prowed’ stands with the same noun in 765.   724 †Good, and necessary† is scarcely credible

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as a response from Clyt; nor is Jouan’s defence of it as ironic, ‘Well (enough), and necessary’. Editors rightly look for something like ‘Bad (κακῶς), but…’; so 724 Heath’s κακῶς (ἀναγκαίως) δέ ‘badly, but (necessarily)’ is the best conjecture; this contrast is very common, e.g. Hel. 510–12, Or. 229–30, cf. (Ritchie) Plut. Camillus 143e οὐ καλῶς ἀλλ’ ἀναγκαίως. Matthiessen favoured Matthiae’s κακῶς ἀναξίως τε ‘badly and unworthily’. L has συνένεγκαι, a bare infin. in a prayer, for which see Smyth 2014. The strong aor. is the more likely tense-form in this verb; its opt. συνενέγκοι in the wish was restored by Dindorf and Günther. The sense of the verb is disputed, but ‘suit, serve’ is less likely than ‘turn out (well)’: for this cf. Ar. Ach. 252 καλῶς ξυνενεγκεῖν.   723–4 were deleted by Günther (1992) 123–4; they do seem a little digressive, but then Clyt.’s question in 722 gets no answer at all from the increasingly impatient Ag.] 725–6  Ag. abandons self-deception for assertion. You know what you must do…?: the imperative in the dependent clause is a colloquialism, not rare in Tragedy, e.g. Hel. 315, 1233 (Stevens (1976) 36, Collard (2005) 363).  What?: τί χρῆμα;, very common in Tragedy, matches it in idiom and tone (Stevens 21–2, 33, Collard 361), and is provoked by Obey me, please! Clyt.’s surprise, but implicit dissent, shows in Why etc.. For wives’ expected obedience see 715 n.; Ag. demands it again (unsuccessfully) in 739: see 695–740 n. Greek. 726 γάρ ‘Why, …’ see GP 73–4. πείθομαι with gen. is modelled on ἀκούω ‘obey’ (Smyth 1366); it is an Ionicism, e.g. Hdt. 6.12.3. See also Text. [Text. 726 εἰθίσμεθά σοι Hermann would restore the dat. normal with πείθομαι.] 727  I myself: a further emphatic pron., but the plur. stands here for the sing. (contrast 722), as Clyt.’s protest in 728 shows.  here: not by the ships, a significant location (723 n.), but close to Ach.’s ‘home’ in the armed camp; a different ‘here’ from 723.  where the bridegroom is…: syntax in stichomythia interrupted by the following line, here an encouraging question as e.g. Med. 679–81, Hec. 1000–2. The technique is illustrated by Mastronarde (1979) 57 and n. 16, cited here by Diggle (1994) 501. 728  Away from: the adverbial prep. χωρίς is literal, here of distance, as e.g. 1107, cf. Or. 272 ‘away from eyes’.  ‘what…?’: Diggle (1994)

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501 argues that τί must mean ‘Why will you…?’ before the neut. plur. ἁ(μέ) (unless that is replaced with a gen. of the rel. pron., e.g. ὧν με ‘of the things which’: so Reiske), but that cannot be when Ag. answers by talking of an action, not giving a reason. Also, ‘What?’ before Ag.’s factual answer makes Clyt. prescient, but that is typical of stichomythia’s frequent contrivance.  you all: δράσετε: the Greek verb is 2. plur.; its number is reflected in Ag.’s answer ‘among the Achaeans’ 729. [Text. Diggle however mentions the Aldine’s indefinite τι ‘(Will you do) something…?’, conveying Clyt.’s apprehension.] 729  I shall give … away: the climax of the entire exchange; the denial of the right to Clyt. induces her vain repetition of the word ‘give away’ in 736.  in company with: the prep. μετά may mean both ‘in the midst of, among’ (LSJ A I) and ‘together with’ (LSJ A II), and Clyt.’s final objection in 736 accommodates both. 730  at that moment: τηνικαῦτα: for Clyt. as the bride’s mother the important time. Greek. τυγχάνω without participle = εἶναι be; not rare (LSJ A II.2), like φαίνομαι etc., Smyth 2119. 731  take care of the maiden-girls: again in 737–8: Electra and Chrysothemis are meant (638–9 n.). παρθένους: the sense ‘daughters’ is stronger in 714 (n.). τημελέω ‘take care of’ is first attested in Eur., and rare in Classical Greek. [Text. At its only other occurrence in Eur., IT 311, τημελέω is found with the gen., reason enough for Herwerden and esp. Diggle (1994) 502 n. 40 to propose παρθένων here]. 732  hold … the marriage-torch: a further customary right of mothers, 734, cf. Med. 1026–7, schol. Tro. 315 and schol. Pho. 344. In Tro. 308– 24 the deranged Cassandra carries her own torch (because her mother is still grieving for her father, and at 344–9 Cassandra’s action distresses her mother). 733  provide the light: παρέχω as in Tro. 308 ἄνεχε, πάρεχε, φῶς φέρε ‘raise, provide, carry the torch’, Cassandra’s wild cry that she be taken to her married home. 734  Greek. νομίζω and φαῦλος held trivial as Bacc. 430, Med. 807. ἡγητέα: for the neut. plur. gerundive and lack of subject see 671 n. [Text. All recent editors print Tucker’s brilliant correction οὐδὲ φαῦλ’ ἡγητέα: L’s σὺ δὲ is unmetrical, and stems from a scribe’s misreading of

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Commentary

ο as σ; the 2. pers. sing. indic. ἥγῃ followed in consequence, ‘even if you hold (this, i.e. the custom, trivial)’.] 735  It is not right etc.: ‘the only argument advanced by Ag. which Clyt. can accept’, Turato; it is used against Clyt. herself by Ach. in 825.  be out in company: in ἐξομιλέω the preverb ἐξ- indicates leaving habitual company or place (cf. the adj. ἐξόμιλος S. Trac. 964). mass: for ὄχλος see 450 n. [Text. In ἐξομιλέω the act. voice is intrans. and usual (e.g. Xen. Agesilaus 11.4), so that some editors accept England’s aor. ἐξομιλῆσαι]. 737  Greek. καὶ … γε Yes, and…, esp. with one word interposed, is very common: GP 157. [Text. Diggle (1994) 502 n. 40 proposed to read οἴκοις: the plur. is very much commoner in combination with the prep. ἐν, the sing. occurring only once elsewhere in Eur., at F 1066 (to avoid prominent assonance upon ‘s’ (sigmatism), as perhaps here in IA); Archelaus F 266.3 οἴκῳ is best amended to οἴκτῳ ‘pity’.] 738  well: καλῶς of a ‘(morally) good’, i.e. strict, upbringing, for maiden daughters, as Supp. 452, Alc. 313; cf. 666 (n.), 735.  securely: the adj. ὀχυροῖσι is emphatically placed. For maidens’ quarters, a place unmarried girls may not lightly leave, see esp. Pho. 89, 1275; our 149b– 52 n. 739  Obey me!: the abrupt command in antilabe (cf. 303–16 n.) marks Ag.’s impatience. That Clyt. speaks the rest of the line, in a superb declaration of independence, is certain: oaths sworn by the sovereign (lit. ‘queen, lady’) goddess are ordinarily women’s, e.g. And. 934; and the goddess of Argos was Hera (Tro. 23–4 etc.), divine protector of marriage (cf. 1301 and n.), esp. of the bride after it. Greek. The oath-particle μά stands without a negative (but English requires one: No), cf. LSJ ‘in itself neither affirmative nor negative, but made so by prefixing with ναί (‘yes’) or οὐ (‘no’), or in Attic by the context’; Smyth 2894, KG II.148. There is no parallel in Tragedy, but Ar. Thes. 1125 and Frogs 951 in Comedy (and usage in prose) suggested to Wecklein that the omission may be colloquial; in the theatre it would be helped by a gesture of rejection. [Text. L wrote the obvious gloss οὔ ‘No!’ above μά. In 740 Triclinius conjectured a harmless γε, to create ‘syntax’ between the oath and the imperative πρᾶσσε ‘arrange’. A much superior solution came from

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Günther, followed by Stockert and Matthiessen, cf. Diggle (1994) 501 n. 35: a short lacuna between 739 and 740 containing an explicit negative. In 739 Wecklein’s θεόν for θεάν reflected the common gender of θεός, which is used with Hera’s name in the principal ms. at Tro. 23.] 740–50 [Text. Yet another editorial battleground. Most lines have been suspected or deleted, on grounds of language (741, 742, 747–8, 749–50) or content (741, 746–8, 749–50); all are marked ‘scarcely Euripidean’ by Diggle. Jouan, Stockert and Turato however retained them all, and Matthiessen made a strong plea to keep 740 and possibly 741, and very definitely 742–50: ‘Ag. begins to guess the consequence of the sacrifice for his marriage’. We judge that (1) Clyt.’s exit immediately after 740 is dramatically sound, and (with Matthiessen) that this verse restates crisply the traditional roles of husband and wife outside and inside the house (El. 73–5 are cited); (2) Ag. remains briefly alone in despair. He cannot himself leave without adding confirmation of the sacrifice to his words which end the Second Episode (538–41), for what happens in the Third presupposes it (and Ag. is therefore kept offstage), as does the confrontation of Clyt. and Ag. in the Fourth; (3) Ag.’s intention to join Calchas means also that he does not go into his hut, and he has not returned to it when he reappears at 1103–7. Some of our views were anticipated by Ritchie. We therefore retain 740 and 742–8, although we are not confident that all their wording goes back to Euripides himself, and we believe emendation necessary in 747. We discard [741]: it is an unnecessary and weak line, it mars Clyt.’s exit, and it is ‘not worth saving’ (Diggle (1994) 501 n. 35); some editors keep it despite (or because of) the word νύμφιος standing unusually as adjectival (at their marriage), influenced by its substantive use in 733 as ‘bride and groom’. [749–50] must go too: the trite maxim destroys Ag.’s powerful exit; worse, it is false to his tone throughout the episode, going beyond demand for Clyt.’s obedience in 725, 739. See also the individual line-notes below.] 740  Go and: ἐλθών lit. ‘going’, idiomatically superfluous part. 1426, Hel. 1436. 742–3  My rushing in: ᾔξα; translation not quite secure, and the intrans. use without a qualification ‘where to’ is doubted, unlike the explicit Ion 328 ᾔξας εἰς ἔρευναν ‘you rushed into an inquiry’, 572 οἷ δ’ ᾔξας ὀρθῶς ‘where you rushed to correctly’ (οἷ Herwerden: ὃ L); but cf. Iliad 15.80

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Commentary

ὅτ’ ἂν ἀΐξῃ νόος ἀνέρος ‘whenever a man’s mind rushes in’. Wecklein suggests that the image is that of a violent wind, a ‘stormy impulse’. Ag.’s out of my sight (the phrase e.g. Alc. 1064, Or. 272) must mean, he rushed too abruptly into the controlling commands ‘Obey me (, please)’ 725, 739 in trying to get Clyt. away from Iph. and back to Argos to the other girls (731). Greek. baffled in: ἀποσφάλλω and separative gen. as e.g. Med. 1010 δόξης ‘expectation’. 744–5  I am being clever: Ag. at 444–5 (n.). For the verb σοφίζομαι, implicitly ‘wrongly clever’, cf. Bacc. 200 οὐδὲν σοφιζόμεσθα τοῖσι δαίμοσιν ‘We are not clever in the gods’ eyes’.  devising (schemes): πορίζω as in Alc. 222 μηχανάν … κακῶν ‘means against disaster’.  against my dearest: Ag. means esp. Iph., as in 458 (n.).  at every point: πανταχῇ lit. ‘everywhere’; it is loosely allusive, as e.g. And. 903, Med. 364, not narrowly locative. Greek. τὰ φίλτατα neut. of persons 458 n. For the prep. ἐπί of hostility cf. 1104; see LSJ B I.1.c. 746–8  Despite that: despite his failure to send Clyt. home. to share with: σὺν (prep.) …κοινῇ (adv.), emphatic pleonasm, also Or. 1074. Ag. will now collaborate fully, and seems to have got over the antipathy to seers he expressed in 520.  the man of sacrifices: θυηπόλος of a seer as Ar. Peace 1124 (see on Greek). Calchas as μάντις (89–91, 358, 518) has enjoined and will superintend Iph.’s sacrifice [1563], offering the knife and garlanding the victim, but a separate priest will perform it, a ἱερεύς [1578], Her. 451, Hec. 224; cf. Hcld. 401 θυηπολεῖται δ’ ἄστυ μαντέων ὕπο ‘the city is filled with sacrifices because of seers’ (trans. Allan).  what pleases the goddess: her will 90–1: φίλος with dat. of gods as PV 660, S. OC 964 (see Text below).  ill fortune: Ag. understates, in precaution. The Greek litotes ‘not good fortune’ is effective; earlier the sacrifice was δεινόν ‘terrible’ in prospect 98; Ag. would not become a ‘killer’ φονεύς 364. Iph. herself comes to accept her death εὐτυχοῦσα 1446 ‘in (my) good fortune’.  burden for Greece: ‘for’ is ambiguous, reflecting the Greek gen. The meaning is more likely ‘a burden Greece must suffer’ (Page) than ‘a burden for Greece which I must undertake’ (see also on Text). Greek. 746 in the word θυηπόλος the element -πόλος registers ‘engaged in, active in’ (DELG 878 πέλομαι), like μαντιπόλος ‘active in

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prophecy’ Hec. 121, πυρπόλος ‘fiery (lightning-bolt)’ Supp. 640.  748 ἐξευπορέω lit. ‘provide an easy way out for’, i.e. ‘complete easily’. The verb only here in Eur., but he uses the adj. εὔπορος, e.g. Hippolytus Veiled F 430.2 of Eros easing love’s problems. [Text. 747 τῇ θεῷ Rauchenstein dat. is necessary, the gen. being against idiom, indeed ‘intolerable’ Diggle 500 n. 35; the neut. in τὸ φίλον shows that e.g. PV 304 τὸν Διὸς φίλον ‘the friend of Zeus’ is no analogy for the gen.   748 In L’s ἐξευπορήσων Diggle thought he could make out ευπ as the original letters beneath an erasure intended by Tr3 to accommodate his conjecture (ἐξ)ιστ(ορήσων) (cf. P and P2). The meaning of this, ‘to enquire into’, is inappropriate, despite Ritchie’s defence that ‘Ag. will further test the will of the goddess by means of sacrifice’. Calchas has already done with all ‘enquiry’, his injunction is final – as in A. Ag. 198–211. Diggle also suspected as non-Euripidean the rather strained apposition of acc. μόχθον Ἑλλάδος ‘a burden for Greece’ to the action and result implied by τὸ τῇ θεῷ φίλον … ἐξευπορήσων. Note that Monk deleted 746–8.] [749–50]  For the observation on wives cf. in Eur. e.g. Alc. 627–8, 879– 81, F 1055–57.  maintain: τρέφω, a wife e.g. Alc. 1049, Hel. 1278. [Text. Hartung’s deletion is incontestable. The episode must end with Ag.’s grim words of failure (742–5) and inevitability (747), not with a gnomic reflection on marriage, let alone implicit criticism of Clyt. for faults she has certainly not yet exhibited, despite her stance in 739 (still less, despite some scholars, criticism of Helen, unmentioned since 583, and there by the Chorus). While there is truth in Turato’s defence that a gnomic close to an episode is not rare in Eur. (e.g. Med. 407–9, Hcld. 745–7, And. 1007–8), no pique in Ag. can justify the words here; nor Jouan’s plea that ‘Clyt. is downgraded; she has her say in 1146–1208’. Interpolation of maxims, relevant or not, was typical of 4th century and later actors and directors: see Fraenkel, Agamemnon pp. 814–15, G. Kovacs in EGT 7–11.   750 There is no compelling need to alter τρέφειν because the word ends both 749 and 750 (see Jackson (1955) 221–2 for such repetitions), but Hermann’s γαμεῖν ‘marry’ is a stronger close to the gnome, which reflects an underlying maxim ‘either marry such a (good) wife or not marry (at all)’, Adespota F 95 PCG; cf. Alc. 627 ‘such marriages (as that of Alcestis sacrificing her own life for her husband’s) benefit mortal men, or marrying is not worthwhile’. 749–50

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were retained in the 2015 Syracuse production (Introduction p. 44); they elicited a ripple of laughter from the men in the audience. Any humour, even sardonic, is inappropriate to Ag.’s tragic impasse – but might a theatre-man have intended this effect?] 751–800 Second Choral Ode (stasimon) The Chorus now know that Ag. will sacrifice Iph. and that war is inevitable; ‘Troy’ and ‘Helen’ will increasingly colour the language of the play: see Introduction pp. 29–30. Beginning at the point where the First Ode ended, the immoderate love of Paris and Helen which precipitated the expedition against Troy (587–9), they sing of the Greeks sailing there to regain Helen, 751–72. They expect misery for the city’s women when it is taken, deprecating the fate that will befall their counterparts, 785–800 (for [773–83] see Text below); and this misery anticipates that of the other women sufferers, Clyt. and Iph. (Women’s suffering as war captives is evoked appropriately by a women’s chorus also in Hec. esp. 905–51 and in Tro. esp. 1060–1117, and as bereaved mothers in Supp. esp. 778–1837.) This is the contribution both odes make to the play, in recalling Ag.’s account of the fatal marriage between Paris and Helen 49–79, and its recurrence in his arguments with Men. 314– 414a, 460–535 – and the Chorus’ initial comment 171–84. The First Ode had begun with significant moralisation, the Second has it in conclusion, casting doubt on the myth which made Helen the miraculously conceived offspring of Zeus (794–800 n.). There are again pictorial highlights, typical of Eur.’s ‘dithyrambic’ style (see 1276–1335 n. Language): Cassandra in prophetic ecstasy at Troy 757–61, the approach of the Greek ships viewed by the defenders 762–7, (Troy’s sack [775–8] and) the Trojan women’s imagination of rape 784–92, Helen’s conception by Leda through Zeus in the form of a swan 794–6. The use of direct speech 790–3 (n.) adds pathos to the imagined scene of rape. The composition and stylistic features of the ode are discussed by Panagl (1971) 194–207 in enthusiastic detail, and its function in the play by Hose II (1991) 93–5 (with bibl.). Metrical form. One pair of responding strophes and one long span of astrophic verses, as in the other two Odes 543–89 and 1036–97. Again the metre is the colourful aeolo-choriambic (see 164–302 n. 3.1 (c) on 164–230), and again there is much variety, but here with no invasion

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by other rhythms. Despite the clear sense-breaks in both stanzas (at 756 = 767), both consist of one metrical period; in the astrophic verses narrative and sense units coincide with clear metrical divisions only at 786, 790 and 793 (for 780 and 783 see Text). Schematic analyses by Wilamowitz (1921) 261–2, Dale (1981) 150–1, Günther 64–5, with metrical commentary Stockert 418–20 – all with slightly different texts. [Text. The narrative and syntactic structure of strophe and antistrophe 751–72 is straightforward, even smooth, and the text uncontentious; each stanza is a single sentence. Not so the astrophic 773–800, where damage is widespread and lines 773–83 are inauthentic (see below), and suspicion or deletion has spread gradually to the whole ode: see Diggle’s OCT with p. 424 and esp. his (1994) 503–6. We think that he takes his doubts too far about various aspects of expression 754, 755, 758, 768–9; repetitions of vocabulary 751 ~ 766–7, 754 and 764 ~ 772, 755–6 ~ 763–4 (although such pleonasm is characteristic of Eur.’s lyric: Breitenbach (1934) 186–94); apparent borrowing from other plays 752 (Ion 95–6), 755–6 (Hel. 1510–11), 767 (Or. 809), 768–9 (Hec. 943); metrical form esp. in 761 = 772 (this doubt shared by Ritchie). See our notes on many individual lines. Hartung deleted 773–83 altogether, rightly: similarly e.g. Wilamowitz (above, undecided whether the lines represent an aborted but different passage from Eur.’s own hand or another writer’s fabrication), Dale (above), West (1981) 71–2, Stockert, and Diggle; retained by e.g. Jouan, Günther and Turato. The duplication of matter from 762–4 in 773–4 grates. When the lines are deleted, there remains an excellent transition from 769–72, which end upon the intended recovery of Helen by war, to 784–7 the Chorus’ anxiety for themselves and their children as they imagine that of the Trojan women 791–3. Kovacs (2002) 163 however makes the puzzling comment, ‘If there is any criticism of the Trojan war in our play, it is unemphatic nearly to the vanishing point’. Lastly, it may be significant that 784, and not 773, begins the ‘musical’ quotation in P. Leiden (see also Kranz, cited in 784–90 n. below). In sum, 773–83 are a clumsy expansion of matter and themes frequent in Eur.’s Trojan plays, without thought for dramatic context.] 751–6  There will indeed come: ἥξει δή: it was old Tragic style to begin an ode or strophe solemnly with a verb, often one of motion, prophetic fut.

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as here, cf. 762 ‘will stand’; or a past verb, e.g. 573 (n.), Pho. 1018 ‘you came, you came’, A. Cho. 935, 946 ‘There came…’ (but our 164 ‘I came’ is in a personal narrative). The particle δή gives strong emphasis to the beginning of the ode and its initial word ἥξει ‘There will come’; cf. Tro. 1060 ‘Thus indeed (οὕτω δὴ) did you…’; at the beginning of an antistrophe e.g. A. Cho. 612–14 ἄλλαν δὴ … | φοινίαν κόραν | ἅτε … ‘…another murdering maiden indeed, who…’; see GP 214–15).  Simoeis: one of Troy’s two major rivers, its name prominent in context because its mouth was the chief landing-place (A. Ag. 696, E. El. 441, Tro. 810, all evoking the Greeks’ arrival); the other river, the Xanthus, is also ‘silver-swirling’ Iliad 21.8; both are named in Iliad 6.4. Our words silvery swirling waters δίνας ἀργυροειδεῖς describe Castalia’s glittering spring at Delphi Ion 95–6. We are given a glimpse of Troy’s beautiful plain before it becomes a place of destruction.  gathered (army): ἄγυρις, a noun, another Epic echo (of ships Iliad 24.141, even of corpses 16.661).  (Phoebus’) ground: δάπεδον, lit. ‘flat area’, denotes here a specific, famous and sacred site, like the temples And. 117 and (Apollo’s at Delphi) Ion 121 and Pind. Nem. 7.34. The god’s temple at Troy implied his constant presence as the city’s principal divine defender (Iliad 5.454–61); at e.g. Tro. 5 he is the city’s divine builder, together with Poseidon (cf. Iliad 7.452–3). Apollo’s name leads naturally to that of his wild prophetess Trojan Cassandra (757 n.). Greek. 751 Σιμοέντα, 752 δίνας and 755 ῎Ιλιον are accs. of ‘motion to’; the last is amplified by the prep. ἐς governing the phrase τὸ … δάπεδον in closer location (phrasing suspect to Diggle (1994) 504, however).   754 ἀνά with dat. ‘up on’, here aboard: Epic too, and rare in Tragedy e.g. El. 466 ‘on horseback’, A. Supp. 351 ‘on rocks’.   [Text. Kovacs (2002) puts in his text Willink’s clever conjecture ᾿Ιλίου ἐς πετραίας ‘to (Phoebus’ ground) at rocky Ilium’ (unpublished); it solves the problem identified by Diggle (1994) 504 as against Eur.’s style in the order Ἴλιον ἐς τὸ … δάπεδον.] 757–61  where: ἵνα, like ὅταν 760 and 764 ‘whenever’, heads a clause adding detail and is typical of Eur.’s lyric style: 547 and 573–89 n.; 1276– 1336 n. on Language.  I hear: perhaps from their husbands (176–7, cf. 301–2); a verb of hearing ‘verifies’ a description, as e.g El. 452–4 ‘I heard from someone who came ashore in the harbour of Nauplion’, cf. Med. 1282, Hipp. 129–30, 135. ‘Hearing’ a mythic tale e.g. Ion 994, Hel. 99, Pho. 819, cf. hearing of remote places Tro. 216, 222. For 1. pers. verbs in choral

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narratives see Rutherford (2007) 35. The Chorus now name Cassandra, whose prophecies were unfailingly correct but seldom if ever believed; allusion to them here hints at certain Greek victory at Troy: she had warned of the city’s destiny to be destroyed, once when Paris was born and later when he went to Sparta, abducted Helen and returned with her: Cypria, Proclus’ ‘Argument’ 1 West (Loeb ed.), cf. E. Alexandros test. iii.23–8, F 62g. For Cassandra’s ‘fame’ see Greek. In Tragedy there is an easy freedom of cross-reference to myth by and between persons, of whatever location and status, and without regard for relative time; it is part of the dramatist’s trade: see 797b–800 n.  adorned … bay: the tree was sacred to Apollo, and provided garlands for his celebrants, e.g. at Delphi Ion 1169; for Cassandra Tro. 329–30, cf. A. Ag. 1264–70.  green-leafed: χλωροκόμῳ lit. ‘green-haired’: a unique word, but there are similarly formed colouradjs. with -κομος describing hair κόμη itself. Here ‘green-’ χλωρο- implies ‘fresh(ly cut)’, like Hippolytus’ special garland for Artemis Hipp. 73–4 (see also Text below).  tosses her … tresses: in her restless movement, an action of god-possessed worshippers running free, esp. those of Dionysus Bacc. 150, 865; the ecstatic Cassandra is herself ‘bacchic’ in behaviour Hec. 676–7, Tro. 341; she is ‘whirled round’ in prophetic seizure A. Ag. 1214–16. Cf. Virgil’s description of the Sibyl Aen. 6.47–51.  breathes compulsion to prophecy: ‘breath’ is the impulse from an unseen god, e.g. noun πνοή Aphrodite 69, Dionysus Bacc. 1094; here, literal prophetic ‘inspiration’, poetic inspiration A. Ag. 105. Such ‘breath’ is irresistible: with ‘compulsion’ we translate ἀνάγκαι lit. ‘necessities, inevitabilities’, brought by god or fate. Greek. 757 In τὰν (Κασσάνδραν) the Greek def. art. with a proper name is like that with Helen’s in 178, referring idiomatically to a person distinctive or well-known in some way, but with less emphasis than idomatic Latin ille; Smyth 1120a. Distinguish the art., separated from Helen’s name in 768–9, which conveys idiomatically that she is ‘sister’ to the Dioscuri (see n. there); the def. art. has no special emphasis except perhaps in virtue of its standing in the same metrical position in the antistr. as in 757.   760 κοσμέω ‘dress, deck’ of religious or cultic wear e.g. Bacc. 934, Ion 327. [Text. 759 The adj. χλωροκόμῳ stands in enallage (771 n. Text) with στεφάνῳ; Fritzsche’s χλωροκόμου allies it more logically (and prosaically) with δάφνας.]

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762–7  citadel: πέργαμα, the fortified citadel of Troy: 589 n.  round on the walls: their lofty view-point for the Greek’s approach. ‘Citadel’ and ‘walls’ together emphasize the city’s defences. The Trojans at once prepare for siege, and would not be already outside the city offering battle; but their failure is imagined in 793. All such scenes are in debt to Priam looking from the walls at the besieging Greeks Iliad 3.161–242.  Ares: i.e. ‘war’ and its belligerents, metonymyic ‘warrior’ e.g. 263, 775 and And. 106 Ares ‘of a thousand ships’. Ares’ first adj. here, of the bronze shield, describes him also Pind. Isthm. 7.25. ‘Bronze’ is the regular adj. of weaponry, not only of Ares e.g. Iliad 5.704, Pind. Ol. 10.15, but of e.g. the Greeks again 1260 below.  rowed: sails are lowered as ships come towards anchorage; conversely E. Phaethon 79 ‘(vessels put off) under oars’, before raising sail.  over the sea: Ares’ second adj. is πόντιος; we translate with this phrase, like 283 ‘warrior (Ares: above) … with … white oars’. The adj. is placed as predicative to comes near; contrast 253, where the adj. πόντιος is attributive of the Boeotians’ ‘armament’. Its position creates a mild paradox, in that Ares is not a sea-god, for the adj. normally describes Poseidon, the god whose province is the sea, e.g. Hipp. 44, 1318.  channels: ὀχετοῖς: of Simoeis (751 n.) also Or. 809 (cf. ῥοαί its ‘streams’ Tro. 1116); of a natural water-course Pind. Ol. 5.12. Greek. 763 ἀμφί ‘somewhere on’: 164–5 n.   765 εὐπρώροιο Doric gen., occasional in lyric; see Barrett on Hipp. 850.   766 εἰρεσίᾳ lit. ‘by rowing’: instrum. dat.   767 ὀχετοῖς: a dat. with the verb of motion πελάζω is not rare, e.g. Hec. 1289, the verb deriving from the adverbial prep. πέλας ‘near (to)’: Smyth 1463 (but the gen. is commoner, Smyth 1353). The word ὀχετός means ‘bearer, carrier’ (cf. n. on 617–18 ὀχέω), usually of water and esp. of irrigation, LSJ I.1; streams LSJ II. [Text. 765 Diggle (1994) 503 accepts Wecklein’s improvement εὐπρῴροιο πλάτας, which we print, but dislikes the adj. fine-prowed, as he did ‘fine-sterned’ in 723 (n.): εὐπρώροισι πλάταις L]. 768–72  Helen, sister: Helen’s relationship to the two Dioscuri (Gantz (1993) 323–8) is fully expressed at e.g. Hec. 943 ‘the sister of the two Dioscuri, Helen’ (see Greek). They were Castor and Polydeuces (Latin Pollux), born together with Helen from Leda and Zeus in his guise as a swan: 795–7 and n.; their sister Clyt. recalls their aid when Ag. killed her first husband and seized her 1149–50. Zeus made them stars in the heaven (Or. 1635–7), as safe conductors of voyagers El. 990–3, cf.

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Hel. 1495–1505; perhaps this is the implication here for those bringing back their sister. (Ritchie resists Kannicht’s contention, on Hel. 140, 1498–9, that in Eur.’s day the twins had still not yet ‘become’ stars in mythography.) Greek. 768–9 τὰν: ‘sister’ is not in the Greek, but a noun expressing a well-known family relationship is often omitted from the def. art. and a following poss. gen., e.g. ‘wife’ And. 486, ‘daughter’ Med. 209: Smyth 1301.   770 The prep. ἐκ is used loosely as in e.g. Hcld. 1043 ἐξ ἐμοῦ ‘(you will gain) from me’, Med. 23 ἐξ Ἰάσονος ‘from Jason’; its proper sense is not ‘away from’ (ἀπό) but ‘out of, from within’, often of origin as e.g. 71, 672; Smyth 1688c. Τhere is no ellipse of γᾶς ‘from Priam’s (land)’; for that, ἐκ τᾶς Πριάμου would be idiomatic (Diggle (1994) 504).   772 ἀσπίσι καὶ λόγχαις instrum. dat. with κομίσαι. [Text. 770–1 ἐς γᾶν L: reduced to γᾶς in Willink’s conjecture, which is against idiom (Greek above); but it was printed by Kovacs (2002).   771 δοριπόνων Kirchhoff (printed by Diggle), on the model of El. 479 δοριπόνων … ἀνδρῶν, creating a ‘bracketing’ phrase to end the stanza. δοριπόνοις L shows change of the adj. from one noun to the other (enallage: 1229–30, 1437 and nn.; Breitenbach (1934) 182–6, V. Bers in EGT 1370–1), ‘won by shields toiling in war…’, and is kept by most eds] [773–83]  The content alone of these lines damns them: 751–800 n. Text. [Text. There are also weaknesses and insuperable difficulties in the Greek, for which we cite some attempted justifications or remedies: 774 the prep. περί round appears superfluous with κυκλώσας Circling, which elsewhere is trans. (Stockert asks, does the prep. stand in tmesis (40 n.), from περικυκλόω?).   775 Ἄρει L, an instrum. dat., is impossible in this sentence when Ἄρης continues as its grammatical subject unchanged from 764 in the three nom. masc. parts. κυκλώσας, σπάσας, πέρσας: therefore Höpfner conjectured Ἄρης φόνιος bloody Ares, which we print (the god is φό(ι)νιος in Homer and e.g. Pho. 1006). Alternatively e.g. δορὶ φοινίῳ Hermann, ‘with bloody spear’; more adventurously ἔριδι (φονίᾳ) Günther ‘in bloody strife’, ἕρκει Jacobs ‘with a fence of bloodshed’, λίνῳ or βρόχῳ West ‘with a bloody net’ or ‘noose’.   776 †σπάσας† may mean †pulling† (heads severed at the throat), such heads being treated as grisly trophies e.g. Iliad 13.202, 18.336–7 = 23.22–3), or ‘pulling heads to

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sever them’; the latter is very strained in expression (but appeal has been made to E. Meleager F 537 κάρηνα … γένυσι Μελανίππου σπάσας ‘(the cannibalistic Tydeus) rending Melanippus’ head with his jaws’ (LSJ II.2) – a very different action, however. For analysis of the adj. λαιμοτομος (-ότ- or -τό-, ‘severed’ or ‘severing’ a throat) see E. Csapo in Cousland and Hume (2009) 106 n. 30.   777 The words †πόλισμα Τροίας† †Troy’s city† duplicate intolerably 773 Φρυγῶν πόλιν the Phrygians’ city; they were deleted by Monk; 777–8 were reduced to πέρσας κατ’ ἄκρας πόλισμα by West, ‘sacking the city from top to bottom’. Similarly 779–80 the words κόρας πολυκλαύτους girls … weep many tears duplicate 781–2 κόρα (Helen herself) πολύκλαυτος daughter … weep many tears (no cure).   782 The Ionic(Epic)/Doric fut. †ἐσεῖται† (of εἰμί ‘I am’) has no parallel in Tragedy. ἑδεῖται Musgrave ‘will sit’ is hardly apt, and is an unparalleled mid. fut. of the simple verb ἵζω; εἴσεται Hermann, and later Willink (printed by Kovacs 2002), the fut. of οἶδα, was intended to produce the threat ‘she will know to her cost that (she has betrayed her husband)’; cf. Ion 708, Bacc. 859; used of satisfactory retaliation by Ach. 970 below, if he resorts to bloodshed. Conversely, unobjectionable usages: 775–8 κυκλώσας, †σπάσας†, πέρσας: co-ordinated but unconnected participles, with climactic meaning: Smyth 2147f.   778 from top to bottom κατ᾿ ἄκρας is a phrase regular in Epic, e.g. Iliad 13.772 and Hel. 691 also of Troy (cf. Pho. 1176 κατ᾿ ἄκρων περγάμων ‘from topmost citadel to bottom’, of Thebes).  779 make τίθημι with two accs. in the sense of ποιέω is in order, e.g. 1076, 1405, probably 629 (n.), Pho. 855.  781 The wordorder in ἁ δὲ Διὸς ῾Ελένα κόρα is matched at e.g. Hec. 943 τὰν τοῖν Διοσκουροῖν Ἑλέναν κάσιν.] Also: 773 Pergamum: see 761 n. on ‘citadel’.   780 wife of Priam: Hecuba.  her husband: Menelaus, her first; for myth had Helen ‘marry’ at Troy both Paris and, after his death, his brother Deiphobus (e.g. E. F 1093a; Gantz (1993) 638–9). 784–93 [Text. The musically annotated P. Leid. 510 has a very damaged text of these lines: see E. Pöhlmann, M. L. West, Documents of Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 2001) 18–21 for commentary, with colour reproduction; subsequently L. Prauscello, ZPE 144 (2003) 1–14; Introduction p. 53. As a mid-3rd century BC text, it is too early to carry Aristophanes of Byzantium’s verse-divisions. Enough of the papyrus

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however survives to confirm the beginnings of 785 and 788, to provoke questions about the end of 792, and to give a slightly different text at the start of 793. It is frustratingly defective where L is plainly corrupt or has been subject to conjecture, in 791 and the start of 792; and it is a further frustration that it does not overlap P. Köln 67, which carries fragmentary wording from 796–800.] 784–90  May there never come etc.: Kranz (1933) 240 n. (on his p. 312) argued that, on the analogy of e.g. Hipp. 1142, Tro. 551 where a change to personal engagement begins epodes, 784 should begin this one too: see 751–800 n. Text.  children’s children: an ancient locution, as in many languages, e.g. Her. 7, Supp. 1172 (see Collard), Pho. 281. expectation: ἐλπίς of a prospect feared e.g. Or. 859, A. Seven 367; Fraenkel on Ag. 1434.  Lydian … gold … Phrygians: proverbial for their riches, not least the 7th century king of Lydia Gyges (Archilochus F 13.11 West; Aesch. F 59) and the 6th century king Croesus (Hdt. 1.32.5– 6), the finest mines being within their territory. The adj. πολύχρυσος with … great gold is Homeric (e.g. Iliad 11.46 of Mycenae) and occurs 8 times in Eur., e.g. Bacc. 13 of the Lydians, Hec. 492 of the Phrygians (i.e. Trojans). There is perhaps an allusion to Helen’s susceptibility to Paris’ eastern luxury, 75 n., Tro. 991–7, Hel. 927–8 (see Allan’s n.).  at their looms: the occupation of ladies, e.g. Penelope Od. 24.139, Electra A. Cho. 231–2, Iphigenia IT 222; cf. Hector to Andromache at Iliad 6.490–3 defining the loom and the distaff for women, war for men. Women’s talk at the loom e.g. Ion 196–7 (μυθεύω as here), 507 and Tro. 199–200; during laundry Hipp. 129–30. Greek. 787–8 lit. ‘the gold-rich Lydian (wives) and Phrygians’ wives’, typical lyric interlacing of grammatical forms.   790 μυθεῦσαι: the fem. nom. plur. of the part. (see Text). The act. form of μυθέω is unattested except in the Byzantine lexicographer Photius μ 577 Theodoridis; the form is not elsewhere used by Eur. (who has μυθεύω Her. 77, Ion 196: cf. Text below); but the mid. μυθοῦμαι is not rare, e.g. Iliad 17.200, Democritus 68 B 30.13 DK, PV 664. [Text. 789 σχήσουσι Tyrwhitt will have seems inescapable, ἔχω with ἐλπίδα as e.g. 609 (n.): στήσουσι L ‘will set up (expectation)’ is retained by some eds in unpersuasive appeal to e.g. 1039 ἰαχάν ‘cry, sound’, Or. 1529 κραυγήν ‘bawling’.   790 μυθεῦσαι L is required by metre (three long syllables), and the Ionic form of the part. is protected by Med. 423

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ὑμνεῦσαι: to normalise it Matthiae conjectured μυθεύουσαι. This was printed by Stockert, but the verse then scans as two anapaestic metra, an extremely improbable invasion into the otherwise entirely aeolochoriambic system 784–800.] 791–3  ‘Who will it be … destruction?’: women facing captivity fear both the identity and the cruelty of a potential master e.g. Hec. 359– 66, 448–9, Tro. 185–96. For direct speech quoted in Tragedy in both dialogue and lyric see Bers (1997) cited in 356 n., who on his pp. 113–14 asks whether all of 791–800 are reported, and whether by one or two separate voices; for such quoting see also Rutherford (2007) 17, (2012) 83–4.  drag me by … my hair: a common image of war’s cruelty to captive women, e.g. And. 402 Andromache, Hel. 116 Helen dragged by Menelaus (cf. his threat at Tro. 882), A. Seven 326–8 women pulled by their headbands like horses; at 1365–6 below Clyt. fears that Iph. will be dragged by her hair to her sacrifice. For the detail fine tresses εὐπλοκάμου (adj.) see esp. Hec. 923–5 a Trojan wife’s attention to her coiffure (πλόκαμος) at bed-time on the night the city was sacked; cf. also A. Supp. 884 ‘(the women’s chorus) dragged with no reverence for your tresses’.  pluck me (791) as the flower: ἀπολωτίζω lit. ‘cull (from) the lotus’, the lotus being the name of many plants or trees, particularly trees from N. Africa which became metaphorical for splendour or special value through the name of the fabulous Lotus-Eaters Od. 9.84. The compound verb also Supp. 449 of tyrants ‘culling’ youth, the noun λώτισμα e.g. Hel. 1593 men encouraged to bravery as ‘the picked flower of Greece’; cf. the plain noun ‘flower’ ἄνθος as metaphor in Her. 875–6 ἀποκείρεται … ἄνθος ‘the flower (of your city) is shorn away’, Heracles about to destroy his own children. For the ‘deflowering’ of women cf. also the allusive Pind. Pyth. 9.37 ἐκ λεχέων κεῖραι μελιαδέα ποίαν ‘shear the honey-sweet herbage from the bed of love’. Greek. 792 τανύω is ‘stretch, strain’, ῥῦμα is internal acc., lit. ‘strain (in) a drag’, and δακρυόεν as I shed tears (lit. ‘in tears’, an adj.) is predicative to ῥῦμα.   791 εὐπλοκάμου κόμας is objective gen. dependent upon ῥῦμα lit. ‘dragging of hair’.   793 πατρίδος ὀλομένας is separative gen. with ἀπολωτιεῖ; cf. Hec. 946 με γᾶς ἐκ πατρίας ἀπώλεσε lit. ‘destroyed me from my fatherland’; others take the words as gen. absolute ‘after my fatherland was destroyed’. [Text. We print what we believe to be acceptable Greek. L has 791 τίς

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ἄρα μ’ εὐπλοκάμους κόμας 792 ἔρυμα δακρυόεν τανύσας 793 πατρίδος ὀλομένας ἀπολωτιεῖ. Eds generally set daggers round 792, and some suggest that μ’ εὐπλοκάμους κόμας (acc. plur.) … ἀπολωτιεῖ may be sound, with the two accs. being ‘whole and part’ (1080–1; Smyth 985), ‘pluck me (by) my hair’.   In 792 ἔρυμα L can mean only ‘defence, bulwark’, as the noun from LSJ ἐρύω/ἐρ(ύ)ομαι B (192 and n.), and here unapt; but Hermann suggested ῥῦμα ‘drag(ging), pulling’, the noun from LSJ ἐρύω A (e.g. with gen. τόξου ‘pull of a bow’ A. Pers. 147); for the verb Ritchie notes Willink, Orestes p. lv n. 90 citing Od. 22.187–8 ἔρυσαν … κουρίξ ‘they dragged (him) by the hair’; and Duport had in fact previously conjectured the gen. εὐπλοκάμου κόμας (as in our text). As to τανύσας lit. ‘stretching, straining’, defence is precarious, since this Epic verb is unattested for Tragedy, but LSJ I.2 yields an approximate analogy for the internal acc. ῥῦμα with it, Iliad 17.401 ἐτάνυσσε κακὸν πόνον ‘(Zeus) stretched the evil work (of battle over Patroclus’s corpse)’.   In 793 instead of L’s single word πατρίδος, P. Leid. 510 attests π̣ασπατριασ (so Pöhlmann-West, with γασ- perhaps ‘intended’) or γασπατριασ (Diggle) or τασπατριασ (earlier eds); all three readings lead to a dochmiac colon alien to the otherwise entirely aeolo-choriambic ode.] 794–800  if indeed the story is true: the passage was formerly read as typical of Eur.’s scepticism, or rationalist criticism, towards myth in general (e.g. by Webster (1967) 291, with reference esp. to El. 737– 44, Her. 1341–6); the myth here is similarly questioned in Hel. 17–21 ‘There is indeed some tale that Zeus flew to my mother Leda taking the form of a swan-bird, which escaping in flight from an eagle achieved union by deceit, if this tale is certain’. Recent commentators confine the meaning in IA to context and relate the alternative conditional clauses 795 if indeed and 797 or to the metamorphosis of Zeus alone. This conforms with the myth-version that Zeus as Helen’s certain father used her to embroil Greece and Troy in war (e.g. El. 1282–3, Hel. 38–40, cf. Or. 1639–42) through her willing abduction by Paris (IA 75–6, 467–8, 583–6 and nn.); and that she was reviled in consequence as cause of all the misery (e.g. Hel. 1147–8) and not least in the house of Atreus, Ag.’s father (A. Ag. 1455–61). At Hel. 1144–6 Zeus’ metamorphosis goes unquestioned in advance of blame put on Helen herself; but there the whole story attracts incredulity, that the gods can operate so inexplicably (1140–3, 1149–50). Cf. e.g. El. 737–8; further esp. Kannicht on Hel.

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16–22 and 256–61, Stinton (1990) 254–8, Jouan (and his 1966, 145–52), Stockert 430. Allan on Hel. 17–21 cites the questioning of mythology by rationalising ‘intellectuals’ such as Herodotus (2.120) and Plato (Phaedrus 220c–30c). 794–7a  you, daughter etc.: the initial 2. pers. address is very emphatic, cf. 1080 n. An ode ends with a 2. pers. apostrophe also S. El. 504–15: see Rutherford (2007) 36.  long-necked: δολιχαύχενος: a natural if ornamental adj. for the swan, e.g. Bacchyl. 15.6, δολιχόδειρος Iliad 2.460. The neck’s encircling length gives power to many artists’ representations of Zeus’ rape of Leda.  if indeed the story is true: on this doubt see previous n. Comparable expressions with ἔτυμος ‘true’ e.g. Hel. 351, Aeolus F 17 and El. 818, all reports.  winged: lit. ‘after it flew (to her)’: Zeus’ winged arrival is a constant of the story, e.g. Hel. 18 above, 216, 1145–6, Or. 1386. Greek. 794 daughter: the fem. def. art. with γόνον ‘offspring’ is unparalleled, but so is it with ἶνις 119 (n.).   797a body: δέμας the body’s ‘build’ (δεμ-/δομ-). εἰ … (797b) εἴτ(ε): Ion 1121; equivalent to εἴτε … εἴτε in plain alternatives, Smyth 2675d. [Text. 794 Bothe conjectured the fem. γονάν, to suit Helen.   796 ἔτεκε Musgrave ‘bore’ is the easiest and most suitable emendation of †ἔτυχε† L, which would mean ‘happened’ (the two verbs are confused in mss. at S. OT 1025: Stockert). With either verb eds have wanted to supplement the meaning ‘had intercourse with’, ἔτυχε Λήδα Scaliger ‘happened to have had, actually had…’, or ἔτεκε … Porson and Monk ‘bore after having had…’. The supply of σ(ε) ‘you’ is essential; placed after Λήδα (Elmsley and e.g. Stinton (1990) 258 n. 51), rather than after ὡς (Musgrave), it removes metrical hiatus before ὄρνιθι. Also σ᾿ ἔτεκεν [Λήδα] (del. Hermann) ὄρνιθι πταμένῳ Willink, in part a metrical rewriting, was printed by Kovacs.   797a ἀλλάχθη without temporal ‘augment’ L, as e.g. 589 (n.): ἠλλάχθη Monk.] 797b–800  Pierian tablets: poems inspired by the Muses, Zeus’ daughters who lived at Pieria near Mt Olympus, 1041, Hes. Theog. 53, cf. Bacchyl. 16.6 ‘from Pieria … excellent songs’. For tablets cf. Erechtheus F 369.6 ‘unfold the voice of the tablets in which the wise are celebrated’.  myths … carried … to men: and retold by them, e.g. Ion 265; converse wording but similar meaning Hipp. 197 μύθοις δ’ ἄλλως

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φερόμεσθα ‘we are carried away by tales, falsely’ (see Barrett), cf. El. 743 ‘tales frightening to mortals’. Also: μῦθος an account current among men 72 above, cf. ‘men say’ Bacc. 295 (that the baby Dionysus was sewn into Zeus’ thigh to conceal him from Hera’s enmity).  off the mark, falsely: παρὰ καιρὸν ἄλλως: a remarkable double contrast with ‘true’ 794, emphasized by the words’ asyndeton and final place in the epode; cf. pleonastic ἄλλως … μάτην ‘falsely … idly’ Hec. 489. In παρὰ καιρόν ‘off the mark’ the context bars a reference to time, for here καιρός denotes an appropriate measure or point, like Pind. Ol. 8.24 of impropriety, or Pl. Statesman 277a παρὰ καιρὸν … σπεύδοντες of sculptors’ excessive haste. The lyric Rhesus 829–30 illustrates παρὰ καιρὸν in a similar context of appropriateness rather than timeliness, εἰ δὲ χρόνῳ παρὰ καιρὸν ἔργον ἤ λόγον πύθῃ ‘but if in time you learn of an action or word that is off the mark’. The sense ‘mark’ aptly conveys the metaphor from archery, as in Supp. 745 †τὸ τόξον ἐντείνοντες τοῦ καιροῦ πέρα† (the metre is at fault) ‘stretching, shooting the bow past the mark’; cf. e.g. And. 1120 ἐς καιρόν of an exact blow to the body, lethal (and LSJ καίριος I adj., famously of Ag.’s death-blow A. Ag. 1343). As to ἄλλως ‘otherwise (than in reality), falsely’, cf. in dialogue Hel. 614–15 φήμας … | ἄλλως κακὰς ἤκουσεν οὐδὲν αἰτία ‘she heard evil reports, falsely, when she was not guilty’). Greek. 800 φέρω ‘carry’ cf. Hel. 1250 a report κληδών, Ion 1340 (εἰσφέρω) ‘introduce’ an account, μῦθος again. [Text. 797 and 798 Note in the apparatus the frustrating evidence of P. Köln 67.] 801–1035 Third Episode As in the Second Episode 303–542, there are three parts: (A) Ach.’s entry and first exchange with Clyt. 801–54; (B) intervention by the Old Man, revealing Ag.’s deception to both Clyt. and Ach. 855–99; (C) supplication by Clyt. of Ach.’s protection for herself and Iph. 900–1035. The play is at its turning-point; indeed Achilles’ entry speech can be seen as a brief ‘second prologue-speech’ by a new entrant; the dramaturgical device is sometimes used in Eur.’s later plays, e.g. El. 487–502, Hel. 386–434, Bacc. 215–47, but here when the action is welladvanced, like the strongly theatrical entry of Agamemnon in A. Ag. 810–54. See Rutherford (2012) 33.

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Ag. has failed to thwart his daughter’s sacrifice demanded by Calchas if the expedition is to proceed. Although he has gained Men.’s unexpected sympathy for its cost to any father, Men. has withdrawn from further involvement (487–8), except for keeping Clyt. in ignorance (538–41). Ag.’s attempt to stop his daughter from coming to Aulis has been overtaken by the arrival also of his wife, and by his emotional and moral capitulation to their presence (742–5). Now Clyt. (and later Iph.) will learn the truth – as will Ach., also deceived unawares: so the Third Episode introduces this last important and long-expected character, but in it he meets only Clyt. Ach.’s importance is conveyed by the episode’s length; and its three scenes are coherently progressive in revealing his character, while different in nature: (A) his impatient entryspeech, after his unanswered call to a gate-keeper, becomes in effect a soliloquy; though it is overheard by the off-stage Clyt. (819–20), she naturally does not react to his complaint; and after this Ach. engages in measured but difficult dialogue with her; (B) the OM’s revelation to Clyt. and Ach. comes in an even more fraught three-way dialogue; (C) Clyt.’s supplication of Ach. is made in a protracted exchange of longer and shorter speeches, leading to his urging her to make a final appeal to Ag. to relent. For Achilles in the play see the Introduction pp. 23–4 and the comprehensive chapter in Michaelakis (2002) 84–143, and the Index of his (2006); but we do not fully share his views. After the initial encounter of Ach. and Clyt. some factors become prominent: the soldiers’ pressure for action; the presence of women among fighting men; (undeserved) suffering and (deserved) pity. Ritchie’s notes on this episode were the most fully worked and valuable to us (and only those on 919–74 were published, in 1978); we cannot ackowledge them all. [Text. Yet again there are suspicions of inauthenticity, esp. in 805–18 and most of the third scene, 919–1035 within 900–1035.] (A) 801–54, in two parts, Ach.’s entry and meeting with Clyt. 801–18 Ach.’s speech shows him intending to force upon Ag. his own and his men’s impatience at the delay (his last word: he behaves like the Ach. frustrated by delay while still in Argos, E. Telephus F 727c.35–48: see on 817–18 below). For the introduction of so vigorous a warrior his

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motive is well-conceived, and at once establishes his persona as correct and proud. His honourable conduct continues when he meets Clyt., and is vital to both this episode and to 1341–1429 in the fourth; he scruples to talk with her and tries to leave 831, to avoid clasping hands with her in her husband’s absence 833–4. His delicate behaviour is in extreme contrast with that of Paris vis-à-vis Helen (whose husband also was absent from home, 76–7). 819–54 Ach.’s dialogue with Clyt. is cast effectively into distichomythia (see Form below). Its slower pace suits the measured exposure of the attitudes and changes gradually forced upon both Clyt. and Ach., for each couplet can carry fuller content than a single line. It is a scene which creates mutual misunderstanding and awkwardness, just as the earlier scenes between Ag. and Iph. and Clyt. used ambiguity to create irony. Some critics have found a mild comic effect in 819–54, especially in Ach.’s astonished reaction in 821–2 to Clyt. when she appears; but here a cruel death is in prospect – unlike the amusing misunderstandings between Ion and Xuthus Ion 517–62 (note the word ‘laughter’ in 528) and the stuttering recognition between Menelaus and Helen Hel. 541–96; there are many similar effects in New Comedy: Lesky (1983) 358. A judicious rebuttal of exaggeration of the comic here by Cavander (1973) 124. Staging. Ach. enters seeking Ag.; he announces his own name 802–3 (see n.) outside Ag.’s hut (from which Ag. is absent, 746–8) and is overheard by Clyt. 820, who naturally comes out to meet her proposed son-in-law 831–40. Ach. appears not to know that women have come from Argos, let alone Ag.’s wife and daughter, and therefore that the planned sacrifice, let alone the deception with the marriage, would bring an end to the delay; so he is astounded to be confronted by a ‘beautiful’ woman (822) among armed men. At the scene’s end their mutually embarrassed incredulity makes them wish only to separate at once; but there is a second surprise for Ach. in 855 where his exit is stopped also unexpectedly, by the OM (see 855–99 n.); cf. Ion 1553 where Ion encounters Athena instead of Apollo (on this scene see Halleran (1985) 40–2 – but not his comparison also with A. Cho. 668 where Clyt. herself, not ‘the masters of the house’ (658), comes out to greet the disguised Orestes, who is expecting her). Form. Distichomythia, both parties speaking in couplets (819–54). This rarer form is superficially more contrived than that with single lines,

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and perhaps less ‘plausible’ at length. It survives in Tragedy first at A. Ag. 620–35 (information emotionally sought and given), Cho. 1051–64; it is rare in Soph., e.g. Trac. 417–35 (a testy interrogation) and often irregular e.g. Phil. 965–1003 (tense excitement). Eur. uses it throughout his career, e.g. Hipp. 1064–89, Tro. 610–33, Or. 215–67, Bacc. 923– 62, although most longish exchanges except Hel. 1032–84 have small irregularities of sequence. Its spaciousness is not suited to sharper verbal techniques, but see 831–3, 834–5, 836–7, 844–5, 846–9 and nn. This first stichomythia between Clyt. and Ach. reveals obstacles which the second 855–99 resolves: see n. Both are analysed by Schwinge (1968) 190–2; a sensitive appraisal of the first by Turato. Art. The 2nd century BC ‘Homeric’ bowls (details in 111–14 n.) depict two moments: Clyt. encountering an astonished Ach. 819ff. and Clyt. astonished by the OM’s revelations 873ff. (nos 8, 9, 10). 801–3  Where…?: in Eur. an unannounced entrant often asks to find a particular person, e.g. El. 487, Ion 1106 (Ritchie), cf. A. Cho. 653–9.  here: not superfluous with ‘Where?’: Ach. assumes that Ag. will be in his hut.  Will … let him know that Achilles…?: such an entrant also identifies himself at once with his own name (see Rutherford (2012) 95–6); it is less a courtesy than confirmatory guidance for the audience. Greek. 802 πῶς ἄν and opt. in a polite request, as e.g. 977, Bacc. 170, Hel. 435; Smyth 1833. φράζω with acc. and part. is a verb of showing, e.g. Alc. 1012: Smyth 2106. 804  Ach.’s impatience increases. He will not wait for an answer, but begins a general protest with not … on equal terms, displacing in the Greek word-order The fact is that (γάρ) – the particle is elliptical and prospective, apparently explaining why Ach. has come at all, so that the contrast which Ach. then draws in 805–8a appears inexact and out of place (n.). At 810 he moves to his personal ‘inequality’: his men are rebellious.  waiting: headline-word for Ach.’s speech: 815, 818 at its end; cf. ‘sit’ 807 (n.). Greek. ἐξ ἴσου ‘on equal terms’ Pho. 1402, S. OT 563, and in an identical line-beginning Ar. Frogs 867 (also a differentiation). Postponement of γάρ is far from rare, e.g. 122, GP 96; the problem of the ellipse is discussed at GP 581–2. [Text. P. Köln preserves πελ̣[ας, which Barnes conjectured; L’s πύλας was a simple copying error (as in Supp. 1009), but has a false attraction,

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for narrow straits are imagined as ‘gates’, e.g. Gibraltar Pindar F 256, Thracian Bosporus PV 729. Hermann punctuated the line as a question; but a firm opening statement is more convincing from Ach. to explain why he seeks Ag.] 805–9  The contrast is a little unsatisfactory: (1) some … unmarried … left … homes unprotected, (2) others have wives and children: all sit here, but they are different from Ag. in two ways. (1) is Ach.’s own situation (and implicitly, his aging father Peleus, 812, is too frail to protect his house); and Clyt.’s revelation in 835–6 that he is about to gain a wife will be ironic; (2) is no doubt true of many. (1) and (2) together threaten men’s supreme duty to perpetuate their households, and can only be explained by a passion for war in those men so fierce … it cannot be without the gods. It is a further irony that in mythology Ach.’s own passion was indeed engineered by the gods (like that of the Greeks generally 411, cf. 1264) – for Ach.’s mother Thetis tried to keep him from the War, e.g. E. Scyrians, Hypothesis (test. iia): Jouan (1966) 204–6; nor was he bound by Tyndareus’ oath (58–69) since he was not a suitor for Helen.  sit: i.e. ‘sit inactive’, explained from 804 ‘waiting’; cf. Ag.’s pretended proposal to leave Troy itself Iliad 2.140; Ach. threatens leaving 1.169–70, 9.356–61. At Hec. 35–6 the frustrated ‘Achaeans sit inactive (ἥσυχοι) on the shore’ of Thrace, prevented from going home after taking Troy. Greek. 805 ἄζυγες γάμων ‘unmarried’ lit. ‘unyoked in marriage’, image as 698 (n.) and e.g. Med. 673, Hipp. 546.   808 ἐμπίπτω ‘fall upon’ with acc. is unique (and increases suspicion of these lines: see Text); for the usual dat. (Ἑλλάδι was Tr1’s unmetrical intervention) in this common image with ἔρως ‘passion’ cf. A. Ag. 341 στρατῷ ‘the army’; the Athenian expedition to Sicily Thuc. 6.24.3 τοῖς πᾶσιν ‘all of them’. [Text. Eds explain and edit L’s text differently, none with total confidence. Hennig and after him Page took suspicion furthest, but Page ended (172) with the comment ‘the fault is natural in unrevised work’.   808 καὶ παῖδας Musgrave (have wives) and children has found recent approval; it attempted to sharpen the contrast (Ag. himself has children, above all: not at all ‘on equal terms’ with Ach.); ἄπαιδες L ‘(and others who have wives are) childless’ – but perhaps a sharper contrast could be made by reading ἄπαιδας ‘(have) childless (wives)’,

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because others have left at home wives who have borne no heirs; and if they die at Troy they will leave their male-lines extinguished.   807 ἀκταῖς Markland and 809 Ἑλλάδ(α) Scaliger are certain corrections.   808 two attempts to save the unique acc. Ἑλλάδα: ἐσπέπτωκ(ε) Murray ‘has fallen onto’ and ἐπτέρωκ(ε) Jackson ‘gave wings to, excited (Greece)’; for the latter image see LSJ πτερόω II and πτοέω 586 n., 1029.] 810–18 [Text. Marked as ‘scarcely Euripidean’ by Diggle; 810–18 and esp. 812–18 were suspect to, or deleted by, Conington, Wecklein and Page, chiefly on grounds of apparent contradiction of detail between 806 and 812 and 813 (n.) with 1323, and of doubtful expression in 813, 816. We do not agree with deletion.] 810–11  who desires to: i.e. speak; similarly Supp. 440, part-echoing the formula proclaimed at the Athenian ecclesia, Τίς ἀγορεύειν βούλεται; ‘Who wishes to address the assembly?’ Greek. δίκαιον (It is) right that: for the construction cf. 1188. χρέος with poss. pron. τοὐμὸν my own need as Hec. 892, IT 881–2. [Text. 810 τοὐμὸν … χρέος Hennig my own need is right, despite intervening δίκαιον (ἐστί): χρεών L gives the sense ‘I ought to speak my own just case, justification’ (the phrase τὸ δίκαιον e.g. IT 500) – but Ach. is not claiming ‘justice’, he is asserting a need.   811 δὲ χρῄζων Paley/ Kirchoff; but L’s def. art in δ’ ὁ χρῄζων ‘the one who desires’ is like that in a similar context at Supp. 440.] 812–13  of Pharsalus: Pharsalus was the chief place in Phthia, Peleus and Ach.’s homeland 103, 713 etc. Ach. grieves to have left Peleus alone in his old age Iliad 24.540–2, cf. (Ach. in Hades) Od. 11.494–7.  slight breezes: not strong enough for sailing; cf. 10–11; it will be a different thing if they strengthen and blow adversely 1323 (so there is no contradiction with that line: 810–18 n.); but see Text. Greek. ἠδέ and is Epic, very occasional in dialogue-trimeters in Eur., e.g. Hec. 323. [Text. 812 Stockert prints Musgrave’s Φάρσαλιν (a Hellenistic form).   813 πνοαῖς L ‘breezes’. The main argument against ῥοαῖς Markland ‘currents’ (printed by Diggle, Kovacs) is that the Greeks’ departure depends rather upon the winds (10–11), as far as Ach. knows (he is unaware of the proposed sacrifice of Iph. until 873–9). Also the Euripus was almost always evoked for its uniquely strong currents, e.g. 166, IT 6–7; an exception is Ion 19 F 18 TrGF where the adj. λεπτός

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‘slight’ is found describing the motion of its waters. Ach.’s thrust is weaker if he is dismissively ironic about slight currents.] 814–16  I am restraining my Myrmidons: the passage 814–18 is modelled on Iliad 16.200–7; with our 817 compare the Myrmidons’ outcry there at 205 ‘let us return home with our seafaring ships’. The lines prepare for 1352–7, by which time opposition to Ach. has grown. For Ach. and the Myrmidons see 1067–9 (n.), Michaelakis (2002) 113– 20, 122–3.  ‘Achilles etc.’: actual speech reported, 356 n.  why are we waiting?: cf. Telephus F 727c.37 (and 43) ‘Why do you (plur., the Atreids) delay?’, Ach.’s own complaint, but made at Argos. Also: ‘Why do we delay going?’ S. OC 1627, the unearthly voice calling Oedipus to leave the world.  measure out: ἐκμετρέω; for time’s ‘measure’ μέτρον see S. OT 561; e.g. Or. 72 has μακρὸν … μῆκος … χρόνου ‘long length of time’. Greek. 816 πρός the meaning ‘until’ for the prep. is not securely attested (see Text). Ἰλίου objective gen. with στολόν lit. ‘sending off’, expedition for Ilium: for the gen. cf. e.g. IT 1066 νόστον γῆς πατρῴας ‘return to our fatherland’; Smyth 1332–3. Cf. S. Phil. 247 τοῦ πρὸς Ἴλιον στόλου. [Text. 814 Monk’s οἱ δ(ὲ) ‘and they’ must replace L’s οἵ μ(ε) ‘who … me’: the pron. με cannot stand as object either with προσκείμενοι on the attack (it is always intrans.) or with λέγουσι as ‘say of me’.  815 Monk’s πόσον How much is quantitative, necessary as object to a verb of measurement; L’s ποῖον, qualitative ‘what sort of ?’, cannot be defended from A. Ag. 278 ποίου χρόνου ‘what sort of time since…?’, which is a separative gen.   816 πρός L is difficult, explained uncertainly as ‘until’ or ‘for, upon, with a view to’ (LSJ C III.3.a), or even as an adv. ‘forwards’: whence England’s replacement with τὸν, creating a single phrase as object for ἐκμετρῆσαι; cf. S. Phil. 247 in Greek above. Tr3 and P2 wrote (Ἴλι) ον above Ἰλίου, and early eds offered the meaning ‘(measure out time) in sending off to Ilium’, with στόλον as an unlikely internal acc. with ἐκμετρῆσαι; Markland adopted Ἴλιον, but with στόλου as descriptive gen. dependent upon 815 χρόνον ‘time spent on the expedition’.]   817–18  Act … if … act at all: colloquial impatience: the idiom with verb repeated in conditional clause is illustrated by Stevens (1976) 53, cf. Collard (2005) 364; but this appears to be the only certain example in Tragedy.  don’t wait … delays: Ach. in Telephus (814–16 n.) F

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727c.46–8 ‘ on the delays (of the sons of Atreus)’ μελλήματα. Atreids: the inclusive name indicates that Men. has indeed not betrayed Ag.’s secret, nor his own disengagement at 499 (Ritchie); cf. Ach. again at 842. Also, therefore neither Calchas nor Od. has betrayed Ag.’s secret (his fear, 525–35). The Telephus passage and our own have the only two poetic occurrences of μέλλημα ‘delay’; it recurs in a possible allusion to one or the other passage at Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon 72 ‘nor wait upon the delays of the Greeks’. In all three places μεν- μελλ- are juxtaposed, and in 818 μὴ precedes them: deliberately suggestive onomatopoeia or careless assonance? [Text. 817 Fix, a useful adversative; L/Tr offered nothing in the metrical hiatus; P2, the particle sharpening the imperative (rare: GP 125, discussed by Diggle (1981) 22). This in early printed editions prompted Monk’s δρᾶτ’ … δράσετ’, plurals ‘pointless’ (Ritchie) in a complaint to a single commander. Metre. 817 ἢ ἀ- with crasis, making a single long syllable, as e.g. Hec. 1249 μὴ ἀ-: West (1982) 13.] 819–54  On this distichomythia see (A) 801–54 n. 819–20  O son … divine daughter: Clyt. continues from 710–12 her awe of Iph.’s bridegroom; similarly 836.  heard … from inside: – or from off-stage, a common enough entry-motive, e.g. Hec. 1114–15 (cf. 1109), Hcld. 478–9, Supp. 87; cf. our 317 and n. 821–2  O mistress Shame!: ὦ πότνι᾿ Αἰδώς: Hippolytus utters the same cry at Hippolytus Veiled F 436, despairing at loose morality. Here it conveys (1) Ach.’s astonishment at encountering a woman, and a beautiful one, among armed men (826): is her modesty forgotten?; and (2) his own instinctive restraint before a lady. The apostrophe of Shame establishes a major aspect of his character (see also 801–54 and 801–18 n.; Michelakis (2002) 101–2), particularly throughout this first exchange, where the verb αἰδέομαι ‘feel shame’ (see Barrett on Hipp. 244) recurs: 833 from Ach. and 839 from Clyt. (cf. 830 Ach.’s own fear of ‘shaming’ αἰσχρόν behaviour, 824 Clyt.’s commendation of his ‘correctness’, τὸ σωφρονεῖν: n.); at 848 the verb is taken over by Clyt. of herself (851 she drops her eyes before him). For ‘shame’ αἰδώς in the play see Introduction pp. 34–5. Surprise like Ach.’s often provokes an invocation of a god, e.g. Or. 385 ‘O gods, what do I see?’, Men. encountering the desperately ill

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and bed-ridden Orestes. Abstractions are often deified, and sometimes personified; then eds print them with a capital letter – as can reasonably be done here (cf. Fortune 864 n., and Fate 1136). Just as the noun αἰδώς is hard to translate satisfactorily and consistently, so is πότνια ‘mistress’, for it registers a power to be obeyed (ποτ- ‘master’ as in δεσποτ-: see DELG under both nouns), in both mortal and god (e.g. 1524 Artemis; perhaps also 1487); cf. Hipp. 88 ‘we must call gods masters’ (δεσπότας)… How beautiful…!: εὐπρεπής ‘well-seeming, well-prominent’ is here defined by its noun μορφή ‘form’, as e.g. El. 1074 ‘face’; by its context 386 above. Greek. The word γυναῖκα is emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.). 823–4  related: προσῆκες: The word begins the stichomythic misunderstandings: see Text. Clyt. is clear in her own meaning, but Ach. cannot know it until 832–6. Ritchie however demurs: ‘it is not on family connection that recognition depends’.  I approve: αἰνῶ, a very common 1. pers., e.g. Bacc. 944 of a man’s thinking, Supp. 201 of a god making provision for men.  correctness: a difficult translation. σωφρονέω is lit. ‘think safely, soundly’, in context ‘show proper restraint, scruple’, here Ach.’s reaction to her lady’s status and beauty. Clyt. compliments him again with the adj. σώφρων 1024 (n.). Greek. 823 θαῦμα with acc. and infin. as e.g. Danae F 324.6, like the verb θαυμάζω e.g. Alc. 1130. οἷς masc. or ‘common’ plur., usual of a single woman ‘generalised’: Smyth 1009.   824 προσήκω ‘be related to’ IT 550; LSJ II.l.b, III.3 (but see Text); this verb with a dat. never has the sense ‘come to’. For ‘generalising’ μή in the rel. clause cf. 834; 384 n. [Text. οἷς … προσῆκες Nauck and most eds, lit. ‘to whom you were not related’: οὓς … προσέβης L ‘whom you had not approached’; οἷς … προσῆλθες Paley ‘whom you had not visited’ (the dat. of a person is normal: LSJ προσέρχομαι I.1). Ritchie favoured οὓς … προσεῖδες Fix ‘whom you had not looked upon before’ – and indeed ms. P’s rubricator entered a conjecture κατεῖδες ‘saw’ (apparently unknown to Fix).] 825–6  a woman among men: soon to become Clyt.’s argument for Ach.’s sympathy, 913–14.  heavily armoured: φράσσω lit. ‘fence in, secure’, a term for men in full-body metal armour e.g. 1387, Iliad 17.268; but here it brings out Clyt.’s abnormal presence among them. Greek. 825 (τίς) δέ opening an interrogation (Ach. did not address Clyt. in 821–2), cf. Hcld. 638, Ion 308, GP 173–4; Bothe removed the

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Commentary

particle, introducing a tone of abrupt astonishment.   826 Eur. uses the old Attic perf. mid.-pass. stem of φράσσω in φαργ- (Barrett on Hipp. 657, pace DELG); again in 1259, 1387. 827–8  I am etc.: self-identifications vary their formulae of pedigree, e.g. Ion 260–1, Hel. 87–8, Pho. 288–90. 829–30  You do well … brief … main facts: as one educated by Chiron to practise simplicity (927), Ach. appreciates brevity, timeliness and accuracy (see Plato, Hippias Minor 365ab, quoting Iliad 9.309–14); for other such moments cf. S. El. 1259, OC 808–9.  But it is shameful etc.: Ach. may be thinking that ‘Clyt. has been sent out by Ag. to confer’ in his place (England). Greek. 829 ἐν βραχεῖ ‘in brief’ e.g. Or. 734, Supp. 566. τά καιρία lit. ‘things for the precise, critical moment’, e.g. Soph. above; the adj. καίριος of a plan Hcld. 471; cf. καιρός 800 n.   830 συμβάλλω join in conversation with: this place is not listed with dat. at LSJ I.11. 831–2  Stay! Why are you trying to escape?: the same words in attempts to detain another speaker e.g. Hel. 548–9, Pho. 897; different wording e.g. S. Trac. 335; ‘stay’ alone e.g. 855 (see 1461 n. Greek). For recent entrants in such moments see Taplin (1977) 300 n. 2.  right hand: pledges are so made, 58 n. Clyt. wants a mother’s reassurance from the fiancé before the wedding, in a beginning to a happy marriage. Greek. 832 ἀρχήν ‘as a beginning’ is acc. in apposition to the sentence: 234 n. [Text. 831 μεῖνον – τί φεύγεις; Valckenaer Stay! Why … escape? makes perfect contextual sense; δεινὸν τί φεύγεις L ‘What are you trying to escape that is (so) terrible?’ (or, with older eds, δεινόν τι ‘Are you trying to escape something terrible?’) leaves too much to implication. Markland’s deft τ(ε) is again perfect: L’s γ’ is nonsense in any meaning of the particle.   832 μακαρίαν ‘happy’ is attached to ‘beginning’ in L, but more effective when transferred to ‘marriage’ (μακαρίων Markland): see above.] 833–4  Ach. picks up only ‘hand’ from 831, the leading word in the sentence; he is made not to hear ‘marriage’, so that Clyt. must repeat the matter forcibly with 835 ‘you are to marry (my child)’; then he reacts will full amazement 837.  My right hand with yours?: ellipse of ‘join’, a not rare device to convey astonishment at reunions, e.g. IT 802 Or. ‘…now you have your brother!’ 803 Iph. ‘I (have) you, my brother?’,

Commentary

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S. Trac. 429; Headlam on Herodas 5.4. See also ‘speechless’ 838 and n.  touch … no right to: Electra 223 El. ‘Away with you! Do not touch those you should not touch.’ 224 Orestes ‘There is no one I would touch more rightly (ἐνδικώτερον)’. 835–6  every right: such emphatic picking up of a word from the other speaker (as in 833 from 831) is a marked feature of stichomythia, 801–54 n. at end. The effect here is greater because the first use ends one speech, the second begins the answer.  sea-goddess: an addition to Clyt.’s initial address of Ach., 819; she continues to be preoccupied with his lineage. Greek. The pres. of γαμέω can serve as a ‘dynamic’ fut. from Homer on, e.g. Iliad 9.388, 391, DELG; this is not a ‘contract’ fut. like τελῶ, for which see Smyth 488d. 837–8  How do you mean, marriage?: lit. ‘What sort of marriage are you talking about?’, ποῖος with noun or idea repeated from the other speaker (835 ‘marry’); it is indignant or disdainful, and colloquial: Stevens (1976) 38, cf. Collard (2005) 363; Diggle (1981) 50–1.  speechless: lit. ‘speechlessness holds me’ (an idiomatic use of ἔχω: LSJ A I.8). The same phrase at Her. 515, the same noun Hel. 549, in both following a wholly unexpected sight.  out of your mind: the verb παρανοέω is found first at Ar. Clouds 1480, the noun παράνοια at A. Seven 756, then e.g. Or. 824 (there of ‘evil-minded men’); both occur as clinical terms in the Hippocratic Corpus. Cf. Ion 520 ‘Are you in your right mind?’ εὖ φρονεῖς μέν; (in a comic context, unlike here).  speaking so strangely: the rare verb καινουργέω: see n. on 2 ‘strange activity’. 839–40  It is natural: ἐμφύω of inborn attitudes e.g. Med. 519, 1345. relatives: the closest English can get to φίλος lit. ‘loving, friendly’ in its common use of those to whom one is obliged by birth or marriage; see e.g. 317–414a n. (i), 458 and n. Greek. μεμνημένους: the aor. pass. ἐμνήσθην is usual in the sense ‘mention’, not the perf. mid. as here; but cf. e.g. Hel. 120. [Text. The acc. μεμνημένους, not L’s dat. -οις, is required: Clyt., not Ach., mentioned ‘marriage’.] 841–2  paid court to: see 847 n.  Atreus’ sons: for their significance here see 818 n. Greek. 841 οὐπώποτ(ε): this very strong negative is not rare in Eur.; it is the converse of ἀεί ποτε 638.   842 λόγος and objective gen. γάμων talk of marriage: 498 n.

456

Commentary

843–4  What could this mean, then?: both Clyt. and Ach. are at an impasse, after 841–2; the question (in various forms with potential opt., e.g. Supp. 558 with πῶς ‘How … then?’, Hel. 467 with ποῦ ‘Where … then?’; cf. GP 270) is half-rhetorical, perplexed; hence the mutual challenges of 843–5.  back again: Clyt. invites Ach. to revisit his 837 and wonder again at her 835–6, just as she could only wonder at his astonished ignorance of the marriage, although she concealed wonder beneath the platitude of 839–40 (but see 845–6 Text). Greek. 843 πάλιν αὖ, pleonastic, 108.   844 τὰ παρὰ σοῦ what you are saying: for the prep. παρά with gen. pron. ‘(coming) from you’ eds cite e.g. Gorgias 82 B 11a Palamedes 37 DK, Xen. Cyr. 6.1.42; LSJ A.II.2 record it as a prose usage, and it is found in Eur. only here (see Text). [Text. 844 τἀπὸ σοῦ Dobree ‘your actions’, as e.g. Tro. 74; LSJ ἀπό III.4.] 845–6  Make a guess!: answering Clyt.’s 843 ‘What could this mean, then?’; then We have guessing in common here. Ach. next offers a way out, we were both deceived by what was said, perhaps, i.e. ‘we were each misinterpreting the other’, Jackson (see Text). Greek. 845 κοινόν ἐστί ‘share’ as e.g. 918 (with dat. expressed). εἰκάζω ‘guess’, not rare in Eur., e.g. Tro. 163, cf. A. Cho. 518.  846 ἐψευδόμεθα ‘were … deceived’, impf. ‘of immediate past reference’: Smyth 1902–3. [Text of 843–6: a difficult matter after the seductively clever interchange of θαύμαζε wonder and εἴκαζε Make a guess! made by Jackson (1955) 40, cf. Diggle (1994) 493 n. 12. We believe L’s text of 844–5 to be sound, however: the doubling of ‘wonder’ in 844 and of ‘guess(ing)’ in 845 is excellent, the play of one against the other effective. With Jackson’s interchange further alteration becomes necessary: 844 ‘guess’ governing 843 ‘my words’ acc. τοὺς λόγους is meaningless, and Diggle changed to the dat. τοῖς λόγοις ‘guess by means of my words’, which does not suit 843 ‘What could this mean, then?’; Jackson himself was forced to follow 845 ‘Wonder!’ with κοινὸν , ‘ we share…’.   In 846 ἐψευδόμεθα (Paris apograph, conjectured by Markland) ‘we were … deceived’ is superior after any constitution of 843–5 to οὐ ψευδόμεθα L ‘we are not being deceived’. Page’s strong doubt of 845–6 obliged him to suggest deletion also of 847–8.] 847–8  With Clyt.’s been treated lit. ‘suffered’ compare her 985 ‘we

Commentary

457

have suffered pitiably’.  I am paying court: μνηστεύω is a male suitor’s verb (841); here it represents Clyt.’s sense of her false position revealed. Of a woman also (but finding a bride) Stesichorus F 93 Davies-Finglass (but the context is lost), Ap. Rhod. 2.511 the Muses seek a wife for Aristaeus.  ashamed: see 821–2 n.; Clyt. means the words and actions that have resulted from Ag.’s deception of her. Greek. 847 ἀλλ’ ἦ in an incredulous, protesting question, Can I really…?: GP 27. Alc. 816 has the same beginning.   848 εἴξασιν is a ‘local’ Attic form of ἐοίκασιν 3. plur. (see apparatus), also Hel. 497 in Eur.: Smyth 704d; colloquial?: Collard (2005) 377. [Text. 847 μνηστεύω L: Diggle printed Nauck’s conjecture μαστεύω ‘I am looking for, seeking’.   848 the form εἴξασιν is required here by metre (as in the same phrase with ὡς at Hel. 497); L’s alternative ἐοίκασιν is the normal form. Metre. -α short before μν-: 68 n.] 849–50  making a mockery of: a hero’s greatest indignity, esp. if the basis is false: κερτομέω e.g. Hel. 619, S. Phil. 1235.  take … lightly: φαύλως φέρω from Ach. again 897 – but there negative like 899, of the same sense of injury. Greek. δός give: an example of the wide application of δίδωμι (too wide for LSJ at e.g. I.5 to note this place); the sense is that of Antiope F 187.2 ἀμελίᾳ παρεὶς ἐᾷ lit. ‘he lets (it) go into lack of care and leaves it’. 851–2  Goodbye!: abrupt, but Clyt. is now so ashamed that she must leave Ach.’s presence, not just fail still to look (him) straight in the face, ὀρθοῖς ὄμμασιν lit. ‘with straight eyes, level gaze’ (Hec. 972 has ὀρθαῖς κόραις, the same idiom): she is guilty as a liar, but herself a victim (847), even if undeserving, and in that state unworthy of contact. For ‘undeserved suffering’ cf. Tro. 1289 slavery, Ion 1515 matricide (but there avoided). 853–4  (I bid) you goodbye as well!: this is the most likely sense, τόδε lit. ‘this’ referring to the the farewell χαῖρε in 851 and καὶ σοί ‘and to you’ replacing the pron. καὶ σύ in the formula seen at e.g. Alc. 509 – χαῖρε … 510 – … καὶ σὺ χαῖρε; the phrase ἐξ ἐμοῦ ‘from me’ shows that Ach. is offering something.  look for: ματεύω, a deliberate echo of Ach.’s entry-motive ζητέω 803; compare Hel. 597 (μαστεύω). Staging. Both Clyt. and Ach. now make to leave, Ach. into Ag.’s hut (Clyt. is given no time to tell him Ag. is not there), Clyt. to go – where? Where else but into the hut as well, although that is unthinkable together

458

Commentary

with Ach.? – but the question is pedantic, for the sudden entry of the OM prevents such an embarrassment after their parting words. For the possibility nevertheless of a second door in the stage back-cloth (in the 5th century theatre?) representing a second entrance to the hut, see Taplin (1977) 439; Halleran (1985) 48 n. 24. (B) 855–99. Revelation to Clyt. and Ach. of Ag.’s true plan.   The mechanism chosen by Eur. is not through loose talk overheard and reported to Clyt. (Ag.’s fear: 538–40), but through an unexpected informer, the OM; he was Ag.’s previously faithful confidant (28–48, 114) and bearer of his second letter to Clyt. (139–54) when intercepted by Men. (303–16; here 891–5). The OM’s greater loyalty to Clyt., as her slave before her marriage (858–60, 867–71), now breaks through; he sides with her 871, to save ‘those I wish’ 864. In the Prologue-scene he had shown concern for Ach.’s reactions (124–7). The OM’s first words make it clear that he will speak to Ach. and Clyt. jointly, but he establishes with Ach. first – and only with him – that they will not be overheard 855–65. Clyt. then takes over as interlocutor, and after accepting his assurance of goodwill 866–71 urges him to say what he intends 872. It is his carefully slow revelation of changed loyalty which makes both that and his immediately following disclosure about Ag. so effective. Clyt. is successively incredulous, appalled by her husband’s motives, and tearful for herself and daughter 873–89, but collected enough to verify the OM’s ‘sources’ 890–5. The ground is laid for her to turn abruptly to Ach. in formal supplication 896–9; she kneels to him at 900, preventing him from leaving for a second time; and scene (C) 900–1035 begins. Staging. The OM speaks from behind the partly opened gate 857, 863. We must not speculate how or why he had not revealed the truth to Clyt. before; but his fear (857 n.) was of danger from her sudden encounter with Ach., whose voice outside he too overheard (cf. Clyt. 820), so that he may well have followed her to the gate before the scene began. ‘Eavesdropping’ by ordinary servants is not rare in Tragedy (S. Mills in EGT 305–6), and often precedes a crisis, e.g. Med. 67 the Tutor, Hipp. 565 the Nurse, S. El. 1239–1320 the Tutor. Peeping from behind a door is a motif of Comedy, e.g. Ar. Peace 981–5, Thes. 797, Ecc. 924.

Commentary

459

With the OM’s interruption compare (Ritchie) that of Odysseus after overhearing Neoptolemus’ sudden vacillation at S. Phil. 974 (414b n.), or that of the servant revealing to the unruly guest Heracles the death of Admetus’ wife at Alc. 803–25, which his host had concealed from him (509–22); an intervention preventing departure at e.g. S. Trac. 335. With the OM’s disclosure his part in the play is done, and he withdraws silently (as probably at 319: n.), almost certainly when Clyt. turns in despair to Ach. 896–9. Form. Distichomythia gives way to ordinary stichomythia, across a transitional couplet in the OM’s opening words 855–6, and iambic trimeters yield to the brisker rhythm of trochaic tetrameters (316–401 n.); they are needed for the sharply increased tension created by the OM’s nervous intervention and frank disclosures. The ironic half-revelations of Ag. facing Iph. and Clyt. (631–745) are abandoned (and only Ag. will try to repeat them, 1106–28). After 855–6 the OM’s ‘you … and you’ we might have expected an interactive three-voice exchange, but this form is infrequent in Tragedy, used most widely in Soph. but always briefly and with speakers usually in differing, successive pairs, as here; in Eur. the third voice may have an occasional single line or two (the densest passage is El. 671–93): see B. Seidensticker in Jens (1971) 203–4, (on Eur.) 210–11. 855–6  Stranger: with the exclamatory ὦ, the vocative ξένε underlines an address to persons of status e.g. Alc. 821, Ion 415 and conversely e.g. Ion 247, so that it does not conflict in tone with the formal descendant (of Aeacus) γένεθλον (Ag. used it to his wife 686 n., cf. 1106) and born the son of a goddess (cf. 901). On Iph.’s later address to Ach. as ‘stranger’ see 1418 and n.  It’s you I mean: σέ τοι λέγω, an idiom ranging between the respectful e.g. A. Cho. 456 and the disrespectful S. Aj. 1228; with αὐδῶ Ion 219 (lyric); in Comedy, GP 542. In all, the OM’s mixed tones may suggest his anxiety; note Ach.’s reaction in 857 ‘How frightened…’. Greek. μεῖνον wait: for the aor. imperative see 1461 n. Greek. [Text. 855 For Markland’s correction of L’s designation of him as θε(ράπων) ‘servant’ see List of Play-characters at the start of this Commentary. ὦ, σέ Markland, with the pron. calling attention, like ὦ, οὗτος … σε προσκαλῶ S. Aj. 89 (to Ajax inside his hut): ὡς σέ τοι λέγω L, with sigma copied twice in probably an ancestor ms., can mean only ‘so that I may speak of you’.]

460

Commentary

857  is calling: καλέω of calling attention, through a theatre-door e.g. A. Cho. 655.  half-opened: i.e. one leaf of the theatre’s central door, partly opened, παροίγνυμι as at Ar. Peace 30. Greek. τεταρβηκός neut. perf. part. intrans. as internal acc. to καλεῖ, How frightened his call. Alc. 773 has πεφροντικὸς βλέπεις ‘you have an anxious look’; cf. [Theocr.] 20.14 with a verb of voicing τι σεσαρὸς … ἐγέλαξεν ‘he laughed a little mockingly’; for the construction see KG I.309 (Smyth’s treatment 1573 is limited). [Text. τεταρβηκὸς England, Diggle: τεταρβηκὼς L and most eds, masc. nom. ‘in terror’.] 858  I’m not delicate about this: as indeed he wasn’t in his blunt exchanges with Ag. in the prologue-scene 46–8 or with Men. 303–12. Good slaves admit the shame only of their name e.g. Ion 854–6; cf. 867 n.  What has happened: ἡ τύχη; cf. 719. Translation as ‘my (own) fortune, circumstance’ is false to the context: the OM is not defending his speaking out as a slave, but explaining why he has to; and he comes to his loyal goodwill towards Clyt. in 867–71. Greek. For the sense of ἁβρ- cf. Clyt. reproving Iph. 1343 ‘you’re in no position to be delicate’ (noun ἁβρότης); for the verb ἁβρυν- see Fraenkel on Ag. 1205. The dat. τῷδε is causal: Smyth 1517. [Text. L’s μ(ε) is absent from the Paris copy (design or accident?); Elmsley deleted it as offending ‘Porson’s Law’ (49–51a n.; West (1982) 42, 84–5); Radermacher rescued it with οὔ μ’ ἐᾷ.] 859  Certainly not mine: Ach. assumes that a slave calling from inside Ag.’s hut cannot be his own and cannot concern him (My possessions … separate; a slave was a chattel); but the OM’s pointing to Clyt. (860) obliges Ach.’s courtesy towards her. Greek. μέν on its own with a pers. or poss. pron., emphatic: GP 381. οὐχί emphatic negative emphatically postponed, e.g. Med. 708 λόγῳ μὲν οὐχί ‘in what he says, not’. χωρίς adv. ‘separate’ as complement e.g. Aeolus F 21.3 ‘good and bad … separate’. τἀμά ‘anything to do with me, my things, affairs, obligations, interests etc.’: 396 n. καὶ (τὰ) Ἀγαμέμνονος: the def. art. is often omitted with the second of coupled nouns, e.g. El. 273 τἀμὰ καὶ σ(ὰ) ἔπη ‘my and your words’, Pho. 474; Smyth 1143 (but thin). 861  We’re standing here!: ἕσταμεν: i.e. ‘standing (and waiting)’, mildly impatient after 855 ‘Wait!’, like El. 227 ἕστηκα ‘I’m standing here!’ answering 226 ‘Stay and hear!’. See Addenda.  Tell me, if you

Commentary

461

want something: a variation on a formula, e.g. El. 905, S. Trac. 416; cf. Clyt. 866 ‘if you want to say something to me’. 862  alone: μόνω (dual): securing privacy for a confidence e.g. Hec. 978–81, Ion 1520–2. Comedy used the device frequently, e.g. Ar. Thes. 472, (Stockert) Plaut. Miles 596–9. Greek. ἦ … δῆτα; is a nuanced interrogative, e.g. Ion 560, IT 1176, in which δῆτα keeps its ‘own logical force’ ‘…then, …’; GP 271. [Text. παρόντε Porson (dual: see 863 Text) is certain; πάροιθεν L is unmetrical, and a clear invader from 860, the line above 862 in the transcolumnar sequence of lines in both L and, it is inferred, its exemplar.] 863  only to the two of us: avoiding unwanted hearers or watchers, a design at e.g. Hec. 1017–18, Pho. 92–3. The presence of the Chorus is completely ignored: see Bain (1977b) 59. See Addenda. Greek. ὡς: idiomatic ellipse of in the Greek ‘ that you…’, e.g. 1367; Smyth 3001. See Addenda. [Text. μόνοιν Markland, the dual reflecting that of 862: μόνοις L.] 864  The OM now comes fully outside the gate.  O Fortune and my forethought: does the OM just thank his own precaution, or (better) mean his imminent hope to involve Clyt. and Ach.? The poss. pron. ‘my’ may however stand with both nouns, despite the clear personification of the first. For the appeal in a crisis to more than one abstraction cf. Ag. in 1136 Fate, fortune and destiny, El. 1301 fate and necessity. Fortune τύχη is found increasingly personified after A. Ag. 664, and in the 4th century in dedicated cult: Collard on Hec. 785–6, 491; other abstractions too, Mikalson (1991) 277 n. 7 (but he omits Fortune!). Ritchie points to the frequent coupling of fortune and forethought, sometimes in contrast, e.g. S. OT 977–8 ‘What should man fear, for whom fortune is powerful and who has forethought for nothing?’, cf. Phil. 774; Hdt. 8.87.3, Antiphon 5.21.  those I myself wish: precautionary veiling of detail, e.g. Hcld. 791, IT 513; contrast Clyt.’s only too clear use at 1025. 865  What he says: ὁ λόγος or ‘What you say…’, or even ‘The word’ (i.e. ‘forethought’)? Ach. seems to indicate that he will leave the speaking to Clyt.; but the line’s meaning and tone are in doubt from textual corruption and insecurity (see Text). Greek. μέλλων part. ‘future’ of time as e.g. E. F 1028.3 coupled with παρελθών ‘past (time)’, cf. 988 of marriages, 1355, 1380, Alc. 784 of tomorrow’s advent, El. 626 of a coming birth.

462

Commentary

[Text. (1) †ἂν ὤση (= -ῃ?)† L has no syntax or meaning. In (μέλλοντ)α σώσει Monk ‘will save (them)’ (i.e. those the OM wishes, 864), the fut. is counter to Ach.’s uncertainty; on the other hand ‘save’ repeats the previous speaker’s word pointedly, a familiar stichomythic effect. Accordingly Stockert, Matthiessen and Kovacs favour Schwabl’s (unpublished) σώσαι, a bare opt. ‘May what he says save (them)’; but this at once implies Ach.’s support, like Stockert’s own opt. ὄναιτο ‘May … bring benefit (to them)’. Schwabl’s suggestion is however superior to (μέλλοντ’) ἀνοίσει Markland ‘will relate to (a future time)’ (not ‘defer’: that would be ἀναβαλεῖ): excellent in English but (Ritchie) against the normal sense of ἀναφέρω intrans. with a prep. phrase as ‘relate to a standard’ (LSJ II 6.b). Diggle OCT cites no conjecture at all. (2) ὄκνον Hermann hesitation, a word which Clyt. immediately exploits in her 886 ‘don’t delay’: ὄγκον L ‘weight’ i.e. ponderousness, conveying a half-joking condescension towards a slave, is inappropriate to Ach.; this noun of ‘swollen, puffed-up’ speech e.g. Pho. 716–17, S. OC 1162. Also ἔχω … ὄκνον Collard ‘but I have a certain hesitation’ makes Ach.’s own uncertainty explicit. (3) Other editors have supposed a line of Ach. to be lost before 865, or of the OM after it (where Stockert prints a lacuna).] 866  My right hand on it: that we are alone; lit. ‘in virtue of my right hand’ (as pledge, 58, 339, 471) – i.e. ‘don’t wait for a spoken pledge’ (England). Greek. ἕκατι ‘as far as … goes’; e.g. Her. 277 ‘…as I go’, Hel. 1182 ‘…my effort goes’. 867  well-disposed: 871 n. The OM stressed his loyalty 45, cf. Ag. 114; but note 871! Greek. δῆτα ‘to be sure’, here Then surely, inferential, in a question likely conveyed also by tone of voice, e.g. Pho. 722, 901; GP 271. 868  I know: οἶδα answering the other speaker’s οἶσθα; ‘Do you know?’ is common in Eur.’s stichomythia: Dodds on Bacc. 462–3. (old) slave: λάτρις as e.g. Hec. 609 ἀρχαία (‘old’) λάτρι; it is usually a (hired) servant. 869  dowry: 47; cf. 860 above. 870  with me: 48. Greek. ἀεί ποτε ever since: see 638 n. 871  less (well-disposed) … to your husband: startling. Clyt. has no reason to expect this, since she would be aware that Ag. would take only a trusted slave on campaign (867 n.). Cf. And. 59 ‘(a woman captiveslave) well-disposed to you and your husband while he lived’, Ion 811–

Commentary

463

12 ‘I speak of your husband without hate, but liking you more than him’. At E. Phrixus F 822a and b.3–5, 13–15 a slave switches allegiance from mistress to master. 872  reveal: ἐκκάλυπτε lit. ‘uncover’ suits the secrecy requested in 862–3; cf. 1146. Greek. ποτε at last with imperative as S. Phil. 816; with νῦν temporal preceding ποτε compare Phil. 1041 τείσασθε … τῷ χρόνῳ ποτέ ‘punish (them) all in time at last’. [Text. στέγεις Schmidt are keeping unsaid lit. ‘cover, hide’ (e.g. El. 273 words, Pho. 1214 bad news; cf. LSJ B III.2); printed by Diggle (followed by Kovacs), citing his similar emendation at Tro. 1177 (Diggle (1981) 74): λέγεις L, dynamic pres., ‘want to say’.] 873  father, her begetter: the redundant phrasing is pathetic, 90 n. Clyt. uses it again in 1177–8, where she repeats the description of Ag.’s action with his own hand more emphatically, ‘himself, no other, and by no other’s hand’. αὐτόχειρ, here of kin-killing, of fratricide Pho. 880 and of Medea’s filicide Med. 1281 (see Mastronarde on either). Greek. For μέλλω and aor. infin. in Eur. cf. 880, Ion 1210, 1265 (all κτανεῖν, the aor. signifying finality); Diggle (1994) 415 cites Stevens on And. 571; Smyth 1959. 874  What?: πῶς; lit. ‘How(‘s that)?’, incredulous, e.g. Hec. 397, Hel. 95, stronger even than in 513; What you say … is abominable follows, lit. ‘I spit your words out’ (cf. A. Eum. 303), ἀπέπτυσα as in 509 (n.); for the aor. see 440 n.  You are not of sound mind: note the OM’s 893, and 877 ‘he is out of his mind’, both of Ag. 875  With a sword etc.: the OM answers incredulity with flat certainty, continuing his syntax from 873. bloody: a deliberate verb, Iph.’s for her own imminent death 1317, cf. 939, 947; Her. 319–20 ‘stab, bloody necks with a sword’, And. 411–12. ‘White’ and ‘bloody’ are effective neighbours in the Greek, as e.g. Supp. 77, a lacerated face. Ritchie notes that sword 1429, [1566], [1578], bloody (above) and neck (1084, 1429, 1516 etc.) inevitably become frequent later. 876  what I endure!: in addition to the hurtful discovery of the false marriage, 852 ‘treatment I do not deserve’. Clyt.’s self-pity, before she shows pity for her daughter (880, 888 again), conflicts with the OM’s emphasis on the girl in 875 (cf. 887).  mad: μαίνομαι as e.g. Bacc. 359 μέμηνας ἤδη ‘You’ve now gone mad!’; cf. (Ritchie) Men. Epitr. 878–9

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Commentary

‘the man here’s beginning madness, … is going mad, … is mad, … is truly mad’. Greek. τυγχάνω with pres. or perf. part. conveys actuality, ‘happen to be’: 1138–9 n., Barrett on Hipp. 388–90. 877  in his right mind: ἀρτίφρων also Med. 294; A. Seven 778 (also of recovery), cf. Tro. 417 οὐ γὰρ ἀρτίας ἔχεις φρένας ‘your mind’s not right’.  (out of) his mind: bare φρονέω of a sound mind e.g. Bacc. 854; contrasted with ‘mad’ (μεμηνώς) S. Aj. 82. Greek. πλὴν ἐς … τοῦτο δέ except towards … there as Or. 541. 878  demon: lit. ‘(Which among) demons?’ ἀλάστορες: supernatural forces compelling bloodshed and often vengeful within a family – but also culpable, e.g. Hipp. 820, Med. 1333: the audience at least would think of all these implications, of Ag. as an Atreid, if Clyt. does not. At 946–7 (see n.) Ach. pictures himself as such a demon if he fails to prevent Iph.’s sacrifice. 879  A prophecy … Calchas: a shocking answer to ‘Which among demons?’.  at any rate: for the OM’s ancient disapproval cf. his 133, and Ag.’s tone in 518 (which the OM did not hear). 880  Where to?: Clyt. already knows (662–4), so she is distraught? Her question in 882 shows her bitterness.  What I endure! (Clyt. 876, 888) … the girl endures: the same double concern in Clyt.’s 886 (– but see n.).  intends to kill: Clyt. uses the OM’s line-end of 873. 881  get back Helen: see also 882 n. Clyt. overheard Ag.’s 682–3, and Iph.’s 658. 882  Helen’s: her name has the same place, before the Greek mid-verse caesura, as in 881; here in the Greek it is effectively juxtaposed to that of Iph.  fated (to depend) upon: England thinks that this nears ‘fatal to’ Iph. Greek. πεπρωμένος ‘fated’, part. describing a thing, as e.g. marriage Hel. 1646, Melanippe F 501.1; usually neut. and impersonal, e.g. And. 1268. ἄρα with impf./plup. of a new realisation (Was) … then: 404 n., 1330.  upon: εἰς ‘in relation to’ expressing hostility, e.g. El. 329, Hipp. 438. 883  Artemis: at 91 the goddess was named in the prophecy (879), as the destined beneficiary. Greek. for the idiom πάντα ἔχω understand … all cf. (Ritchie) Or. 1120 ‘I understand so much, but the rest I do not understand’; LSJ A I.9. A different idiom at e.g. Pho. 953 τὰ μὲν παρ’ ἡμῶν πάντ’ ἔχεις ‘You have my entire case’, cf. Ion 1367–8. 884  What…?: [Text. Better punctuated as a specific question (τίνα

Commentary

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L, Wecklein, Diggle, Kovacs); weaker as an uncertain one (τινα Weil, Günther, Ritchie, ‘Was the marriage some pretext…?’); weaker still as an inference (‘The marriage was some pretext…’). ᾧ Musgrave, lit. ‘for which (marriage)’, enables Ag. to be maintained from 883 as the subject of the clause and of attention before the damning 885: superior to ᾗ Stockert ‘with which (pretext)’. Ritchie retains ἣ L ‘the pretext which fetched me’, comparing 580–1 ‘the judgement which sent you’, Pho. 365 ‘the pledge which brought me’.] 885  For you to rejoice in bringing … your child: Turato (pp. 230–2 n. 105 on this line) sets out his argument that the whole series of potential and actual misunderstandings between Ag., OM, Clyt. and Iph., some of them half-spoken, over the apparently conflicting contents of Ag.’s two letters – whether Clyt. was just to send Iph., or to accompany her, beginning with 99 (n.) – is Eur.’s richly enjoyable ‘fabric of dramatic verisimilitude and psychological motivation’. ‘to rejoice’: double-edged (Ritchie): Clyt. was to respond to the prospective joy of a fine marriage; the general joy would be a good omen for the sacrifice. Greek. χαίρουσα: part. carrying the main idea, cf. 892; Smyth 2147a. [Text. ἵν’ ἀγάγοις Blomfield (-ης i.e. -ῃς L): ἵνα γ’ ἄγοις Vitelli introduces an attractive ‘Yes’ in γε with the chief thrust of the answer (e.g. And. 247, Bacc. 835; GP 134). Barnes’ fut. part. νυμφεύσουσα is necessary: cf. 458.] 886  O my daughter!: pathetic apostrophe (at last!). Greek. Note how and your mother is subsumed into the 2. pers. sing. of the verb ἥκεις. ἐπ’ ὀλέθρῳ for death: 1237, IT 601, cf. 29 n. 887  you both equally: picking up the end of 886, but lit. ‘you two (suffer: dual), being two’: emphatic doubling of ‘two’ with the part. οὖσαι ‘being’, as S. Trac. 539–40 ‘we wait (not dual), being two sharing an embrace under one cloak’ (as bed-mates of Heracles), cf. Ant. 13–14 ‘we were deprived, two (of us) of two brothers killed in one day by a double blow’; see Stevens on And. 516, 692.  brought himself etc.: for the OM’s wording see his 133 and n. [Text. ὄντε dual Wecklein, but a finite dual verb, here πάσχετον, with a plur. subject, here οὖσαι, is common: Diggle (1994) 205; Smyth 962.] 888  all over for me: both οἴχομαι ‘I am gone, destroyed’ and ὠλόμην, ὄλωλα ‘I am destroyed, lost’ are common Tragic metaphors of lives in ruin but not yet ended; together at e.g. Hipp. 878 ‘I am destroyed,

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Commentary

gone’ (Theseus on finding Phaedra’s body).  no longer hold back my streaming tears: Her. 625 νάματ’ ὄσσων μηκέτ’ ἐξανίετε ‘no longer let streams from your eyes’, cf. S. Ant. 803 ‘I can no longer restrain (ἴσχειν) the springs (πηγαί) of my tears’; Ag. 451–3 and to Iph. 683–4. For στέγω lit. ‘hide’ (872 n.) half-metaphorical ‘hold back, hold in’ cf. e.g. A. Supp. 135 ‘keep out sea-water’. [Text. δακρύων νάματ(α) Hense: eds have accepted Hense’s plur. νάματ(α) ‘streams’ in place of ὄμμα(τα) ‘eyes’, given the use of the noun in Pho. 370 δι’ ὄσσων νᾶμ’ ἔχων δακρύρροον ‘with a stream of running tears across my eyes’. δακρύων τ’ ὄμματα L ‘eyes of tears’ is nonsense here; Tr3’s remedy δακρύον (sic: Zuntz (1965) 101) τ’ ὄμματ(α) … στέγει (adopted by Matthiae; cf. Barnes in the apparatus) ‘my eyes no longer hold in a tear’ shows the gap between Byzantine conservative textual emendation and modern imagination.] 889  Greek. εἴπερ ‘if indeed’ can introduce a condition whose truth is obvious or admitted, and so become causal ‘since’ (we convey this with so), e.g. Hipp. 248, Ion 366, Supp. 914; Smyth 2246; LSJ II. τὸ … στερόμενον: the def. art. and neut. of a passive part., making a noun, is rare, e.g. 386, Thuc. 2.63.1 τῆς πόλεως … τῷ τιμωμένῳ ‘the honour of the city’. [Text. στερόμενον, δακρυρρόει Weil: στερομένην δακρυρροεῖν L translates as ‘Since letting tears flow when you are deprived of children is painful’, but then ‘Since etc.’ follows less well from 888 ‘I can no longer hold back my … tears’.] 891  about (what … written): πρός ‘in relation to’ nears ‘to counter’; cf. 115 and n. 892  confirm: ξυγκελεύων lit. ‘jointly order’; the only other recorded use of this verb is at Thuc. 8.31.2, of an officer sharing command. 893  sound of mind: (Ag.) contrasting with 876–7; for the translation cf. 874. Note the emphatic and effective postponement to line-end of Greek ‘sound’, the adv. εὖ. Greek. μὲν οὖν adversative, No, … not, contradicting, cf. e.g. [1537], Or. 169, 1511, in μὴ μὲν οὖν 1522; GP 475. 894  Greek. κᾆτα πῶς in a surprised question, Then … how was it that …?, as e.g. And. 339; GP 311; judged colloquial by Stevens (1976) 47. γε emphasizes the contrast in φέρων carrying with not hand it over. 895  evil: the κακά of Menelaus seem slightly different from one context to another, both ‘evils’ and ‘troubles’: see e.g. 384, 658 and nn.

Commentary

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[Text. The end of the line in L does not break ‘Porson’s Law’ (above 858 n.), despite Porson’s own conjecture aligning it with Med. 332 τῶνδ’ ὃς αἴτιος κακῶν: see Diggle (1994) 467 n. 121.] 896  Clyt. turns abruptly to Ach. (see 855–99 n., second para.); her formal address O child of Nereus’ daughter shows that she still expects much of a man of Ach.’s lineage: 819, 836 nn.  do you hear this?: for such cries at peaks of emotion cf. Pho. 611, Supp. 366, 1143. Greek. E. Dickey, Greek Forms of Address (Oxford 1996) 65 discusses the question whether τέκνον ‘child’ and παῖ ‘son’ are synonyms in this formulaic phrase (and in others elsewhere). 897  I hear your misery: lit. ‘that you are wretched’; from her own lips 876, 880, 886.  I do not take my own case lightly: cf. 899; contrary to the advice Ach. gave Clyt. in her case, 850. He resents the insult to his honour implicit from 885; we may understand that his long listening to the OM (866–95) has slowly kindled his anger – his ‘true nature’ (Michelakis (2002) 93). Greek. For τοὐμόν ‘my case, interests etc.’, the sing. of τἀμά (396 n.), cf. e.g. El. 1114 ‘I watch my own situation, not his’, Ion 1022 ‘you blame my own position’. 898  tricked: Clyt. again at 1457, speaking to Iph. For such tricks cf. e.g. Alc. 12 (upon the Fates), A. Ag. 1636 (upon Ag. by Clyt., his murder). 899  quite so simply: together with 897, Ach. means that he feels a hurt in himself greater than that done to Clyt. and Iph. by Ag.; he expands on this in 919–61, esp. 930–47. Ritchie well argues that ἁπλῶς ‘simply’ is not a synonym of 897 φαύλως ‘lightly’. Indeed ἁπλῶς followed by οὕτως ‘so’ is a common expression, judged colloquial by Stevens (1976) 19; also Supp. 1186 in Tragedy, and common in Plato. [Text. Günther shared earlier editors’ suspicions of both 898 and 899, and Diggle (1994) 410 was sympathetic (though impugning only 899 in OCT).   898 has no fault, while 899 strongly repeats 897 (above), not duplicates it (899 del. Hennig).] (C) 900–1035  Clytemnestra appeals to Achilles. Clyt. supplicates Ach. for her own and her daughter’s protection. Urgency gives her arguments concision and punch 900–16 (see below), and they compel Ach. to a long but self-centred agreement 919–74 (below). Clyt. therefore renews her appeal for pity, and to strengthen it says that Iph. too

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Commentary

will supplicate Ach., in person, if he thinks it right 977–7. Then comes a varied sequence of brief speeches and stichomythic exchange 998–1035: Ach. replies that Iph.’s public appearance would be improper, and he states that it could not affect the decision he has made, to put his own life at issue to save hers. Yet he has a new and prior plan: first Clyt., then he himself if need be, must try to persuade Ag. ‘to change his mind for the better’ (1011). Clyt. accedes, but gets leave to seek Ach.’s physical protection if her attempt fails. She goes into the hut to await Ag. (see 1098–9); Ach. leaves. Form and Content. The supplication-scene, like 1146–1275 and others in Euripides, imitates in 900–76 the structural core of a full-scale agon (335–403), two speeches each marked off by a choral distich: see Collard (1975) on Supp. 87–262 (C) and in Mossman (2003) 79 (with her comment 7 n. 29), and the counter by Lloyd (1992) 8–9, 77–9; judiciously Rutherford (2012) 192–3. 900–16 Clyt.’s contentions are: (1) 900–2 As a mother she supplicates a mother’s son (also 903, cf. 909) to protect her child (Ach.’s goddess mother was famously protective: 1068–79 n.). Iph. too later entreats him in her name (1233). (2) 903–8 (a) 903–6a the deceit with the marriage threatens death to her daughter; (b) 906b–8 Ach. will be reproached if he does not protect her; the insult to himself through abuse of his name requires it. Ach. has already been angry for his damaged honour (899); Clyt. here makes the injury to her daughter into Ach.’s responsibility to avenge, jointly with his own, as if he were in reality her husband (for a similarly legalistic contention, but in a different context, see Mastronarde on Pho. 944–6). It is the chief argument in Clyt.’s entreaty. (3) 909–11 In renewing her formal supplication from (1), Clyt. repeats (2b). (4) 912–15a She has no friends; Ag. (who should be one) is cruel; she is a woman come among soldiers; they are dangerous – but might help. (5) 915b–16 Her safety, and her daughter’s, depend wholly on Ach.’s protection (renewing 2b, 3). Although her appeal acquires pathos, she does not use the word pity: that comes first in Ach.’s recognition of her plight (934), and she herself first uses it in her second appeal (977–7, at 981, 985).

Commentary

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919–74 Ach.’s response: 919–31 He begins by asserting his strong sense of honour, and his straightforward morality as a free man. 928–31 nevertheless show how Ach. is being shaped by his role; though sympathetic towards Iph. he will eventually give way to admiration for her nobility (1411, 1421–30) and therefore to the needs of the army (966–7, 1357). 932–72 He expands this profession into accepting the obligation brought by his name’s linking with Iph. (Clyt.’s 2a, b and 3), repetitiously but variously: 932–4 Clyt. has his pity because of Ag.’s treatment of her; 935–7 he will not tolerate Ag.’s abuse of his name, for 938–43 he is the cause of his dishonour; 944–54 he will be as nothing if he does nothing, for his name is killing Clyt.’s daughter; but Ag. shall not touch her; 959–62 it is not the loss of the marriage that insults him, but the abuse of his name; 968–72 he is as nothing now, but his sword shall save the daughter. The speech is uneven, perhaps deliberately so; and its impact is at risk from two diversions, 955–8 the sudden condemnation of Calchas (see n.) and 965–7 the ambiguous concession over Ach.’s name’s use for a common cause; [963–4] are an interpolation: see n. The final two lines 973–4, perhaps intended as an envoi, are remarkable (if genuine: n.): disclaiming the status of a god which Clyt. has halfaccorded him (her 1, 4, cf. 5), he nevertheless ‘will become’ one – and after he accepts her second appeal (1002–5), she defers to him absolutely (1010, 1014, 1024, 1033). See also 919–74 n. Staging. At 900 Clyt. drops to the ground to supplicate Ach., and it is uncertain from the text when she gets up: see 900–1 n. [Text. Every line of 900–1035 has been deleted (not just suspected) by one or more scholars (details in Diggle OCT p. 424): see separate notes in their place, esp. on 919–74 and 977–1035.] 900–1  at your knees: the ritualised posture of a suppliant, e.g. Hec. 339, 737, like the form of address in 909 (n.). Ach. gives Clyt. no explicit

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Commentary

word to bring her to her feet again, signifying his acceptance (e.g. A. Supp. 324, Thuc. 1.137.1); but in the theatre he might gesture, for he was wary of physical contact with her, 833–4. His assurance to her in 973–4, and her response at 977–8, let alone 1008, and her agreement to act as he suggests in 1009–33, imply that by 977 she is again standing; indeed it would be incongruous for her to remain on the ground much after 934 (see n. there (and Text) on ‘protect’ καταστελῶ).  feel no shame: because in Clyt.’s case supplication means loss of dignity, in an act of submission: 902 n. Adrastus feels it bitterly Supp. 164–5, Menelaus Hel. 947–9; Oedipus refuses the indignity Pho. 1622–4. Ritchie wonders if Clyt.’s denial of shame is modelled on her hypocritical protestations A. Ag. 856 and 1372 ‘I shall feel no shame’. The classic analysis of the aetiology and practices of Greek supplication is by Gould (2001) 22–77, including on 35–42 an exposition of ‘the rules of the game’ and on 74–7 an important Addendum to the original publication of 1973; F. S. Naiden, Ancient Supplication (Oxford 2006) has however challenged Gould’s interpretation, arguing inter alia that the person supplicated had by and large nothing to fear from men or gods if the grounds for the supplication led him to reject it. For supplication in Tragedy see also J. Fletcher in EGT 1379–81.  mortal … (born of a) goddess: a pathetic contrast here, like Iph.’s words 1396; but this juxtaposition is often weighted against the god, e.g. Her. 342, 757. Greek. θνητός ‘common’ gender, as also in Iph.’s 1396. γεγῶτος gen. in apposition with poss. gen. σου implicit in τὸ σὸν γόνυ, as e.g. 1226; Hec. 430 θανούσης ὄμμα … τὸ σόν; Smyth 977. [Text. 900 (ἐ)γὼ Markland for L’s γε: the particle is sound, emphasizing the verb, but the pron. better, emphasizing the personal cost: 901, and ἐγώ repeated there.   901 γεγῶτος: -ος is a variant in L itself, printed by Diggle; L’s γεγῶτα represents a copyist’s misreading. Wilamowitz’s deletion of 901 loses too much of the pressure on Clyt. to supplicate: cf. 903, 909, 910 (n.).] 902  exert myself … child?: for the moral idea cf. Her. 574 ‘Whom should I defend rather than my wife?’ Greek. ἦ interrogative ‘introducing a suggested answer to a question just asked’ GP 283, citing e.g. IT 1168, Bacc. 828. σπουδάζω as e.g. Supp. 761 πέλας γὰρ πᾶν ὅτι σπουδάζεται ‘the object of all your exertions is near at hand’; intrans. with preps. LSJ I.2; trans. e.g. Thyestes F 391.2 ‘we make many exertions from hope’.

Commentary

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[Text. ἦ τινος Diggle, with interrogative particle preceding the indefinite pron.  anyone. L has ἐπὶ τίνος ‘on what ground…?’, and Hermann suggested ἐπὶ τίνι ‘for what purpose…?’; but such a question is without point here when τέκνου πέρι ‘for my child’ stands at lineend. Τhe entire word-order (with metre restored by Tr3) ensures heavy emphasis on ‘anyone’ and ‘child’. At line-beginning ἢ Porson, followed by interrogative τίνος, ‘Or for whom…?’, is an inappropriate disjunctive.] 903–4  son of a goddess: 901 n.  defend: ἀμύνω again in 907, cf. ἀμυναθεῖν ‘defend’ 910.  spoken of: the poet echoes 130 (n.) and 135, Ag. ‘promising’ Iph. as affianced, cf. Ach. at 936, 1356; cf. 908 ‘called (husband)’ (καλέω). Greek. 903 δυσπραξία ill plight, not rare in Eur., e.g. with poss. pron. IT 514, Hipp. 915.   904 λέγω ‘speak of (as)’, e.g. Hel. 284 ‘as sons (of Zeus)’, Ion 1325 ‘as mother’. μάτην falsely as e.g. Ion 275, S. El. 1298. ἀλλ’ ὅμως: the elliptical idiom ‘requires’ repetition of the grammatical form preceding it, i.e. ‘but (spoken of as: λεχθείσῃ) even so’; often with μέν, and also an adverb e.g. Bacc. 1027, Her. 1365. Colloquial in tone: Collard (2005) 367. 905–6a  (It was to) you: the pron. is emphasized in the Greek both by its leading position (and the sentence stands in asyndeton) and by its far separation from to be married; cf. initial ‘you’ again in 906b. Clyt. however mentions garlanded nowhere in her entry speech (despite her 610 ‘escorting a bride’) nor does the Messenger in his surmise of the coming marriage 430–9 (despite his advice to Men. and Ag. to garland themselves); so Clyt.’s detail is for rhetorical colour? Later Iph.’s garlanding is for her sacrificiaI death itself, 1080 in grim anticipation by the Chorus (n.), 1478 in her own words (n.).  to the slaughter: σφαγαί, brutal, lit. ‘the throatcuts’ (for Polyxena Hec. 522): see 875 n.; Introduction p. 11. 906b–1088  if you did not defend her: οὐκ ἤμυνας indic. presents Ach.’s failure as fact and as if the reproach had already been made. Greek. 906 ὄνειδος reproach as grammatical subject to a verb of ‘coming’ (Stockert) A. Ag. 1560, Eum. 155.   907 ὅστις the rel. pron. ‘(as one) who’, approximating to ‘in as much as’, and typifying quality or capacity (e.g. 389; Smyth 2496); here its clause behaves as a conditional (whence translation as ‘if’: cf. Smyth 2560), and in a mixed structure of an aor. with a fut. (e.g. 937–8; Smyth 2343).   908 ἀλλά

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Commentary

still, reinforced by γοῦν at any rate: ‘but…’ in a result clause (‘apodotic’ GP 458–9), ἀλλά alone 11–13, Smyth 2782. [Text. 907 οὐ Wecklein could stand in a conditional protasis where fact is emphasized (Smyth 2698b): Ach. has not yet married Iph.] 909–11  By your beard, by your right hand: both were touched or held by a suppliant, beard (or chin) to hinder words of rejection, hand in hope of a pledging grasp (866) or of being raised to one’s feet (900–1 n.). Michelakis (2002) 86 n. 6 observes that a fully grown beard on Ach.’s theatrical mask would be consistent with 5th century representations of him in art; but if the beard were very short, it might imply that he still lacks the adult strength to rescue Iph. physically (note Ach.’s 933 ‘a young man’, and his assertions in 938, 970–1). But ‘By your beard’ may be only a form of words here? The apparently bearded Hamlet (‘Who … Plucks off my beard?’: 2.2.574–5) is rarely played with a beard.  by your mother: see 910–16 n. in (C) 900–1035 n. Form.  altar … refuge: resort to sanctuary as alternative to human supplication, common in Tragic theatre e.g. And. 43–4, 162, Ion 1280; but ‘altar’ is metaphorical, as e.g. Or. 448 ‘the altar of hope’. Greek. 910 ἀμυναθεῖν is the strong aor. infin. of ἀμύνω, regularly accented in mss. as a non-existent pres. form: see LSJ, DELG. [Text. 909 Markland restored normal idiom (and metre: Tr1 had failed) to this formula of appeal, with the ellipse of a verb ‘I entreat’: see Barrett on Hipp. 605 (an entreaty just ‘by your hand’), Smyth 1599; cf. Hec. 752–3 ‘knees, chin, hand’.   910 was deleted by Hennig, misjudging it as poorly worded and its content as weakly anticipating Ach. in 938 and 947.] 912–13a  any friend: φίλος, one conventionally therefore under obligation (317–414a n. (i); 334 n.); the same adj. in ‘dear (husband)’ 908 hints Ach.’s obligation to his ‘wife’. Clyt.’s continuation you hear etc. has its logic in that Agamemnon is certainly no φίλος.  cruelty … total determination: the description is modelled on Ag.’s behaviour at A. Ag. 221–6. The latter phrase repeats πάντολμος ‘all-daring, allenduring’ from Ag. 221, an adj. itself echoed in ἔτλα ‘endured (to do)’ 225 there, cf. IT 862 τόλμαν ἣν ἔτλη πατήρ ‘the cruel action that my father endured to do’ and our 133, cf. 887 (see nn.). ‘cruelty’: the adj. ὠμός as e.g. Hipp. 1264 ‘cruel to your son’. [Text. near πέλας Markland, a palmary emendation of the ancient and

Commentary

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simple miscopying γελᾷ ‘laughs for me’ which now stands in L, vainly defended by some eds as ‘looks bright’, i.e. ‘offers hope’; Alc. 79 has similar wording, οὐδὲ φίλων πέλας ἔστ’ οὐδείς. Also: P. Oxy. 3719 (3rd century AD) has a few part-words from the ends of 913–18, with no differences from L. It is possible that its severely defective single page once held lines as far as 977 (it preserves a speaker-indication ‘Clyt.’, but no text): if so it may well have carried all of Ach.’s speech 919–74 as part of an anthology, but its late date makes the papyrus of no significance to authenticity.] 913b–15a  a woman to an army of unruly sailors … bold in pursuit of evil: a pity-seeking development of 912 ‘no friend near me’ (in fact the army welcomed her daughter and herself joyfully, inferring that Iph. was about to be married, 427–34). The language resembles Hec. 606–8 (Hecuba’s anxiety for the dead Polyxena) ‘let no one touch my daughter, and keep the mob from her: in a numberless army the mob is undisciplined and sailors’ unruliness stronger than fire; and the villain is the one who does no villainy’: Hec. 607 ἀκόλαστος ὄχλος ναυτική τ’ ἀναρχία is like IA 914 ναυτικὸν στράτευμ’ ἄναρχον. Sailors’ unruliness Thuc. 6.72.4, hard to control 7.14.1–2; caused by idleness IA 807, 1000. The poet may be recalling the idleness at Aulis described in A. Ag. 193– 8, esp. 194 ‘leisure with its evils’. Hec. 608 κακὸς δ’ ὁ μή τι δρῶν κακόν ‘the one committing no evil act (was held to be) evil’ resembles as a judgement IA 914b ἐπὶ τοῖς κακοῖς θρασύ ‘bold in pursuit of evil’ (with this phrase cf. IT 275 ‘wild, bold in irreverence’, a man scorning another’s prayer). Clyt. echoes Ag.’s fear of the ‘masses’ 526–33, and anticipates the idea’s stronger recurrence 999–1001, 1030, 1346–57 (all, spoken by Ach.) – so why her qualification though useful when they wish to be? Eds suggest that she is hinting to Ach. that he may find support among sailors for saving herself and daughter (see Text). The qualification has a precedent, Or. 772–3 ‘(the mass of the people is evil) but good when they get good leaders’. The other parallels cited by eds show that these are common generalisations about the sailors on whom Athens’ survival in the Peloponnesian War depended, not directed here at a contemporary political crisis: they are part-mechanism of the poet’s dramaturgy no less than of Clyt.’s rhetoric. As to ‘useful’: this too is Euripidean in a civic context: χρήσιμος Supp. 887, Or. 910–11; conversely, ‘useless’ Supp. 239, Hcld. 4.

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Greek. 914 ἐπί ‘in pursuit of’: 29 n.   915 θέλωσιν plur. after sing. στράτευμα, a collective noun: 428 n. [Text. 914b–15a κἀπὶ τοῖς κακοῖς | … θέλωσιν ‘bold … wish to be’: doubt of Clyt.’s qualification caused England and some other eds to delete these words. Diggle suspected 915–16.] 915b–16  hold your hand over me: Clyt. hopes this again 1026–7. What weight do we give the pron. ‘me’? Ritchie puts it well: ‘not necessarily a sign of her self-centredness (see n. on 876), rather that she has formally become ‘first person’ as the suppliant of 910, 912, 913 – and will offer Ach. additional supplication by Iph. 992–4’.  safe … not safe: more rhetoric, both ‘ring-composition’ with ‘come to my aid’ 903, and a pleonastic, negative contrast, particularly common in IA (Stockert), e.g. 93, 982, (twice in 928–9). Wecklein notes S. Trac. 83–5 ‘either we are saved if his life is saved, or we are lost together’. Greek. ἢν … τολμήσῃς … σεσώμεθ(α) is a vigorous mixed condition (Smyth 2326); the indic. of result presses the point.   916 εἰ δὲ μή is syntactically inert, equivalent to an adv. ‘otherwise’; followed by οὐ also And. 242, 254. σεσώμεθα: the 5th century perf. mid. form of σῴζω, cf. 1440 n., not σεσωσμ- (later Greek: Smyth 489b). [Metre. 916 μή, οὐ fuse as one long syllable, even across the sensebreak, as in And. 242, 254; cf. 41 n. Text; West (1982) 13.] 917–18  This divider between speeches from a chorus is not perfunctory (cf. Introduction p. 32), but stresses Clyt.’s devotion to her daughter, which is important throughout the play (even when variable: 876 n.).  strange power in motherhood: the same words spoken by a (bad) mother (Clyt.) S. El. 770.  (works a great) spell: φίλτρον, upon the feelings of kin Tro. 52, cf. E. Alcmene F 103 ‘children a powerful spell upon men’. The ideas together: Erechtheus F 358.1 ‘nothing brings children more joy than their mother’, Pho. 355–6 ‘the pains of giving birth are powerful over women, and the whole female sex is in some way loving towards children’.  fight hard: perhaps more than this is hinted, as in the other Euripidean occurrence of ὑπερκάμνειν Bacc. 963, where the verb’s common implication ‘toil, suffer, die for’ is ‘for the audience’ (Dodds). 919–74  For the content see in 900–1035 n. [Here, on Text. The speech was most strongly attacked by England, who saved only 928–45 and 955–8, and by Page 175–80, who seemed

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willing to save only 922–31, 944–5, 957–61 and 965–9. Among recent scholars Günther kept only 959–62 and 965–74; Griffin in Pelling (1990) 147 inclined towards Page; Diggle marked the whole as ‘scarcely Euripidean’; Kovacs kept only 944–5, 947–54, 970–2; preservers have been Lesky (1983) 359, noting Murray’s caution in his 1913 OCT; Ritchie (1978); Jouan, with whom Turato was in sympathy (2000: 81, 233); Stockert (deleting only 924–5, 963–4 and perhaps 944–7; we share his position); Matthiessen; and Michelakis (2002, also strongly suspicious only of 924–5 and 963–4). We give these full data to show that conservatism is now prevalent, but that agreement in large and small will never come. Good summaries of the problems, after those by Page and Ritchie (1978), are by Stockert 462–3 and Michelakis (2002) 130– 4 (who observes wryly (132) that ‘the same observations are used to express different views on the issue of authorship (of 919–1035)’. Page identified fifteen or more lexical and stylistic features and four or five repeated or inorganic ideas which point to non-Euripidean authorship (cf. Paley’s n.), together with theatrical emphasis on Clyt.’s sorrow and ‘lingering on the love of Ach. and Iph.’ (the word ‘marriage’ would be better), and Ach.’s inconsistent moods; for him the latter two had the ambience of 4th century New Comedy. Subjective and often insecure judgements of language have now mostly given way to differing opinions about the admitted unevenness of the speech: are Ach.’s changes of attitude and position the result of unskilled if dramatically effective interpolation, exploiting Ach.’s Homeric persona, or Eur.’s original purpose in shaping this third (and young) ‘hero’ of the play as unable in himself to handle his responsibility and conduct? Like Men. and Ag. he ends by capitulating to the irresistible, in his case to the determination of Iph. (1404–32). 919–31  Self-analysis as a dramatist’s mode of characterization, esp. in crises: e.g. (Ritchie 1978) Hipp. 373ff. (Phaedra), Tro. 643ff. (Andromache); cf. Michelakis (2002) 104. Here after Ach.’s introductory 919 he continues strikingly with four ‘gnomic’ couplets 920–7, for some critics a cause of suspicion; see 924–5n. 919–21  My spirit is high with proud thoughts, and borne forward, but…: Ach.’s instinctive pride, a strong part of his sense of honour, stirs him to action, but he is at once able to control it, from moral principle, 920–1, 922–3, 933–5 etc.; see esp. Michelakis (2002) 93–5. This moderation would

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be surprising in the adult fiery or sulky Iliadic Achilles (Telephus F 718 may be spoken to him by Odysseus: ‘It is time for your mind (γνώμη) to rule your temper (θυμός)’), but it is a Euripidean touch in his characterization here: in Supp. 861–8 praise for a moderate Capaneus is surprising after his god-defying arrogance had killed him, Supp. 496–9. The few Greek words in 919 are packed with meaning: ὑψηλόφρων is lit. ‘lofty-thinking’; the word elsewhere only Pl. Rep. 550b, as ‘highspirited’ coupled with ‘ambitious’; here with θυμός ‘spirit’ and the vigorous αἴρεται πρόσω lit. ‘is roused (to move) forward’, it conveys an overriding impulse (and so is not English ‘high-minded’); the language is matched in the OM’s expectation that Ach. will ‘stir up his resentment’ θυμὸν ἐπαρεῖ 124–6. With the form of 919 Ritchie (1978) compares Erechtheus F 362.34 γυναικόφρων γὰρ θυμὸς ἀνδρὸς οὐ σοφοῦ ‘a spirit that thinks as a woman is that of a man not wise’. For αἴρω ‘rouse, lift’ of an emotional impulse cf. e.g. Hec. 69, A. Seven 214 fear; for ὑψ‘high’ cf. esp. S. OT 914 ‘Oedipus rouses his spirit high (ὑψοῦ), excites it’ (in impetuous reaction). For πρόσω figurative cf. (Ritchie) Iliad 16.265 πρόσσω πᾶς πέτεται, ‘every (wasp) taking to (angry) flight’ as comparison for the θυμός of the Myrmidons roused for action. 920–1  I know: ἐπίσταμαι of moral intelligence, with inf. (‘know how to’) e.g. Med. 537 ‘to obey the law’, Ino F 413.1 ‘to keep silent’.  distress over misfortune … joy over full prosperity: all eds cite as precedent in idea and language Archilochus F 128.5–7 IEG West ‘(Spirit, my spirit!) … rejoice over joys and do not distress yourself over troubles too much’ (θυμὲ θυμέ) … χαρτοῖσίν τε χαῖρε καὶ κακοῖσιν ἀσχάλα | μὴ λίαν; cf. e.g. Theognis 593–4, S. OT 937. Greek. τοῖς κακοῖσι and τοῖσιν ἐξωγκωμένοις are neut. plur., and dat. of cause with a verb of emotion: Smyth 1517; in ἐξωγκωμένοις the root ὀγκ- has unusually a favourable connotation, ‘grown full’, rather than pejorative ‘swollen’ (cf. ὄγκος ‘dignity’ 450 n.). The adv. μετρίως stands with both infins., like the adv. κακῶς 969 below; cf. Med. 1302, Ion 858: for such stylistic economy see Wilamowitz on Her. 238 (Smyth has nothing). The verb ἀσχαλάω/ἀσχάλλω ‘be distressed, aggrieved at’ e.g. Or. 785 with acc. θάνατον ‘death’, PV 303 with dat. κακοῖς. [Text. ἐπίσταμαι Musgrave ‘I know’ and e.g. Stockert, Diggle: the 1. pers. suits Ach.’s self-identification with ‘the reasoners’ of 922 much better than L’s ἐπίσταται ‘(my spirit) knows’.]

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922–3  reasoned … with good judgement: in the Greek the words enclose the sentence completely, emphatic before the couplet 926–7. For Ach.’s confidence in reasoned moderation (921, 922) see Michelakis (2002) 102, 104–5. The superiority of ‘judgement’ to ‘spirit, instinctive feeling’ became poetic tradition after Theognis 631–2 ‘whoever’s mind is not stronger than his spirit is always in the midst of disaster’. Greek. λογίζομαι ‘reason’ as in Ag.’s 386 τὸ λελογισμένον ‘reason’ and (Ach. again) 1021 λελογισμένως ‘from reason’, cf. 1409; for the dependent inf. διαζῆν cf. 920 ἀσχαλᾶν. For διαζάω go through life cf. Bacc. 426 ‘live through a happy lifetime’. For μετά in γνώμης μέτα ‘with judgement’ cf. 544 n., cf. ὑπὸ γνώμης 368, 565; conversely ἀμαθίας μέτα ‘in ignorance’ E. Antigone F 163.1. [Text. This sententious couplet is given to the Chorus by L, but would at once interrupt Ach.’s powerful beginning; and it would offend the formal conventions of Tragedy.] [924–5]  Deleted by Paley (as part of 924–31). The verses are superfluous after 920–1, and delay a forceful return to the 1. pers. in 926. Their contrast of pleasant and useful does not suit the context, and they are probably an invasive marginal parallel (cf. [520–1] n.; Bond on Her. 1291–3).  (be …) sensible: φρονεῖν: the most likely meaning but, after 922–3, perhaps ‘clever’, even ‘arrogant’. useful χρήσιμον: possibly the word’s occurrence in 915 helped to attract the interpolation, but that was a ‘usefulness’ specific to that context; cf. nevertheless Pho. [1740] τὸ χρήσιμον φρενῶν ‘a mind’s high worth’ (Mastronarde); Oedipus F 552.1–2 ‘Is it more useful to be intelligent and without daring than…?’ Greek. ἔστιν μὲν … ἵνα … ἔστι δὲ … ὅπου: comparably Or. 638–9 ἔστι δ’ οὗ … ἔστι δ’ οὗ. 926–7  As for myself: ἐγὼ δέ begins a personal assertion emphatically, e.g. Alc. 681, 939; GP 170.  Chiron: educator of Ach., 709 n. An apocryphal ‘collection’ The Maxims of Chiron was attributed to Hesiod: F 283–5 M-W, cf. Pausanias 9.31.5; probably they lay behind Chiron’s naming as the ‘textbook’ teacher of Pericles, Plato Com. F 207 PCG.  straightforward ways: τοὺς τρόπους ἁπλοῦς: Pl. Hippias Minor 365b has ‘Achilles both truthful and straightforward’ (ἁπλοῦς in Pl.’s previous clause), words which may derive less from this passage than Ach.’s own Iliad 9.312–13 ‘that man is my enemy, like the gates of Hades, who hides one thing in his mind but says another’; cf. Ach.’s

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son Neoptolemus S. Phil. 88–9 (himself about to scheme) ‘I was (be)gotten to do nothing from evil scheming, neither myself nor, as men say, my begetter’. Ritchie (1978) points to the play’s contrast between Ach.’s (claimed) straightforwardness and Odysseus’ alleged ‘duplicity’, ποικιλία 526 (n.). Greek. 926 ἐν followed by gen. ἀνδρός ‘in (the house) of’: idiomatic ellipse of δόμοις, οἴκοις, most commonly in ἐν Ἅιδου ‘Hades’ Hec. 418, El. 122 etc.; Smyth 1302; colloquial, Stevens (1976) 27–8. Cf. English ‘at my brother’s’. τραφείς brought up ‘coincident’ aor. part.: Barrett on Hipp. 289, Smyth 1872c.2. 928–31  For the significance of these lines see C 900–1035 n. Form and Content, n. on 919–74.  sons of Atreus if they lead well: Ach. means chiefly Ag., because of Ag.’s insult 936–40, 961–2, but includes also Men. in his general criticism 953, 968 (as earlier 818) – and specifically 945.  obey … if … well, but when … not … not obey: for such heavy contrasts cf. 1005–7; 915–16 n.  free nature: the independent spirit of the well-born; cf. Ach. to Iph. 1410–11 ‘desire to marry you comes over me, now that I have watched your nature’; Amphiaraus similarly recognises at first sight the noble ‘freedom’ of the queen Eurydice, Hypsipyle 855.  pay Ares honour with the spear: he will fight worthily of the war-god as well as ‘freely’. The marvellous warrior Meriones is a ‘scion of Ares’ 201–2 above. κοσμέω ‘honour and adorn’, e.g. one’s country Meleager F 530.3, Thuc. 2.42.2. The less good, and flat, translation here is ‘give order to, organize my fighting’, with the war-god depersonalised as ‘army’ in 283–4. Eds cite Ar. Frogs 1027 κοσμήσας ἔργον ἄριστον, where the verb has something of both meanings, ‘give order to, shape an excellent work (of poetry)’ and ‘make it an adornment’. Greek. 930 ἀλλά is untranslated; its positive tone is ‘in the voice’ in English, beginning a climax after 926–9; with a fut. indic. it is frequent in Tragedy, e.g. Ion 76, Supp. 1014; GP 8.   931 παρέχω ‘show’, almost ‘evince’, e.g. El. 363 one’s character as not ill-bred, Supp. 877 one’s ways as not slavish. κατά ‘as far as … is able’, again in 933; it extends κατά ‘as far as concerns’, LSJ B IV.2. Ritchie (1978) however interprets 931 as ‘for my part’, explaining Ach.’s independence, not suggesting limitations to his ability. 932–7  The accumulations of Greek sigma and labial pi esp. in 935–7 drive home Ach.’s first reassurance to Clyt.  (cruelly) treated: the

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wording recalls Clyt. at 847, 852, the OM 887, and recurs from Clyt. 985.  those closest to you: τῶν φιλτάτων, i.e. Ag.; cf. 912–13 φίλος of him, with n.; also 458 n., 744.  (put my pity round you and) protect (you): καταστελῶ fut. The lack of a clear parallel makes translation of this verb insecure (LSJ II.2 translate with ‘repress’, an extraordinary mistake); but the verb controls σέ ‘you’ and in context ‘protect’ seems possible, a metaphor from ‘put round, clothe’, e.g. Ar. Thes. 256; and it is a probable meaning of περιστέλλω (LSJ III). Perhaps κατα- was chosen to avoid a clash with περι(βαλών), for which ἀμφι- would be unmetrical: for these verbs of ‘putting round’ cf. περιβ. σωτηρίαν ‘safety’ Her. 304, ἀμφιβ. δουλοσύναν ‘slavery’ And. 110; see Text below.  my person: Ach. in anger seems to exaggerate Ag.’s insult to his name into physical assault. So Ritchie (1978), rejecting τoὐμὸν δέμας lit. ‘my body’ as periphrasis for ‘me, myself’ e.g. Ion 563 (LSJ ignores the usage).  weaving into his plots: ἐμπλέκειν πλοκάς. Both verb and noun are metaphors for trickery, Ion 826; verb and μηχανάς ‘schemes’ e.g. And. 66, 995; see Diggle (1981) 115. Ag.’s confessions of his own schemes: 413–14a, 744–5. Greek. 932 ὦ exclamatory (translated as so… !) with a nom. part., formal and often emotional, e.g. Hec. 1000, IT 983; KG I. 50.6 and 7; cf. Smyth 1288. σχέτλια cruelly lit. ‘(suffering) cruel things’, those to be ‘endured’ (σχε- from ἔχω, DELG), often with πάσχω e.g. Alc. 408; eds compare A. Eum. 100 παθοῦσα δ’ οὕτω δεινὰ πρὸς τῶν φιλτάτων ‘treated so dreadfully by your dearest’.   933 κατ’ ἄνδρα as Med. 675; see 931 n.   936 ἐμή my (bride), poss. pron. defined by context, e.g. ‘wife’ And. 966, ‘son’ Supp. 320. φατισθεῖσα spoken of: cf. 904 n.   937 παρέχω provide, with acc. and infin. e.g. Hel. 812 δῆσαι χέρας ‘hands to tie’, IT 1416–18; Smyth 2009. [Text. 932–4 were wrongly deleted by Paley: 932 is Ach.’s first direct address to Clyt. in his speech, essential before the otherwise cursory your (daughter) in 935.   934 οἶκτον περιβαλών is idiomatic (above), but Stockert suggested the instrum. dat. οἴκτῳ ‘surrounding … with pity’, e.g. with oaths IT 788; cf. LSJ περιβάλλω II.2. In particular: καταστελῶ is insecurely translated (above), and subject to conjecture: καταστένω Matthiae ‘I lament you’, but this meaning is barely possible when 935 with its promise to Clyt. follows; and a fut. tense seems required. W. B. Tyrrell, CQ 58 (2008) 665–6 ingeniously suggests combined

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meanings, ‘I shall put you to rights’ (Paley had suggested ‘set right’, i.e. ‘tranquillize’) and ‘I shall set you upright (on your feet)’, but gives no parallel for either; he proposes the latter so that Clyt. will be standing again and ready to exit at episode-end, 1035. On this point see our n. on 900.   935 οὔποτε Headlam makes the line an independent sentence, with asyndeton forcefully corroborating 934.] 938–9a  my name that will shed your daughter’s blood: an allusion, rather than response, to Clyt.’s 910 ‘your name … has destroyed me’. Her past tense there is matched in it did not raise here: for rhetorical effect, anticipated disaster becomes realised fact.  name … body (940): the rhetorical contrast is frequent, esp. e.g. Hel. 66–7, 588, 1100; commoner still is ‘name … deed, reality’, 947: see 128–9 n. [Text. ἤρατο L 3. pers., i.e. Ach.’s name, the subject of φονεύσει (cf. 910 again), but the trope with personified sword seems a little forced here; less so in 970 (see n.): ἠράμην Nauck, Paley independently, the 1. pers. suiting ‘my (name)’. See also 947 Text.] 939b–43  Your husband is the cause: but Ach. does not forget Men.’s responsibility too: 928–9 and n.  but … no longer … untainted: the ‘but’ is big: Ach. disclaims the potential pollution from Iph.’s blood; ἁγνός ‘pure’ of such blood e.g. Hcld. 1011, El. 975. Foley (1985) 73 is surely wrong to say that Ach. here thinks of a compromise to ‘his status as an unmarried man’, despite Clyt.’s 987b–9.  the victim: ἡ δεινὰ τλᾶσα, lit. ‘who has endured … terrible (sufferings)’, reinforced with a pleonastic converse unbearable; for οὐκ ἄνεκτα cf. Hec. 715 ‘unholy (οὐχ ὅσια) and unbearable’, the treacherous murder of Hecuba’s son Polydorus.  undeserved: cf. 852 Clyt.’s complaint for herself. 942–3 are the closest Ach. comes to explicit pity towards Iph. herself (towards Clyt., see 934 n.). Greek. 940 ἐστί will … be, ‘dynamic’ pres.: 93 n. [Text. 943 θαυμαστὰ … ὡς has been questioned because in the colloquial exclamation ‘Remarkable how/that…!’ the adj. θαυμαστός/όν is usually combined with a rel. pron. but the adv. -ῶς with a rel. adv.: see Stevens (1976) 14, who suggested that the construction here is θαυμαστά (ἐστι) … ὡς ‘It’s remarkable that…’, as perhaps in S. F 960. The consequence would be that a finite verb-form must then replace ἠτιμασμένη; Monk conjectured ἠτιμάσμεθα ‘we have been dishonoured’, conformably with Ach.’s sympathetic attitude in 932–4. It is a nice question whether Monk

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should also be preferred if the construction of θαυμαστά is acceptable; Ritchie (1978) inclined to this.] 944–7  most cowardly: an extreme self-castigation by a warrior, from which he attempts to rescue himself in 948–72 (see 945–8 n.); it is clearly modelled on Ach. at Iliad 1.293 ‘I should be called a coward (δειλός) and a nobody (οὐτιδανός), if I were to yield (to Ag.)’. For this ‘Epic’ sense of κακός cf. e.g. Iliad. 13.729, Hcld. 744, Or. 755; LSJ I.3. Note how the position of emphatic I … myself (ἐγώ beginning both 944 and 945) brings out Ach.’s absorption in his own image, more strongly still than in initial ‘my … I’ in 935–6.  the nonentity: μηδέν and οὐδέν, ‘a nothing, a nobody’ (351 n.), neut. with or without the def. art.: μηδέν with it, Hipp. 638, El. 370 (see Denniston); without, 968 below; οὐδέν without, 351. Here μηδέν may imply uncertainty, while in 968 οὐδέν states reality; cf. Greek below.  and Menelaus (is proved to be) among real men: he is not among the foremost warriors of the Iliad while Ag. most decidedly is; the literary tradition developed the contrast, most prominently e.g. A. Ag. 122 and even more And. 590–1 ‘What? You among men, you great coward like your ancestors? What part do you have in counting as a man?’; for ‘real man’ see 645 n.; ἐν ‘among real men’ Alc. 723, 732, Her. 41. The clause is a parenthesis, interruptive of the syntax; like many such it works through contrast, e.g. Her. 222 (with Bond’s n.), And. 651; see Diggle (1981) 115–16. Stockert observes that Ach. heard from the OM’s 895 that Men. knew of the deception (and has not stopped it): this is the clinching argument against translation not as a parenthesis but as ‘and I (am a) Menelaus among men’.  not the son of Peleus: cf. IT 369–71 (Iph. recalls entreating Ag.) ‘Achilles is proved to be Hades, not the son of Peleus, whom you held out as husband for me when you carried me in your chariot to a bloody marriage by trickery’. Both passages are in debt to Iliad 16.33–5 Achilles ‘son of sea and rocks (i.e. ruthlessly hard), not the son of Peleus’.  demon: ἀλάστωρ, 878 n.: an irresistible power; often personified, cf. esp. Tro. 767–8 ‘I say that you (Helen) are the offspring of many fathers, Alastor first, then Jealousy, Bloodshed and Death’: for such parenthood(s) see Rutherford (2012) 148–9 n. 75. A similar, associated power is ‘Fury’ ᾿Ερινύς, used e.g. of Cassandra Tro. 457.  †for your husband†: the only possible translation, a dat. of advantage (Smyth 1481–2): see Text. Greek. 944 (ἦν) ἄρα of realisation, ‘am proved’: at 404 (n.) also

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followed by a past tense.   945 (τὸ) μηδέν and (τὸ) οὐδέν. The fullest discussion of this idiomatic expression is by Moorhouse (1982) 338–9. The forms appear to be interchangeable where metre requires.  946 γεγώς and bare gen., ‘born of’: Smyth 1301. [Text. 944–7 are variously damned or deleted by eds: they seem to duplicate (947 from 938–9) or to preempt (945 before 968). The Greek is questioned: 945 the parenthesis (above); 947 φονεύει intrans. ‘sheds blood’ is rare, e.g. S. Ant. 1174; the present tense is dynamic, anticipatory (Smyth 1879) and Schaefer’s fut. φονεύσει is unnecessary. In particular the dat. σῷ πόσει (above) is very strained indeed here (the similar dat. ᾧ in 1339 is less difficult), and takes away from Iph. the emphasis which runs from 939 to 950; indeed the two words σῷ πόσει look like invaders from 937, 940; and so conjecture is free: σὴν κόρην Reiske, παῖδα σήν Burges, both ‘your daughter’. Stockert suggested deletion of 945–6 or at least 946; for 946 he was followed by Kovacs.] 948–54  Ach. curses himself violently, should he fail to save Iph. – and does so again, with his own death, 1006–7; compare esp. Hippolytus swearing his innocence, on pain of his death, Hipp. 1025–31. Ach. swears in 948–9 by Nereus and Thetis, both forebears and divinities, a formula comically exaggerated at Cyc. 262–5. 948–51  Nereus, reared etc.: a sea-god older than the Olympian Poseidon, and elemental: his father was Pontos ‘Ocean’ Hes. Theog. 233–5 (his mother being Gaia ‘Earth’ [Apollod.] 1.2.6), where he is ‘unerring and righteous’; he was Ach.’s own grandfather (Clyt. 896, cf. 1056–7), and therefore doubly good to swear by in answer to her; his name is emphasized through enjambement (50–1 n.). sea(-waves): ὑγρῶν lit. ‘wet’, an ornamental adj., e.g. of waves Hel. 1209, Polyidus F 636.6.  begetter: φυτοῦργος lit. ‘worker with plants, generator’, a mild metaphor and rarish; with ‘father’ also Tro. 481, the polyphiloprogenitive Priam; cf. A. Supp. 592.  lay a hand: ἅπτομαι ‘touch’, e.g. 1361 Ach. predicts that Odysseus will do just this, Hcld. 270; cf. θιγγάνω IA 1351.  not even a finger-tip: ‘-tip’ conveys the force of εἰς (ἄκραν) ‘towards, as far as (the extremity of)’; ἄκραν χεῖρα bare acc. as object of προσφέρειν ‘move a finger-end against’ Ar. Lys. 435–6, 443; instrum. dat. in Hel. 1444 ἄκρᾳ θιγεῖν χερί, Zeus’ bare ‘touch’ to save Men. and Helen. 952–4  otherwise: initial ἤ ‘or’ is very strong here.  Sipylus: a small place in barbarian Phrygia, in myth the home of Tantalus father of Pelops

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(Pind. Ol. 1.38) from whom therefore the Atreids our commanders draw their descent. Iliad 24.615 names it a haunt of nymphs, the place where Zeus turned not only Tantalus’ daughter Niobe to stone after her endless grief but also its inhabitants, making it notoriously rocky (see on Text).  mighty: πολύς: ‘of great power’; the adj. will be unique of a city (see Text) but is not rare of gods e.g. 557 (n.), Hipp. 1 or persons Or. 349 (see Willink’s n.), 1200. Phthia: Ach.’s homeland, 713.  (called) of no account: οὐδαμοῦ lit. ‘nowhere’, of value e.g. And. 210 the island Scyros, Erechtheus F 360.49 the goddess Athena; colloquial, Stevens (1976) 50, Collard (2005) 364. Compare Ion 594 †μηδὲν καὶ οὐδὲν ὢν† κεκλήσομαι, where οὐδένων has been conjectured, ‘(called a nonentity and as one) among nobodies’. Greek. κεκλήσεται: The fut. perf. as the fut. of a tense-form indicating completed action conveys a lasting result: Smyth 1958. [Text. 952 πολύς Musgrave (above): πόλις L ‘a city (indeed), a (real) city’ has been defended unpersuasively from S. OC 879 τάνδ’ ἄρ’ οὐκέτι νέμω πόλιν ‘I no longer count this a city’. ἔρεισμα Hartung stronghold, lit. ‘prop, support’: Pind. F 76.2–3 of Athens the ‘pillar’ (LSJ 2a) of Greece, cf. Ol. 2.6 the king Theron that of Acragas. The word gains credibility from the ‘rocky’ associations of Sipylus (above); but elsewhere in Eur. it is a supporting staff Her. 109, 254 or confining bonds 1036. L’s ὅρισμα ‘boundary’ (the same ms. error at Her. 254) has no point: the context needs an image of strength.   954 Jacobs’ correction is palmary.]   955–8 To his bitter cost: πικρός as in 510 (n.).  Calchas: Ach. had heard the OM doubt the seer (879 n.); here Ach. does the same, since ‘if Ach. is to oppose the sacrifice he cannot believe it is divinely sanctioned’ (Ritchie (1978) 191).  begin the sacrifice: ἐνάρχομαι as 435 (n.), 1470; but see Text below.  barley: προχύται, a verbal adj. used as noun, lit. ‘poured first’, from which the fem. plur. noun κριθαί has disappeared. Barley was mixed into a gruel esp. with honey and wine, and thrown into the altar-fire, 1112, 1471, cf. El. 803, Ion 707–8.  sprinklings: χέρνιβες 675 n.  But what kind of a man is a seer?: lit. ‘what is a seer-man?’. Suspicion of seers was widespread, and Eur.’s characters are often contemptuous, 520 (n.), El. 399–400, esp. Hel. 744–57; cf. L. R. Lanzilotta, EGT 1006–7. With Ach.’s criticism here contrast Iliad 1.90–1, where he turns Calchas to his advantage against Ag. In fact, the criticism of Calchas in our play is unjustified: there is no reason to disbelieve

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Commentary

his report of the divine will.  hits the mark: τυγχάνω in a metaphor from throwing or shooting, ‘be right, succeed’, Pho. 765, Hipp. 827 (see Barrett), Pind. Pyth. 10.62 etc. The force of enjambed τύχων is conveyed by and that is when…; cf. 50–1 n. (see Text).  he is finished: διοίχεται, ‘gone, done for’, is the translation of most eds; used of people Or. 181 (but of things succeeding e.g. Supp. 530 justice); possibly impersonal, ‘all is lost’ (Jouan) – but the verb is ambiguous, used also of a person ‘who’s gone, is no longer to be seen’, like an absconding wife F 1063.16; the simple verb οἴχομαι is this sense is Homeric (LSJ I at end), cf. Ar. Ach. 210 of a messenger, ‘he’s clean gone, disappeared’. Greek. 956 ἀνήρ appositional with a category, here μάντις; cf. e.g. Supp. 420 γαπόνος ‘land-worker’, 444 βασιλεύς ‘sovereign’; Smyth 986b. [Text. 955 ἐνάρξεται Musgrave (above): ἀνάξεται L ‘bring, carry up, forward’, which Stockert observes may nevertheless be right, in a demonstrative display of the vessels and offerings like that described at e.g. El. 799–802 (φέρω ‘carry’ 800); and he gives evidence that ἐνάρχομαι is elsewhere used only of the basket (κανοῦν), e.g. 435, 1472.   958 Hartung suggested τυχῶν ὅταν τε ‘ (both) when he succeeds and when he does not, …’; this however diminishes the cynicism, removing the seer’s lies (957) altogether from his success.] 959–69  Deleted by those who judge them incompatible with Ach.’s character as so far revealed: see 919–74 n. In particular Hartung removed the colourful 959b μυρίαι – 960a τοὐμόν countless girls are hunting for my bed. 959–62  This has (not) been said: a rhetorical marker, commonest at speech-end e.g. 400; variant forms at mid-speech cf. El. 1276, Med. 546. ‘Ach. will protect Iph. “in principle” – but in 1354–5 his Myrmidons will call him “a slave of marriage” ’, Gibert (2005) 240.  countless girls etc.: Ach. at Iliad 9.395–7 ‘I could have had any Achaean woman I wished as wife.’  hunting for: θηράω, metaphorical of seeking a marriage e.g. 1162–3 (θήρευμα); the image also e.g. Hel. 63, 314 (by a man), Tro. 979 (a woman).  insulted … outrageously: ὕβριν … ὕβρισε, redundancy for emphasis, e.g. Her. 741, Bacc. 247. Cf. Ach.’s complaint of ὕβρις from Ag. at Troy Iliad 1.203, 9.368. Greek. 961 ὑβρίζω εἰς and acc. of persons as Hcld. 18, Hel. 785, without prep. e.g. Supp. 512.

Commentary

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[Text. 959 οὐ Lenting, a negative being essential: L offers both ἦ interrogative and ἢ ‘or’, both inappropriate; cf. 385 n. on Text. The metrically faulty γαμούντων may have arisen from scanning ἕκατι with short alpha.] [963–4]  The lines are vainly defended by Ritchie (1978) 193–5 and Matthiessen. It is dramatically inconceivable that Ach. should refer to Clyt. as 3. pers. with the def. art. in her presence (contrast the use of demonstrative ὅδε ‘this (person) here’ e.g. Hcld. 435, Hec. 674); and the two verses are not an ‘aside’ (Bain (1977b) 52–3, agreeing interpolation); but Turato thinks of them as part of Ach.’s hypothetical review of Ag.’s deception. Lastly, the lines interrupt Ach.’s concentration here on his own name; 962 leads easily into 965.  in the hunt for his child: i.e. to ‘catch’ her for the sacrifice, a difficult alteration in the image of 960, girls ‘hunting’ for Ach. as husband; but cf. perhaps Hel. 192 θήραμα βαρβάρου πλάτας ‘(Greek girls as) prey of a barbarian fleet’. This is the only meaning θήραμα παιδός can bear, with an objective gen., and with θήραμα acc. in apposition to the idea of 962 (see 234 n.), rather than to τοὐμὸν ὄνομα ‘my name’ alone. The translation ‘in hunting (a husband) for his child’ is impossible. 965–7  I would indeed have given my name etc.: an apparent and startling conflict with Ach.’s profession of ‘straightforward ways’ in 926–7 (n.), and with his stance upon the abuse of his name 935–7, 940–2, 946–7: see 919–74 n. The lines stand in asyndeton, ‘explanatory’ of 962; cf. 391 n.  the issue causing … to founder: lit. ‘in this (matter) … was beginning to founder’: κάμνω ‘grow weary, fail’ metaphorical as Hec. 306 ἐν τῷδε … κάμνουσι (cities), Ion 363 ὃ κάμνει τοῦ λόγου ‘the part of your speech which falters’: Bond on Her. 101; similarly νοσέω metaphorical ‘sicken’ (411 n.), with τῇδε ‘here’ IT 1018, ἐκεῖ ‘there’ Hel. 581.  voyage: νόστος plain ‘journey’, 1261, [1603], IT 1112.  the common good: τὸ κοινόν, Telephus F 727.62; ‘the commons, the majority’ A. Supp. 518; Smyth 1023, LSJ II 2.b; plur. ‘matters common to all, politics’ Supp. 422 (on which see Collard’s n.). Greek. 967 αὔξω ‘promote’, 572 n. ‘increase’, cf. S. Ant. 191. ὧν: plur. with an antecedent e.g. ἐκείνων suppressed, lit. ‘(of those) with whom…’, a frequent compression, Smyth 2509; less probable, a construction ‘according to sense’, with sing. antecedent τὸ κοινόν translated as ‘the commons’ (above): 1353 n.; Smyth 2502a.

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Commentary

[Text. 967 ἐστρατεύομεν Monk, act. voice; for L’s mid. cf. 1171, its only other occurrence in Eur.; but ‘the middle is much more frequent’ LSJ I.] 968–9  nothing: see n. on 945 ‘nonentity’ and 351 n. Greek.  for the commanders it is a light matter: lit. ‘before the commanders (it is) in easiness’ (see Greek). Ach.’s entry speech complained of Ag.’s indecision, 801–13.  both badly and not: English idiom reduces Greek ‘both to treat me and not to treat me badly’. Greek. 968 παρά both locative ‘before’, a king Hdt. 4.65.2, jurors Thuc. 1.73.1 (LSJ B II.3) and judgemental ‘in the eyes of’ Bacc. 401 (see Dodds), Med. 763.   969 ἐν εὐμαρεῖ with (acc. and) infin. e.g. Hel. 1227, Theseus F 382.10; for such phrases of neut. adj. with prep. see Barrett on Hipp. 784–5. δρᾶν … δρᾶν: for the double infins. see e.g. 56; the adv. κακῶς stands with both: see 921 n. [Text. 968 δὲ Hermann … 969 με Tournier contrast a crisp statement with a long rider; γε … τε L weaken the effect (though defended by Ritchie and Jouan).   969 κακῶς Kirchhoff badly is needed after ‘of no account’: καλῶς L ‘well’, an interchange of the two words very common in mss., e.g. Her. 1368, Tro. 718.] 970–2  My sword … shall soon know: Ach.’s reassertion of his physical prowess, stronger than in 931; in the Greek the asyndeton has its common force ‘because (of that), therefore’ (Smyth 2167b); the outburst follows his scorn of ‘the commanders’. The picture derives from Ach.’s threat to Ag. at Iliad 1.301–3 ‘You’ll not take (any of my prizes) against my will! Come and try, so these men here too may know: your black blood shall flow swiftly round my spear!’ A threat of a bad outcome worded with ‘shall know’, with εἴσεται or γνώσεται, is common, usually to ‘third persons’, e.g. And. 1006, Antiope F 223.43, Bacc. 859; here it has ‘my sword’ as impersonal subject, like e.g. Pho. [1677] ἴστω σίδηρος; And. 998 Delphi. Cf. the threatening 2. pers. expression ‘you will come to know’ εἴσῃ 675 above (n.).  defile: χρανῶ: Ach. means primarily that the blood of such men as Ag. will pollute his own sword. The verb χραίνω is conjectured in [1516], of Iph.’s blood; used of suppliants’ blood e.g. A. Supp. 266. anyone: Ag., unmistakably; see also Greek. Greek. 972 τις: for the indef. pron. in such threatening allusions see e.g. S. Aj. 1138, Ant. 751; Smyth 1269. See Addenda. [Text. 970 σίδηρος Tr2/3 nom. is inescapable; σίδηρον L acc. requires

Commentary

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a search for a subject for εἴσεται, and only deletion of 959–69 (see n.) supplies an improbable one, Calchas, as far back as 956.   971 has found no cure: αἵματι ‘with blood’ is redundant, and is metrically suspect (-ι scanning ‘long’ before χρ-). Reiske’s emendation to αἵματος ‘(stains) of blood’ creates redundancy with φόνου ‘bloodshed’ or with his own φόνους. Hartman suggested 970–1 ἐς Φρυγῶν | … φόνον (Porson) ‘to slaughter Phrygians’. Τhere have been other rewritings: deleting L’s αἵματι (Wecklein) permits a free supplement to φόνου, such as ῞Ελληνος Piccolomini ‘Greek (bloodshed)’; or ᾿Αργείου Page ‘Argive (bloodshed)’: cf. Ach.’s 965 ‘for the Greeks’; or ἐμφύλου Wecklein ‘kindred (bloodshed)’. βαρβάρου Jackson ‘barbarian (bloodshed)’ removes Ach.’s chilling threat and transfers the cost to the enemy.] 973–4  Keep calm!: ἡσύχαζε: Ag. suddenly reassures Clyt., and she is immediately grateful. In the theatre with these words Ach. may anticipate some gesture of anxiety – or an outburst, so that his single imperative may be double-edged, ‘(and keep quiet)’, as e.g. Her. 98 the same verb (coupled with ‘and stop weeping’); Med. 81 approaches ‘be quiet’, cf. below 1133 ἔχ’ ἥσυχος Clyt. forestalling Ag.  appear to you like a (very) great (god): Ach. at last acknowledges Clyt.’s emphatic hopes from his ancestry, 896 (n.), 901 (n.), 903, 911. ‘great’: μέγας of divine power and status, Zeus above all, e.g. μέγιστος Alc. 1136, Ion 1606. Greek. 973 πέφηνα (φαίνομαι) with complement alone, cf. Bacc. 1031 θεὸς φαίνῃ μέγας ‘you appear as a great god’. For the omission of ὤν ‘being’, e.g. Hec. 1233, Supp. 219, see Smyth 2119; it is inevitable here given the immediate qualification οὐκ ὤν when I am not.  974 μέγιστος: the word is emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.), as again in 1004. [Text. 973–4 have been suspected, for alleged linguistic poverty, since Markland, but were deleted first by Hartung. The best defence is by Ritchie (1978) 196, citing both Ach.’s recognition of Clyt.’s appeal (above) and the use of θεός ‘god’ as a human saviour, e.g. Iliad 24.258, Theognis 337–40, Her. 521–2. In this light, the couplet makes a necessary and apt ending by Ach.; cf. (C) 900–1035 n. at end.] 975–6  You have said etc.: this couplet from the Chorus resembles that of 504–5 as a bald comment on the preceding speech – but it does recognize Clyt.’s insistent appeal to Ach. through his own parent. For the formula ‘spoken worthily’ (and the use of the pers. pron. σοῦ as reflexive

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Commentary

σαυτοῦ) cf. 507 n., 1407.  august goddess: the Chorus pick up Ach.’s oath by his goddess mother 948–9 (again in 1413). 977–7  Despite admiring gratitude for Ach.’s speech (977), Clyt. still doubts his protection; she hesitates now in pressing her appeal, 981 ‘I am ashamed to…’ contrasting with 900 ‘I shall feel no shame in …’ Her 990 applauds his ‘beginning’ and his ‘end’: she imitates his lead by herself starting with ‘neither too much nor too little’, 977 ~ 920–1, and takes up expressly the idea of pity for the unfortunate, 983–5 ~ 932–4. Her 991 in momentary confidence mirrors his closing 972–4, but she ends by offering Iph. too as a suppliant, if that will help, 992–7. It is worth note that Clyt. like Ach. is given sequential couplets initially: four 977–84 ~ five 920–3 + 926–31. 977–84  may have verbal echoes in Terence’s Brothers (269–70 ~ 977– 80, 274 ~ 981) and a contextual echo (254–5 ~ 982–4), mediated by Menander’s Brothers: see J. N. Grant, CQ 30 (1980) 341–55, at 348. 977–80  Ah!: φεῦ, admiring: 710 n. Hcld. 552, Or. 1155.  What words … praise etc.?: the danger of excessive or insufficient gratitude and praise is something of a topos after A. Ag. 785–7 ‘How shall I address you … neither overshooting nor falling short of proper thanks?’: cf. Hcld. 202–4, Or. 1161–2. ‘Different behaviours draw different praise’ Hipp. 264, And. 866–8. Pericles is anxious to find the right means of praise in his Funeral Speech Thuc. 2.35.1–2. In 979–80 praised … praise … praise the threefold use of the verb is ostentatiously emphatic after ‘praise’ in 977, particularly when predicated of good men οἱ ἀγαθοί, unmistakeably meaning Ach.; cf. 984 n. Such ‘good’ men occur in various moral contexts, e.g. 45 their loyalty, Alc. 602 their wisdom, Aegeus F 7 their companionship. Greek. 977 πῶς ἄν…; and opt. in a polite wish, 802–3 n. (τίς ἄν); the negative μή, rather than οὐ, implies doubt of avoiding failure: Smyth 2737.   979 τρόπον τινά in some way e.g. Hipp. 1300, IT 512. [Text. 978 idiom is restored with Dindorf’s μηδ(ὲ) for L’s μήτ(ε) and metre with Markland’s deletion of μή. L however attests both ἐνδεῶς (adv. matching 977 λίαν) ‘in the falling short of’ qualifying the verb and ἐνδεής nom. adj. ‘falling short of’ qualifying the verb’s subject, with both governing τοῦδε ‘this’ i.e. τοῦ ἐπαινεῖν ‘praise, praising’; the adj. gives better idiom. Some eds distrust this reference and meaning for τοῦδε, however; Weil for example writes που (διολέσαιμι) indefinite

Commentary

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‘lose (your favour) at some point’, and Stockert ἐνδεής του (διολέσαιμι), ‘falling short of something’, vague as in Med. 462 ἐνδεής του ‘(neither moneyless nor) lacking anything’. England preferred to delete 978, conjecturing that it was ‘a foolish addition by an early scribe’.] 981–9 [Text. Deleted by Hennig and Stockert on the ground of supposed linguistic abnormalities (but none is compelling): 981 παραφέρουσα, 986 οἰηθεῖσ(α), 987 κατέσχον, 988 ὄρνις γένοιτο and citations or imitations of 983 ~ Tro. 470, 985 ~ El. 672 (see nn. below). The lines were deleted also to achieve a smoother sequence of ideas.] 981–2  I am ashamed … pity: see on 977–97.  intruding: παραφέρουσα: this is the nuance of the preverb παρα-, with παραφέρω stronger than lit. ‘bring alongside, adduce’ (this at S. OC 1675, see LSJ I.2): cf. e.g. PV 1065 παρασύρειν ἔπος ‘slip in a word’, Med. 910 γάμους παρεμπολάω ‘smuggle in a (second) marriage’, and παρα- in Supp. 426 παρεργάτης λόγων ‘lit. ‘worker adding to his words’, i.e. ‘…to what he’s meant to say’, ‘argumentative’; El. 63 πάρεργα … δόμων ‘additional children for the house’, i.e. ‘bastards’.  troubles … uninfected: our translation diminishes the first metaphorical νόσος, lit. ‘sickness’ (411 n.), but enhances the second ἄνοσος ‘not sick’; private: ἰδίᾳ, adv. lit. ‘privately’, of good fortune Ion 775 and bad Pho. 1207. Greek. 981 αἰσχύνομαι with infin. e.g. El. 900, Ion 934; with part. e.g. Or. 281. ἰδίᾳ the fem. dat. of an adj. as adv. was once explained from the ellipse of ὁδῷ ‘way, route’ (e.g. Smyth 1527c), but is now regarded as an idiosyncrasy of Greek: see 420 n. on μακράν.   982 ἄνοσος controls the separative gen. of related sense κακῶν, cf. e.g. 805 ἄζυγες γάμων ‘unyoked, not joined in marriage’ (n.), S. El. 1002 ἄλυπος ἄτης ‘unhurt by disaster’. [Text. 982 L’s γ(ε) was omitted by the Aldine; it provides only weak emphasis of ‘my troubles’, but was perhaps intended to aid the immediate contrast with 983–4.] 983–4  it looks quite well: σχῆμα lit. ‘(it has some) form, appearance’ is coloured by indef. τι in understatement (see Text below), exactly as in Tro. 470 ‘it looks quite well to invoke the gods when any of us has misfortune’.  the good man: ἀνὴρ χρηστός, like 380, Hcld. 999.  help the unfortunate: taken up by Clyt. in her grateful 1008.  (though …) remote (from them): ἄπωθεν, in reversing the thought of 981 ‘intruding’. Some take the word as the antithesis of οἴκοθεν ‘at home’, like Supp. 182

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Commentary

οἴκοθεν ἀτώμενος ‘stricken by personal disaster’ or ‘not connected to the house of family (and therefore not obliged to it)’, like θυραῖος ‘outside the door, an outsider’ as in Or. 805–6 ‘a man of sympathetic ways, who is an outsider, is a better friend … than countless kinsmen’, cf. F 902; similarly And. 421–2 ‘misfortune deserves all men’s pity, even if one happens to be an outsider’. Greek. 983 ἀλλ’οὖν by a speaker countering his own objection: GP 442 cites this line and e.g. Tro. 1192; cf. 1013 n. [Text. 983 τι Aldine, with σχῆμα as in Tro. 470 (above); the meiotic use (here, ‘quite’) (609 n.) is not rare with ἔχει and an obj. noun, e.g. Antiope F 205.2 ἡδονὴν … τινά ‘considerable pleasure’; for the pron. with an adj. see 1012 n. τοι L ‘in truth; you know’ is too assertive before the strong appeal for pity in 985.] 985–9  First … Then: an unexpected continuation, the second idea changing the subject, although the 2. pers. pron. occurs in both parts. hope and omen reflect Clyt.’s words at entry 607–9; the omen hopeful for her there is dashed now, but threatens Ach. as a ‘bad omen’; bare ὄρνις is defined in both places by context (607 n.).  your marriage when it comes: Clyt. presses even harder Ach.’s obligation to Iph. should she die (940–2 n.), despite his 959–60; she plays to his proud sense of honour (esp. 925, 944, 961), by hinting that his future wife will have the knowledge that he let his previous ‘bride’ die. Perhaps however a thing which you must guard against admits the possibility that Ach. will both save Iph. and not marry her. Greek. 986 ἥ = I, 1. pers., an extremely rare example of an antecedent to a sing. rel. pron. ‘contained’ within a plur. verb-form, here πεπόνθαμεν: KG I.57. The rel. pron. is in effect causal, ‘For I…’: see 1196 n. ἔχειν would have, anticipatory pres. infin. after a verb of expecting: Smyth 1868b.   987 κατέσχον held: κατέχω with abstract object e.g. Med. 761 ἐπίνοιαν ‘intention’, Pho. 330 πόθον ‘desire’.   989 ὅ ‘(a thing) which’: the preceding clause acts as antecedent to the neut. rel. pron., e.g. Or. 679, 1175; cf. 393 αὐτό, 1018 and 1272 τοῦτο. [Text. 985 is almost identical with El. 672, causing suspicion of borrowing; but there are many such similarities in Eur. (as in any voluminous author, cf. And. 421–2 cited on 983–4: see esp. Mastronarde, Phoenissae p. 193 n. 1 for bibl.); furthermore, the line is the heart of Clyt.’s appeal.   986 οἰηθεῖσ(α) is a prose-form, a further cause of suspicion for some eds.]

Commentary

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990–1  beginning … end: ‘rhetorical’ terms: ‘start’ 320 n.; the sing. ἀρχή e.g. El. 1060, Ion 517, verb ἄρχομαι Her. 538, Pho. 1336; ‘end’: in plur. τέλη this sense is unparalleled (see Text). Cf. however El. 907–8 τίν’ ἀρχὴν … ποίας τελευτάς ‘what beginning, what kind of ending?’ (rhetorical).  (shall be) saved: cf. Clyt.’s 915–16. With the fut. tense here Clyt. ‘deifies’ Ach. again? He used it 935, 950, cf. 972. Greek. 991 σοῦ … θέλοντος gen. absol. and fut. main verb, e.g. Supp. 350 δόξει δ’ ἐμοῦ θέλοντος ‘(the people) will decide as I wish’; but the phrase is more common of a god’s wish; Supp. 499 θεοῦ θέλοντος, 1146. [Text. 990 τέλη L: τέλος Wecklein for the ‘rhetorical’ sing. (above), as e.g. Hec. 413.] 992–4  Do you want…?: the idiom of βούλῃ …; often signals a surprise development in asyndeton, e.g. Bacc. 811 (a famous moment), Hec. 405.  clasp (… knees): the ritual posture (900–1 n.).  she will come out, with her look free of modesty: this is the likely, but problematic, meaning (see Text). It makes Clyt. impute to Iph. a readiness like her own to be unashamed of supplicating Ach. (900), which conflicts with Iph.’s determined if temporary ‘shame’ to avoid meeting him 1341; and there is a consequence for the interpretation of 996 (n.). Ach. proclaims his own ‘free nature’ 930. Greek. 992 προσπτύσσω lit. ‘enfold’, e.g. clothing Hec. 734–5. 993 ἀπαρθένευτα not how a maiden should behave (‘unseemly for maidens’ Hesychius α 5808 Latte), also Pho. [1739] ‘(wandering) as no maiden should’. In negative forms the verbal adj. in -τος is particularly expressive, e.g. in 1003 (n.); for its range of meanings see Smyth 472. [Text. 994 With some misgiving we print Porson/Elmsley’s conjecture ἔξεισιν, with following comma (‘brilliant, universally spurned’ Diggle (1994) 414; adopted by Kovacs). While ‘come out (of Ag.’s hut)’ adds something to the context, the adj. ἐλεύθερος with separative gen. αἰδοῦς ‘(free) from modesty’ is questionable, and illustrated by LSJ I.1 only of persons, e.g. Hec. 869 ‘free of fear’; here in IA it is impossible to take ὄμμα ‘look’ as half-personified in periphrasis, ‘look, facial expression’ for the whole person, because of its dependence upon ἔχουσα. L’s ἥξει δι’ αἰδοῦς is punctuated after ἥξει by most recent eds, ‘she will come, in modesty with a free look’, which is almost self-contradictory; or the words δι’ αἰδοῦς … ἔχουσα are taken together as ‘treating a free(-born) face with modesty’, i.e. that of Ach. (‘silly’, Page 178; but cf. Ach.’s

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Commentary

998 ‘you are not to bring the girl into my sight’). Older eds punctuated after αἰδοῦς, ‘she will come in modesty, with a free look’, also selfcontradictory.] 995–7  win the same result from you: matched in Ach.’s response 1002 ‘you’ll come to the same thing’.  the proprieties are observed: σεμνὰ γὰρ σεμνύνεται, the verb passive. For this translation see 994 n. on ‘free of modesty’. Alternatively ‘she observes proprieties’, the verb mid. and personal. On the basis of 1341 (also 994 n.), Jouan offers ‘her self-respect deserves respect’, a paraphrase of the Greek. Clyt. later disapproves of Iph.’s modesty, but that is in the emergency of 1344. Iph. however knowingly did not observe proprieties in her haste to greet her father 631–2. Greek. 995 παρούσης i.e. αὐτῆς; for gen. absol. in a bare participle, whether or not a subj. can be supplied from context, cf. e.g. And. 101, El. 1168: Smyth 2072a; cf. 1022 n. ταὐτά the same result is ‘semi-cognate’ acc., not rare with τυγχάνω in a pron., in place of a gen., e.g. Hec. 51; Smyth 1573. [Text. 996 given to Clyt. by Elmsley; to Ach. by L, not illogically because of his concern for women’s propriety 821–30. Clyt. must speak 997, her continuing anxiety, but 996 for Ach. is just possible if 995 is taken as a conditional protasis answered by his interruption.   997 αἰτεῖσθαι plead Markland, Diggle; all other eds keep L’s αἰδεῖσθαι ‘show respect (for proprieties, 996)’, but it gives weak sense and is not apt after Nevertheless. Nauck proposed a different solution: deletion of 997.] 998–1007 Ach. both fends off Iph.’s presence 998–1001 as a woman (consistently with his 821–30) and reasserts his determination to save Clyt. and Iph. in a ‘single, very great struggle’ 1002–7 (cf. his earlier 933 ‘as far as a young man is able’). He twice forswears falsehood 1005, 1006–7 (in contrast with those who traduced him 847–9). 998–1001  ignorant reproach … army … idle … malicious, foulmouthed gossip: the words link Ach.’s indignation at the idleness forced upon his Myrmidons (814–18) with his later inability to resist their taunts that his marriage to Iph. will thwart her sacrifice and the whole expedition (1346–57); in between Clyt. has condemned unruly sailors’ readiness for evil (914). The adj. ἀμαθές ranges between lit. ‘uncomprehending’, the pejorative ‘ignorant’ of half-colloquial English (e.g. Bacc. 480, Supp. 421), and ‘stupid, crass, boorish’; cf. El. 294 ἀμαθία ‘lack of moral feeling’ (pity).  gossip: λέσχας, plur. as Hipp. 384, sing. Licymnius F

Commentary

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473.3; lit. ‘a public hall’, a meeting-place for ‘talk’; cf. Theognis 613 κακοὶ κακὰ λεσχάζοντες ‘evil men making evil gossip’; Callim. Epigram 2.3 ἥλιον ἐν λέσχῃ κατεδύσαμεν ‘we tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky’ (trans. W. J. Cory). Greek. 1000 ἄργος i.e. ἀ-εργος ‘not-working, unoccupied with’, of a useless citizen E. Melanippe F 512; with separative gen. e.g. Pl. Rep. 835d πόνων ‘tasks’, A. Seven 411 αἰσχρῶν ‘evil (actions)’. οἴκοθεν: the separative suffix -θεν is here inert, as if the word were οἴκοι ‘at home’, as e.g. Med. 506 τοῖς … οἰκόθεν φίλοις ‘friends at home’. 1002–4  challenge: ἀγών: lit. ‘contest’, a very common metaphor, again at 1455 (n.) and as ‘struggle’ 1254; cf. Parker on Alc. 648–9 (‘matter at stake’); with very great and infin. to e.g. Med. 235; ‘great’, Hipp. 496 ‘to save your life’. The idiom is so common in Comedy that it may be colloquial: so Fries (2014) on Rhesus 195. Greek. 1002 πάντως In any case: 1117–19 n. ἥξετ’ εἰς ἴσον lit. ‘come to an equal (outcome)’; ‘…to the same thing’ ἐς ταὐτὸν ἥξετε El. 787, cf. Hec. 748. For a dual part. and plur. verb with the same reference see Smyth 1045, citing e.g. IT 777.   1003 ἐπί of circumstances e.g. And. 927 ‘most shameful’; also in a verbal phrase Ion 228 ‘with sheep not sacrificed’. The part. ἱκετεύοντε is conditional, coupled with the implicitly conditional phrase ἐπ’ ἀνικετεύτοις lit. ‘in the circumstance of no supplications’; for the flexible sense and use of the verbal adj. see 993 n. εἷς single, with superlative adj. extremely emphatic, e.g. Iliad 12.243 εἷς οἰωνὸς ἄριστος ‘single, best omen’; Smyth 1088. [Text. 1002–3 τε … τε ‘both … and, just as … so’: 585 n. The pairing justifies Wecklein’s dual participle (-τέ θ’ for -τες, masc. as common gender for two females, as e.g. Hipp. 387), and Weil’s prep. phrase ἐπ’ ἀνικετεύτοις for L’s clause εἴ τ’ ἀνικέτευτος (ἦς) ‘and if (you were) not supplicating’. The past tense-form ἦς of εἰμί is most insecure in Classical Greek (so Markland proposed ἦσθ’·, i.e. ἦστ(ε)·); but Nauck’s emendation to εἷς ‘one’ is palmary.] 1005–7  For listen etc.: cf. Or. 627 ‘Listen and know that much’. one thing: idiomatic, emphasized by γε after ὡς (again in 1010: colloquial, Stevens (1976) 48): the most important thing, 538, Or. 1069, Supp. 409 etc.; cf. εἷς ‘single’ 1003 n. Ach. then swears on his life to the truth of his words: see 948–54 n.  lie … lies: see 998–1007 n. mockery: Ach. at 849 suggested it in others towards himself.  die … not die: like ‘lie …

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lies’, idiomatic emphasis through repetition, e.g. El. 1017 ‘to hate…; but if not, what’s the use of hate?’ (see Denniston). Greek. 1005 ὡς … γε the acc. and infin. μ’ ἐρεῖν is in apposition to ἕν (538 and n.), with μή in an asseveration rather than οὐ (Smyth 2725): similarly e.g. Med. 593 εὖ νυν τόδ’ ἴσθι, μή…; after any verb of knowing e.g. S. OT. 1455: Smyth 2727.   1006 μάτην false: 904 n. The compound ἐγκερτομέω is unique, but (Stockert) Eur. has many such verbs with ἐν-, e.g. 1472 ἐνδεξιοῦμαι.   1007 θάνοιμι: the word is emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.) [Text. 1005–7 were unnecessarily deleted by Conington; but as in 1003–4 Ach.’s injured pride carries him to high promises.   1006 ἐγκερτομῶν Markland ‘(mocking) ’, specifying Clyt. as the deceived; but L’s general protestation is in order.] 1008–14  A brief stichomythia of persuasion, like Hipp. 516–21, Or. 1069–75. 1008  May you benefit … from: ὄναιο is a formulaic felicitation, often implying gratitude (‘Bless you!’); e.g. with a part. Or. 1677 γήμας ‘(benefit) from marrying’; with a gen. ‘from’ 1359 below. continually: συνεχῶς before the metrical caesura is more likely to go with ‘may you profit’ (most recent eds) than with ὠφελῶν ‘helping’. helping the unfortunate: part of Clyt.’s appeal, 984. [Text. συνεχῶς Tr1: συνεχ** L, probably συνεχὲς adverbial acc.; συνετῶς ‘understandingly’ Hermann, with ὠφελῶν. The adv. συνεχῶς is rare in poetry, but occurs as early as Hes. Theog. 636.] 1009  Now listen then: ἄκουε δή νυν is a Tragic and Euripidean formula, 1146, Supp. 857 with Collard’s n. [Text. Punctuation after the formula, with the clause so that … well left hanging as Clyt. interrupts with 1010, is worth a thought (an ‘anonymous’ suggestion in Ritchie).] 1010  What’s this you say?: another formula, of surprise, e.g. Bacc. 1032; following ‘Now listen then’ Hel. 1035–7.  I must surely listen to you: not stichomythic padding after 1009 ‘Listen’, but indicative of Clyt.’s increasing deference to Ach., 1014, 1024, 1033 (cf. 819–20 n.). 1011 [Text. πείθωμεν L Let us persuade (act. voice, a self-correction by L): suspect to eds because it implies Ach.’s full participation now, and anticipates his fall-back upon his own possible negotiation with Ag. (1016). The mid. voice of L’s original πειθώμεθ(α) is also suspect,

Commentary

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however, if it intends the same meaning; the sense ‘be persuaded’, mid.pass., is usual. England proposed πεῖσον μεταῦθις, 2. pers. ‘persuade … to think better afterwards’, a command to Clyt.; Murray suggested πεῖσον μετ’ αὐτῆς ‘join her in persuading (her father) to think better’.] 1012  a very weak man: κακός τις. The meaning is not quite clear: Clyt.’s immediate scorn of Ag. as too fearful suggests ‘very cowardly’, and is less surprising than abrupt; but after her previous indictment of Ag.’s cruelty (912–13) the adj. appears to prepare for her onslaught to Ag.’s face in 1146–208, and may mean ‘base’; see esp. her 1184 with its weight upon κακός as ‘evil’. Clyt. is right about the fear of the army: Men. also charged Ag. with it, 517, cf. 522; more significantly, Ag. speaks of it in his final self–defence 1259–68. Greek. κακός τις. The indef. pron. often modifies (or emphasizes) an adj. in a predicate, e.g. Iliad 3.220 ‘a very angry man’, A. Ag. 1140 ‘quite mad’: LSJ A II.7, Smyth 1268; cf. above 983; 609 n. 1013  outwrestle: lit. ‘wrestle down, to the ground’, καταπαλαίω metaphoric of overcoming an argument e.g. Pl. Rep. 362d; similarly καταβάλλω ‘throw down’ Bacc. 202, Ar. Clouds 1229, and the title οf Protagoras’ lost treatise Καταβάλλοντες Λόγοι ‘Arguments That Score a Fall’ 80 B 1 DK, cf. Democritus 68 B 125 DK. Similarly Med. 585 ‘one word will stretch you out on the ground (ἐκτείνω)’. Greek. ἀλλ’ οὖν But still…, an objection to a previous speaker: GP 442, citing e.g. Ion 1325, Hcld. 689. [Text. οὖν Monk is inescapable: for ἀλλ᾿οὖν … γε ‘still, at least’ cf. (Diggle) Cyc. 652, Hcld. 589; GP 444. The def. art. in L’s ἀλλ’ οἱ λόγοι is against idiom before φόβους without the art.; this word, Musgrave’s correction, is strangely rejected by some eds: fears takes up fearful 1012; and (λόγοι … ) λόγους L ‘(arguments wrestle down) arguments’ is simply flat.] 1014  (hope …) cold: like ‘delight’ τέρψις Alc. 353 (Admetus embracing an image of Alcestis after her death), cf. S. Ant. 88 ‘a hot spirit in a cold (i.e. hopeless) business’. Headlam cites All’s Well etc. 2.1.147 ‘where hope is coldest’. 1015–23  Problematic lines: 1017–18 and 1022–3 are corrupt, and opaque; but they surround clear meaning in 1019–21. Ach.’s wish there is to avoid dispute with Ag. and the army – a marked change of attitude ‘from boldness to prudence’ (Jouan 100 n. 2): 900–1035 n.

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Commentary

1015–16  Supplicate him: Ach. suggests to Clyt. the manner of persuasion (1011) that she had used on himself 900, cf. 992, 1002. a child: Iph., of course, an allusive plur. (see Greek); in 490 the same plur. τέκνα is general, not allusive. Greek. 1015 τέκνα: allusive plur., like 403; frequent in e.g. δεσπόται ‘masters’ when clearly just one is meant, e.g. Hec. 397, 1237; Smyth 1007. [Text. Diggle’s conjecture τέκνον sing. is nevertheless attractive here.] 1017–18  †But if your request is persuasive†: the Greek words are corrupt, our English only a meaning possibly intended. In these two lines (if genuine: see Text) Ach. begins to change his attitude (1015–23 n.).  I ought not to go myself: also insecurely translated, stretching τοὐμόν ‘what is mine, my state, what affects me, what I feel’ into personification ‘I … (myself)’ (but going beyond the exx. given by LSJ II.3 as ‘almost periphrastic’, S. El. 1302, Trac. 1068 etc.).  safety: for Iph., 991, cf. 972 – but Ach. thinks as much for his own, 1019–21. Greek. 1017 τὸ χρῇζον ‘your request, desire’, def. art. and neut. part. for verbal noun; cf. 33–4 τὰ θεῶν … βουλόμενα and n., 1270; Smyth 2051, 1153b.   1018 ἔχει … σωτηρίαν as e.g. E. Erechtheus F 362.13; cf. Pho. 471 cited in Text. [Text. 1017 εἴη L is a plain copy-error (probably for εἰ ‘if’: εἰ γὰρ P2). Both ἐπίθετ(ε) and ἐπίθετ(ο), whatever meanings are tried (‘you persuaded (me) of your request’ and ‘he had been persuaded of…’ [LSJ πείθω B II.a]), are wrong in tense, like Musgrave’s ἔπιθεν ‘your request persuaded (him)’; a fut. indic. or potential opt. is needed. Jackson’s bold οὐ γάρ, τὸ χρῇζον εἰ πίθοι, τοὐμὸν ‘For if your request were persuasive, I ought not…’ is accepted by Günther, Stockert and Kovacs, but not by Diggle, wisely: L’s γάρ ‘for’ is illogical after 1016 ‘you must come to me’, for a contrast is needed, not an explanation. This may have been a main reason for Dindorf’s deletion of 1017–23 in total, accepted by most eds before Murray. We do not go that far: 1017–21 in some form are integral to Ach.’s new and prudently half-heroic stance, and Clyt.’s 1024 ‘How sensibly you have spoken’ must respond to more than 1015– 16.   1018 αὐτό Vater ‘(For) in itself (it holds safety)’, cf. e.g. Pho. 471 ἔχει γὰρ αὐτὰ καιρόν ‘(just claims) in themselves hit the mark’; but L’s τοῦτο is sound: see 989 n. Greek.] 1019–21  I …better towards a friend … the army would not fault

Commentary

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me … reason rather than force: both sentiments suit the apparent drift of 1017–18 and 1022–3: Ach.’s pragmatism is in the common interest, cf. 965–7, 1421–3; he will succeed through reason, cf. 919–25, 1013, not the force implicit in 928–31, 950–6, 970–2. Does Ach. mean ‘on better terms with Ag.’, cf. Ach. 928–9, 961, 969–70, or ‘better in the common interest’, cf. his 966–7? As to ‘friend’, φίλος: here of a comrade in war, Ε. Philoctetes F 789d.8, 10; 799a, S. Phil. 242, 1385 etc.  I shall behave: γενήσομαι lit. ‘become’: cf. Ach. at 974 ‘I shall become a god’!  not fault me: cf. (Turato) Hcld. 415–22 Demophon’s wish to avoid blame for risking the city.  managed things: πράγματα πράσσω, a very common phrase, 366 n.; LSJ III.6 (often ‘political’, III.5). Greek. 1019 ἀμείνων πρός ‘better towards’ e.g. Alc. 433 εἰς ἐμέ (of a wife), 1022; Thuc. 1.86.1 ἀγαθός πρός ‘good towards’ (in international relations).   1021 λελογισμένως ‘by reason’, adv. formed on a perf. mid. part., like μεμηχανημένως ‘by contrivance’ Ion 809, σεσωφρονισμένως ‘with moderation’ A. Supp. 724. This part. as noun τὸ λελογισμένον ‘reason’ 386. 1022–3  †If things reached etc.†: we translate as best we can words no doubt intended to continue Ach.’s caginess (but see Text). successful conclusion: κραίνω ‘accomplish’ a (usually) wise decision, esp. a god’s ordinance fulfilled (see Fraenkel on A. Ag. 369); e.g. Or. 1023 τὰ κρανθέντα ‘what has been accomplished’. Greek. 1022 κρανθέντων gen. neut. plur. of a pass. part. without a noun (but e.g. πραγμάτων is easily supplied from 1020): cf. τελουμένων ‘(things) being fulfilled’ e.g. And. 998, S. El. 1344; Smyth 2072b. πρὸς ἡδονήν ‘to please’ (πρός is purposive, Smyth 1695.3c); the phrase with dat. here, but gen. e.g. Ion 553.   1023 When ἄν is repeated it often emphasizes particular words, here ἐμοῦ: e.g. Alc. 72, 464; Smyth 1765b. [Text. 1022 can be superficially healed in metre by deleting καὶ (Tr), but caesura then falls between prep. and noun, very rare (West (1982) 83). The couplet was deleted by Weil as adding nothing to 1017–23, and this must be admitted; Jouan, Günther and Matthiessen retain the lines; Stockert and Diggle mention, and Kovacs prints, Murray’s rearrangement (apparatus), ‘If these things reached a successful conclusion like this without myself, it would please both you and friends.’ We mention W. Pötscher’s conjecture πάντ’ for κἂν in 1023, with deletion of καὶ in 1022 (with Tr2/3), as ‘diagnostic’ and potentially suggestive of better, ‘all this

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would please your friends and you without me (i.e. my intervention)’: Philologus 136 (1992) 9–12, discussing also Ach.’s change towards Iph. in the course of the play.] 1024–7  sensibly: σώφρονα: cf. Clyt.’s approval of Ach.’s ‘correctness’ τὸ σωφρονεῖν 824; but ‘sensibly’ here picks up Ach.’s 1021 ‘by reason’ and recalls his 919–21.  see you again: i.e. if they turn to him, 1016. It is a further hint that Ach. will be involved again – although it is he who comes to ‘see’ her first, 1341ff. Such ‘appointments’ (Page) or hopes are common in New Comedy (see Handley on Men. Dys. 107–8, Sandbach on Perik. 159), but at home in Tragedy too, e.g. Hel. 1083–5, S. Ant. 164–5.  poor woman: Ach. acknowledges Clyt.’s distress in 1029.  find also has Comic ambience, e.g. Alc. 834 ‘where shall I find him?’ (which like 1026 has two anxious questions, ‘where … where?’), Ion 1106–7. Greek. 1025 ὧν: for the omission of the antecedent ἐκείνων (dependent on τι) see 967 n.   1027 ἐπίκουρος help (against) with gen. obj. e.g. El. 138 ‘against bloodshed’, Or. 211 illness. [Text. 1025 αὖ τι … ὧν: Monk’s correction of αὐτὰ … ῾ἂν L (sic: ἃ ἂν intended?) is securely founded upon IT 513 ἆρ’ ἄν τί μοι φρασείας ὧν…; ‘would you explain to me any of the things (I want)?’   1026 ποῖ Wecklein ‘where (to)’, with ἐλθεῖν, is accepted by some eds; but L’s ποῦ ‘where (at)’ with εὑρεῖν is better: where will Ach. actually be, to help?] 1028–32  Ach. reverts once more to proprieties for a woman in public (821–30, 998–1001); should Clyt. need to speak to him again, he will ensure she is escorted, to hide her wretched agitation. 1030 mass is the milder connotation of ὄχλος ‘crowd’ (446–50 n.), despite Clyt.’s and Ach.’s fear of sailors’ anarchy and abuse 914, 1000–1; Ag. had the same concern about the ὄχλος as ‘mass’ 735.  frantic distress: πτοέω lit. ‘flutter’ (trans.), of feelings excited or agitated and overmastering one, 586 love (n.); Or. 1505 of panicky flight.  not disgrace … Tyndareus … great among the Greeks: a curious rider to Ach.’s concern, but hinting perhaps his own fear of such disgrace: again see 1352–7; or (Turato) ‘an anticipation of the perfectly happy marriage of Peleus, Tyndareus’ father’ in the ode 1036–98. The imperative ‘disgrace’ αἴσχυνε is emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.). To call Tyndareus ‘great’ in this play may just reflect his prominence in 55–67; but an audience recalling Orestes, a little earlier than IA, would be surprised by the adj., given his unsympathetic

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portrayal there in 249–50 and esp. 607–31. μέγας of e.g. Menelaus ‘great (in Sparta)’ And. 461; cf. El. 380. Greek. 1032 κακῶς ἀκούω (ill repute), lit. ‘hear badly (of oneself)’, e.g. Alc. 726, Hel. 968. [Text. 1028 φύλακος … χρέος England need of a guard, an excellent improvement upon φύλακες … χρεών L ‘(protect you) as protectors (where we) should’. φυλάξομεν Markland fut. is necessary, not L’s pres. φυλάσσομεν.   1032 was deleted by F. W. Schmidt, and Kovacs, but wrongly: see the start of this n. on 1028–32.] 1033–5  It shall be so: ἔσται (τάδε), a formula of compliance with a wish or command, 149 (n.). That, and you I must serve, show that ἄρχε translates as Rule me, not ‘Take the lead’ (this, S. El. 1319). : of gods e.g. Hel. 851, but ‘unwise’ 1189 below and (heretically) Her. 655–6 (see Text below).  but if not etc.: for the style of antithesis cf. 916 n., and e.g. El. 1017 ‘It is just to hate; but if not, what use is hating?’ Comparable with 1034–5 in thought and expression is E. Phrixus B F 820b.4–5 ‘If chance exists, there is no need of gods; but if the gods have power, chance is nothing’; for doubts of the gods’ existence in Eur. cf. e.g. Bellerophon F 286.1, with Collard’s n. in Collard, Cropp and Lee I (1995). Greek. 1035 τί δεῖ…; what use…?: cf. And. 765, with Stevens’ n.; for effort cf. S. OC 1022 οὐδὲν δεῖ πονεῖν ‘(there’s no use for) effort’. [Text. 1033 ἔσται (τάδε) Markland is palmary (above): ἔστιν (τάδε) L ‘This is so’, i.e. ‘Yes, Tyndareus is great’, is defended by some, surprisingly.   1034 L is defective by two syllables; cf. our Introduction p. 54, Text 1.c. Tr3’s at verse-end must be ignored (see Zuntz (1965) 194); he tried it also at Hcld. 628. Modern supplements: (1) θεῶν at verse-end (Vitelli) picks up θεοί, ‘you will meet with good gods’, with ἐσθλός ‘(a) good (god)’ as in Ion 1269, but its sense will tend towards ‘kind’, i.e. rewarding with prosperity. Vitelli however creates a verse without caesura and preserves the scansion of a form of θεός as one syllable (synizesis) after a short syllable (in εἰσί), an infrequent phenomenon, with only one parallel in this verse-position in Eur. at And. 750: see L. Battezzato, BICS 44 (2000) 42 and 43 n. 7. (2) before ἀνήρ (West) ‘you will meet with many good things’, but its separation from ἐσθλῶν is awkward. (3) before θεοί, earlier in the verse (Diggle (1981) 112, with parallels like 394a above for the

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gods’ wisdom, and (1994) 132, cf. 414), which we adopt because Diggle well argues that Vitelli’s supplement “if the gods exist, you will find them good” is not ‘compelling’ logic.] Clyt. goes into the hut (see 900 n., 934 n. Text); but after the following choral ode she comes out again, having failed to find Ag. (1098). Ach. goes back to his men, but returns at 1341 to tell Clyt. (and Iph.) of his inability to withstand their clamorous insistence on the sacrifice. 1036–1097 Third Choral Ode (stasimon) In the preceding episode nothing more was said of Iph.’s marriage after Clyt. had despaired of it (986–7); the Chorus now pass over Ach.’s promises – or hopes – to save the girl (esp. 935–6, 970–4, 1007); their silence perhaps offers a commentary on the uselessness of Ach.’s protestations. They begin the ode abruptly by picturing the splendid marriage of Ach.’s parents Peleus and Thetis: in this way, the poet invites us to imagine the marriage of Ach. and Iph. only as it might have been. Peleus and Thetis were married in the presence of the gods, and a glorious future prophesied for their son in the Trojan war. For this to happen, Iph. cannot be saved, and the Chorus move to poignant contrast with imminent reality, her sacrifice, shameful and impious. 1036–57 = 1058–79 strophe and antistrophe. The wedding is described with much repetition of detail; it begins with music and song 1036–9 and ends with the ‘blessing’ (makarismos) 1076–9. There is dancing by the Pierides (Muses) 1042–3 and the Nereids 1054–7; drinking of wine poured by no less a cup-bearer than Zeus’ Ganymedes 1049–53, implying the supreme god’s presence together with the other divinities (1040–4 n.) and the Centaurs 1058–66; and the bride Thetis herself is divine 1074, the groom Peleus of the highest descent, indeed from Zeus himself through Aeacus 1046 (cf. 699–701). Greatness is prophesied for their son, nameless 1063 but identified as the decisive hero at Troy 1067– 70 in his god-made armour 1071–5. The setting too is significant, Pelion the mountain of Thessaly 1047 (n.), Peleus’ homeland, and that of the Centaurs including Chiron 1066–7, destined to be Achilles’ tutor (708– 10, 926–7 nn.); the wedding is out-of-doors, with green woods 1048; the lovely-haired Pierides have golden sandals 1042, golden like the drinking-cups 1051–2 (matched in the golden armour to be given Achilles

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1071–3). Missing from such joy (of course) is the Apple of Discord thrown during the wedding by Eris ‘Strife’ between the great goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite (Strife first in the Cypria, Argument 1 West, the Apple e.g. Hyginus, Fables 92), just as the incident is missing from the Judgement of Paris itself in 1294–1311, and was from the Second Ode 580–9; necessarily missing here too is the death of Achilles at Troy (see esp. A. F 350, Thetis complaining that the prophecy for Ach. was false, for he was to be killed at Troy by Paris (1067–70 n., at end); cf. And. 1231–72 Thetis’ bitterness disclosed to Peleus). Noteworthy as well is that the ode does not repeat the motif of Iph. as the ‘bride of Hades’, Ag.’s fear (460–1 n.; at 540 and 1278 Ag. simply ‘hands her over’ to Hades). 1080–97 The epode makes a grim and ironic contrast between god and man. It begins with the garlanding of the lovely-haired Iph. – as the dancing lovely-haired Pierides 1040 were no doubt garlanded, and the Centaurs certainly 1058 – like a sacrificial, pure heifer (ritually garlanded) from the mountains 1081–4: Iph. is to suffer such a victim’s throat-cut 1084 (cf. 1485, 1515–17). She is to have garlands at her sacrifice too (1477–8, 1512–13), but no music, unlike the heifer amid herdsmen’s pipes 1085–6, though she was reared for a noble wedding 1087–8! Then comes the sudden shift to didacticism: ‘where are Shame and Virtue gone to, when men are irreverent, without virtue and lawless, indifferent to the gods’ anger?’ 1087–97. The pictorial sequence is essentially the same as in the Second Ode (751–800): there at first a long description by a prophetic narrator 751– 72, [773–83], here an extended vignette 1036–79 which includes a short prophecy 1062–75. Both odes include images of a woman forcibly taken away: 790–800 Trojan wives into slavery 790–2 ~ 1080–97 Iph. taken from life itself 1083–4. This order and these proportions reverse those of the First Ode, which begins with heavy and extended moralising about (happy) marriage (see 543–99 n.). The importance of the wedding, and the future glory of Ach., were favourite opportunities for poets, after Iliad 24.62–3 and Cypria F 4 West, esp. Pindar, Pyth. 3.92–5 and (Ach.) 100–3; Catullus 64.19–30, 265–304 and (a savage Ach.) 323–83 (including the sacrifice to his ghost of the virgin Polyxena, 368–70): full survey by Jouan (1966) 68–87, with 77–85 on IA.

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Commentary

Art. LIMC VII.1 Peleus nos 47–212 show Peleus and Thetis in various scenes, many including Nereids and Chiron, esp. 205–212 picturing the wedding itself. Two early black-figure vessels stand out, both of 580–570 BC, showing the gods’ processional arrival: LIMC p. 267 no. 211 a dinos of Sophilos now in the British Museum and no. 212 a volute-krater of Kleitias and Ergasimos, the famous ‘François Vase’ now in Florence. Literary references also LIMC VII.1 pp. 251–2. An ancient influence upon all artistic and poetic ‘weddings’ was the famous episode Iliad 14.153–353 (see Janko’s Commentary, 1992), in which Hera distracts her husband Zeus with love-making on Mt Ida: 347–51 begin an evocation of nature’s rich beauty as setting; it is a precursor of the literary locus amoenus or ‘delightful setting’ (1295–9 n.). Foley (below) stresses that the ode borrows heavily from the traditional language of wedding songs, after Sappho F 141 PMG (a wedding attended by gods). The Olympian Muses (Pierides) attending the wedding are matched by the Muses of Helicon at that of Theban Cadmus and Harmonia, Theognis 15–16 (see Jouan (1983) 101 n. 4); the two are coupled at Pind. Pyth. 3.88–91 and 92–5. The ode is much admired and discussed for its composition, the way in which lyric charm gives way to despair. For a contrast between an (anticipated) blissful wedding and a (groom’s) death which has already prevented it see Phaethon 227–44 and (178–)214; in Tro. 308–423 Cassandra’s fantasy-wedding leads only to her own wretched fate and the lamentation of those who know it (for these analogies see ContiadesTsitsoni below). For odes beginning with a mythical incident and turning later to the dramatic present cf. esp. And. 274–308 (the Judgement of Paris), El. 699–746 (Mastronarde (2010) 140–41 and n. 108). Most sentences are very long, 1036–48, 1062–75, 1080 and 1089–97; but the syntax is simple, though featuring many preps., esp. in the strophe (see 1036–9 n. Greek). Compound adjs., nouns and adjs. of light and colour, metaphors and Homeric echoes are very frequent; there are some cases of unusual word-order (also 1036–9 n.): colourful style indeed. Some discussions: Panagl (1971) 208–22 (structure and style); G. B. Walsh, CPh 69 (1974) 241–48 (meanings for the subsequent dramaturgy, esp. the now doomed Iph., and the characterization of Ach. and Iph.); Foley (1981) 81–3; F. Jouan, Mélanges … Tuilier (1988) 19–28 (dramatic function; 1090–7 a message to the Athenians about their own times); Hose II (1991) 95–7, cf. 186–7 (function in the play); E. Contiades-

Commentary

503

Tsitsoni, ZPE 102 (1994) 52–60; U. Bittrich (2005) 128–9, cited in 543– 89 n. (discusses 1080–97 incidentally to the moral themes of the First Ode); Rutherford (2007) 11, 17 (subject of the narrative; direct speech within it); Mastronarde (2010) 141. Text. 1036–79 strophe and antistrophe have the true stamp of Euripides. Page 180–2 allowed that the often adventurous vocabulary, as far as 1088 in the epode, is no argument for suspicion overall; but he had some doubt about 1071–5. The epode 1080–97 was deleted by Dindorf and suspect most recently to Diggle; it contains real difficulties, but its effect is strong (above), and it is inconceivable that 1036–79 stood alone as purely decorative and wholly optimistic lyrics. The Greek text itself is occasionally insecure: 1041=1063, 1081–4, 1090–1. Metre. There are one pair of responding strophes and a single epode, as in the other two odes and 164–230 of the parodos; metrical periods coincide with clause-end in the strophic pair. The metre is again the very changeful aeolo-choriambic, here almost self-referential in the strophe with its evocations of music and dance; iambo-trochaic rhythm interrupts only briefly in 1048 = 1070, 1080, 1090. Analyses by Wilamowitz (1921) 259–61, with commentary; Dale (1981) 152–4, with brief notes; Günther 65–6; Stockert 497–9, with commentary and bibliography. 1036–48  One long sentence (above); note the multiple preps. (next n., Greek). 1036–9  joyous sound: ἰαχή, lit. ‘cry’, a noun coloured by its context; at Cassandra’s ‘wedding’ Tro. 337, but shunned by Chiron’s daughter at hers Pind. Pyth. 3.17.  Hymenaeus: the wedding-god himself (430 and 437 nn.) would attend so important a union (see Text below). Cassandra invokes him repeatedly Tro. 308–40, like the chorus Phaethon 227–44 (both cited in 1036–97 n.); ten-fold invocation Ar. Peace 1331–57. The god employs three instruments, lotus-pipe, lyre and reedy pipes, each with its own prep. and adj.; three instruments each have an adj. in the celebration attended by the Muses Hel. 1346–52 (see Greek below). For the lotus see 438 n.; as to the Libyan association with the lotus (e.g. Tro. 544, El. 716), it is mythological, topographically factual and mildly exotic (a rich note by Kannicht on Hel. 170–1a). Reed-pipes 576–8 n., 1085; ‘lyre’ here translates κιθάρα kithara, the names of stringed instruments being interchangeable (West (1992) 50–1).

504

Commentary

Greek. Note the extraordinary separation (hyperbaton (71b–3a n.) of initial τίν(α) 1036 and terminal ἰαχάν 1039, embracing the sentence: 14 words between, here; 10 at Bacc. 421–3; 7 Pho. 190–2 (Breitenbach (1934) 246). Similarly subject and verb are separated by 11 words in 1040–4, though helped by an intervening participle 1043; milder hyperbata 1063–5, 1067–9. Multiplication of preps. is not rare in Eur.’s ‘full’ lyric style: nine here in 1036–48; three e.g. Med. 192–3 (also festal music), and e.g. IA 754–5, 762–3, Med. 210–11.   1038 ὑπό and gen. of musical accompaniment as e.g. Ion 499, Pho. 824.   1039 ἵστημι set up a noise, e.g. shouts IT 1307, Or. 1529. [Text. 1036 τίν(α) Portus: τίς L. Also, τίς … ὑμέναιος L ‘what weddingsong set up a joyous cry?’ is too flat; the god’s own name must stand here (above). Kovacs however prints Willink’s conjecture ὑμεναίοις, with 1036 Portus’ τίν(α) and 1039 L’s ἔστασαν, ‘What cry in the weddingsongs … did they (i.e. those present) raise?’   1039 καλαμοεσσᾶν Markland, third adj. for third noun (above).] 1040–4  lovely tresses: καλλιπλόκαμοι: cf. 1080 Iph. with ‘tresses of lovely hair’, 790 a woman ‘with fine tresses’.  Muses of Pieria: 798 n.  gods: their presence is constantly emphasized, with several named, 1045, 1049, 1050, 1057, 1061, 1072, 1075.  Peleus … Pelion: hero giving name to mountain (705), in his native Thessaly 1063.  stamping: κρούω in the dance, e.g. El. 180.  feet: ἴχνος, lit. ‘step, path, track’, metonymic (LSJ 2); but perhaps the pattern of their dance is suggested; cf. ‘circles’ 1055 n. Τhe adj. golden-sandalled also Or. 1468 (a king’s daughter). [Text. 1039–40 ὅτ(αν) ἀνὰ L, with twice-copied αν reduced by Tr3 to once.   1041 ἐν δαιτί L ‘at the feast’ gives inexact metrical responsion with 1063 – where L is corrupt. Eds either emend text and sense there (Jouan, Stockert, Diggle) and accept the irregularity here (but Diggle obelizes), or emend here too: ἐπὶ δαιτὶ Monk or παρὰ δαιτὶ Kirchhoff (same sense, ‘at the feast’), or μετὰ δαῖτα Wecklein ‘to join the feast’, adopted by Kovacs. ἐν δαιτί is however frequent, e.g. Hcld. 893, Bacc. 261, and the prep. ἐν ‘in, at’ sometimes describes a destination now reached (motion implicit in 1040 ἀνά ‘along’): Smyth 1659a.] 1045–8  grandson of Aeacus: for Ach.’s lineage see 700–1 and n. Centaurs: important in 1058–66.  Pelion’s woods: typically in mountain-glens, e.g. And. 849, Bacc. 688. Pelion is the mountainous part of a SW-thrusting promontory and lies 10–15 m. NE of modern Volos;

Commentary

505

the slopes and valley below it have always been one of the greenest and most fertile areas of Greece, e.g. Iliad 1.155; cf. 1058 and n. [Text. 1045 μελῳδοῖς (…ἀχήμασι) Elmsley melodious; the adj. is needed to colour the noun: μελῳδοὶ L, the Muses themselves (as Rhes. 351–2, 393). Metre. ἰαχήμασι L, with short first alpha, as in 1039 ἰαχάν: ἀχη- with long α is needed here.] 1049–53  plaything: τρύφημα lit. ‘luxuriance’, a verbal noun personifying self-indulgence, here sexual, cf. 1303 τρυφάω of Aphrodite ‘flaunting’ desire; like some other nouns in -μα it is sometimes opprobrious and probably colloquial: Stevens in Collard (2005) 370. Similarly perhaps Hel. 241–2 Hera as Zeus’ ‘august embrace’ ὑπαγκάλισμα σεμνόν (or in currrent colloquial English ‘squeeze’): see Addenda.  cups: γύαλα lit. ‘hollow(s)’, metonymous for a vessel: Athenaeus 11.467c mentions a Megarian cup called a γυάλας (Doric 1. Decl. nom. masc.).  descendant of Dardanus … Ganymedes: his great-grandfather; Tros was his father, Iliad 5.265–6. For his abduction by Zeus and service as cup-bearer and ‘catamite’ (Latin catamitus ‘corrupts’ his name Ganymedes) see Hom. Hymn to Apollo 202–6, Tro. 819–24. In the sentence his name is postponed to the very end, in the frequent ‘riddle’ (γρῖφος) technique, e.g. Pho. 255, (Collard on) Supp. 837; often this signals an important identity, but not here, for it is fanciful to see a contrast between this youth in Zeus’ arms and the youthful Iph. who will not enjoy those of Ach.; but the fortune of Ganymedes is contrasted with that of his city also at Tro. 820–4.  libation: λοιβή if literal is striking: the gods follow human practice and libate to themselves, unless to Zeus alone. [Text. 1052 ἐκ (κρατήρων) editio Hervagiana and Wecklein, wine being drawn from bowls, not (ἐν … γυάλοις L) ‘in hollows of bowls’.] 1054–7  sand: the beach of the seaward side of the promontory (1048 n.); the sea-dwelling Nereid sisters of Thetis would probably come no further ashore, e.g. Iliad 18.65–9, Od. 24.47–50, cf. El. 442–5 cited in 1071–5 n.  bright white: λευκοφάης, uncertainly read at Hypsipyle F 752f.4; for Eur.’s coinages in -φάης see Page 180, for his interest in ‘light’ Barlow (2008) 9–10, 58–9. The Nereids conventionally are numbered at a round fifty, e.g. Ion 1081–6; for poets’ variable counts of their individual names see Gantz (1993) 16–17.  twirled: in the dance e.g. IT 1145; circles: LSJ under κύκλιος is remarkably informative about

506

Commentary

‘round’ dances; at weddings e.g. El. 178–80, Hel. 1312–13. For the music and dancing in this and other Eur. passages see esp. E. Csapo, ICS 24/25 (1999–2000) 420–1. Greek. 1055 κύκλια: the acc. plur. of the adj. is probably adverbial, but the sing. κύκλιον with ὠρχήσαντο ‘danced in a circle’ at Callim. Hymn to Delos 313 may suggest its agreement there with a suppressed cognate noun ὄρχημα; cf. 644 n. (Smyth 1572); here a suppressed ἑλίγματα ‘twirlings’ would be against this noun’s exclusive use of tangible windings, e.g. of wool.   1057 γάμους is internal obj. to ἐχόρευσαν ‘danced (to celebrate)’, e.g. Ion 1084, as with ἔδαισαν ‘feasted’ 707 (n.). [Text. 1056–7 Wilamowitz’s word-order (see apparatus), with the proper name responding in position with 1079, is attractive but metrically unnecessary: Diggle (1994) 415.] 1058–61  The Centaurs bring traditional greenery to the wedding. At Catullus 64.278–93 green boughs and garlands are brought, in first place by Chiron (1066 below), as ‘gifts from the woodland’ 279; the garlands include fragrant flowers 282–4. Fir-branches are carried by Dionysus’ celebrants Bacc. 110, together with ‘greenery’ for garlands 106–8.  staffs of silver fir: bare ἐλάται in the Greek, whole ‘fir-trees’ in synecdoche for their boughs. A paradox is pointed here: such staffs were normally weapons for the Centaurs, e.g. [Hes.] Shield 188; Her. 372; while they come as a revelling company here, a θίασος, more often they form an ‘army’, στρατός, e.g. Pind. Pyth. 2.46, (violent) S. Trac. 1095.  with their horselegs: ἱπποβάτας: Centaurs had the lower bodies and (four) legs of horses (see Greek).  the wine-bowl of Bacchus: the Centaurs were bibulous too, e.g. Plut. Theseus 30; and at another wedding, that of Pirithous and Deidamia, their drunkenness led to violence e.g. Od. 21.295–304, Ov. Met. 12.210–535: see Jouan (1966) 82 n. 3 for it in art. The ancient audience could hardly miss the association, and perhaps we are to infer that they were already drunk. At any rate, it is striking that the Centaurs on their way to the wedding cry out Chiron’s prophecy as already made 1062–6 when he is there in his home to deliver it himself to the bridal pair. [Text. 1058 ἅμα Conington prepositional with (their staffs) is compelling, if rare of ‘things’; perhaps Bacc. 567 χορεύσων ἅμα βακχεύμασι ‘to set dancing with Bacchic rites’ is sufficient parallel. ἀνὰ L must either stand in tmesis (40 n.) from ἔμολεν ‘(came) up’, as Hec. 928, or be an adv. ‘high up’, or even prep. ‘up in the trees’.

Commentary

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Weil suggested ἀνὰ (adv.) ἐλάταις σὺν ‘up (came … the Centaurs) with staffs’.   1059 ἱπποβάτας Gomperz: ἱπποβότας L ‘horse-rearing’ is empty in this context (and did the Centaurs raise horses?). Both are nom. sing., with Doric alpha in -ας.] 1062–75  The significance of this passage for the armed Ach. in the play is well set out by Michelakis (2002) 120–8. For ‘direct speech’ in lyric narrative cf. 791–3, and Bers cited in 356 n.; Rutherford (2007) 17. The verbatim prophecy here stretches as far as 1075; it is addressed to Thetis, Ach.’s mother, as 2. pers. in 1062–3, but she becomes 3. pers. at its end in 1075, where the past tense ‘bore’ also is doubted: see n. there. 1062–6  cried: ἀνέκλαγον: the uncompounded verb κλάζω ‘cry (loudly)’, e.g. Pho. 1144, is used of the seer Calchas’ declaration itself at A. Ag. 201, cf. 174.  shall bear: see Text below.  great light: glory’s splendour, metaphoric of Ach. also El. 449 (see on 1071–5), cf. Iph. of herself 1502, Orestes IT 849; a hoped-for saviour Or. 243 (the faithless Menelaus!). Perhaps a hint of ‘glory’ as a theme of the play: Introduction pp. 36–7.  Chiron was a confidant of prophetic Apollo; at Pind. Pyth. 9.39–66 he himself prophesies Apollo’s future. His prophecy here for Ach. reappears at Hor. Epodes 13.11–18.  knowing: εἰδώς, of particular, shrewd knowledge, as in English: οἶδα and cognates e.g. Iliad 1.70 (Calchas again).  the art (of Phoebus): μοῦσα of any poetic skill, esp. ‘song’ e.g. of Orpheus Bacc. 562 or ‘verse’ of the Sphinx’s hexametric riddle solved by Oedipus Pho. 50. The adj./noun φοιβάς ‘of Phoebus’, with an overtone of ‘possessed, inspired’, is used of Phoebus-Apollo’s prophetess Cassandra Hec. 827.  declared it of him: ἐξονόμαζεν, lit. ‘spoke out his name’, as any prophet would name his subject – or make him unmistakeable to an audience as here through the words son and ‘burn out (Troy)’ 1070. Just possibly, Eur. did not name Ach. expressly here because he was conscious of the ancient folk-etymology which linked his name with ἄχος ‘suffering’, Schol. D Iliad 1.1h Erbse. The verb is used of gifts ‘named (for the future)’ Iliad. 9.515, 18.449 (England). Greek. 1066 ἐξονόμαζεν lacks temporal lengthening to -ωνο- (see apparatus), like many verbs in Tragic lyric, e.g. 208, 210, 1051; many exx. in Diggle (1981) 65–6; Smyth 438a. The impf. rather than aor. (L) is idiomatic in the simple verb ὀνομάζω (281 n.), which occurs in a reported ‘prophecy’ at A. Ag. 681 (see Fraenkel’s n.); here the compound follows the usage.

508

Commentary

[Text. 1063–6 the successive corrections by Kirchhoff, Weil (twice), Hermann and Bothe/Monk are all palmary.] 1067–70  Myrmidons: bellicose Iliad 16.65, ferocious with spears Iliad 2.692, Od. 3.188.  (Priam’s) country … (his famous) land: χθόνα … γαῖαν. Most eds doubt the awkward synonyms (and the context does not justify the translation of χθών as ‘city’, for which see LSJ II at end). χθόνα requires description, and Πριάμοιο ‘Priam’s’ in midplace between it and γαῖαν provides it; then (Turato) either γαῖαν is in apposition to χθόνα, or each is controlled by a separate verb, χθόνα as acc. of motion with ἥξει ‘come (to)’ and γαῖαν as obj. of ἐκπυρώσων burn out (our preference; Kovacs however obelizes γαῖαν; see Text). ‘to burn out’ is expressed as Ach.’s intention, but he gets only as far as ensuring it through killing Hector before he himself is killed by Paris’ arrow when shot into his heel. For the burning of Troy see Hera’s and Athena’s oath Iliad 20.315–17 and Priam’s ‘reading’ of it as presaged in Hector’s death 22.410–11 ‘as if all of beetling Troy were to smoulder from the top down’ (= Chapman’s Homer 22.354 ‘Ilion, with his tops on fire’, published after Marlowe’s Dr Faustus 5.1.98 ‘burnt the topless towers of Ilium’). Troy burnt in Eur. e.g. Tro. 8, 299, 548–9, 1256–2. Greek. 1070 ἐκ- in ἐκπυρόω is ‘utterly’, as in ἐξαλαπάζω ‘sack utterly’, Ach.’s prayer for Troy Iliad 1.129, and ἐκπέρθω with the same meaning 1.19, Chryses’ fear of it. [Text. 1067 England plausibly conjectured ἥξοι, fut. opt. for indic. in secondary sequence in indirect speech (Smyth 2331, 2619a).   1070 πέργαμ’ Willink ‘(to burn out) the citadel’ in place of γαῖαν L, the displeasing synonym of χθόνα: above.] 1071–5 Achilles’ golden armour (implying his victory at Troy), celebrated in Homer’s ecphrastic description in Iliad 18; it comes between Thetis’ request to Hephaestus to forge it Iliad 18.369ff. and her giving it him at Troy 19.12–13, particularly the decorated shield 18.478– 608. Ach.’s armour in the play briefly elsewhere 211, 1359: see 1062–75 n. Eur. has a different account in El. 442–5: there the Nereids, not Thetis, bring Ach. Hephaestus’ armour, and at Pelion before he leaves for Troy; it too receives a poetic ecphrasis 452–77 (on both passages see Cropp’s nn.).  his body clad in his suit of … armour: lit. ‘equipped round his body with clothing of armour’. ὅπλων … ἐνδυτ(ά) is mildly metaphoric, like ‘clothing of flesh’ σαρκὸς … ἐνδυτά Bacc. 746 (torn from cattle by

Commentary

509

the bacchants).  mother … who bore him: the pleonasm (90 n., 1177 n.) is heavily emphatic at the prophecy’s end, in ‘ring-composition’ with 1063 ‘son’, the special son of a special marriage: see n. on 1076 ‘blest’. The address to Thetis in the 3. pers. is remarkable and puzzling after the initial address to her in 1062–3, and not to be satisfactorily explained as the overcoming of ‘reality’ by the influence of the Iliad’s close verbal association of this mother and son, from 1.352 onward ‘mother, since you bore me’ μῆτερ, ἐπεί μ’ ἔτεκες, cf. 414.   Greek. 1071 περὶ σώματι: ‘round (his body)’: for the prep. with dat. cf. Cyc. 183 ‘round legs’, with acc. Ar. Thes. 256.   1073 κορύσσω lit. ‘equip with a helmet’ extends to arming in general; its mid. with acc. of the thing worn is unique, but follows the construction of ἕννυμαι ‘clothe oneself in’ (Tro. 496), freqent in the Iliad of armour, e.g. 14.383.   1075 ἔτικτε ‘bore’, impf. apparently in the same idiom as ὠνόμαζε ‘named’ 281 n., 416. 1076–9  blest: μακάριον, emphatic as first word and in asyndeton; for the meaning see 439 n. The verb ὀλβίζω ‘endow, bless (with good fortune)’ is used of Peleus’ wedding at And. 1218, but there with bleak hindsight, ‘In vain the gods blessed you …’ first among Nereids: in virtue of her individual status and power, well exemplified in her bold request to Zeus to return a favour on Ach.’s behalf Iliad 1.495–530; cf. her literal leadership of the Nereids And. 1266–7.  of a splendid father: εὐπατρίς of a child of a god, like εὐπάτειρα of Artemis daughter of Zeus Cretans F 472b.8; such adjs. usually denote mortal fathers ‘noble’ by birth. Note the further ‘ring-composition’ (1075 n.) of 1079 ὑμεναίους echoing 1036 ῾Υμέναιος, wedding and wedding-god. Greek. 1076 μακάριον is predicative/proleptic acc. to both γάμον marriage and ὑμεναίους wedding governed by ἔθεσαν (779 n.; Smyth 1169), the adj. taking the sing. number of the nearer noun (Smyth 1053); the expression paraphrases ἐμακάρισαν, in the ritual song of blessing, makarismos. 1080–97 [Text. eds have failed to agree upon cure for the many faults of text and metre certain or suspected in these lines; they have been deleted wholly or in part by some (see 1035–97 n. Text).] 1080–4  But you: σὲ δέ, very emphatic at strophe-beginning; the same effect in 794.  Argives: the sacrifice will become a collective act 1352, not just a father’s (Iph. at 1318).  heifer: a comparison for an unwed

510

Commentary

girl awaiting sacrifice IT 359 (Iph.), Hec. 206 (Polyxena; metaphor 526); at A. Ag. 1415–17 Ag. has sacrificed Iph. as if she were just one of his sheep.  dappled: an unparalleled adj. for a sacrificial heifer (see Text), white for purity being desired e.g. El. 823; cf. our 574.  pure: ἀκήρατον: undefiled by domestication (e.g. A. Pers. 611 living wholly on a mountain-side), and unmated like Iph. (ἀκήρατος of a virgin-girl Tro. 675).  to let blood from … throat: sacrificial heifer’s blood 1113–14, cf. Hcld. 821–2 blood from sacrificial oxen examined for a favourable omen (Wilkins’ Commentary (1993) there discusses IA 1083–4); bull’s blood also A. Seven 43–6.  human: English usage requires this translation in context of βρότε(ι)ος lit. ‘mortal’, as brutally direct. Greek. 1080–1 σὲ … πλόκαμον ‘you … tresses (on your head)’: the construction of ‘whole and part’, very common in poetry: 791–2 n.; Smyth 981–5.   1083 Distinguish βρότειος ‘mortal’ from βροτοείς ‘gory’, found only in Epic formulae. [Text. 1080–4 are variously suspect as corrupt and unmetrical, and partly deleted.   1080 initial σέ you is unidentified in L’s text, but perhaps the absent Iph. is readily inferred. Hermann suggested ὦ κόρα ‘O (maiden) girl’ for L’s ἐπὶ κάρα (see below); cf. the epode IT 1123 beginning ‘And you, mistress, …’ (Iph., who is present on stage). Mastronarde (1979) 99–100 however notes that the even more extreme example of the absent Andromache addressed simply as ‘you’ in And. 1041 gives possible support for IA 1080. In ἐπὶ κάρᾳ (Burges) ‘on your head’ the locative dat., not L’s acc. ἐπὶ κάρα, is idiomatic: e.g. Bacc. 833.   1081 βαλιὰν Scaliger is uncomfortably accepted for L’s plain copy-error γ’ ἁλιᾶν (both the meaningless particle and the adj. ‘marine’ are impossible): ‘dappled’ is used accurately of a hind Hec. [90], Hipp. 218 etc., but any colour here is unwanted and merely pathetic (and see above).   1082 L has two nouns ἄντρων ‘caves’ and ὀρέων ‘mountains’ served by one adj. πετραίων ‘rocky’. Wilamowitz removed the two words ἄντρων ἐλθοῦσαν ‘came (from) caves’ as an intrusive gloss, the most economical conjecture. Dindorf deleted just ὀρέων, others changed it to adj. ὀρείων or supplemented; Monk daringly introduced ἔλαφον ‘hind’, apt for βαλιὰν, writing in full (see apparatus) ‘like a dappled on a mountain that came from rocky caves a pure heifer’, but deleted 1083–4 βροτεῖον … λαιμόν; Kovacs followed him. All these conjectures involve changes to achieve satisfactory choriambic cola; Diggle’s own

Commentary

511

suggestion for example is 1082–3 ὥστε πετραίων (Fritzsche) ἀπ’ ἄν- | τρων ἐλθοῦσαν ὀρείων (Hermann) μόσχον ‘like heifer that came from rocky, mountain caves’.   1084 αἱμάξοντες Diggle fut. part. ‘in their purpose to let blood’ improves L’s pres. part.: the throat-cut comes ritually well after the garlanding (1080).] 1085–8  not brought up among … herdsmen, but at a mother’s side: application and inversion of the comparison 1081–4.  reedpipes … whistlings: recalling the herdsman Paris of 574–9 (note also ‘heifer’ 575, ‘reared’ 579), but any ironic allusion to him as fatal ‘lover’ (581–9) matching Iph. as doomed ‘bride’ is surely accidental. An echo of the ‘reedy pipes’ at Peleus’ wedding 1038 seems possible, however? ‘whistling’: ῥοίβδησις onomatopoeic, like the Cyclops’ ῥοῖζος to his sheep Od. 9.315, and a herdsman’s ῥοίβδημα to cattle S. Trackers 113.  †tended as bride for marriage†: possibly the intended sense: see Text below.  to a descendant of Inachus: that is, to marry within her own royal family at Argos, Inachus being a son of the god Oceanus; he was the city’s founding king and homonymous with the Inachus, its principal river, Or. 932, Archelaus F 228.6, cf. S. Inachus F 270. Compare Hec. 351–2 ‘brought up in good hopes (of becoming) a bride to a king’. Greek. 1086 τραφεῖσαν agrees primarily with σέ 1080, i.e. Iph., but relates also to 1083 μόσχον.   1085–6 ἐν prep. with the second of co-ordinated nouns: 210 n.   1088 ᾿Ιναχίδαις general plur., i.e. ‘a descendant of Inachus’, like βασιλεῦσι Hec. 352 cited above; a variety of the allusive plur., Smyth 1006. [Text. 1087–8 νυμφοκόμον … γάμον lit. ‘bride-tending marriage’ lacks syntax; it can hardly be an acc. phrase in apposition to the idea τραφεῖσαν ‘brought up’ (i.e. Iph.) if it is to mean ‘for marriage’. Translation of γάμον as ‘as wife’ has therefore been tried; it is correctly doubted by LSJ II at And. 103 and Tro. 357, but allowed by Stevens on And. 103 as possible at Ino F 405.1 κἂν ἄμορφος ᾖ γάμος ‘even if the wife is unhandsome’ and (in our view dubiously) S. Trac. 1139 τοὺς ἔνδον γάμους ‘the (state of) the marriage (allusive plur.) indoors’. The interpretation of νυμφοκόμον act. ‘tending a bride’ is also strained (from κομέω ‘tend’), like Reiske’s νυμφόκομον meaning just ‘bridal’ (but cf. 48 συννυμφοκόμον act., lit. ‘escorting a bride’): both are awkwardly pleonastic with γάμον; that is why Markland’s νυμφοκόμῳ attracts: ‘(a mother) tending a bride’,

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Commentary

but the problem of γάμον remains. Monk inserted κλεινὸν ‘famous’ to bolster it, ‘a marriage/wife to a descendant of Inachus’.] 1089–97  The moralising tone, employing the ‘personified’ abstractions Shame, Virtue and Lawlessness, recalls the didactic First Ode, esp. (Virtue) 562, 568, Shame 563; such disquiet pervades Eur.’s work. Some critics think it may have a particular and contemporary reference, as the equivalent passage of Catullus (64.397–408) certainly does. With 1089– 90 cf. Med. 439–40 ‘The grace of oaths has gone, and shame no longer remains.’ 1089–91  face: πρόσωπον, in personification, almost deification, of an abstract power, i.e. its watchful gaze: of righteousness Melanippe Wise F 486 (a), Persuasion S. F 865, Peaceableness Ar. Birds 1321; the same implication in ὄμμα ‘eye’, of Persuasion A. Eum. 971, of Justice S. F 12; with our passage cf. perhaps Cresphontes F 457 ‘shame is in the eyes’ (a ‘proverb’, Aristot. Rhet. 1384a34). For these metaphors see Pearson on the two Sophoclean fragments. Shame is personified as early as Hes. WD 200; in the preceding episode see 821 n.; Introduction pp. 34–5.  is … strong: σθένει, e.g. Bellerophon F 302 θάρσος … μέγα σθένει ‘courage has great strength’, IT 911 τὸ θεῖον ‘the divine, godhead’; the noun σθένος of Justice El. 958. The vocabulary of 1090–5 resembles that of contemporary intellectualism (see 444–5 n.), including abstractions phrased with neut. adj. and def. art.; in lyric cf. 559–60 τὸ ὀρθῶς ἐσθλόν ‘what is truly good’ and e.g. Hel. 1149 τὸ σαφές ‘certainty’, Bacc. 895 τὸ …νόμιμον ‘lawfulness’ (Bacc. 890–6 teach similar morality: see Dodds’ nn. for illustration). [Text. 1091 σθένει Bothe/Hartung ‘is strong’ in place of δύνασιν ἔχει σθένειν L; the latter means ‘has domination to be strong’, pleonastic and unmetrical; [δύνασιν] ἔχει σθένειν ‘is able to be strong’ Bothe also. A copyist earlier than L confused this line, expanding it, with 1092–3 ἔχει δύναμιν (so L: see Text there).] 1092–7  domination: δύνασις, of gold’s unjust sway Her. 776, cf. (mss.) And. 483 of a single man; cf. Hippolytus Veiled F 446.4 ‘no power (δύναμις) greater than virtue’.  afterwards: κατόπισθεν ‘subsequently’ nearing ‘consequently’, like μετόπισθεν Hippolytus Veiled F 446.5 of the reward for virtue.  is … no concern of: ἀμελεῖται lit. ‘is neglected’, pass., e.g. (LSJ II) S. OT 111 τἀμελούμενον ‘neglect’, Thuc. 1.68.2 of people neglected; cf. noun ἀμελία 850, Antiope F 187.2.  Lawlessness:

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ἀνομία coupled with offence to god (1097) e.g. And. 491, Her. 757; for the word-effect with νόμων laws cf. Her. 779 νόμον παρέμενος ἀνομίᾳ χάριν διδούς ‘abandoning law, favouring lawlessness’, (Stockert) Dem. 24.152 νόμον … οὐκ ἀνομίαν ‘law … not lawlessness’.  struggle: ἀγών, see 1003 n.  the gods’ jealous anger: θεῶν φθόνος, because man is setting his own (wrong) values 1090–4, and it is the gods who superintend correct observance. The phrase translates according to context, e.g. Alc. 1135 and Supp. 348 disfavour, Or. 974 outright anger. Greek. 1092 ὁπότε when circumstantial, almost ‘because’, rather than temporal: e.g. Or. 998, S. OC 1699.  irreverence: ἄσεπτος verbal adj. with act. force (glossed with ἀσεβής ‘irreverent’ Hesychius α 7644 Latte), of a person e.g. Hel. 542.   1096 the copula ἐστί ‘is’ is omitted in a general statement (Smyth 944), here in a rel. clause (cf. Text): KG I.41 n. 1 (Smyth inadequate). [Text. 1093 δύνασιν domination Bothe, to match 1095 κρατεῖ ‘(is) master’: δύναμιν L, plain ‘power’.   1096 Hermann: indefinite negative in the rel. clause beginning 1092 ὁπότε (see Smyth 2392); it was easily omitted after similarly written καὶ; Kovacs adopted Willink’s economical κοὐ, the definite negative.] 1098–1275 Fourth Episode Clyt. comes from the hut, looking out for Ag. He had left at 750 to consult with Calchas about the sacrifice but now returns ‘on cue’, apparently to pursue his deception of Clyt. and Iph. 1107–8; he is of course unaware that the Old Man has told Clyt. everything (855–95). In the previous episode she had agreed to Ach.’s suggestion that she should plead with Ag. (1015–24); now she has been moved to confront Ag. by Iph.’s distress after she told her daughter the terrible truth offstage 1100–5. At the episode’s end Ag. will reveal that the army now desires passionately to sail against Troy 1264–5, and that he is helpless to prevent Iph.’s sacrifice 1271–2. The episode has two parts: (A) 1098–1145  In a tense dialogue 1109–45 Clyt. batters Ag.’s prevarications aside, and reduces him to guilty silence 1144–5. The dialogue is irregular throughout (including stichomythia 1129–38),

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but more so after 1121 as emotions overcome both persons: note the interjections and even words ‘outside the metre’ 1124 and 1132, and 1133 (n.) respectively, and as bitter climax the divided 1138 (antilabe: see 303–16 n.). (B) 1146–1275 There are just three speeches, appeals to Ag. by Clyt. and then Iph., to spare his daughter’s life, and his rejection. Clyt.’s is 1146– 1208 (n.), combative and aggressive but with a midway appeal for pity 1171–84. Iph.’s 1211–52 (n.) is pure supplication, eloquent amid pathos. Ag.’s 1255–75 (n.) is awkward, smacking of desperation and stubbornly defiant. Form. In its tone, structure and progression the episode has a good deal which is typical of a formal agon (see 317–414a n.): it is adversarial between Clyt. and Ag., and it ends with nothing achieved or altered, when Ag. exits abruptly; the first two and principal speeches are marked off with choral couplets 1209–10 and 1253–4 (see nn.); but the three decrease successively in length, and proportionately: 63: 42: 21 lines (but see Text below). While the tenor of Clyt.’s and Iph.’s speeches differs greatly, the whole sequence is comparable with three-person scenes in which two sympathetic voices precede an inflexible third, esp. the pure agon Pho. 434–637 and the agonistic, complex Bacc. 170–369: see Collard in Mossman (2003) 74–6. Comparable too in dramatic content are Pho. 834–1018, an agon-like argument between Tiresias and Creon about the sacrifice of Creon’s son Menoeceus which, the seer says, is necessary to save Thebes; the boy overhears it (in silence) before resolving to kill himself, and the agon-like scene between Odysseus, Hecuba and Polyxena Hec. 216–443 (over Polyxena’s sacrifice; but its outcome affects only the play’s first part). Lloyd (1992) 9 dismisses the threeperson supplication-scene Hel. 857–1031 as less agon-like than ours; cf. also Dubischar (2001) 75, Collard in EGT (2014) 535. For the scene as a blend of ‘different formal features’ see Rutherford (2012) 192–3. Staging: the action and emotions – and in art? The episode has the same characters as 607–750: mother, father and daughter; both episodes, despite the setting of a military camp, are therefore family and domestic scenes, driven by intimate emotions, and they are mutually illuminating. More perhaps than the intervening episode of Clyt. and Ach. 801–1035 they determine the temper of the play’s end. Eur. filled particularly his later

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plays with family members interacting: see esp. Webster (1967) 287–9; E. M. Griffiths, ‘Family in Greek Tragedy’ in EGT (2014) 497–502. The return of Ag. would have been expected, like the entry of the messenger to report the death of Aegisthus El. 758–64 and that of Cadmus to find Agave holding Pentheus’ head Bacc. 1211–15 (cf. Taplin (1977) 138). The episode contrives the unmasking and moral collapse of Ag. through powerful eloquence esp. from Clyt.; we are reminded of her physical and verbal prowess when ‘in a corner’ throughout surviving Tragedy, from Aeschylus’ Oresteia to the Electra plays of both Sophocles and Euripides. While Iph.’s tones are softer but straightforward, they are compelling in their own way (though hardly ‘childish’, pace Turato: see the separate 1211–52 n.). Ag. is struck early on by the distress he sees in Clyt. and Iph. 1128, and at the end declares his pity for his children 1255–6, before subordinating it to the army’s demands and the Panhellenic cause. The baby Orestes is deployed with pity-seeking theatricality 1241–8, but in vain; compare the stage-use of Medea’s children throughout her play, Andromache’s young son fathered by Hector, Astyanax, in Tro. 568–798, and her infant son by Neoptolemus in her name-play; all have a precedent in Ajax and Tecmessa’s infant son Eurysaces in Sophocles. Cf. (Stockert) Men. Epitr. 302–7 with a babe-in-arms’s words simulated. Art. The effectiveness of our scene may be reflected in art: a mosaic of about 200 AD in Antioch apparently depicts Ag. dressed as stage-royalty with Clyt. and Iph. (about to cover her face, it seems; but Orestes is not there), the three of them standing before a fully architectural theatrebackground; it is related to lines 1122–3 by LIMC V.1.726 ‘Iphigeneia’ no. 37. A performance of the play may have prompted the mosaic; and the 2nd century BC ‘Homeric’ bowls (110–14 n.; Introduction p. 38) depict Iph. supplicating Ag., whose head is veiled in grief; Orestes (a small child, not a baby) kneels at her feet in supplication too; Clyt. turns away, to veil her face and head: nos 8, 9, 10. Text. The great part of the episode is unquestionably Euripidean and authentic. Only two passages of any length have been strongly impugned (1098–1119: n. and 1241–52: n.); individual lines less strongly suspect are 1124–6, 1130–3, 1171–2, 1187, 1270. Page 182–6 remains the fullest discussion.

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(A) 1098–1145  Confrontation of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. 1098–1119  are incoherent in ms. L. Had Ag. hoped to find Clyt. outside his hut 1106 and without Iph. 1107–8? What did he want to say that he can immediately forget Iph.’s absence and command Clyt. to bring her out 1110? 1111–14 merely repeat in more detail what he told Iph. in 675, and told Clyt. in 716–23. The echo in Clyt.’s ‘opportune’ 1109 of Ag.’s ‘right moment’ 1106 is not a convincing cue for Ag.’s change of purpose. Are we to suppose that Ag. has nevertheless been thrown by meeting Clyt. and contradicts himself from confusion? Then there are the difficulties perceived in 1117–19: Clyt. calls Iph. outside 1117 (as Ag. asked 1110) but tells her also to bring Orestes 1118–19 – and she appears at once 1120, and must have Or. with her, although we hear no more of him until Iph. ‘uses’ him in pathetic appeal 1241–8 (1098–1275 n. Staging). This is theatrical activity at first compressed in time, but the expectation from the child that it creates is then delayed. Stockert observes that, after 1110, without 1117–19 there is no conventional indication of Iph.’s entry, only of her presence at Ag.’s command 1120. See also 1110–14 n. [Text. No untangling of these lines has been agreed, either through textual conjecture e.g. in 1110, 1114 (see nn.), or through deletion in various combinations: 1098–1105 del. Monk (1099–1103) and Conington, (1106–8 susp. Page,) 1114 England, 1115–19 Kovacs, 1117– 21 Paley; all of 1098–1119 were suspect to Diggle; but Stockert and Matthiessen conserve them.] 1098–9  hut οἶκος and shelter στέγαι, cf. 1110 δώματα ‘hut’: for these translations see 1 n. Greek: προσκοπέω ‘watch in front’, i.e. look(ing) out for, a person also Ar. Knights 154; the noun προσκοπή ‘look-out (for ships)’ Thuc. 1.116.1. χρόνιον for some time: personal adj. for temporal adv., as e.g. Supp. 91 χρονίαν ἀποῦσαν, And. 84 χρόνιος οὖσ’ ἐκ δωμάτων; Smyth 1042. The adj. χρόνιος has two or three ‘terminations’: Smyth 289d. 1100–2  sounding: ἱεῖσα: lit. ‘sending out’, often of a distinctive (and loud) sound, e.g. Supp. 281 a bitter lament, Hec. 338 a nightingale’s song; as in those places the musical metaphor is poignantly expressive of sorrow.  different tones: μεταβολαί, in music defined as modulations, ‘transitions effected gradually from one mode to another’, Aristides, On Music I.19 Winnington-Ingram; Quintilian 9.4.50. Greek: 1100 ἐν (δακρύοισι) ‘in (tears)’, as in English: LSJ II.2; Smyth

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1687c.   1102 βουλεύεται mid. is resolved upon, e.g. Hipp. 901, Iliad 2.114, Thuc. 2.44.3. [Text. 1100 δ’ Markland but, to differentiate Iph.’s behaviour from Clyt.’s; θ’ L ‘and’.   1101 ἱεῖσα L with short iota, rare in Attic verse e.g. Supp. 281 (Smyth 778): whence ἱεῖσα πολλὰς Blaydes.] 1103–5  But here… : surprise (often pleased) is typically conveyed with idiomatic δ’ ἄρα (GP 35); locative ‘here’ is also literal in the demonstrative pron. τοῦδε.  already: translates βεβηκότος lit. ‘having come’.  I was mentioning: to herself; almost an aside. Clyt. indeed thinks ‘Talk of the devil!’, for her (will be) found out translates εὑρίσκω as e.g. Hec. 270 ἀδικοῦσα ‘in doing wrong’, cf. And. 219; a similar but even more grim stage-moment Bacc. 1211–12 when Agave in her hallucination asks for Pentheus, and his dismembered corpse is brought in at 1216–17.  planning: πράσσω as 129 (n.). impious: ἀνόσια: the adj. stands twice in 1318, Iph. deploring her father and his deed. Greek: 1103 μνήμην ἔχω ‘make mention (of)’ e.g. Hel. 1583, LSJ μνήμη II.   1104 ἐπί and dat., e.g. ‘against’: 744 n., Smyth 1689.2c. τέκνοις allusive plur., child, as again in 1104: 1015 n. 1106–8  Daughter of Leda: for the tone of Ag.’s address to his wife see 686 n.  the right moment: ἐν καλῷ, half-colloquial, e.g. Hcld. 971, Or. 579 (Stevens (1976) 28).  found: mild word-play on Clyt.’s 1105 ‘found out’ – but only for the audience: Ag. did not hear that verse. Greek: 1107 ἵν’ εἴπω to say: for ἵνα of purpose after a mild ellipse of sense (from ἐν καλῷ) cf. 320.   1108 τὰς γαμουμένας a bride, another allusive plur., cf. 1104 ‘child’ and n. Greek. 1109  What … this opportunity to say?: lit. ‘What is it which opportuneness seizes hold of for you?’ καιρός is here ‘opportunity, chance’, as in Ion 659, 1062, and a little different from ‘the appropriate or right time’ of e.g. 325 ‘not the time for etc.’ (see n.), Med. 80; Clyt. puts her own gloss on Ag.’s 1106 ‘right moment’. For a similar question cf. And. 131 τί σοι καιρός…; ‘Why is it opportune for you…?’, Med. 127–8 with Page’s n. Greek: σοι dat. of advantage (Smyth 1481) rather than of reference ‘in your eyes’ (Smyth 1496). 1110–14  Send the girl out: Ag. expects Clyt. to go inside to do this; instead she speaks at once to Iph. herself 1117 as if she has entered the hut, unless she calls back through the half-open door as the Old Man had

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called out through it at 855–7 (see (B) 855–99 n. Staging); and the girl appears 1120. The slight inconsistency has added to suspicions of these lines: see 1098–1119 n.  to join her father: the usual but precarious translation of πατρὸς μέτα (see Text), but consistent with Ag.’s assertion to Clyt. that he, not she, will conduct the marriage 729–39.  water for sprinkling: χέρνιβες as in 675 (n.), cf. IT 244; coupled with barley πρόχυται 955 n., cf. ‘barley thrown’ El. 803–4. Below at 1471 the adj. cleansing καθάρσιος describes ‘barley’ itself, ‘let the fire blaze with cleansing scattered barley’ – but ritual water too was ‘purified’ by a flaming brand plunged into it, e.g. Her. 928–9.  ready: εὐτρεπίζω in the same context 437: n. heifers: an echo for the audience of Iph. pictured as sacrificial heifer, 1083 and n.  spurt of black blood: a grisly accompaniment of the throat-cut (also 1083–4); of a sword-thrust A. Ag. 1389, S. Ant. 1238–9 and esp. Aj. 918–19 (Ajax’s suicide) ‘up to nostril and forth from red gash he spurts darkened blood from the selfdealt wound’ (trans. Jebb), who compares 1411 there and the killing of Antinous Od. 22.18; at Aj. 833 Ajax had hoped for such a death-thrust ‘without a struggle’, like Cassandra foreseeing hers A. Ag. 1292. See Text below.  before (the marriage): πρό temporal, implicit in the term προτέλεια ‘preliminary rite’, 433 n. (see Introduction pp. 11–12); but ambiguity may be intended with ‘on behalf of, for the good of’; clearly so in πρὸ γάμων Hel. 1477, S. Trac. 505 (see 1121 n. below); for ambiguity see L. Battezzato, EGT 96–8.  to … Artemis: 718 n. Greek. 1111 for the perfect form ηὐ- in a εὐ- compound verb see Diggle (1994) 415.   1112 βάλλειν to throw, final infin. after ‘is ready’, Smyth 2008–10; with acc. on (the … fire) as e.g. Tro. 81 ‘on (the ships)’: ‘throw on’ is how English idiom renders the verb’s basic sense ‘hit, strike’. [Text. 1110 The difficulty with ‘proleptic’ πατρὸς μέτα ‘to join her father’, lit. ‘with her father’, has been addressed either by translation as ‘escort the girl from the hut with her father’, i.e. give her a formal ‘send-off’ to her marriage, or by emendation with (England) δωμάτων πάρος (Heimsoeth: πατρὸς L) [μέτα] (Heimsoeth) ‘send … out in front of hut’. Kovacs printed this (and deleted 1115–19). Such a process of corruption is however hard to reconstruct.   1112 χεροῖν Musgrave instrumental dat. economically corrects L’s χερῶν, objective gen. ‘(cleansing) the hands’.   1114 φυσήματι Diggle in a spurt,

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palmary, modal dat. like Bacc. 1112 πίπτει … οἰμώγμασι ‘(Pentheus) falls … groaning’: φυσήματα L ‘in spurtings’, acc. in apposition to the clause ἃς … πεσεῖν χρεών ‘which must fall’, was defended before Diggle’s emendation by Stockert, but with difficulty. England had deleted 1114.] 1115–16  You talk well with your words, but how I should name and speak well of your actions etc.: a wholly Euripidean word-play: (1) ὄνομα and ἔργον contrasted as e.g. Hipp. 501–2, Or. 454, but enhanced here with the supplementary verb ὀνομάζω ‘name, call’, and (2) εὖ λέγειν changing its sense from ‘use words skilfully’ e.g. 1445, Or. 111, to ‘speak well of, commend’ e.g. Or. 239. Clyt. means that Ag. names his actions speciously (Iph.’s sacrificial ritual is concealed as ‘marriage’) while she cannot name them favourably. Cf. Tro. 1233 ‘a poor physician, with the name but not the actions’, (Stockert) Thuc. 8.78 ‘a name without effect, not an action’ (cf. IA 128). For ὄνομα ‘word’ see LSJ VI.1 and (perhaps relevant here, because of the antithesis ὀνόματα/ἔργα ‘words/actions’) VI.2 ‘noun’ opposed to ῥῆμα ‘(action) word, verb’. Turato discusses theorizing by rhetoricians in Eur.’s time about the relation between words skilfully used and the stirring of pity in the theatre (Men. at 477–9, Ag. at 1255); he notes that Aristophanes targets Eur. on this count at Ach. 383–94, 435–6, 496–7. For pity in Tragedy see D. Konstan, EGT 976–7. For discussion of pity by rhetoricians in the 4th century see Stanford (1983) 24–6. 1117–19  in any case: πάντως: 1002 and e.g. Med. 1064, El. 227. Greek. 1117 πατρός gen. dependent upon οἶσθα aware of is unusual, but follows the construction available to verbs of perception like πυνθάνομαι (Smyth 1361): such a gen. indicates the source of knowledge, but Iph. has not heard from her father, only of him (1102). The enjambement (50– 1 n.) of πάντως nevertheless forces the dependence of the clause ἃ μέλλει ‘what (your father) intends’ upon οἶσθα; but there are few parallels, the best being Od. 3.15, a clause beginning with ὅπου (KG II.360–1), and Pl. Rep. 375e, one beginning with ὅτι (Stockert); a gen. with participle e.g. Thuc. 4.6.1 (Smyth 1365).   1118 ὑπό under the cover of: of clothing e.g. Hel. 1574 (hidden swords); of shelter Hcld. 10, a bird’s protective wings. [Text. 1117–19 are often deleted, and remain suspect. Ritchie builds upon Page’s comment that, because Ag. ignores Orestes’ presence altogether in this part of the episode, the verses are ‘A spectacular interpolation? Another tableau’ (Page 183, cf. 206). Ritchie suggests

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that it was designed to set up ‘a family group for a pathetic appeal, in preparation for Clyt.’s expected speech’ (see 1098–1275 n. Staging; 1124–6 n.)]. 1120–1  Look: ἰδού: 649 n., also 1144.  in obedience to: πειθαρχέω only here in Eur., and a rather heavy word, perhaps reminiscent of Clyt.’s obedience to Ach. 1033, cf. 1024?  As for the rest: implying ‘Iph. is here, as you commanded, but I’ll do the talking’, despite her knowledge of Ag.’s intention 1112, 1117–18. At 1211 Iph. nevertheless speaks without prompting or persuasion (rather like her forwardness in 631–2). Greek. πρό ‘for, on behalf of’ with a verb of speech e.g. S. OT 10, 1434, perhaps Alc. 326. [Text. πρὸ Barnes: πρὸς L, cf. 1201 apparatus; the latter can mean only ‘from her and my standpoint’.] 1122–3  not still looking pleased: cf. Iph.’s own words ‘I am glad to see you’ 640. She is holding her dress in front of her eyes from mingled shame and horror at a father she knows is false; cf. e.g. Aethra’s shame and fear for her son Theseus if he scorns the gods Supp. 286–7. Iph. forbids Clyt. to veil herself from grief 1438, 1448. Greek. 1123 ἐρείδω lit. ‘prop against, upon’; for the sense fixing eyes LSJ I.1 cite Ap. Rhod. 1.784; eyes also with πήγνυμι ‘fix’, e.g. Iliad 3.217. πρόσθε here is an adv., like Iliad 13.157 ‘held his shield in front’, LSJ B.I.1; as prep. cf. 7.224 ‘(shield) before his chest’, LSJ A.I.1. [Text. 1122 ὁρᾷς Markland (looking) , because the adv. ἡδέως with bare ὁράω (rather than the usual βλέπω) as ‘look pleased’ is doubtful Greek; it means rather ‘look (at) with pleasure’. See also 1124–6 n.] 1124–6  Alas! What beginning…?: the exclamation and the wording seem to herald a long speech, as in El. 907–8 ‘Well then! What beginning … should I speak out first…? (Electra begins to revile Aegisthus’ corpse); but 1124–6 mark Clyt.’s sudden uncertainty before collecting herself in 1129 for her abrupt demand from Ag. 1131. The trope has a simple naturalness e.g. Od. 9.14, Hel. 630–1, but can at times be heavily rhetorical e.g. Hec. 585–8, Ion 927–30. Ag.’s interruption in 1127 is effective theatre, marking the concerted appeal for pity he sees in Clyt.’s and Iph.’s demeanour – as he himself foresaw and feared 462–6. [Text. Bremi deleted 1124–6 (in fact 1122–6), and many eds follow, recently e.g. Günther and (1124–8) Kovacs; Diggle suspected the lines.

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Transition from 1123 to 1127 is tolerable, but then something is lost from Clyt.’s ‘struggle (between 1109 and 1131) to get her act together’ (Ritchie). Stockert and Matthiessen keep the lines. See also 1138–9 Text.] 1127–8  (You …) all: a clear indication that Orestes is there (see 1098–1119 n.); cf. 1137 n. ‘You are all one for me’ is lit. ‘you have all come to one thing for me’, εἰς ἕν, the ‘one’ being defined in 1128; see Greek.  confusion … in your eyes: 354. For agitation (ταραγμός) of minds, cf. Her. 1091 ‘stormy agitation (τάραγμα)’ of mind; Ion 1538 verb ταράσσω. Greek. 1127 ὡς explanatory, elliptical, a causal use of exclamatory ‘How…!’: see Kannicht on Hel. 623–4 (where the text is uncertain); cf. 644n., Smyth 3001. εἰς ἓν ἥκετε: cf. 1002 ἥξετ’ εἰς ἴσον ‘you will come to the same result’; Archelaus F 246.2 ταῦτ’ εἰς ἓν ἐλθόντα ‘these (factors) come to one thing’; Hel. 742 a little differently εἰς ἓν ἐλθόντες τύχης ‘(persons) come to one fortune’, cf. And. 1172. 1129  honestly: γενναῖος adj. is lit. ‘true to noble birth, honourable’, Lat. honestus; used by Ach. of Iph. 1411, 1422; the adv. also 1402, Ion 935. Compare (Stockert) Hcld. 890–1 ‘the tongue of honourable men must not lie’. 1130–3 [Text. Diggle (1994) 409 strongly supported Günther’s deletion, but marked the lines only as suspect in OCT; Kovacs deleted. Page doubted their authenticity, while terming 1124–50 ‘splendidly vigorous’. Indeed they are, and if 1131 in particular is deleted, 1138–9 alone remain to prompt Ag.’s realisation in 1140 that ‘all is lost’: see Text there.] 1130  Greek. δεῖ ‘need’ with acc. of pers. and gen. of thing, e.g. Hec. 1021, Ion 1018; commoner in Eur. is dat. of pers., e.g. Med. 565: Smyth 1400. [Text. σ(ε) you Dobree, a pron. being better than γ(ε) L, which is separated from κελευσμοῦ the word it emphasizes (rare: GP 150); μ’ Reiske ‘I need no command!’] 1131–3  your child and mine: so Clyt. earlier at 1121, later 1164–5, 1208; cf. her earlier recognition of Iph.’s closeness to Ag. 638–9.  are you about to kill: words postponed in the devastating simplicity of this line in order to enhance its power. After his What? (317 n., 644) Ag. prevaricates, concealing his guilt, to avoid answering: note Clyt.’s

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later reaction 1142–3: see Mastronarde (1979) 83 n. 21 for this dramatic technique in Tragedy.  overbold: the difficult adj. τλήμων (cf. 1165; 98 n.), here connoting effrontery: as a woman and his wife Clyt. has gone too far for Ag.: cf. S. El. 439 τλημονεστάτη (also Clyt.), Med. 1274 τλήμων (Medea, ‘cruel’). Be quiet!: ἔχ’ ἥσυχος, curt, and pointedly ‘outside the metre’, perhaps followed in performance by a short pause, when Clyt.’s silence itself would add to her insistence on an answer. The expression has colloquial pedigree (Stevens (1976) 34–5), but occurs at line-end Med. 550, Hipp. 1313, like the brutal put-down σῖγ(α), … ἔχε στόμα ‘Silence! Hold your tongue!’ Supp. 513. Very short clauses in place of a complete verse are rare in Tragedy, except in Sophocles, esp. OT 1468, 1471, 1475 at the end of a long, disturbed speech; commands and questions are commonest (see Fraenkel, Agamemnon pp. 558–9, 580 n. 4). ‘Be quiet!’ here shows that Ag.’s 1132 is not an aside: Bain (1977b) 53–4. Greek. 1133 πάλιν again, idiomatically redundant, nearing ‘in return’, as e.g. 478 ἀνταφῆκα … πάλιν ‘shed (tears) in response in return’, Supp. 569 ἀντάκουσον … πάλιν ‘Listen in response in return’. 1134–9  Repeated contrasts with doubled words (1134 ‘reasonable’, 1135 ‘other’, 1139 ‘mind’) sharpen the stichomythic conflict, expressing Clyt.’s bitterness: for such tropes Jebb, commenting on the angry exchange S. OT 547–2, cites A. Seven [1042–3] and Aristophanes’ paratragic Ach. 1097–8. 1134–5  reasonable: εἰκότα, lit. ‘likely’: appeals to probability (457, 501 n.) became a staple of sophistic and esp. forensic argument, and so are frequent in the Euripidean agon: see Lloyd (1992) 22 esp. n. 13, 29 and Index; Collard in SFP Ι (1995) 73 on Cretans F 472e.11; J. A. Bromberg in EGT 1173–5, 1178. Greek. For the ‘mixed conditional syntax’, ἤν (ἐάν) with subjunctive + ἄν with opt. [Text: restored by Markland], as easy in Greek as in English if you ask, you’d hear, see Smyth 2343. 1136–7  mistress: applied to Shame 821 n.  destiny: δαίμων, a supernatural ‘agent of fortune’. It often becomes one’s depersonalised ‘destiny, fortune’ when used with a possessive pron. as here, e.g. And. 974, Supp. 591; Stevens on And. 98 discusses the ambiguities of the word: cf. above 444 n., Mikalson (1990) 22. Closely similar with 1136–7 in formulation is S. El. 1156–7 ὁ δυστυχὴς | δαίμων ὁ σός τε κἀμός

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‘our unhappy destiny, yours and mine’.Cf. Introduction p. 35.  one for three: Ag. (1136), Clyt. and Iph. The figure ‘one/three’ also e.g. Hipp. 1403 ‘one daimon destroyed the three of us’ (who are named in 1404), Or. 1244 ‘one struggle for three friends, one just cause’; cf. S. OC 330–1 – ‘Miserable upbringings!’ – ‘Hers and mine?’ – ‘And mine … the third’. [Text. 1136 Musgrave’s order Μοῖρα καὶ τύχη restores metre: L’s τ. κ. μ. has an improper ‘2. foot’ anapaest.] 1138–9  For the effect of the divided 1138 (antilabe: 303–16 n.) see 1098–1145 n.  mind … no mind: the translation preserves the doubling of Greek νοῦς, but the first means ‘the organ of reason’ and the second ‘reason’ itself, ‘sense’; cf. Bain (1977b) 55. The Old Man had attributed a different change of ‘mind’ to Ag., from good to bad, 877, 893. at all: the force of αὐτός ‘itself’. Greek. 1139 τυγχάνω and part. of fact (really): Barrett on Hipp. 388– 90 cites e.g. IT 607, Med. 608. [Text. 1138 τί δ’ ἠδίκησαι;: in Ag.’s final prevarication the important τί δέ But what…? is due to Matthiae; all recent eds follow him except Günther, who prints τίν’ ἠδίκησαι; P2 with the unusual plur. pron. as acc. retained with a pass. verb., giving the less aggressive sense ‘What wrong have you been done?’, with no initial ‘But…’. Ag. would ask the nature of Clyt.’s wrongs, but not their cause, let alone offer himself as that: so L’s τί μ’ (τίν’ above the line) ἠδίκησε; ‘What wrong did it (‘destiny’ δαίμων 1136) do me?’, and Markland’s change of μ’ to σ’ (‘…do you?’), give no apt sense in context; nor does Hermann’s τίν’ ἠδίκησα ‘Whom did I wrong?’ or Markland’s earlier τί σ’ ἠδίκησα ‘What wrong did I do you?’   1139 was rightly given to Clyt. by the Aldine: the words are impossible from Ag. (L).   1138–9 were moved to follow 1126 by Hermann; while 1138 as ‘But what wrong have you been done?’ (Matthiae) fits well there (but not Hermann’s ‘Whom did I wrong?’), 1139 ‘You ask that of me?’ does not fit (pace Stockert); its bitterness is appropriate only when Clyt. is completing Ag.’s collapse. Wilamowitz deleted the couplet.] 1140–3  1140 is an aside, for Clyt. 1142 speaks of Ag.’s very silence as an admission of guilt, although she has heard his groaning 1143; for their compatibility see Bain (1977b) 54–5, who notes Ag.’s Hec. 739–40 ‘Why do you turn your back to my face and weep, but not say what has been done?’ as response to Hecuba’s half-aside 736–8 ‘Shall I fall in supplication or keep silent?’; cf. Hel. 133, also beginning ‘All is lost

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for me!’, which is perhaps half an aside. ‘Your very silence etc.’ αὐτὸ τὸ σιγᾶν: cf. And. 265 τὸ … ἔργον αὐτό ‘(my) very action will soon show…’, cf. Or. 1129 ‘….shows’. For the moral idea cf. (Stockert) S. Trac. 813–14 ‘Why are you making off in silence? Don’t you know that if you are silent you support your accuser?’ Groaning is commented upon during dialogue IT 550, Ion 769. The Homeric Ag. notably groans Iliad 4.153, 9.16.  My secrets: τὰ κρυπτά, used of Phaedra’s concealed passion Hipp. 593.  betrayed: Ag.’s fear in 539–40; in 742–5 he realised that his deception had failed.  (do) to me: Clyt. again puts selfinterest first, as she seemed to do when talking with Ach. 847, 880, 903, 910–16. But see the end of 1146–1208 n. for the self-referential nature of Greek sorrow.  Spare yourself etc.: bitter irony. The expression μὴ κάμῃς λέγων lit. ‘Don’t take the trouble of saying’ may be colloquial. [Text. 1141 πεπύσμεθ’ Burges have learned, Clyt. pointedly repeating her verb from 1138 πεύθῃ ‘you ask that of me?’: πέπεισμαι L ‘have been persuaded’(?), unmetrical with makeshift cure by Tr.   1143 κάμῃς Porson, aor. subj.: κάμνῃς L, pres. There is (still) no certain Classical example of μή and the 2. pers. pres. subj. in a negative command: Smyth 1840 B.N.] 1144–5  The two lines have been judged an aside, like 1140, for it is surprising that Ag. should admit such feelings to Clyt.’s ears (Bain (previous n.) disagrees); yet ‘Look, I am silent’ seems intended for her hearing. A matter for a director. shamelessness: τὸ … ἀναίσχυντον also Hippolyus Veiled F 436 with φρενῶν ‘of mind’, cf. 327 above ‘What a shameless mind you have’, Ag. accusing Men. For ‘shame’ as a motif in the play see Introduction pp. 34–5. Greek: 1144 ἰδού Look!, compliant; very common, and nearcolloquial: Stevens (1976) 35. For the verbal adj. ἀναίσχυντον with article see 1092 τὸ ἄσεπτον and n. [Text. 1144 τί δεῖ…; Elmsley ‘What need…?’ corrects L’s nonsensical με δεῖ ‘ I must…’ (a strange error).] (B) 1146–1275  Speeches of Clytemnestra, Iphigenia and Agamemnon; see esp. the last paragraph of this note. 1146–1208  Clyt.’s speech. (The following scheme is built upon Ritchie’s notes.) 1146–7 (1) Headline: I’ll now speak openly, with no further dark words.

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1148–63 (A) The past: despite your taking me as bride amid violence, I have been blameless as wife. 1164–70 (B) The present: I have borne you children – but must you kill our daughter to recover Menelaus’ worthless wife? 1171–82 (C, and D below) The future: if you do, my heart and house will be empty – and (to Iph.) ‘your own father’s hand will kill you’ – ; but a brief pretext to escape Iph.’s sacrifice will ensure your welcome home. 1183–4 (2) Recapitulation: – and supplication: ‘therefore do not compel me to become evil against you (in revenge), nor become evil yourself’. 1185–93 (D) If you kill your child, what prayers for your good will the gods accept, or what forgiveness or welcome can you expect from your children? 1194–1206 (E) A plea: against that prospect, reconsider your concern only to hold command, or find another father to offer his daughter, or Men. to offer his own daughter in his own cause. Now I, your faithful wife, will lose mine, and his erring wife have happiness with hers. 1207–8 (3) Final challenge: admit my logic, spare our child, and show good sense. Clyt. is adversarial throughout, methodically destroying Ag.’s conceivable defences of his disregard for wife and daughter, and exposing his practical and moral failings: she uses the familiar rhetorical technique of anticipating and disarming an opponent’s argument (C, D, E; on this technique see 1166–7 n.). But because she is ‘more concerned with the wrong (compounding earlier wrongs!) done to herself than with the imminent loss of her daughter’s life’ (Conacher (1967) 259), some find her solipsism unsympathetically portrayed. Such an objection ignores the self-referential nature of Greek sorrow: e.g. Priam’s great speech Iliad. 22.38–75 is largely about himself and yet communicates overwhelming parental love. Clyt. shows how much her own survival as a compassionate woman is dependent on such love for Iph.; this is borne out in her coming scene with Ach., in Iph.’s presence: see Clyt.’s 1344–5, 1366–7 and 1433–66 throughout, esp. her final hopeless plea not to be abandoned by Iph. 1465–6. 1211–52  Iph.’s speech. 1211–15 Headline: she disclaims having the eloquence to dissuade Ag.; instead she makes ‘tears her rhetoric’.

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1216–48 Pathos then dominates her speech: (A) 1216–19 She supplicates for her life; cf. 1227, 1233, 1247; (B) 1220–32 she dwells poignantly upon her ancient closeness to her father, and their shared hopes now lost – (C) 1233–5 and upon the hurt to her mother, which she supplicates her father not to repeat after the agony of her childbirth. (D) 1236–7 interrupt with a single, plain argument: the unreason of her death in order to punish Helen and Paris. (E) 1238–40 Reverting to pathos Iph. demands Ag.’s embrace and kiss as a final memory of him – (F) 1241–8 and in a theatrical climax urges the baby Orestes to shed natural tears of sympathy. (G) 1249–52 Similar passion fills her closing appeal to the preciousness of her life – of all mortal life; she ends as she began in (A). While Iph.’s words are apt to a fond young daughter (she uses the word ‘father’ six times, 1211, 1220, 1229, 1237, 1242, 1245), they are far from ‘childish’ (pace Turato), while still in moving contrast with Clyt.’s harshness (throughout 1146–1208) and Ag.’s inflexibility (1257– 75, after his opening 1255–6). It is noticeable that the speeches of both mother and daughter reach an emotional climax in deterrent supplications of Ag., 1183–4 ~ 1233–5. 1255–75 Ag.’s speech. It is a terse reply – to both Clyt. and Iph. 1255–6 He responds to Clyt.’s appeal for parental love (her B, 1165; C, 1175–7; D, 1191–3, (3) 1207–8) and to Iph.’s appeal for pity (her A and B, 1255); he does so by asserting that he loves his children, and understands what pity means.. 1257–68 carry the weight of his speech and his principal defence: he must fight the war to secure Greece’s freedom from barbarians’ rape of its women. 1269–70 He contests Clyt.’s charge that he is serving Men.’s pursuit of a worthless wife only indirectly (her B, 1168–9; E, 1201–3), when he addresses Iph.’s echo of it (her D) so that he may present her death as a duty common to himself and her, 1273–4. 1271–5 He returns to the war he must fight: see n. on 1271 ‘whether I want to or not’. Ag. does not mention Orestes at all, although the child and his other

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children were prominent in Clyt.’s B, D and (3), and the child in Iph.’s F. See also 1098–1119 n. [Text. Despite its brevity, and abrupt close, the speech has nevertheless been accused of sudden over-emphasis on the whole army’s desire, almost erotic, for the war (1264 n.), now hard and dangerous to thwart 1259–68; but that is not new, and continues to be important. Ag. feared it long since, 513–14, 526–35, cf. 1012; and Ach. wished to warn him, 801–18, and will repeat his anxiety to Clyt. 1345–57 and to Iph. 1414– 15, 1425–32. Earlier eds deleted many lines (see apparatus) on grounds of content or repetition, and 1270 and 1275 individually (see the nn.).]   As to the three speeches together: it is necessary to the plot and to Clyt.’s angry passion here that no word of Iph.’s sacrifice or of Troy had passed between Clyt. and Ag. in their first encounter 685–740, before she learned of Ag.’s deception from the Old Man 866–95; but she overheard Iph. question her father about his long absence at Troy 651–61, including Iph.’s curse upon Menelaus 658. More important to Iph.’s change from supplication for her life (1211–52: n.) to exultant acceptance of her death (from 1368) is that until Ag.’s speech here she has heard while on stage nothing about saving Greeks from barbarians, or about ideals of freedom; but these factors later come from her own lips, and are magnified, in 1377–89, 1397–1401 (see Ach.’s admiration in 1406), later 1420, 1446, 1456 – and in her farewells 1472–3, 1502 (cf. the Chorus’ [1519–20, 1525–31]); on this matter, and the emotional style chosen for Iph.’s first speech 1211–52 and monody 1279–1335, see esp. Gibert (2005) 230. 1146–7  Listen now: ἄκουε δή νυν, a Eur. formula 1009 n.; at the start of a measured speech e.g. Supp. 857.  reveal … plainly … no longer use hinting in riddles: Clyt. asserts her intention strongly, with 1148 ‘my first reproach’. Her ‘hinting’ seems to refer to her 1124–6, 1135, 1137 and particularly 1139. The noun ‘hinting’ translates the adj. παρῳδός, lit. ‘singing beside’ (verb παραείδω ‘accompany’ Od. 22.348); the adj. is apt to αἰνίγματα ‘riddles’ because (riddling) oracles were sung verse (see n. on 1064 ‘art of Phoebus’). In this musical metaphor the prefix παραimplies ‘inferiority or defect’ (LSJ παρά C.I.7), i.e. ‘singing off-key’, cf. παράμουσος ‘discordant’ Pho. 785, A. Cho. 467; παραπαίω ‘strike a false note’ A. F 314; full illustration by Stockert. The development of the sense ‘parody’ is readily understandable, and became dominant from

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the 4th century BC: see LSJ. For ‘riddles’, puzzling words, cf. Tro. 625 ‘Talthybius … spoke unclearly a riddle only too clear’, a reference to 264 his instruction that Polyxena was ‘to serve Achilles’ tomb’ (but as a sacrifice); other qualifications of ‘riddles’ by their speakers Supp. 1064, A. Ag. 1183; contrast of riddling and simplicity A. Supp. 464; PV 610, 833. Greek. The change from 1. sing. ἀνακαλύψω to plur. χρησόμεσθα is not rare, e.g. Ion 1250–1, Tro. 904 cited by Bond on Her. 858. For the flexibility of the verb χράομαι lit. ‘use’ see 316 n. 1148–50  First … first: the doubling typifies rhetorical method in an agon, beginning a speech (349 n.), e.g. Med. 475, Supp. 517 with Collard’s n. reproach: also a rhetorical tone-word, e.g. 906; in Tro. 936 (in an agon) Helen rejects reproach over her love for Paris; cf. the combative words starting our agon, of Men. 335 ‘put you to the proof’ and of Ag. 378 ‘criticize’.  married … took me: inversion for effect, hysteron proteron (also 1184, 1307, [1682]), for ‘you married me’ is a surprising initial attack. Contrast Clyt. welcoming Ag. home, with praise of his worth as husband, in A. Ag. 855–913.  Tantalus: not the famous sufferer in Hades (504) but a son of Thyestes, brother of Ag.’s father Atreus: [Apollodorus], Epitome 2.15, Pausanias 2.18.2 – the latter raises the question of whether Ag.’s murder of him launched the feud between the brothers; note that Eur. gives Ag. no motive. This Tantalus is first recorded here (at El. 1018–19 Tyndareus simply gives Clyt. to Ag. as her first husband). It is impossible to establish whether or not he was Eur.’s invention, as some have thought: see Gibert (2005) 227–48, at 229, with bibl., who however suggests that the contrast between Clyt. as model wife (in her own words, 1157–65) and the monstrous adulteress of myth is typical Euripidean ‘innovation’; cf. A. N. Michelini, ICS (1999–2000) 48–50. Scholars have observed that the violent start of Clyt.’s and Ag.’s marriage heralds the misery she fears following Iph.’s death at Ag.’s hand (1171ff.); also that Clyt. endured something as a result of which she will become the killer of her husband (J. Griffin in Pelling (1990) 146); cf. C. Luschnig ‘(she) turns into the woman likely to be obsessed with revenge whom we know from Aeschylus’, EGT 432, cf. her (1988) 30–1, 82–3, 117. Gibert (2005) esp. 238–40 argues that the presentation of Clyt.’s first marriage resonates in various ways with many of the play’s important moments as the inevitable tragedy approaches.

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[Text. 1148 ταῦτ’ Monk for τοῦτ’; the plur. is used in a similar rhetorical ploy at 349.   1149 κἄμβαλες i.e. καὶ ἔμβαλες (= ἐνέβαλες) in Schol. Od.’s quotation (next sentence) is an unaugmented Epic aor. impossible in Euripidean dialogue; and its meaning here would be ‘attacked (me) violently’, i.e. ‘raped’, for Schol. is commenting on Od. 11.422–30 where the shade of Ag. recounts Clyt.’s own violence, her murder of Cassandra and himself. But κἄμβαλες may be no more than part-anagram of κἄλαβες?] 1151–2  dashed my baby living to the ground: a similar intention Hdt. 5.92.γ.2. It was the fate notoriously of Hector’s and Andromache’s son Astyanax, thrown from Troy’s wall e.g. Tro. 725, 1134–5. When at Iliad 22.63–4 Priam visualises that Trojan infants will be thrown to the ground, it is no doubt Homer’s allusive anticipation for his audience of Astyanax’s death (feared also by Andromache 24.734–5). See also Text below, at end.  tearing … from my breast: babies at A. Seven 348–50, there too for slaughter, which would be unusual in contemporary war (Hutchinson ad loc.). For such ‘tearing away’ for slaughter cf. also And. 441, an infant, νεοσσός lit. ‘chick’ (like Orestes in our 1248: n.), torn from beneath its mother’s wings. The maternal breast is a stock element of pathetic appeal, regularly associated with Clyt. e.g. A. Cho. 896–8, E. El. 1207, Or. 527, 839–43. The here brutish Ag. (poet and Clyt. make him so for the dramaturgy) contrasts with the otherwise very human and tormented character elsewhere in the play (note his 1255–8), rather like the dual-natured Clyt. observed in 1148–50 n. Gibert (2005) 239 remarks that while the horror of the baby’s death is being described, ‘Iph. stands by silently holding an infant’. [Text. 1151 ζῶν Musgrave and προσούδισας πέδῳ Scaliger ‘dashed … living to the ground’: apt and excellent meaning in context (above), but bold emendations. Most eds obelize L’s σῷ προσούρισας πάλῳ, either doubting its supposed meaning as ‘guided (my baby) to your lot’ (i.e. allotment from the spoils of war: 1154) or distrusting the wide textual change. The 2. pers. poss. pron. σῷ is meaningless with πέδῳ ‘ground’, and Musgrave’s ζῶν is inescapable with Scaliger’s verb. Other than MusgraveScaliger there is Hartung’s conjecture προσωρίσας ‘annexed to (your lot)’, but both ‘guided to’ and ‘annexed to’ are impossible: no usurper of another man’s wife after killing the husband would take over his male child and let it live as a threat to his own descendants: for that reason Andromache in

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slavery may lose her infant son by Neoptolemus when his wife Hermione and her father Menelaus consider killing the child And. 516–22; the same motif Her. 166–9, Hdt. 1.155.1, 5.92.γ.1 (above) and (a proverb) Cypria F 31 West ‘He is a fool who kills the father and spares the sons’; cf. A. Tzanetou in EGT 216. Compare also the threats from Clyt. and Aegisthus to Electra who prays and works for Orestes’ return as avenger of Ag. El. 1116–21, S. El. 379–82, 516–18 etc.] 1153–6  two sons of Zeus – my kinsmen: Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri, Διόσκοροι), and Helen, were fathered by Zeus 794–7; for the rel. clause in parenthesis see on Text. Clyt. was fathered by Tyndareus, who in many accounts became Helen’s father too; the mother of all four was Leda (48–9). The twins rode white horses, swift and flashing brilliantly, emblematic both of their semi-divine status (μαρμαίρω of Apollo’s golden hair Ion 887–8, of brilliant armour Iliad 12.195) and of their superior horsemanship e.g. Pind. Pyth. 1.66, Hel. 639, Ovid, Met. 8.372–4; for ‘flashing’ cf. And. 1146 Neoptolemus ‘gleaming (στίλβων) in brilliant armour’ (cf. the English cliché ‘knight in shining armour’ in similar contexts of rescue). At the ends of Helen and of Electra the Dioscuri may have entered riding their horses ‘on the machine’: see Allan on Hel. 1642–79. Here they save Clyt.; after Zeus placed them in the sky, they saved sailors through the phenomenon we know as St Elmo’s fire, Alcaeus F 34 Lobel-Page. 1154 is a three-word trimeter of unusual form, with mid-verse caesura eased by elision (West (1982) 83; S. Phil. 226 has exactly the same shape), perhaps emphasizing the single six-syllable Greek word after the caesura, to make war against you: Marcovich (see 492 n.) 141–2 suggests that this rhythm, as much as the wording, ‘ridicules’ and humiliates Ag. after Clyt. began to accuse him of taking her by force, 1149; it may also be implied that if the two gods had attacked Ag., he would have been destroyed. Greek: 1154 ἵπποισι instrumental dat., with e.g. βρέμων ‘(Polynices) thundering with…’ Pho. 113.   1156 αὖ adversative and consequential, nonetheless, ‘on the contrary’ (LSJ IV); not ‘in turn’, still less temporal ‘afterwards’. [Text. 1153 σε Markland, explicit acc. object with ἐπιστρατεύω as Pho. 285; the enclitic pron. is here advanced near the start of its clause (‘Wackernagel’s Law’: formulated too late for KG; not in Smyth): γε L, in καὶ … γε emphasizing ‘kinsmen’, is unwanted. Also 1153 δὲ Matthiae,

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translated by means of the parenthesis, makes a deliberate point as Clyt. emphasizes her pedigree: τε L, a simple connective.] 1157–61 (chaste) sexually: ἐς ᾿Αφροδίτην, lit. ‘towards Aphrodite’, cf. Bacc. 314–15 σωφρονεῖν … ἐς τὴν Κύπριν also of women; cf. the Chorus’ approval of such wives 543–4, 553–4 and esp. 569–70 (n.).  (increased) your estate: μέλαθρον lit. ‘your palace-hall’, i.e. did more than just maintain it, the wife’s duty when her lord was away (1161). At A. Ag. 914 Ag. calls Clyt. the ‘guardian of his house’ during his absence; cf. Megara acting for Heracles Her. 45 and (observing sexual chastity) 1373. The phrase implies also the wife’s bearing children to secure heirs, 1164; cf. Aeolus’ hopes for his line E. Aeolus F 15.1 ‘May I see descendants from them, sons from sons’. Clyt. claims the qualities in a wife which Ag. missed in one [749–50, a generalisation]; similarly e.g. Or. [603–5], Meleager F 521.  entering: cf. a (peasant) husband’s pleasure on returning to his house and finding all well El. 75–6.  happy (on leaving): εὐδαιμονεῖν has a connotation: an everyday expression of thanks in farewell was εὐδαιμονοίης ‘May the gods give you happiness’, ‘Bless you!’: in Eur. e.g. Alc. 1137, Hypsipyle 1590, reciprocated in 1591; see Stevens (1976) 13. Greek. 1157 οὗ in that: 97 n. περὶ σὲ personally lit. ‘about you’, emphatic after σοι to you.  1158 συμμαρτυρέω ‘support my evidence or contention’, Ε. Danae F 319.1; with rel. clause ὡς ‘that’ Hipp. 286. 1162–3  catch: metaphor from hunting, cf. Achilles hunted by unmarried women 960 (n.).  spouse: for the nuance of ‘legitimacy’ in the word δάμαρ see Stevens on And. 4; DELG.  bad: φλαῦρος ‘of poor quality’, often moral; of persons e.g. Med. 1103 (children); LSJ II.  no rarity: a good wife is ‘a rare portion in life’ Alc. 472–4. The immediate echo of rare helps to signal that the section 1148–63 ‘I was a good wife’ is now finished: see 1146–1208 n. Greek. σπάνις with neg. (also e.g. And. 771, Hec. 12), lit. ‘not-lack’, is a Euripidean marker, like the verb σπανίζω e.g. Cyc. 133, Med. 560. Note that 1161, 2, 3 all end with infinitival -ειν: cf. 1323–9 n., Tro. 81–2 and many other such ‘unconscious repetitions by the poet’ at line-ends in Jackson (1955) 219–21. 1164–7  three daughters: 638–9 n.  this son here: held in Iph.’s arms (1118–19); the baby as silent but emotional lever ((B) 414b– 41 n.) is strongest in Iph.’s own speech 1241–8: see 1098–1275 n. Staging.  cruelly: again ‘pejorative’ sense for τλη-, ταλ-: 98 n., above

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Commentary

1132 n.; in a parallel context of filicide Med. 865 τλάμονι θυμῷ ‘with a cruel, ruthless heart’, 1274.  one of the girls: Iph.’s preciousness to Clyt. is brought out in 1174–9, in her bitterness about the sacrifice 1177– 8, 1203, and in her description of Iph. as ‘picked out’ as sacrificial victim 1199 (see n.). Unwillingness as a mother to sacrifice a child is criticised by Praxithea, E. Erechtheus F 360.30–1.  If someone asks … what will you say?: both a natural question and a rhetorical technique, anticipation (and implicit devaluation) of an opponent’s argument (procatalepsis), found in shadow as early as Iliad 6.459–62; for ‘what will you say?’ cf. Her. 1320 (with Bond’s n.), Hcld. 162; in general see Collard on Supp. 184 ‘someone will say…’, Lloyd (1992) 30–1 etc. The device recurs in 1185–90.  why: τίνος (ἕκατι): the ‘answer’ in 1168–9 shows that the pron. is neut., not masc. ‘whom’.   1166–70 (and 1203–4) closely resemble Tro. 370–3, Cassandra’s condemnation of Ag.’s motive: ‘The wise commander destroyed his dearest (our 1177–8), donating his joy in children at home to his brother because of a woman (Helen, Tro. 369), and one carried off willingly at that, and not by force.’ It is possible that the actor paused after ‘what will you say?’, for greater effect; compare lines divided at a change of speaker (antilabe 303–16 n.). Greek. 1164 τίκτω I bore, pres. ‘registering’ a past action as important still: 68 n., also e.g. And. 9. ἐπί As well as, ‘in addition to’, used of persons e.g. Med. 694; LSJ B.I.1e.   1167 τὰ σά ‘(speak) your things’ i.e. ‘your case’, also Supp. 456; cf. 396 n. on ἐμόν/-ά. 1168–70 ‘So that … Helen’: Clyt. invents and slants Ag.’s answer to her purpose. For speech quoted in a speech see Clyt. again 1177–9, Iph. in 1223–30 (n.); V. Bers cited in 356 n.  Truly a fine thing…!: ironic, with fee contemptuous, Helen as traded goods (her own love of gold Tro. 991–7); for the image cf. El. 1090 Clyt. ‘buying marriage (to Aegisthus) for a fee’, E. Cresphontes F 458 ‘taking my dearest as their fee’, a mother losing her son.  a child: τέκνα, allusive plur. (1015 n.), repeated in the idiom what is dearest to us τοῖς φιλτάτοις (458 n., 744) – and in our greatest hate τἄχθιστα: Helen is ἐχθίστη Tro. 211, Hel. 72. Cf. also Tro. 370–1 ἐχθίστων ὕπερ | τά φίλτατ’ ὤλεσε Cassandra’s indictment of Ag. Greek. 1168 καλόν γε: see Text.   1169 ἀποτίνω ‘pay’ price or penalty (with μισθόν ‘fee’ acc. as e.g. Hdt. 2.65.5 ζημίην ‘punishment’); for the person γυναικός (or thing) in the gen., e.g. Or. 531, absolute A. Ag. 1503. Here μισθόν is in apposition to τέκνα.

Commentary

533

[Text. 1168 Μενέλαος ῾Ελένην Elmsley, avoiding the ‘2. foot anapaest’ in L’s word-order. Line-end: γέ τοι Fix Truly…!; but the combination γέ τοι is rare in Eur., e.g. Cyc. 224, Pho. 730 (and is termed ‘a lively “at any rate” ’ at GP 550; probably not colloquial, Collard (2005) 374). γένος L is universally condemned, although it gives momentarily attractive sense, either ‘(A fine) family…!’, i.e. that of Ag. and Men., as if Clyt. had heard the brothers acknowledging their kinship 471–510, or ‘(A fine) sort of lineage…!’ (see Stockert’s n). Exclamations with initial καλός are colloquial (Stevens (1976) 54–5) and often ironic, and almost always involve γε, e.g. 305 (n.) καλόν γε … τοὔνειδος acc., Med. 514 καλόν γ’ ὄνειδος nom. The best conjectures for γένος here retain γε, e.g. Fix (above); γε νῷν (νῷ earlier ed. Hervagiana) ‘…for us two (to pay) …!’ with 1170 ὠνουμένοιν Musgrave ‘in buying’; 1168 γ’ ἂν οὖν… 1169 … ἀποτείσαις… 1170 …ὠνούμενος Diggle (with debts to Reiske and England) ‘A fine price (καλόν i.e. μισθόν 1169) you’d therefore pay … in buying…!’ (Diggle compares Med. 504 καλῶς γ’ ἂν οὖν at verse-end); less well γ’ ἔθος Elmsley ‘…habit…!’, Vitelli γ’ ἔπος ‘…thing to say…!’ (translated with ‘to answer’ by Jouan). Other conjectures substitute a noun more similar in lettering to γένος, e.g. γέρας Vater ‘A fine (exercise of your) rank…!’, printed by Stockert; or γάνος Bothe ‘…splendour, splendid thing…!’, advocated by Turato citing A. Ag. 579 where the word applies to the spoils from Troy, i.e. Helen. In 1170 L’s ὠνούμεθα We are buying can stand, the line having explanatory asyndeton (391 n.).] 1171–3  Come now: ἄγε marks a challenge, with a new point (Clyt.’s own future), e.g. Med. 499, (Mastronarde on) Pho. 559.  if you go etc.: Clyt. is taunting Ag. with his ambition, and does so again in 1194–5; Men. made the same charge in 337–49. The fut. indic. in a stark, ‘emotional’ ‘if’-clause (Smyth 2328) nears ‘if you will go’.  leaving me in the house etc.: husband at war, wife at home, Clyt.’s complaint also A. Ag. 861–2 and ff., cf. Cho. 920 (with Garvie’s n.); cf. generally 805–8a above and nn.  at Troy: ἐκεῖ: lit. ‘there’, i.e. from where Helen is to be recovered, 1168.  absence: the cause of Iph.’s distress at 664; at A. Ag. 1259 the word is used of Ag. while at Troy. Greek. 1172 διὰ … ἀπουσίας ‘during’, διά with temporal gen. e.g. 1399, LSJ A II.1; not causal ‘by reason of’ (LSJ A III.1.b).   1173 καρδίαν lit. ‘heart’, i.e. feelings; this Greek expression with ἔχω is ‘the saying, what people commonly say’ Pl. Rep. 492c, LSJ καρδία I.1; with

534

Commentary

ψυχήν in the same sense e.g. Or. 526; full illustration by Headlam on Herodas 1.36. [Text. 1171 εἰ Elmsley accommodates the necessary, and coupled, fut. indics. στρατεύσῃ … γενήσῃ, both mid.; L’s ἢν mixes aor. subj. act. and fut. indic. mid. – the reason why Conington deleted 1171b καταλιπών… 1172a γενήσῃ; but the repetition ἐν δώμασιν… ἐν δόμοις is strong, not weak.] 1174–7  (chair) of hers: lit. ‘of her here’, the demonstrative pron. attending a gesture in the theatre, and repeating Iph.’s identity from 1164–70 ‘three daughters … one 1165, her 1166, our dearest 1170’. The pron. however may be objective gen. with κενούς, ‘empty of her’ (England), like Hel. 1261 a bier ‘empty of a body’. For such pathos cf. Alc. 945–6 ‘when I see the bed empty of my wife (or ‘my wife’s bed empty’), and the chairs in which she used to sit’ (and the Chorus at Alc. 861–2); houses empty of children Supp. 1095–6. Ion 791–2. I sit alone: 1171 and n. Greek: 1174 ἐπὶ δακρύοις weeping, lit. ‘in, at tears’, also 541 (n.), Med. 928, cf. ἐν δακρύοισι 1100 above.   1176 θρηνῳδέω ‘sing a lament’ only here, but Eur. has a similar formation ὑμνῳδέω ‘sing (oracles)’ Ion 6. [Text. 1174 Apsines (3rd century AD: apparatus) has the order δόμους μὲν τούσδε προσίδω κένους, probably a reminiscence rather than an unmetrical quotation, but it prompted κενοὺς μὲν εἰσίδω παιδὸς (Rauchenstein) θρόνους (or παιδὸς εἰσίδω) suggested by Diggle: this gives κενοὺς the same predicative position as in 1175 and provides μέν preceding δέ, but undoes the chiasm θρ. … κ. … κ. … παρθενῶνας.] 1177–9  More ‘speech in speech’, and again in Clyt.’s 1197–8: 356 n.  The father who begot you: for the pathetic redundancy in this phrase see 90 n.  he killed you himself: Clyt. echoes esp. her 1131 ‘Your child and mine – are you about to kill her?’. Cf. her words at A. Ag. 1416–17 ‘he sacrificed his own child, the dearest of my birth-pains’.  no other, and by no other’s hand: cf. the Old Man 873. Greek. 1178 for οὐ(κ) … οὐδέ with repeated ἄλλος cf. 1261–3 οὐκ … Ἰλίου … | οὐδ(ε) … Τροίας . [Text. 1177 The rhythm in ὦ τέκνον ὁ φυτεύσας L (τέκνον with a long first syllable to accommodate caesura after the word) is questionable, and the caesura after prepositive ὦ in Blomfield’s proposal ὦ τέκνον

Commentary

535

ὁ φιτύσας is very rare (West (1982) 83): here τέκνον has a short first syllable and φιτύσας a long first syllable). The two verbs φυτεύω and φιτύω are sometimes confused in mss., e.g. Alc. 294. 1179, with μισθὸν ‘fee’ apparently repeated from 1169, gives strained sense in context, ‘leaving a fee behind’; and πρὸς τοὺς δόμους means ‘to(wards), against his house’, while ‘(leaving) to the house’ as the recipient is dubious idiom (but πρὸς τοὺς was written in erasure in L by Tr1, and Tr may have altered the wording). Eds mostly emend by making the line a question, in contrast with the statement in 1177–8, e.g. ποῖον δὲ (Camper) νόστον (Murray) καταλιπὼν…; ‘but/and leaving what kind of return(-journey) to his house?’, in which ‘leaving behind’ is still awkward. νόστον is approved by Jackson (1955) 62–4, but he posits a preceding lacuna of one verse (first proposed by Paley), which he suggests should like 1179 begin with a ποῖος-question, e.g. ‘with what kind of feeling upon sailing for Aulis’: see apparatus; but he dismisses a lacuna following 1179 (Matthiae, favoured by Stockert, Kovacs): for substantial words or lines lost in L see Introduction p. 54, Text 1.c. Matthiessen accepted Camper and Murray but in place of καταλιπὼν proposed προσδοκῶν ‘expecting (this verb 338) what kind of return?’: excellent sense, but a very large change. Quite different is Kovacs’s free rewriting of 1179 as a question directly to Ag.: ‘Having left such cause for hatred (μῖσος Musgrave) to your own home?’ (again, see apparatus). See also 1180 Text.] 1180–2  pretext: πρόφασις, common in Eur., e.g. 362 (n.), 884. Clyt. means, it seems, (1) that Ag. could excuse himself from his own daughter’s sacrifice (she develops the point in 1196–1202), and without more ado; and (2), with black ambiguity directed at the spectators, that she would need small ground (such as his bringing home Cassandra in Agamemnon) to be forced to give him the welcome he deserves for killing Iph., namely his own murder, the ‘evil’ of 1184. There is grim humour for an audience in Clyt.’s anticipation of welcoming her husband home at A. Ag. 600–4.  slight: βραχεῖα: with πρόφασις e.g. Thuc. 1.141.1.  girls: παῖδες, fem.: Or. will be too young to share Ag.’s homecoming ‘reception’ (if it is soon: but in A. Ag. 877–86 Ag. returns after the war’s ten years, by when the then adolescent Or. is in Phocis for safekeeping, cf. El. 16–18). In 1182 Clyt.’s sarcasm (for the audience, knowing the myth and alive to the ironic menace) is brought out through

536

Commentary

the triple repetition of δεξ- receive/reception, for which the unique noun δέξις may have been coined; similar triples in 721 (θυ- ‘sacrifice’; see n.), Bacc. 955 (κρυπ- ‘conceal’: see Greek below). Greek: 1180 ἐπεὶ For: the rel. adv. here begins an independent clause, equating to the particle γάρ; for the elliptical sense ‘since (otherwise, if not)…’ cf. e.g. Hec. 1280, Her. 270; Smyth 2244. ἐνδέω ‘need’ with gen. in Eur. elsewhere is personal, 41, Tro. 797; impersonal LSJ (B) 3.   1182 δέξιν ἥν σε δέξασθαι ‘receive’: cognate acc. together with direct object as Bacc. 955 κρύψῃ σὺ κρύψιν ἥν σε κρυφθῆναι χρεών ‘conceal(ment)’. [Text. 1180 ἐπεὶ L ‘For’ is sound: see Greek. Some conjectures however have made 1179 dependent syntactically upon 1180, replacing ἐπεὶ with ἄπει; interrog. (Madvig) ‘Will you go away (leaving…)?’ or with ἔπει· a statement (L. Dindorf: from ἔπειμι ‘travel to’) ‘You will return (home) leaving hatred (μῖσος: see 1179 Text)…’ Also in 1180: ἐνδεῖ Reiske ‘there is need’ is regarded by Diggle (1994) 411 as the one certain correction: a ‘prospective’ pres. is wanted, not L’s impf. ἔδει. Monk’s με δεῖ ‘I have need of’ at least restored this.] 1183–4  A further sharpening of Clyt.’s tone: after her pathos (but slanted to her purpose) 1171–9 and sarcasm 1180–2, she veils a threat in the language of supplication (similarly at a climax Alc. 308, at an end Hel. 939). With her single appeal to the gods in 1183 contrast Clyt.’s 909 (chin, right hand, mother) and Iph.’s 1233–4 (ancestors, mother). evil: κακός at its most extreme, of motive and behaviour, e.g. El. 929, 1073 (also Clyt.). The poet clearly alludes to her future revenge upon Ag., which Iph. fears too, 1454–7: a second evil death (his) requiting the first (Iph.’s), but illogically preceding it (hysteron proteron, 1149 n.). As earlier, the poet relies on the audience’s familiarity not just with myth but with Aeschylus’ Oresteia, which had been revived in the theatre in the later 5th century (Aesch. Test(imonia) 1.46–52 TrGF 3; cf. (D) 1433–6 n. below); Introduction p. 35 n. 87. Note Luschnig (1988) 32, ‘Clytemnestra had forgiven her husband once (our 1157–8). But he did not learn from her suffering.’ Greek. μὴ δῆτα starting an appeal is very forceful, e.g. Supp. 267 with Collard’s n. μή … μήτε go with a first verb, then μήτε with a second, as in IA 141–2; μή repeated after μὴ δῆτα with one verb e.g. Med. 1056. For πρὸς θεῶν By the gods, the strongest invocation, cf. e.g. IT 547, Or. 787.

Commentary

537

1185–90  So then: εἶἑν after a high point in a speech and moving to a new argument, 454 n.  †you will sacrifice your daughter. And then† what prayers will you say?: the daggers enclose apt sense, but the Greek is both shaky and unmetrical (see Text below).  What is the good thing you will pray for yourself…? A sorry return etc.: Clyt. continues with biting irony, first this (for ‘return’ see 1179 Text), then 1188–90, which are a little oblique, and imply ‘What good may I rightly pray for you that we’d not think the gods stupid (to grant) if we wish murderers well?’ For 1186 and 1188 ‘praying to a god for a thing’ cf. e.g. And. 1104–5, for ‘good’ e.g. Hel. 754 (while sacrificing). For prayers in Tragedy see H. E. Moritz, EGT 100–4.   1189 gods’ intelligence (adj. συνετός) as e.g. Archelaus F 255.1 τὰ τῶν θεῶν συνετά. At 394a–5 Ag. similarly had argued that intelligent gods would understand the invalidity of the suitors’ oath, cf. Clyt.’s 1034 (text insecure); similar questioning of the gods’ understanding at Hel. 919–23.  1190 murderers: αὐθένταισιν, used of a kin-slayer e.g. Her. 839, 1359 (children). An interesting word etymologically: DELG favours ‘self-accomplisher, causer, responsible agent’ (αὐτ- + ἀνύω) over ‘striking, killing for oneself’ (αὐτ- + θείνω), given its dominant sense ‘authoritative’ in later Greek – whence αὐθεντικός (LSJ 2), our ‘authentic’. Greek: 1186 τί … τἀγαθόν interrog. pron. with appositional and predicative art. and noun e.g. Bacc. 492 τί … τὸ δεινὸν ἐργάσῃ; ‘What is the dreadful thing you will do?’; Smyth 2647.   1188 i.e. δίκαιον (ἐστι) with acc. and infin., and here ἀγαθόν without art. predicative to τί; note the position of the interrogative, postponed for effect, e.g. Med. 565, Hel. 1055; Willink on Or. 101. This question, directly playing upon that of 1186, is better rhetorically than one in which the postponed τι is indefinite, taking its accent from enclitic σοι: ‘Is there any good thing etc.?’   1189 τἄρα = τοι ἄρα truly; in combination with οὐ, τοι ‘strengthens the negative but always keeps its force’ (J. C. Lowe, Glotta 61 (1973) 54–5, whose translation of 1189–90 we largely reproduce), cf. Hipp. 441, Supp. 496; GP 555. [Text. 1185 L’s bare δέ, either adversative or connective, or making a new suggestion (GP 170), is false in tone after εἶἑν (above), which itself discharges these meanings; but many eds retain δὲ. L’s purely temporal ἔνθα ‘thereupon, then’, a Homeric usage (LSJ I.2), is unconvincing; also 1185 lacks one syllable. Conjectures, many approximating to the English

538

Commentary

in the translation, are legion. First, with εἶἑν· outside the verse: θύσεις δὲ (Tr3) παῖδ’· εἶτα τίνας…; Elmsley ‘And you will sacrifice your daughter: then what prayers…?’, adopted by Jouan, Matthiessen; θύσεις δὲ (L. Dindorf) παῖδ’; εἶτα τίνας…; ‘And … daughter? Then…?’, which we think best (δὲ δή ‘in a crucial question’, GP 259; colloquial, Stevens (1976) 46); θύσεις σὺ (Vitelli) παῖδα, κᾆτα τίνας…; Günther, commended by Diggle (1994) 410 but omitted from his OCT apparatus; θύσεις δὲ παῖδα ; [ἔνθα] τίνας …; Stockert; θύων δὲ παῖδ’ ἐνθα, τίνας…; W. Luppe, Philologus 139 (1995) 161–2 (ἐνταῦθα earlier F. W. Schmidt) ‘As you sacrifice your daughter there, …?’ Second, with εἶἑν· inside the verse: εἶἑν· σὺ θύσεις παῖδα· τίνας…; Nauck, followed by Kovacs. 1186 For τί … τἀγαθὸν Diggle suggested τί … τ’ ἀγαθὸν ‘What good…?’, an attractive improvement on L’s plain question.   1187 was deleted by Monk, as weakening the force of 1186 as well as relying on its syntax.   In 1189 the obliquity of 1189– 90, and in L the impossible οὔτε ‘neither’ and the double negative with ἀσυνέτους, induced alternative emendations by Reiske/Wecklein (our text) and Valckenaer, or (Stockert) lacuna after 1189: unnecessarily.] 1191–3  fall before: προσπίπτω: i.e. ‘in supplication’ (see Greek below); it is a further thrust by Clyt. to aggravate Ag.’s difficulty on his return, and you have no right follows cruelly: as a killer of his own kin Ag. could not supplicate family survivors for purification (his matricide son Orestes received it from Apollo himself A. Eum. 282–3 but also from strangers in their own houses 447–52, IT 947–54); the phrase οὐ θέμις ‘no(t) right’ is used of impure persons’ being forbidden various actions e.g. IT 1035, Hipp. 1396, Protesilaus F 648.  even (look): England argues for the translation ‘actually’, with ‘What child will greet you…?  for you to kill…?: that is, which child will risk losing its life to a father who has already killed its sister and may intend a repetition? Clyt.’s sarcasm is brutal. Greek. 1191 προσπίπτω/-πίτνω ‘supplicate’ with a dat. of the person e.g. El. 576, Or. 1338; not ‘fall into the arms of’. [Text. 1193 ἵνα Elmsley ‘so that, in order that’ corrects L’s ἐὰν, which is unmetrical (a ‘2. foot anapaest’), and gives weaker sense, ‘if, in case’: Reiske preserved this with σφῷν ‘(one) of the two of them’. προσέμενος Weil ‘drawing towards himself’, προσίεμαι LSJ II.1: προθέμενος L ‘putting in front of himself’, not ‘preferring’.]

Commentary

539

1194–5  Those things: all of 1185–93; cf. 1206 ‘of all this’ τούτων, i.e. 1148–1205, also first word.  care only about … commanding an army: Men.’s charge against Ag. at 412, cf. 337–8, 354–7. parading: διαφέρω ‘carry about’, contemptuous in context; ordinarily e.g. Supp. 382 κηρύγματα ‘proclamations’ a herald’s duty. A modern parallel for such swagger was Hermann Göring with his oversized marshal’s baton. Greek. 1194 διὰ λόγων εἶμι lit. ‘go through (the medium of) words, thoughts’, equivalent here to ‘think about, reason’, διαλογίζομαι; for the multiple idioms of διά and gen. with a verb of motion expressing activity see Barrett on Hipp. 542–4; for ταῦτα acc. here cf. 349 ταῦτα μέν σε πρῶτ’ ἐπῆλθον and n. [Text. 1195 μέλει Musgrave: σε δεῖ L is an ancient copyist’s error.] 1196–1202a  Cast lots whose child must die: compare esp. Hcld. 543–6 where Iolaus would prefer lots drawn among the maiden-girls to be sacrificed: his 543 ‘I’ll say how it would be done more justly, ἐνδικωτέρως’ resembles our 1196 δίκαιον; his 546 ‘It is not just (δίκαιον) that you should die without (casting) lots’ resembles E. Erechtheus F 360.14–40, the factors in naming one child of the royal couple for sacrifice. But Clyt. is fantasizing here: she knows from the Old Man that Calchas had specified Iph. as the victim, 873–3. Iph. was picked out 1199, just as Men. might have found a bride ‘picked out’ to replace Helen 485. The idea stands in contrast with fair ἐν ἴσῳ lit. ‘in equality’; of rights e.g. Thuc. 2.60.6; at Supp. 432 monarchy is not ἴσον, ‘equal, fair’, because one man has the law entirely in his hands.  sacrificial victim: σφάγιον again; earlier 135 n., 906, 1318; Introduction p. 11. Here the bleak word is emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.).  for her mother: for Menelaus to recover Helen. At S. El. 537–41 Clyt. protests that ‘Men. had two sons who it was more reasonable should die’ (than Iph.); at Or. 658–9 Or. in retrospect concedes his sister’s sacrifice but tells Men. to kill not his own daughter Hermione in requital, but Helen; a similar motif at Hec. 265–70: not Polyxena but Helen herself should be sacrificed to Achilles’ ghost.  The matter was his: τὸ πρᾶγμα, neutral, ‘the thing, business, affair, concern’, 55, 1009, LSJ II.1, 4b; cf. 1236–7 n. Not ‘the scheme, the plan’ (for which see πράσσομεν 129 n.): Clyt. knows from the Old Man (895) only that Men. was the root of all the troubles, not that he planned the sacrifice (this, 97–8). Greek. 1196 ὃν i.e. σε, from σοι 1194, equivalent to σὺ γάρ, causal,

540

Commentary

For you…: 986 n., Or. 286 etc.; Smyth 2555.   1198 κλῆρον τίθεσθε = κληροῦσθε ‘cast lots’, as ψῆφον τίθεσθαι = ψηφίζεσθαι ‘cast vote(s)’ e.g. Hdt. 6.57.5; for the indirect question ὅτου… dependent upon an implicit verb of discovering, establishing etc. see Smyth 2669.   1199 ἦν ‘would have been’ but without ἄν, in the apodosis of an unfulfilled condition, esp. an impersonal construction: Smyth 2313. [Text. 1201 πρὸ Scaliger: πρὸς L gives no clear meaning here. For the ms. error see on 1121.   1203 ἐστερήσομαι Reiske: ὑστερήσομαι L, translated by LSJ IV.1 as ‘lose’; but all the examples are Hellenistic.] 1202b–5  loyal to your bed: Clyt. repeats her 1158–9, and with robbed repeats her 1165. For σῴζω ‘keep safe’ cf. e.g. Hel. 48 Helen (! – but she is herself speaking) saving Men.’s bed.  did wrong: (ἐξ)αμαρτ- of an ‘erring’ wife, Helen also Or. 649–50, Clyt. herself 576.  under her roof: in her own home, where Clyt. would wish to keep Iph., 1173–9, cf. 1203. At Od. 4.14 Hermione is Helen’s first child, born at Sparta before she went to Troy, 262–3; myth tells of no child she had with Paris, indicating that their union was barren. Greek. 1205 κομίζω take care of: an Epic meaning, in Tragedy only A. Cho. 262, here and perhaps Hcld. 91. [Text. 1204 ὑπόροφον Hermann ‘under (her) roof’ (earlier, ὑπώροφον Scaliger, this form occurring e.g. Pho. 299; unmetrical here): ὑπότροφον L ‘under (her) nurture’, not otherwise attested, but cf. νεοτρεφεῖς Hcld. 92 of grandchildren in care.] 1206–8  of all this: τούτων: cf. 1194 n.  sensible: σώφρων, lit ‘safethinking’: by no means a weak ending to Clyt.’s speech: it counters her last words in its first part, 1184 ‘and do not yourself become evil’, by killing: cf. esp. And. 685–6 Men. ‘If when I came in sight of my wife I stopped from killing her, I was sensible’, ἐσωφρόνουν; this verb e.g. S. El. 465 ‘If you will have sense, you will do this’ (i.e. behave dutifully), Aj. 1259 ‘Will you not have sense’ (i.e. moderate your conduct); Diggle (1981) 70 compares Tro. 726 and e.g. Med. 600 καὶ σοφωτέρα φάνῃ ‘and you will appear wiser’. Greek. 1206 ἀμείβομαι with acc. of the person answered e.g. Supp. 517, Or. 608. [Text. The corrupt wording in 1207 has found no convincing cure, but the meaning intended is clear and barely affected. νῶϊ(ν) L gives no tolerable sense in context as dat. of interest ‘(said) for us both’ with

Commentary

541

†don’t† kill, and δή γε is very doubtful in a command (GP 247; one would expect μὴ δῆτα in an entreaty, e.g. 1183). Jackson (1955) 80–2 judges both to be metrical stopgaps, and found no persuasive earlier conjecture preserving ‘a simulacrum of the letters νωι’. He therefore felt free to propose κατακτάνῃς at line-end, and πλεῖστα with λέλεκται, ‘most (has been said well)’. Eds such as Günther and Matthiessen commend the former, but the latter with Pierson’s ταῦτα ‘these things’ or Elmsley’s τἀμὰ ‘my argument’. Stockert ingeniously proposed μηδαμῶς (μωσ as a miscopying of νωι) with κατακτάνῃς or γε (Monk) κτάνῃς ‘In no way are you to kill…!’; for μηδαμῶς in a command cf. e.g. Hipp. 607.] 1209–10  Be persuaded: appeals from a chorus in a couplet (see Introduction p. 32) at speech-end in an agon or agon-like scene also e.g. And. 233, Pho. 586–7, Or. 681–2; cf. (B) 1146–1275 n. Form.  join in saving: the Chorus mean ‘join with your wife’, and rephrase prosaically Clyt.’s climactic 1207–8. The motif is extended in Hel. 1389 ‘after saving (both) ourselves to join in saving you (a third person) as well’. [Text. 1210 ἀντερεῖ Elmsley will gainsay gives a firm fut. indic. against L’s pure opt. ἀντείποι and its faulty syntax; it is accepted by most recent eds as a better cure than Burges’s alteration of πρὸς τάδ’ to τοῖσδ’ (ἀντείποι) ‘would speak against this’; cf. οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ in parenthesis Alc. 615, Hipp. 402.] 1211–52  Iph.’s speech (n. (B) 1146–1275). Clyt. said at 1121 that she would speak for her daughter and herself, and the Chorus at 1209–10 lead us to expect a response from Ag. Thus Iph.’s speech may come as a surprise; but (1) see n. (B) 1145–1275 on the scene’s structure, and generally; and (2) there is no real surprise, for Ag. long ago anticipated Iph.’s suppliant appeal, with Or. in silent support (462–6): see (B) 414b1 n. Text. [Text. 1241–8 are deleted or suspected by those who allow Or. no stage-presence in Eur.’s own design; see 414b–41 n. Text. Note however Page 206: these lines are ‘certainly Euripidean’, cf. his 185.   1249– 52 are seen by a few eds as sententious interpolation, or actors’ attempt to make a greater effect when Iph. changes her mind (see n. on her 1252). All of 1241–52 were suspect to Diggle, and judged post-Euripidean by Kovacs; but most eds keep them.] 1211–15  father: Iph. appeals to him again in 1229, 1237, 1245 – even more frequently than in their initial encounter, 631–85: see 638–9

542

Commentary

n.  Orpheus: the archetype of the supreme musician, singer and poet, he made such sweet sound that animals, rocks, trees and plants would follow him, and the wildest of men be tamed; so he became an emblem of irresistible persuasion 1212, e.g. A. Ag. 1629–30, Alc. 357–9, Med. 543 (the lyre-player Amphion was accorded the same powers, Antiope F 223.90–4, charming rocks as Orpheus here, cf. Bacc. 562): bibl. by Nisbet and Hubbard on Horace, Odes 1.12.7. Cf. Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice 5.1.78–82 ‘Therefore the poet / Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods, / Since naught so stockish, hard, and full of rage, / But music for the time doth change his nature.’  words: λόγον sing., quickly repeated in λόγοισιν plur. 1213.  by enchantment: ἐπᾳδοῦσ(α) lit. ‘enchanting’, fem. part., Iph. wishing herself Orpheus’ powers with words, instead of which she now has only tears. The noun ἐπῳδή of Orpheus Cyc. 646, the verb e.g. of the Sirens with Odysseus Xen. Mem. 2.6.11; the verb charm κηλεῖν of Orpheus Alc. 359 (above), Pl. Prot. 315a; Amphion Antiope (above). See below on ‘skill’. (It is neither irony nor poetic slyness that Iph. later does sing, and not to ‘persuade’; her monody 1283–1335 is purely lamentatory and 1475–99 almost triumphant.) Are her tears a ‘stage-direction’? Is she already weeping? At 1242 she prompts Or. to weep with her. skill: τὰ σοφά. σοφός is the oldest and quintessential adjective of technical skill and clever (or ‘wise’) content, implicitly attributed to poets and musicians: see LSJ I.1, DK III.397. From the early 5th century it provided a name for the Sophists, articulate with their own ideas but increasingly suspect when they claimed to teach the skills with language which were necessary to public life in open communities: see Aristophanes’ Clouds (esp. Dover’s n. on 331) and its resonance in Plato’s Apology of Socrates. Turato, like earlier scholars, says that the words 1212 ‘enchant’ ἐπᾴδω and ‘persuade’ πείθω reflect the purpose of the sophist Gorgias’ rhetoric, manipulating emotions; it is set out in essence in Gorgias, Helen esp. 10 (82 B 11, III.290–1 DK), where the words ‘enchanting/ment’ and ‘charm’ (θέλγω) occur alongside ‘persuasion’. In Eur. the ‘classic’ place using σοφός is Antiope F 189, of ability to present contrasting arguments. Eur.’s acquaintance with Gorgias is illustrated by Conacher (1998) 51–69 ‘The Power and Abuses of Rhetoric’, esp. 51–7. The audience of IA will remember what Iph. did not hear: Ag. distrusted a ‘clever tongue’ γλῶσσα σοφή 333, and called

Commentary

543

his own attempted deception σοφίσματα 444–5, (coupled with τέχναι ‘schemes’) 744–5. Greek. 1212 πείθειν infin. dependent upon εἶχον … λόγον: Smyth 2004.   1214 ἂν ἦλθον I would have gone: a very common idiom of this verb, in any mood or tense, with or without ἄν, often with a prep. phrase ‘to…’ but here with the adv. ἐνταῦθα there, e.g. Hipp. 1332, Pho. 1328; impersonal e.g. 1368 n., Tro. 401.   1215 παρέχω offer: an idiomatically flexible verb, e.g. Tro. 654–5 ‘offer silence and a calm gaze to my husband’, like δίδωμι 1221. ταῦτα γὰρ δυναίμεθ’ ἄν I well can, lit. ‘I might be able’, but effectively ‘might do now’; the phrase suggests an alternative reluctantly adopted, also e.g. IT 62 Iph. in the land of the Taurians offering libations to her brother Orestes whom she believes to be dead. [Text. 1214 ἐπ’ ἐμοὶ ‘in my power’ Diggle (but he printed ἐπ’ ἐμοῦ L), supported by Ritchie, comparing e.g. Alc. 455 (‘if only it were…’, followed by δυναίμαν δέ ‘and if only I could’, like our δυναίμεθ’ ἄν), Hipp. 889–90; Smyth 1689.2c: both ἐπ’ ἐμοῦ L ‘in my case’ (Smyth 1689.1c) and ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ‘from me (here, as speaker)’ (Smyth 1684.1 (2)), as opposed to ‘from Clyt.’, are much weaker.] 1216–19  As my supplication (ἱκετηρία: see Greek below) … my body: a suppliant’s emblem was conventionally an olive-branch, bound with white wool (for purity), described at e.g. Iliad 1.14–15, A. Eum. 43–5, S. OC 484, cf. OT 3; the emblem was held by suppliants as they clutched knees (here, 1221, And. 894–5 etc.) or chin (1247), or laid symbolically before persons or altars. The single word ἱκετηρίαν in the acc. beginning the sentence marks a sudden, important idea after 1215 (cf. 1273 ‘free’): Iph. will do more than weep, she will formally supplicate: compare for both effects Clyt. with Ach. at 900 (n.). For ‘body’ as surrogate for leafy branch, but equal in power, cf. (Stockert) e.g. And. 894–5 ‘bent arms round knees’, Dem. 43.83 a child so used.  before my time: cf. the sacrificial Polyxena Hec. 425.  The light of day is sweet to see: the enjambed βλέπειν ‘see’ gives emphasis. In 1225 Iph. says that Ag. had visualised a fulfilling life for her, ‘living and flourishing’ (see n.); the uncertainty of survival into adulthood was a major concern of the ancient world: 1250–2 and n. Greek. 1216 ἱκετηρία, fem. adj. elevated to noun, that being lost in usage, namely ἐλαία ‘olive (branch)’: LSJ incorrectly give ῥάβδος (fem.), a trimmed stick or staff. Here the acc. stands as predicate, almost as

544

Commentary

second object, to ἐξάπτω press lit. ‘hang … from’; with dat. as e.g. Her. 1342 of bonds fastened ‘upon hands’, χεροῖν; cf. Tro. 1209.  1218– 19 φῶς βλέπειν is very common, Hipp. 57 etc. [Text. 1219 βλέπειν L is to be retained, cf. its deliberate recall in 1250: λεύσσειν … ὑπὸ γῆν Plutarch (his acc. is chiefly a prose usage) was a lapse of memory, frequent in ancient citations: see 16b–19 n. Text.] 1220–2  first to call you father: cf. esp. Aeschines 3.77 ‘(after a daughter’s death) the wretched man had lost the first and only one to call him father’, cf. Lucretius 1.93–4 a wretched girl (Iph.) not benefited by ‘being the first to give the king the name of father’. The reciprocation and you to call me child, lit. ‘and you me child’ with its economy, gives 1220 a touching simplicity; similarly the Greek wording in 1221 and 1222, where the reciprocation is intense in ‘having given, give … receive … in return’. For put … upon … knees cf. e.g. a son on a grandfather’s lap Iliad 9.455.  kisses: χάριτας, lit. ‘gratifications’ LSJ IV, carries its common strong sense of mutuality, here of loving affection; kisses between father and daughter e.g. Supp. 1099–1100, son 1153, And. 416. Greek: 1220 μέν is omitted after a word which is then repeated (πρώτη), as often, 16–17, 558–9 and e.g. Pho. 1034, Bacc. 143; GP 163.   1221 δοῦσα ‘put… (upon)’ lit. ‘having given’, for δίδωμι is as flexible as παρέχω 1215 (n.), e.g. 1238, 585, and idiomatic too with the verb’s repetition in 1222 (cf. 1238 n.). σῶμα … ἐμόν myself lit. ‘my body’: for this common periphrasis cf. 1340 n. 1223–2  ‘Shall I see you etc.’: Iph. increases the emotional pressure by recalling Ag.’s and her endearments as spoken ‘live’, insisting first how she remembers them but afterwards how he has now forgotten them; through the direct speech ‘the poet expected his audience to accept … their pathetic demands … as accurate’, Bers (1997) 68–9, citing 99–102 (for Bers see esp. 356 n.); comparable emotive technique at e.g. Tro. 1015–19, 1180–4, Bacc. 1316–22. 1223–5  happy … in a husband’s house: for a related idea see Clyt. 1160–1.  living and flourishing: ‘living’ is perhaps ironic to the audience, but the Greek pairing of ζάω and θάλλω is commonplace, e.g. S. Trac. 235, E. F 898.13, Antiphon 87 F 60 DK; LSJ θάλλω 2; for such double, emphatic phrasing see Fraenkel on Ag. 677.  worthily of me: important for noble parents, cf. Clyt.’s shaft against Ag. 1457; e.g. Hec. 379–81, Ion 735.

Commentary

545

Greek. 1224 σε … εὐδαίμονα … ὄψομαι: syntax normally requires the participle of εἰμί, here οὖσαν, but it is sometimes omitted as e.g. And. 754 γέροντα … σ’ ὁρῶντες, ἀσθενῆ δ’ ἐμέ, Supp. 1164 ἄγαλμ’ ὄψομαί σε ματρός; Smyth 2119. [Text. 1224 εὐδαίμον’ Pierson ‘happy’, the adj. being needed for the daughter: εὐδαίμονος L of the father, but metrically incorrect, a ‘2. foot anapaest’, for which see e.g. 1168 n. Text, 1193 n.] 1226–7  hung close by your chin: lit. ‘round your chin’, i.e. cheek to cheek, cf. El. 1214–17 Clyt. touching Orestes’ face, ‘hanging (κρήμνημι) from his cheek’ to plead for her life. ἐξαρτάω ‘hang from’ (in supplication) e.g. (from chin) IT 362–3, (hand) Hipp. 325. Greek. 1226 οὑμὸς (λόγος, 1223) … ἐξαρτωμένης: gen., as if in agreement with ἐμοῦ implicit in the poss. pron., 901 n. 1228–32  And how shall I see you?: ‘see’ is understood from 1224–5 (see also Greek).  welcome …, father: Iph. reuses Clyt.’s 1181–2.  reception: ὑποδοχαί: plur. as e.g. Pl. Laws 919a. It often implies hospitality, entertainment, e.g. Ar. Peace 530.  repay … my tender upbringing and its tasks: a prime debt and duty to a parent, earliest at Iliad 4.477–8 τοκεῦσι | θρέπτρα … ἀπέδωκε ‘repaid his parents for his upbringing’, cf. Hes. WD 188, A. Seven 548. ‘tasks’ πόνων (see Greek below), a father’s for his young child, 690. The whole expression is artful, with the figure enallage, ‘exchange’, an adj. transposed between nouns (771 n.): one might expect τιθηνοὺς ‘tender’, lit. ‘nurturing’, to agree prosaically with gen. πόνων [Text. τιθηνῶν was indeed conjectured by Nauck]. Greek. 1228 τί δέ…; ‘And how…?’ is English idiom for ‘And what…?’, for the acc. of the interrog. τί represents a new predicate to the verb ὄψομαι supplied from the syntax of the preceding clause in 1224 (n. on Greek): KG II.518 n. 4. The first ἆρα is inferential (as 311), here after an interrogative, e.g. Ion 563; GP 45–6.   1230 πόνων is a loosely attached gen. of description, like an adj. ‘laborious, toilsome’, as at PV 900 ἀλατείαις πόνων ‘stressful wanderings’, Bacc. 1218 μόχθων … ζητήμασιν ‘laborious searches’; Smyth 1291. 1233–40  Two appeals through and to kin, 1233–5 and 1238–40, surround an argument repudiating family obligation 1236–7 (to Helen as Men.’s wife). 1233–5  Pelops and Atreus were not wonderful examples of mercy. my

546

Commentary

mother … agony of … birth … second agony: Iph. appears to pick up Clyt.’s protestation of her dutiful childbirth 1164–5, and the emotional pain which will come from losing a child 1173–9, 1202–3. There may be a nod here to A. Ag. 1416–17 where Clyt. refers to Iph. as φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ | ὠδῖνα, ‘my dearest travail’. The literal and metaphorical senses of the verb ὠδίνω ‘give birth in agony’ and the noun ὠδίς ‘travail, agony’ are effectively paired; for the latter cf. e.g. A. Cho. 211 (of mind), Her. 862 (of madness). The double metaphor e.g. A. Supp. 770 ‘night usually breeds (τίκτω) agony (ὠδίς) for a helmsman’. Greek. 1233 context and the familiar idioms of supplication permit the omission both of an imperative to μή Don’t (e.g. Med. 324) and an indic. I beg you from σε (e.g. 909 (n.), Alc. 275; Smyth 1599); cf. our 1183.   1235 λαμβάνω (has) of ‘getting’ sorrow, e.g. Ion 763. [Text. 1233 σε is idiomatic (see Greek): γε L.] 1236–7  What part have I … Helen?: cf. Men.’s question to Ag. about Iph. at 494 ‘What has your maiden daughter to do with Helen?’; cf. Clyt. at 1167–8.  Alexandros: on this alternative name of Paris see 1283– 90 n. at ‘Idaeus’.  How did it come to mean my death?: the likely translation, with ‘(did) it (come)’ impersonal (see Greek), referring to Iph.’s involuntary part in the aftermath of Helen’s marriage. Greek. 1237 Questions with πόθεν…; or πόθεν; ‘How…?’ or ‘How?’, lit. ‘Where from?’, relate loosely to cause or means, expressing disbelief or impossibility, e.g. A. Cho. 515, Alc. 95 (with Parker’s n.); LSJ I.4; allied is the colloquial idiom πόθεν γάρ; ‘Of course not!’, lit. ‘Because, where … from?’: see Stevens (1976) 38. ἦλθ(ε) stands impersonally with a prep. phrase as in e.g. Tro. 401 εἰ δ’ ἐς τόδ’ ἔλθοι ‘if it were to come to this’, cf. 1368 n. Greek. In our line the verb ἦλθ(ε) gives no sense if personal, when its subject can be only Helen, the nearest preceding noun (still less Alexandros), and πόθεν literal, ‘where (s)he came from’; nor can plur. ‘marriage’ in 1236 be the subject. [Text. Doubts over the meaning, esp. of πόθεν, caused Matthiae to delete 1237, followed by Stockert; but 1236 on its own becomes too terse.] 1238–40  Look at me: an abrupt request (cf. Men. to Ag. 320), its importance strengthened by give me your eyes; both stand in asyndeton, and imply that Ag. had avoided Iph.’s own eyes since her accusation in 1232 (on such avoidance see Introduction pp. 33–4). Then and a kiss

Commentary

547

φίλημα is a second request, rather than coupled with ‘eyes’ as ‘loving look’ (hendiadys, 53 n.), cf. Iph. 648 to Ag. ‘give me a loving look’, and Ag. to her 679 ‘Give me a kiss and your hand’ (which seems not to mean ‘your hand to kiss’, just as the translation here of ὄμμα as ‘((your) face (to kiss)’ would be less pointed). As to ‘me’ ἡμᾶς: plur. for sing., made certain by the whole tenor of these lines; but Turato observes that the plur. implies Ag.’s avoidance also of Clyt.’s eyes and reinforces his silence since 1144: he has not yet answered Clyt.’s closing request of 1206.  remembrance: μνημεῖον, an emotional word as in English: 1398, IT 702, powerfully at S. El. 1126 (Electra addressing the urn reportedly holding Or.’s ashes); also e.g. A. Seven 49 (locks of hair sent home from men at war); the word’s impact here is aided by its enjambement (50–1 n.) after 1239 σέθεν. Greek. 1238 ὄμμα δίδωμι e.g. Her. 600 and, tellingly for our passage, Pho. 462 ὄμματ’ ὄμμασιν διδῷ ‘match eye with eye’.   1239 ἀλλά adverbial ‘at least’, GP 45–6; inside a dependent clause as e.g. Her. 331, Or. 1562; cf. 908. [Text. 1240 L has εἰ with subjunctive πείσθῃς but without ἄν, a usage found occasionally in verse (Smyth 2327a); but πείσθῃς strongly suggests that ἢν (i.e. ἐὰν) (Hermann) should be read, the open condition better suiting Iph.’s ‘persuasive tone’ (Turato); PV 1014 has the same clause with ἐάν. But Elmsley’s πείσῃ fut. indic., in a precise (and feared) condition ‘if you are not going to heed’ (Smyth 2328), is tempting; this clause ends Hipp. 1088, a coincidence that caused Nauck to delete 1240, but see above on ‘remembrance’.] 1241–52 [Text. Lines all variously deleted by earlier scholars, esp. 1241–8 by L. Dindorf: the principal reason is the disputed presence of Orestes, for which see 414b–1 n. Text.] 1241–5  a tiny aid: μικρὸς … ἐπίκουρος, the same phrase Bacc. 1367 of an old and unavailing parent. Or. is physically tiny and so ‘little help’; but at 1452 Iph. does praise his help (verb ἐπικουρέω).  Look! – though silent: ἰδού, σιωπῶν is more likely the poet’s unconscious rather than deliberate recall of Ag.’s very different ἰδού, σιωπῶ 1144; cf. (Stockert) Or. 1592 ‘He is speaking, though silent’, i.e. the now ‘mute’ Pylades (whose earlier spoken words were very important, 729–98, 1069–1244). For the use of a silent infant see 1098–1275 n. Staging.  weep with me … in infants there is an inborn sense of life’s troubles: cf. Tro. 749

548

Commentary

‘Child, are you crying? Do you sense your troubles?’ (Andromache to her doomed infant son Astyanax). ‘Sense’ αἴσθημα, properly what is sensed, serves for αἴσθησις ‘sense of, perception of’, for which see El. 290–1 ‘a sense even of outsiders’ troubles bites at mortal men’, Antiphanes F 194.5 PCG; LSJ II. Note the asyndeton in ‘weep with me, supplicate’: urgency. Greek. 1242 ἱκετεύω ‘supplicate’ with a separative gen. pers. (πατρός ‘from … father’) on the analogy of e.g. παραιτέω ‘entreat’ Med. 1154, cf. 942 ἄντομαι, δέομαι ‘beg’ Dem. 27.68; Smyth 1398 (but at Smyth 1347 it is explained on the analogy of verbs of touching e.g. ἅπτομαι Hec. 245 ‘knees’).   1244 καὶ … γε ‘even’ is rare: GP 158. ἐγγίγνομαι ‘be inborn’ Ion 1524, LSJ I.1, like ἐμφύω Med. 519 etc. [Text. 1242 πατρὸς L (above): τε πρὸς ingeniously Burges ‘and supplicate as well’, destroying the urgent asyndeton (above); for πρός adverbial cf. e.g. Pho. 610 (also line-end).] 1246–8  show me regard, and pity my life: the verbs αἰδέομαι and ἐλεείνω are coupled in Homeric supplications e.g. Iliad 22.82, Od. 22.312, cf. Hec. 286–7 αἰδέσθητί με, | οἴκτιρον; for αἰδέομαι cf. esp. Clyt.’s appeal to Or. for her life at A. Cho. 896. Iph.’s words suddenly take on epic dignity, and her So,… (ἀλλά, GP 14 top) starts a final appeal which Yes ναί emphasizes (e.g. Med. 1277, Hipp. 605).  we two who are dear to you: Iph. has stressed family love and obligation (φιλία) throughout, 1222, 1229, 1238, 1241.  chick: the commonest meaning of νεοσσός lit. ‘youngster’, and a common metaphor for a young child, in pathos, e.g. Alc. 403, And. 441, Her. 224 – and even of adult children A. Cho. 256, when Or. and Electra appeal to Zeus to aid their vengeance for Ag. [Text. 1246 after 1248 Marcovich (492 n.) 143, wanting the neater link between 1245 and 1247, and bringing ‘life’ closer to 1249–52: tempting, but (Stockert) ‘pathos is not less effective than logic’. There are two further problems, neither definitively solved. (1) 1246 βίον L ‘life’ is very difficult without an adjectival qualification like ‘miserable’, but accepted by many eds including Ritchie: ‘…her life is not the thing for which she is to be pitied (which of course would be in the genitive). Iph. is pleading for her life to be spared.’; we would favour Wecklein’s interpretation, ‘my life as it is’. The word was obelized by Stockert and Diggle, who indeed cite Markland’s gen. βίου, with με ‘understood’ (and

Commentary

549

Kovacs silently prints it); the gen. is causative, Smyth 1405. One or other case must be preferred, for there is no apter noun than ‘life’ as the headline to 1250–2, but neither can be printed with confidence. Stockert conjectured τύχης ‘my (ill) fortune’. (2) 1248 ἐστιν L, partly rewritten either by the original scribe or by Tr1 in erasure; and because the verse reads more idiomatically if taken with its two nom. prons. ὁ μὲν and ἡ δ(ὲ) as extending dual φίλω, the subj. of ἀντόμεσθα, eds suppose the erasure to have offered a word other than a verb – but what? Stockert cites οὗτος Hermann ‘(Orestes) here’, and ὢν ἔθ’ ‘being still (a chick)’ Weil.] 1249–52  Iph.’s final words are rhetorical (1249, like her beginning 1211–13) and gnomic (1250–2), their tone counter to the rest of her speech, except that her appeal light of day … sweet repeats 1218–19, cf. later her 1281–2, 1394, 1509 (her final words); her despair makes familiar sentiments freshly emotive. Once again, note the asyndeta: 1249, 1250, and 1252 after θανεῖν.  †I’ll cut short to one thing† and carry every argument: the apparent meaning, good in context, and the ‘one thing’ is her overriding argument for life which follows; but the Greek of 1249 is unidiomatic (see Text).  what is below the ground is nothing: Hel. 1421 ‘the dead are nothing’, cf. Tro. 636 ‘I count not being born equal to death’; Hipp. 191–7, Meleager F 533.1–2; but Eur.’s characters notoriously equivocate: Polyidus F 638 ‘Who knows if life is death, and if in the underworld death is considered life’ (= Ar. Frogs 1477, cf. 1478, 1475), with Phrixus F 833 almost identical. Formative for all such sentiments were Achilles’ famous words that he would rather be the humblest man on earth than king of all the underworld, Od. 11.489–91. Also Or. 1523 ‘every man, even if he is a slave, rejoices to see the light’, cf. 1509 there.  To live ignobly is better than to die nobly: Iph.’s conclusive statement is astounding from a Euripidean princess, and astoundingly reversed in 1375–85, 1390, 1394, when she becomes like Polyxena facing her sacrifice, Hec. 377–8 ‘A man might be much more fortunate dead than living; not living well is great suffering’. Also, Iph. is closing her appeal for her life, with καλῶς ‘nobly’ of moral well-being, not ‘well’ of material; compare Praxithea using the same two terms κακός ‘base, cowardly’ and καλός ‘noble, honourable’ to defend the sacrifice of her daughter for Athens Erechtheus F 360.30–1; cf. S. Aj. 479 ‘either live nobly or die nobly’. Iph. is unlike Andromache at Tro.

550

Commentary

637 ‘death is better than living in dishonour’ (cf. 636 above), similarly ?Critias, 43 Pirithous F 12 TrGF (= ?Eur. F 596). Iph.’s final words are given force by the enjambement (50–1 n.) of θανεῖν 1252, and the same word’s repetition at the end of the line, e.g. Alc. 722, Hcld. 307 and other places cited by Fries (2014) on Rhes. 579; cf. our 710. [Text. 1249 †ἓν συντεμοῦσα† translates illogically, lit. ‘cutting one thing together’, but many eds paraphrase, e.g. Kovacs ‘I shall say one thing’. The verb is frequent as ‘cut short, condense’, but with expressions such as εἰς ἕν ‘into one’ e.g. IT 1016 ‘everything’, and ἐν βραχεῖ ‘in brief, briefly’ e.g. Ar. Thes. 177–8; or a bare acc. e.g. Hec. 1180 ‘all this’; or absolute e.g. Tro. 441 ὡς δὲ συντέμω ‘so that I may be brief’: LSJ II. Stockert adduced Tro. 441 in attempted rescue, taking either ἓν alone or as internal acc. with νικήσω, ‘I shall overcome every argument in one thing’, or (G. Danek) taking both ἓν and πάντα … λόγον in the same function, ‘I shall carry (i.e. ‘win with’) every argument in one thing’; indeed λόγον may here be direct object or internal acc. of a noun of ‘kindred meaning’ to the verb, Smyth 1567, 1570d, e. Diggle OCT comments tersely on 1249: ‘perhaps corrupt’. Canter made the earliest conjecture, κινήσω ‘I shall set forth (my whole argument)’, with the verb meaning ‘stir to speech’ e.g. El. 302; of sunrise ‘prompting’ birds’ song S. El. 18. In 1250–2 Stobaeus has typical but partly immaterial differences from L; his 1251 οὐδέν however is necessary, and his 1252 θανεῖν καλῶς temptingly makes Iph.’s closing words a chiasmus.] 1253–4  This choral couplet has greater resonances than its predecessor 1209–10 (n.): first, it picks up Iph.’s reference to Helen in 1236–7, while looking back to the threat that Helen represents to Trojan families in 791–3 (cf. [781–3]) and anticipating that to Greek ones in 1315–18, 1334–5; second, the words a great struggle … to the sons of Atreus and their children refer immediately to the tragedy of Ag. and Iph., but for the audience to its aftermath in Clyt.’s later revenge upon Ag. (1183–4 and n.) and Orestes’ upon her. The phrase ‘great struggle’ μέγας ἀγών is common in Eur., e.g. to save lives Hipp. 496, Hec. 229 and Hel. 1090; cf. 1455 n. 1255–75  Ag.’s speech (n. (B) 1146–1275). Ag. addresses Clyt. first, in 1257; both her and Iph. in 1259 and 1268 (in 1259 the plur. ὁρᾶτε ‘See!’ ‘smooths the transition to Iph. as the principal addressee’: Ritchie); Iph. alone 1262, 1272, 1273.

Commentary

551

1255–8  I understand … pity: Ag. acknowledges Iph.’s appeal of 1246; cf. Ach.’s pity for Clyt. 932–4 after her pleas for protection 903–16 – and Ach. begins his reply with ‘I understand’ 920. At Hec. 850–1 Ag. responds to Hecuba’s supplication similarly, ‘I do pity you and your son and your misfortunes, and your suppliant hand’. Pity ‘was one of the leading ideals of Athenian democracy’: C. Macleod, Collected Essays (Oxford 1974) 74, cites esp. Pl. Menex. 244e, the altar of Pity in Athens (Paus. 1.17.1) and Parrhasius’ inclusion of pity in the conflicting passions he attempted to represent in his portrait of the Athenian Demos (Pliny, Nat. Hist. 35.69).  I love my children etc.: cf. Megara at Her. 280–1 ‘I love my children! How can I not love those I bore, those I laboured over?’; contrast Praxithea willingly offering a child for sacrifice Erechtheus F 360a ‘I love my children, but I love my homeland more’, cf. her F 360.14–15.  otherwise, I should be mad: μαινοίμην γὰρ ἄν, a colloquialism, and a fine touch, hinting Ag.’s disturbance in his agony (1257–8); Stevens (1976) 16 compares 389 ‘Am I mad?’ μαίνομαι; but here in IA there is a ‘prompt’ for the verb in Iph.’s 1252 μαίνεται – and Ag. begins 1264 with this verb.  terrible … to brave myself to this deed … also terrible not to: modelled on Ag.’s summation of his dilemma at Aulis in A. Ag. 206–7 ‘fate is heavy if I disobey (Calchas), heavy if I hew my child’; cf. below n. on 1264 ‘desire’. Greek. 1255 συνετός is a verbal adj. in -τος controlling an acc. like the verb συνίημι itself, cf. Thuc. 1.84.3 τὰ ἀχρεῖα ξυνετοί ‘understanding what was useless, unprofitable’, Hipp. 574 φρένας ἐπίσσυτος ‘sweeping upon your mind’ (among Barrett’s illustrations is συνίστωρ with acc. object ‘comprehending’ A. Ag. 1090); KG I.296 n. 4 (Smyth 1598 omits).   1256 γάρ ‘for otherwise’, elliptical: GP 62–3.   1257 For ‘bring myself to, endure’, τολμάω or τλάω and cognate words see 98 n.   1258 πρᾶξαι aor., whence the translation outcome; for πράσσω as ‘fare’ with ταὐτά ‘the same’ Diggle OCT compares Ion 771 ταὐτὰ (Canter: τοῦτο L) πράσσων, where the pres. is aspectually correct in context; fut. e.g. Hel. 1393–4. [Text. 1256 φιλῶ τ’ Markland: φιλῶν L: the finite verb is necessary before μαινοίμην ἄν, which relates to it closely, not also to 1255 (the counter-argument is put by Paley).   1257 τοῦτο England for ταῦτα L, to avoid near homophony with ταὐτὰ in the following line.   1258 ταὐτὰ Kirchhoff ‘(fare) the same’: τοῦτο L, with πρᾶξαι meaning ‘do, carry this

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through’ (like ἐκπρᾶξαι of the sacrifice 512); and the verb as ‘do’ with ταὐτά ‘the same’ would make little sense of the couplet 1257–8.] 1259–62  See…!: ὁρᾶτε: Ag. begins his sole argument vigorously; for this imperative (with a dependent clause) cf. e.g. Ion 1090, IT 1298. Note the first and last positions in the Greek clauses of 1259 ὅσον how great and 1260 ὅσοι how many. Cf. the sentence Pho. 101–2 σκόπει … | … στράτευμ’ ὅσον, ‘See … the army and how great it is!’ army … with its armada … lords of bronze weaponry: στράτευμα ναύφαρκτον, lit. ‘army fenced by ships’, echoes A. Pers. 951 ναύφαρκτος ῎Αρης (‘Ares’ i.e. ‘army at war’, cf. 764 and n.), cf. Ar. Knights 567 ναύφαρκτος στρατός; and ὅπλων ἄνακτες resembles Pers. 378 κώπης ἄναξ ‘lord of his oar’ (plur. also Cyc. 86). The sudden imagery from war communicates Ag.’s real fear of danger (cf. his 1267–8 and earlier 531–5). Note the (rare) distinction between soldiers and sailors: see esp. 1387–8.  voyage: νόστος; 966 n. destroy: ἐξαιρέω, e.g. of Troy also e.g. Tro. 24; the lit. sense ‘take out’ has become modern war-speak.  famous foundations of Troy: Troy is regularly ‘famous’ in Tragedy, e.g. Hel. 105, Tro. 25 (its ‘land’ 1069 above), but so are other prominent cities, e.g. Athens Hipp. 350, Argos IT 508. Troy’s structures too were distinctive in poetic imagination (and in fact!), βάθρα ‘foundations’ e.g. Hel. 1652, Supp. 1198, cf. Troy’s ἑδώλια ‘seat, site’ S. F 566; πέργαμα ‘citadel’ above 589 n.; πύργοι ‘towers’ e.g. Hec. 17, 1209. βάθρον ‘base’ (from βαίνω, i.e. ‘where one may go securely’) is widely applied, e.g. the site of Aulis 81 (n.), the footings of Mt Pelion 705. The alliteration on ‘f’ is not in the Greek. [Text. Markland’s transposition of 1262 and 1263, with ‘voyage … destroy’, matches the order ‘sailing … sack’ of Calchas’ prophecy in 89, 92–3; also, the transposition keeps the crucial condition of the sacrifice after both clauses (for this reason Matthiae’s deletion of 1263 is incorrect). Eds divide upon accepting the transposition, and argument against it relies upon variation in other references to the prophecy’s terms: Men. omits the destruction in 359 (see n.) and Iph. the voyage in 1398; but the poet, not the characters, is in charge of individual moments, and in 751–78 the Chorus (naturally) dwell on both.   1263 κλεινὸν Reiske ‘famous’: καινὸν L ‘new’: the two words are often confused in mss., e.g. Supp. 593, 1055, Her. 541. 1264–8  desire: ᾿Αφροδίτη, the goddess of sexual desire depersonalised

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in metonymy, we judge, as in Pho. 399 (a passionate clinging to hopes); here ironic, since the real Aphrodite ‘caused’ the Trojan war originally, 543–89, 1301–4. But G. Pironti, Kernos 18 (2005) 167–84, at 183, takes the name literally, studying the association of Aphrodite and Ares ‘God of War’ in the entire mythic and cultural context. ἔρως ‘sexual desire’ is often metaphorical of any passionate longing: the army’s for the campaign 808 n., Tro. 732 ‘for battle’, Thuc. 6.24.3 the Athenians’ passion for the Sicilian expedition in 415 BC; see Greek below. Our 1264 almost certainly echoes the tone of A. Ag. 214–17, the allied Greeks at Aulis ‘raging for the sacrifice and a maiden’s blood with extreme passion’, θυσίας παρθενίου θ’ αἵματος ὀργᾷ περιόργως (ms. text insecure).  stop the seizure of … wives: a term of the suitors’ oath before Helen was given in marriage, 62–3; the recovery of Helen thus became a collective Greek cause, 80, for she was ‘snatched’ when she and Paris fell mutually in love, 75, cf. 582–6.  kill my girls in Argos … if I fail to obey…: a fear exaggerated by fear? Siegel (1981) 257–65, at 263–4, thought so, but Ag. extends his earlier fear, 533b–5 and n.; cf. Introduction p. 17. fail to obey: λύσω lit. ‘undo’, of obligations, e.g. truce-terms sworn on oath Xen. Anab. 3.2.10; LSJ II.4 and 5. Cf. 1486 below ‘I shall wipe away the prophecy’ θέσφατ’ ἐξαλείψω, Iph.’s own decision to accept her sacrifice. Greek: 1264 τις understating, i.e. ‘big, extraordinary’ (609 n.) (whence some (mad) in the translation); cf. Alc. 1080 ἔρως τις ἐξάγει ‘some desire leads me on’ (Admetus mourns his wife continually); A. Ag. 55 τις ᾿Απόλλων ‘some Apollo’ (!). English might say e.g. ‘That’s some ambition!’ στρατῷ (rages) in the army is a rather strained dat. of relation (Smyth 1495); more difficult is the sense ‘for the army (to sail)’ (see Text).   1267 οἵ plur. rel. pron. has Ἑλλήνων 1264 as its antecedent; the rel. pron. introducing a main clause seems to convey hostile contrast, as e.g. (Turato) 1354 (a not dissimilar context), 1196, Tro. 368. [Text. 1264 ἔμηνε … στρατὸν Lobeck ‘some mad desire maddened the army’ eases the language (see Greek); for μαίνω trans. cf. perhaps 580 (n.), Ion 520 ἤ σ’ ἔμηνε θεοῦ τις … βλάβη; ‘(Are you in your right mind?) Or has some harm from a god made you mad?’; Ar. Thes. 561.  1266 ῾Ελληνικῶν Bothe corrects L’s at first ambiguous ῾Ελληνικάς: not the robberies but the wives are Greek.   1267 κτενοῦσι Scaliger, fut. matching 1268 λύσω: κτείνουσι L is a difficult ‘dynamic’ pres.]

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1269–72  It is not Menelaus etc.: Ag. replies indirectly to Iph.’s argument 1236–7, itself repeating Clyt.’s attack 1167–70.  whether I want to or not: this is Ag.’s own first (and last) explicit subscription to the ideal of Panhellenism. In the prologue-scene he is already going back on Men.’s plan to secure the expedition through the deception of Iph.’s marriage, 84–100, 115–18, 136–7 (cf. Men. 363–4); at 411 he rejects the Greek cause, but at 511–14 recognizes what he sees as its inevitable progress, reflected perhaps in his 748. Markantonatos (2012) 210, in a very negative reading of Ag.’s speech, writes that he ‘stands powerless before a situation … dangerously out of control, hopelessly seeking release from his bondage to a patriotic cause that he does not fully comprehend’. Greek. 1270 ἐλήλυθα gone with (the English idiom), lit. ‘gone to’: ἔρχομαι of thoughts etc. as 1214 (n.). τὸ κείνου βουλόμενον his wish: art. and neut. part. as noun, see n. on 32–3 τὰ … βουλόμενα. Also κἂν θέλω κἂν μὴ θέλω ‘whether I want to or not’ is a frequent locution: 3. pers. Cyc. 332, commonly with parts. e.g. οὐχ ἑκὼν ἑκών IT 512.  1272 τούτου ἥσσονες lit. ‘weaker than that’, i.e. ‘too weak to resist’: with gen. as 1354, Hel. 1660 τοῦ πεπρωμένου ‘fate’; for τοῦτο neut. taking up a preceding idea (all of 1270–2a, not 1271–2a) see 516 n., 889 n.; Smyth 1253. καθέσταμεν intrans. perf. and resultative, ‘am now set as, have become’, Smyth 819. [Text. 1270 deleted by W. Dindorf and e.g. Günther, suspect to Page and Diggle; it is a milder protest than 1269, certainly, and perhaps delays the important contrast with 1271. Kept by Stockert and Matthiessen.   1272 ταύτης Nauck, i.e. Iph. – but the 3. pers. is harsh between the 2. pers. plur. (Clyt. and Iph.) in 1268 and the 2. pers. my child in 1273.] 1273–5  free: ἐλευθέραν, emphatically first word in the Greek (cf. 1216 n.), but widely separated as complement from its verb γενέσθαι 1274; the idea is no less important to Iph.’s defence of her change, 1384, 1401, cf. 1472–3, than that of ‘fame’ (1307–11: n.; 1283–1335 n., at the paragraph ‘One passage etc.’).  in your power: as Iph. acknowledges at 1379.  robbed of their wives by barbarians through force: Ag.’s patriotism here distorts the facts of the play (and most sources) that Paris did not ‘rape’ Helen – it was her own will to go with him, as Ag. said himself in 75–6 (cf. 383–4, 397), words matched by the Chorus in

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585–6, [781–3], and implicitly by Iph. 1315–16. The person who had got a wife by force was Ag. himself, 1149 (n.). As to ‘by barbarians’: cf. Iph. herself 1380–4, 1400, Men. at 371; Telephus F 719 ‘Shall we as Greeks be slaves to barbarians?’ Greek. 1272 the words θῦσαί σε are emphasized by enjambement (50–1 n.).   1273 ἐν σοί ‘in your power’ e.g. Hel. 1425, Pho. 1250; held by Fraenkel (unpublished) to be colloquial, but see Collard (2005) 375. ὅσον is common with this and similar phrases, e.g. And. 232, 239, LSJ IV.1a, and the verb is often omitted.   1275 ῞Ελληνας ὄντας as Greeks, lit. ‘being Greeks’ (Telephus F 719 above); the acc. plur. part. is identified by logical apposition to the preceding acc. sing. νιν 1273 (Smyth 2148). συλᾶσθαι robbed of their wives, pass. with ‘retained’ acc. (λέκτρα), e.g. Tro. 791, PV 761, S. Phil. 413; cf. 1364 n., 1138; Smyth 1632. [Text. 1274 βαρβάρων ὕπο ‘(robbed) by barbarians’ Musgrave, cf. (Diggle) Hel. 600 βαρβάρων συλᾶσθ’ ὕπο (Men.’s attendants being ‘robbed’): βαρβάροις (ὕπο) L ‘(beneath, subject to) barbarians’ overdoes Ag.’s point in 1275. Günther unnecessarily deleted 1275, to give ‘and (Greece: νιν 1273) not be (γενέσθαι) beneath…’] At 1275 Ag. leaves abruptly; in 1278 Clyt. says he ‘flees from’ Iph. (φεύγει σε, but the text is almost certainly inauthentic: n.). 1276–1335 Iphigenia’s Monody The Fourth Episode (1098–1275) is followed not by a fourth choral ode but smoothly by Iph.’s monody of despair. While Ag. has exited immediately before it and Ach. enters directly after it (1338), the impression is given that 1098–1509 are a unit, the play’s final sequence (exodos), in which Iph. ‘changes her mind’ (see Introduction pp. 25–8). In 1098–1275 she joined her pleas for life to her mother’s; now she moves through pathetic fatalism in her monody to accepting self-sacrifice heroically while facing Ach. (1338–1432) and Clyt. (1433–65) before her proud exit (1466– 1509, of which her 1475–99 are again solo lyrics); cf. 1336–1509 n. In substituting for a choral ode after the Fourth Episode (cf. Rutherford (2012) 31 n. 6), Iph.’s monody is like that of Antigone at Pho. 1485– 1538, in which Antigone’s lamentation for her dead brothers, and then for her mother, carries the action forward into resolving the future of

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her father Oedipus and herself. These two monodies also look back to ‘mythical’ quarrels leading to present predicaments: the strife between Antigone’s brothers (ἔρις Pho. 1495) and that following the Judgement of Paris (ἔρις IA 1307); and Electra’s monody Or. 982–1012, directly following a choral ode, is also such a bridge, telling of the ancient strife (ἔρις 1001) between Atreus and Thyestes which has visited disaster on Atreus’ descendants. Clyt.’s ‘trailer’ 1276–8 your death and handed you over to Hades, and 1279–82 Iph.’s acknowledgement, are intended to herald the monody’s nearly continuous lamentatory tone; but these seven lines are almost certainly not Euripidean (1276–82 n.). An excellent effect is achieved when Iph., whose supplication of her father preceded his final, shattering speech, herself at once responds with lyric grief; compare Creusa at Ion 859–922, or the Phrygian’s abupt lyric entry Or. 1368. The effect is greater than if her mother were to launch upon sung lament for her daughter; Hall (2006) 313 observes that despite anticipating Iph.’s death (1277) and then hearing her ‘heart-rending monody’, Clyt. is given no lyric in the play. The monody has two parts, unequal in length but corresponding in several ways: in (1a) 1283–1311 Iph. ‘retells the myth’, lamenting Paris’ exposure as an infant on Mt Ida and subsequent role in the Judgement there; in (1b) 1312–18 she deplores its consequence, and sees Helen as cause of her imminent death. In these passages her monody continues the preceding episode (Clyt. 1166–70, 1197–1202, Iph. 1236–7, Ag. 1257– 75 on Men., Helen and Troy) – but it also recalls the prophecies for Ach. at Troy of the Third Choral Ode, esp. 1063–79; Iph. despairs of her life, 1308, 1317, 1334 (recalling 1219–20, 1250–2 in her supplication). In (2a) 1319–29 she laments Aulis’ reception of the Greeks, setting the literal adverse winds at Aulis 1323–4 (but see the n. there) against the metaphorical changing winds 1324–5 which disunite human fortunes and actions; and in (2b) 1330–5 Iph. deplores mankind’s fate of unforeseeable ill-fortune, with Helen as cause now of the Greeks’ woe (this is the note on which she begins her ‘change of mind’ speech 1368–1401: 1370 ‘it is not easy for us to bear up against the impossible’). One passage is especially noteworthy: in 1309–10 Iph. foresees that her death will bring a ‘name (i.e. fame) to Greek girls’. She has just heard Ag.’s 1273 ‘Greece must be free, as far as is in your power, my child’. Both

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places bear upon what otherwise is an inference ex silentio, that because Iph. fails to repeat the idea of fame, and to appeal to that of freedom, until 1375–1401 (1376, 1383, 1398, and 1384, 1401, respectively), her ‘change of mind’ may have been made during her monody, and become fixed before she hears Ach. fear he will be helpless to save her (1347–67). For such a change of mind half-hidden in a monody Barner (see Form below) 313 compares Creusa’s shift towards punishing her husband in Ion 859–922 – for his perceived betrayal, 864, cf. Ag.’s betrayal IA 1314 (recalling Iph.’s 1231–2); but Creusa begins by signalling her intention, 862–4. Staging. When Ag. abruptly departs at 1275 the baby Orestes may be presumed from the silence of the text to be still in Iph.’s arms (1245, cf. 1098–1275 n. Staging). Gibert (2005) 239–40 asks whether he remains there during her monody, giving an opportunity for ‘mimetic action’ when in 1286–9 Iph. describes Priam’s exposure of the infant Paris, and recalling Clyt.’s baby son from Tantalus whom Ag. dashed to the ground 1151–2 with a violence soon to be replicated in his slaughter of herself 1317–18. On the other hand the actor playing Iph. might have greater freedom to give the monody’s polymetric colours full vocal and physical expression if (s)he relinquishes Or. to Clyt. The text also does not reveal who is holding Or. when Achilles enters at 1338–44: see 1336–1509 n. Staging. Form. Monody (μονῳδία, ‘single-song, solo aria’) voices extreme individual feelings, expressed with musical freedom and lyric passion, and sometimes theatrically (e.g. Evadne about to leap to her death Supp. 990–1030, the panicking Phrygian Or. 1368–1502). As an element of surviving Tragedy (but only in Sophocles and Euripides, and PV) it is analysed in detail for its dramatic functions by W. Barner in Jens (1971) 277–320; and it receives wider evaluation from Hall (2006) 288–320 (esp. 293–318 on Eur. and 308–15 on his preference for women monodists) and from Rutherford (2012) 256–67 (both with bibl.). On the monody’s astrophic form see Metre below. Language. Eur.’s florid style, with lush imagery and diction (sometimes called ‘dithyrambic’) in his later lyrics, esp. monodies, is very evident here: extended narrative 1283–99; topical colour (see esp. 1295–9 n.); emphasis on detail and emotion through repetition, doubling of words, assonance, and effects of contrast and asyndeton in 1302–32

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esp. 1302–18, 1325–30. These habits of Eur. are superbly parodied in Ar. Frogs 1309–63, where 1330 has the word ‘monody’. Both (1a) 1283–1311 and (2a) 1319–29 are single, complex sentences; the first employs a succession of relative clauses 1286–8, 1289–94a, 1294b–9 and 1300–11, this last ending with progressive coordinations and contrasts through nine particles; the second has coupled main clauses 1319–22, 1323–9, the second ending also with five coordinated particles. Both (1a) and (2a) begin with apostrophes, the first of Mt Ida and the second of Aulis; the device echoes the earlier attribution of cause to the Judgement, in the apostrophe of Paris himself returning to Ida in 573–89, cf. 75–6. (1a) is a continuous flow of differently evocative pictures, while (2a) is much plainer and direct, with differing simple verbs and nouns. Metre. Metricians are divided upon the rhythms of some cola, and therefore upon the apparent relations between their rhythmic grouping and sequence, and between the passages 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b above. The monody is astrophic in form, consistent with uneven distress, like Iph.’s final lyrics 1475–99; in fact IA has two sequences of solo lyric and IT has three, and all are astrophic. For rhythms and metres in Eur.’s monodies see Parker (1997) 514–18; they are listed by strophic and astrophic form by E. Csapo, ICS 24/25 (2000–2001) 407. Other examples from later plays are El. 112–66 (lamentation), Pho. 302–54 (despair), Or. 1369– 1502 (panic) and (above) Ion 859–922; of these monodies only that in Electra has strophic form. IA 1283–1335 is a complex system, with spans of dochmiac (– or trochaic?), anapaestic, iambo-trochaic and dactylic; textual corruption or uncertainty increases the problems of identifying and defining some cola confidently: Wilamowitz (1921) 573–5 (with commentary); Stinton (1965) 30–1 (with notes); Dale (1983) 147–9 (with notes); Günther 66–7; Stockert 559–61 and on individual lines (commentary); and Diggle (1994) 424 n. 18 and OCT apparatus; all differ in their analysis. The monody as a whole: Stinton (1965) 29–34 and 60 offers a fine, concise appreciation of the poetic background and imaginative structure esp. of 1283–1314. Detailed analysis: Cerbo (2010). Text. For 1276–82 see the n. As to the monody: L has some corruption (1301, 1321–2), and doubtful Greek (esp. 1296, 1301, 1310, 1320–2, 1331–2). In particular, Wilamowitz (1921) 573 suspected that 1319–32 were a duplicate of 1283–1314; but their real correspondences (above),

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esp. in the appended 1315–18 ~ 1333–4, point rather to authenticity: see esp. Stinton (1965) 30 n. 1. Wilamowitz also supported L’s attribution of 1333–4 to the Chorus: see Text there. 1276–82  Almost certainly not Euripidean (so Diggle; deleted by Kovacs); corrupt in part, and the Greek is often doubtful.  foreign women: a sudden turn to the Chorus as awkward as that by Ag. in 542 (n.): we have heard only couplets from them at 1209–10 and 1253–4 since their Third Ode 1036–97. Such a turn is also premature, like that in the ms. text at 1310 (n.); only at 1467 does Iph. herself invite the Chorus to participate in the singing at her departure (see also Text).  your father flees from you 1278 smells strongly of theatrical interpolation, to ease transition from Ag.’s abrupt departure to Iph.’s monody; it may reflect the performing tradition.  song of fortune: μέλος … τύχης 1280 is a colourless expression, even if the echo in μέλος of ‘misery’ μελέα 1277 is designed to imply ‘song about misfortune’; contrast e.g. Hipp. 1178 ταὐτὸν δακρύων … μέλος ‘the same song of tears’.  fallen: πέπτωκε: πίπτω of the fall of events, an image from dice-play, 1343 and n.  daylight … brilliant sun: φῶς … ἀελίου … φέγγος 1281–2 lit. ‘light … of the sun … light’ is an unidiomatic pleonasm. Greek. 1277 θανάτου is causative gen. after adj. μελέα, e.g. Med. 96 πόνων ‘over, because of burdens, troubles’, Or. 160; Smyth 1435.   1278 παραδίδωμι ‘hand over’ to death Alc. 871.   1280 On the Doric alpha in ἀελίου see Metre below. [Text. 1276 ὦ ξέναι is dramaturgically impossible (above), and is part of a single dochmiac metre heading the anapaests 1277–82. Monk replaced it with a second ὦ τέκνον, the doubling apt to the emotional moment; but the ms. copying error is hard to explain, and the two dactyls thus created are questionable.   1277 Heath: a metrical supplement.   1279 The second †ταὐτὸν† †the same† is plainly wrong, and unmetrical when followed by γὰρ; but the particle explains the repetition of οἲ ’γώ from 1277 (Stockert). Recent eds have favoured ταὐτὸν τόδε γὰρ Murray ‘for this same (song)’ as the line-end; less good is the δὴ in Dobree’s ταὐτὸν γὰρ δὴ.   1280 τύχης is poor style, and suspect to eds: see Greek. Metre. The Doric alpha in ἀελίου is discrepant in chanted anapaests, which we take to be the nature of 1276–82; but metricians are divided,

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and some eds have written Doric μᾶτερ 1279 and τύχας 1280 to create lyric anapaests.] 1283–90  snow-beaten valley … Ida: Ida’s snow e.g. A. Ag. 564, Hel. 1323–4, its valleys e.g. And. 275, 284; both Tro. 1066–7. The Greek words make a complex hendiadys (53 n.). The adj. νιφόβολος ‘snowbeaten’ of Delphic Mt Parnassus Pho. 206.  Priam … cast out … babe: after Cassandra’s dire warning to kill it or it would be Troy’s destruction, e.g. And. 293–8, Tro. 919–22: see Stinton (1965) 20–3, 51–2; Gantz (1993) 562–3. The incident and its long-delayed aftermath (1294–1311) are the background to Euripides’ Alexandros, for which see Jouan (1966) 113–42; Collard, Cropp and Gibert (2004) 35–91 or Collard and Cropp (2008) VII.33–75. Cf. Pho. 804 ‘babe cast out from the house’ (Oedipus) and Ion 492–506 (Ion), in similar evocations of place (discussed together with IA 1286–91 by M. Huys, The Tale of the Hero Who Was Εxposed at Birth in Euripidean Tragedy (Leuven 1995) 191–5); but all three exposed babies were rescued (Huys 330).  for a deathly fate: also Pho. 803–4 ‘put out for death’ (Huys 263–6). The adj. tender ἁπαλόν ‘conveys the child’s innocence’, Stockert.  called Idaeus: because Paris came from Ida to Troy while still unidentified, to compete in the funeral games established by his mother Hecuba in memory of her exposed child (himself): Alexandros test. iii.7–21 (he beat Hector in the games, F 62a.9–10). ‘Idaeus’ also e.g. And. 706, Hec. 944 and esp. Or. 1364 ‘the accursed, accursed Idaean Paris’. His ‘other’ name Alexandros (1236, 1292–3) was that given him by the herdsmen who had reared him from a foundling, Alexandros test. iii.6–7, because he ‘warded off’ (Greek aleg/x-) ‘men’ (-andr-), i.e. robbers, from flocks, F 42d: see Stinton (1965) 32, Collard and Cropp (2008) VII.45, both citing Ennius, Alexander 64 Jocelyn ‘for which reason the herdsmen now call Paris Alexander’. The doubling ‘called Idaeus, called Idaeus’ is thought to be a musical rather than a verbal effect; Breitenbach (1934) 220 gives over 10 examples, e.g. Or. 149, 1373. Greek. 1286 νοσφίζω with (superfluous prep. and) separative gen. e.g. Hel. 641 (ἐκ). 1287 ἀποπρό ‘far away from’ with gen. e.g. Pho. [1738].   1288 ἐπί of intended consequence: 29 n. μόρος ‘fate, fated end’, i.e. ‘death’, the word’s usual connotation in Tragedy: Fraenkel on Ag. 1146. 1291–4a  if only etc.: again in 1319–24; wishes to ‘undo’ the past like

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And. 293–308 (Paris’ exposure and survival), Med. 1 (Jason’s voyage for the Golden Fleece), Hipp. 1412 (Theseus’ death-curse on his son). oxherd reared among oxen: 71b–6 n.; e.g. And. 280–2. The doubling ‘ox(herd) … oxen’ emphasizes the strange setting of Paris’ early life, and his being given a home on Ida, eventually to make the Judgement (And. 295 ‘before he found a home (κατοικίσαι) on Ida’s crag’). Versions of the myth vary: in some Paris is not accepted at Troy after being identified at the funeral games, but the menace in Cassandra’s prophecy is simply ignored; or he is sent back to Ida (see Text): cf. e.g. Gantz (1993) 562–3. bright (water): lit. ‘white’, i.e. pure, in springs (next n.) e.g. Od. 5.70, Her. 573. [Text. 1291 ὤφελες Elmsley (cf. Stinton (1965) 77), with the apostrophized νάπος ‘valley’ as subject, exactly as in Pho. 801–4 of snowy Mt Cithaeron where Oedipus was exposed (above): ὤφειλε L (impf., incorrectly: ὤφελεν aor. Burges) has Πρίαμος as subject, i.e. sending Paris back to Ida (above).   1292–3 ᾿Αλέξανδρον deleted first by Bothe and recently e.g. Günther and Matthiessen as an invasive gloss, but to be kept: the name closes the phrase τὸν … τραφέντα; it is not a second predicate after οἰκίσαι ‘to give him a home as Alexandros’, i.e. in the role which brought this name (1289–90 n.). The trochaic metre will tolerate the name’s presence and absence.] 1294b–9a  The simple, rustic but idyllic setting of the Judgement, with its appealing flowers, contrasts with its disastrous outcome, as in 182, 573–9 (n.); less vividly in Tro. 1066–70; Stinton (1965) 59; Gantz (1993) 567–71; a milder contrast with the later flowery meadow of the sacrifice below [1543–4, 1548]. The poetic technique is that of the locus amoenus (‘pleasant place’), visible already in Homer, e.g. Od. 7.112–31 Alcinous’ walled orchard and vineyard, well-watered. A pretty and often idealised rural scene colours an important moment of narrative, often as here with an erotic charge: Iliad 14.347–51 are cited in 1036–97 n., cf. esp. Sappho F 2 Lobel-Page. A classic example is the abduction of Persephone by Hades from the flower-meadow, Hom. Hymn Dem. 417– 32. The technique is deployed a little disconcertingly by Plato, Phaedrus 229a–30e4; and its ‘purple patches’ (purpureus … pannus) are treated snootily by Horace, Art of Poetry 14–20 (17 has ‘the winding of water hurrying through pleasant (amoenos) fields’). Splendid illustrative matter and bibliography by Stockert on our passage; cf. e.g. Hose I (1990) 98, II (1991) 116.

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Commentary

The springs on Ida are prominent, 182, and they characterize the poetic scene-setting after Iliad 8.47. The three goddesses bathe in them in preparation And. 285–6, Hel. 676–8; Stinton (1965) 17. (Water-) Nymphs on Ida (e.g. Hel. 1324) are therefore unsurprising. lush: θάλλων of flowers e.g. (Stockert) Hom.Hymn Demeter 401–2, Sappho F 2.9–10 Lobel-Page.  flowering roses (lit. ‘rosy flowers’): associated esp. with Cypris and sex, e.g. Med. 841 and Cypria F 5.3–4 West (her fragrant garland) – and with Helen Hel. 243–5. A model for this aspect of the scene may have been the lush and dewy bed of flowers that Zeus creates on which to make love to Hera, Iliad 14.347–9. It includes hyacinths: a curly, dark flower is meant: see Stanford or Heubeck etc. on Od. 6.231.  to pick: roses Hel. 244 again; e.g. crocuses Ion 889, Hom. Hymn Demeter 425–6. Privileged ‘picking’ in Hippolytus’ half-idealised riverside meadow Hipp. 73–80; compare (Turato) also Phaedra’s fantasy Hipp. 208–11.  goddesses is a headline for their advent in 1299b–1306. Greek. 1295 κεῖμαι lie, = ‘be situated’, as in English; but perhaps idiomatically ‘be, be available’, like weapons at Iliad 3.327, LSJ II.2; for the dependent prolative infin. δρέπειν in 1299 see Smyth 2010. [Text. 1296 ἔρνεσι Sybel shoots, more aptly described by χλωροῖς green, seems preferable to ἄνθεσι L ‘flowers’: branches of bushes or small trees (on which roses grow or ramble) are consistent with a meadow, which need not be only grassland; or the green shoots may be of reeds (Hel. 183), natural to a damp area near springs. L’s ‘flowers’ is however defended by Stockert, citing χλοερός meaning ‘fresh’ of roses at Hel. 243 (above) and less cogently of a ‘meadow’ Bacc. 866; the repetition ‘flowers’ in 1299 is indeed possible in Eur.’s lyric style.] 1299b–1306  The goddesses arrive for the ‘beauty contest’ 1307–8, cf. 182–4, And. 279, Hel. 24–7. Each is named twice, but in differing order; in the first triplet Cypris has the middle place and the only adj., the telling and typifying crafty δολιόφρων (the goddess is δόλιος And. 289, Hel. 238). In the second triplet she has first place, but the descriptive part. flaunting τρυφῶσα (see below) and the prep. phrase ἐπί and the dat. πόθῳ desire are extended to describe Pallas (ἐπὶ) δορί (flaunting) her spear and Hera (ἐπὶ) Διὸς ἄνακτος εὐναῖσι βασιλίσιν (flaunting) the royal bed of lord Zeus (for the ‘omission’ of the prep. in our translation see Greek). For Cypris (Aphrodite) the word ‘desire’ and for Pallas the word ‘spear’ represent their offers (or bribes) to name them as victor in beauty. Cypris lures Paris’

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‘grievous lust’ (Iliad 24.30; at 13.769 Hector calls him ‘women-mad’) through her own aura of ‘desire’ (Iliad 14.198–9 love-making and desire, Hom. Hymn Aphr. 1–3), like that of Helen herself Tro. 891, and by offering Paris Helen in her beauty as his wife (178–82; Hel. 27–8, cf. 261 cited in 1307–11 n.; Isocrates, Helen 41–2). Pallas (Athena) comes with her spear, iconic in Attic art (at Iliad 21.410–11 she asserts her superiority with the spear even over Ares the war-god); she offers Paris martial prowess in the war at Troy (Tro. 925–6; at Iliad 11.385–7 he is despised as a mere archer by Diomedes). For Hera the words ‘the royal bed of lord Zeus’ seem to indicate that, as goddess of marriage (739 n.), she offers Paris a marriage as splendid and secure as is her own in that bed (Iliad 14.213); an offer of marriage however is counter to that which she is commonly stated in mythology to have made, of power to rule, such as she boasts she herself possesses from sharing the supreme rule of Zeus (as his bedmate, Iliad 4.60–1). This is her offer in the earliest poetic account, of about 430 BC, Cratinus’ comedy Dionysalexandros (i) P. Oxy. 633.14–15 PCG IV.140 ‘immovable absolute rule’ τυραννὶς ἀκίνητος; subsequently Tro. 927–8 ‘rule over Asia and Europe’, cf. Isocrates, Helen 41 (see in general Gantz (1993) 570–1). Euripides’ readiness to vary myth, indeed to exploit it, is shown by his further sally with the ‘Judgement’ in Trojan Women; in the marvellously rhetorical agon between Helen and Hecuba (895–1059), Helen boasts that her own beauty awed Cypris on Mt Ida 929–30; and she is attacked by Hecuba who questions whether Hera could ever have ‘traded away’ her city of Argos to barbarians or Pallas her Athens to Trojans 973–4; and Hecuba mocks as absurd the idea that either Hera or Pallas would have taken part in such frivolity as a beauty contest, Hera to get a husband better than Zeus 976–7, or Pallas a husband at all, given Zeus’ guarantee to her of perpetual virginity 978–81. As to the outcome of the contest, Paris’ capitulation to the lure of Helen, the Iliad has it that after ambivalent concern for Paris’ safety in war (3.433–6) Helen herself sets little store by the union Cypris gives him (6.350–3, cf. 24.763–4). Here in IA the emphasis is naturally on the outcome for Iphigenia, 1309–18, 1333–4. The verb τρυφάω 1303 is ‘untranslatable … implying pride, luxury and sexual forwardness’ in Aphrodite here, Stinton (1965) 33–4, who nevertheless brilliantly chose ‘flaunt’ (which we gladly purloin); for the word’s sexual connotation cf. the nouns τρύφημα 1050 (n.) and τρυφή Ar.

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Commentary

Ecc. 973, Lys. 387. The root τρυφ- commonly describes unconscionable glitz e.g. Tro. 997 (Hecuba accuses Helen), or arrogant self-indulgence e.g. Supp. 214 (mankind’s dissatisfaction with god-given well-being). Hermes escorts the goddesses in most accounts after Cypria, Argument (1) West, esp. And. 275–8 (Stinton (1965) 28 n. 2, 60; Jouan (1966) 112–13); Zeus’ messenger: otiose – or does it imply that everything happened at Zeus’ will, a statement that poets made about the Trojan war and all its preliminary incidents, e.g. Iliad 1.5, El. 1282–3, Hel. 36–41? See Stinton (1965) 1–3, 7–9 and Jouan (1966) 41–54 ‘La Volonté de Zeus’. Greek. 1299 ἔνθα where matches the common pattern of this and other lyric narratives, a sequence of rel. clauses, 1286, 1289, 1294 (see 1283–1335 n., Language).   1303 ἐπί and dat. of reason or cause, ‘in, upon’, e.g. [1523], Hipp. 729 (Smyth 1689.2c; LSJ B.III.1), but left untranslated after ‘flaunting’; the force of the prep., like that of the verb, extends to δορί and εὐναῖσι (above; but see Text). [Text. 1301 is corrupt (and its metre uncertain); Ἑρμᾶς lacks a connection ( Tr3). Analysing the whole passage, Stinton (1965) 77 hoped to restore both syntax and trochaic metre with ἦγε δ’ (in place of Ἥρα θ’) Ἑρμᾶς ‘and Hermes led them’, citing And. 278 ‘(Hermes) leading the beautifully yoked team of goddesses, the three fillies’; Diggle (1994) 411 suggested ἆγε, with Doric alpha. Hera’s name is too important, however, to lose before 1305–6; Günther proposed ‘losing’ Hermes’ name too, with ἦγε δ’ ὁ Διὸς ἄγγελος ‘and Zeus’ messenger led (them)’.   1304 δ’ δορὶ Wilamowitz, needlessly: see Greek.   1305 δὲ Markland must replace τε L after μὲν … δὲ.] 1307–11  abominable judgement and strife: here, hateful to Iph. herself: her death, 1308! The adj. στυγνάν goes with both nouns, helping to counter their illogically reversed order (hysteron proteron: 1149 n.); the ‘strife’ is the rivalry between the beauty contestants, 183 (not the Trojan War, 587). The word στυγ- ‘hate’ is used of Helen and her marriage e.g. Or. 19 στυγουμένη, Tro. 598 στυγερῶν; but cf. rather And. 279 ἔριδι στυγερᾷ κεκορυθμένον εὐμορφίας (the team of goddesses: see our 1301 Text above) ‘accoutred (Stinton: brilliant translation of the metaphor from armour) for an abominable strife over shapeliness’.  beauty: at Hel. 261, cf. 1097, Helen says that her beauty was the cause of her extraordinary life and actions.  fame: ὄνομα lit. ‘name’, the first mention by Iph. of

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future glory, just as ‘my name/fame’ is among her last words in the play, 1495. In between, cf. her 1376, 1383, 1398–9 and her other evocations 1446, 1468, 1474, 1502, the Chorus 1504; she forecasts consequent glory for Clyt. 1440. Fame and glory for the Maiden Hcld. 621–4; for Praxithea’s daughter Erechtheus F 360.34–5. For ‘glory’ generally in the play see Introduction pp. 36–7.  Artemis took the sacrifice as prelude against Troy: the Greek and the meaning are most insecure: see both Greek and Text below. Iph. appears to repeat the idea in part in 1395 εἰ †δ’ ἐβουλήθη† σῶμα τοὐμὸν Ἄρτεμις λαβεῖν ‘if Artemis †wished† to take my body’. The noun πρόθυμα can be both ‘preliminary sacrifice’ (see on 718 προτέλεια; Introduction p. 11) and ‘sacrifice on behalf of (the Greeks)’, cf. e.g. ‘for the army’ στρατοῦ objective gen. Hypsipyle 345, 893; Artemis is the recipient of both the preliminary sacrifice and the main sacrifice (Stinton (1965) 34). Greek. 1307 μέν is omitted after κρίσιν in the first member of a contrast: 1327 (n.), GP 165.   1308 θάνατον is in apposition not to the acc. nouns κρίσιν ἐπὶ … ἔριν τε, but to the whole idea 1299b ἔνθα … 1308 καλλονᾶς (for such apposition see 234 n.); it is developed by μὲν φέροντα … δ’ ἔλαβεν Ἄρτεμις death … bringing … while Artemis took: the shift within parallel clauses from participle to finite verb (and a changed subject) is striking, and a rare form of grammatical anacoluthon (cf. 1346 n.): cf. S. Ant. 810–11 με … Ἅιδας … ἄγει … 813 οὔθ’ ὑμεναίων ἔγκληρον (οὖσαν) οὔτε … μέ τις ὕμνος ὕμνησεν (instead of ὑμνωθεῖσαν), OC 348–51 (see Jebb on 351): see GP 369 n. 1; Stinton (1990) 215–16, cf. (1965) 31 n. 2; Smyth 3008c.   1309–10 It is possible that με ‘me’ should be understood from 1308 ἐμοί as the first object of ἔλαβεν and πρόθυμα as the second, ‘took me as sacrifice’.   1311 The dependence of πρὸς Ἴλιον ‘against Troy’ upon either πρόθυμα or ἔλαβεν is strained. [Text. 1308 τᾶς (καλλονᾶς) L, deleted by Bothe/Matthiae: the def. art. is wrong in idiom and destroys a trochaic dimeter. ἐμοὶ L ‘(but) … for myself’ is right, a stronger contrast with the goddesses’ strife than ἐμὸν … θάνατον Elmsley ‘(but) my death’.   1309 (μ)ὰν L (above the line) is curious (unless it is a mere slip), Doric for emphatic μὴν, non-connective and here unidiomatic.   1309–10 Δαναΐσιν κόραις West: δαναΐδαισιν ὦ κόραι L, in which the address to the Chorus is dramaturgically improbable (1276 n.) and factually wrong: they are wives, 176, no longer girls.   1310–11 δ(ὲ) Hennig, a particle being

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necessary (Stinton (1965) 77): σ(ε) L ‘you’, first object of ἔλαβεν (see above), and perhaps cause or consequence of L’s address ὦ κόραι. The difficulty of πρὸς Ἴλιον was attempted by Wilamowitz with πρὸς Ἴλιον , the gen. dependent upon πρόθυμα ‘sacrifice for the expedition against Troy’, as perhaps in 816 (see Text there). Stockert on 1309–11 analyses the linguistic problems at length and proposes a wholesale if hypothetical rewriting of 1308–11, spoiled by his retention of ὦ κόραι but incorporating a striking conjecture by Viljoen 1310 ἔλακεν ‘cried out, proclaimed’ in place of ἔλαβεν L ‘took’: cf. Calchas A. Ag. 156, 201 (ἀπ)έκλαγξεν ‘rang out’ his interpretation of the eagle-omen.] 1312–14  fathered me: ὁ τεκών: at 1177 Clyt. spoke harshly of the filicidal Ag. as ‘the father who begot you’ ὁ φυτεύσας πατήρ; here, Iph. does not use the word ‘father’ πατήρ so prominent in her appeal to him 1211–52 (n.).  betraying: Men. accused Ag. of betraying him, 412. to abandonment: ἔρημον, like Hermione abandoned by her father Men. at And. 855, 918, cf. 805. Greek: 1314 ἔρημον adj. is predicative/proleptic acc.; Eur. uses only the ‘two endings’ form of ἔρημος (Smyth 288). 1315–18  The climax of Iph.’s sudden despair in 1312–14, made emphatic through doubled words and synonyms, and the absence of particles. Her unexpected and bitter denunciation of her father may be seen as one stage in what we suppose to have been her turmoil between Ag.’s abandonment of her (1255–62) and Achilles’ equivocally renewed promise to save her (1358–68a), leading to her resolve to die voluntarily: see esp. 1392–7 n.  Ill-Helen: Δυσελέναν, the name earlier in Eur. Or. 1387 as the agent of Troy’s destruction (ἑλ- is ‘destroy’, the root of aor. εἷλον from αἱρέω); it is formed on the model of Ill-Paris Δύσπαρις Iliad 3.39, cf. Dread-Paris Αἰνόπαρις Alcman F 77 PMG, Hec. 945 and Paris αἰνόλεκτρος ‘of the dread marriage-bed’ A. Ag. 714. Cf. the notable play on Helen’s name as ἑλ- ‘destroyer’ of ships, men, and cities A. Ag. 681–90; Iph. arrogates the last, ἑλέπτολις, to herself as ‘destroyer of the (Phrygians’) city’ 1476 (n.; and the Chorus repeat it [1511]), cf. also 68, 488.  bitter: πικρός yet again of an (unforeseen, harsh) aftermath, 510 n. The adj. stands with Helen here, as with the new-born Paris if allowed to live Tro. 922.  my sight: lit. ‘seeing’ ἰδοῦσα nom. part., i.e. ‘having to realise by experience’, e.g. Med. 1388 Jason seeing the end

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of his marriage, El. 638 Aegisthus seeing and about to invite Orestes as (a later murderous) guest.  my blood … shed: φονεύομαι: Ag.’s bloody intention for Iph. 875, cf. his earlier refusal to shed it 364.  impious … impious: sacrilegious as human sacrifice and filicide alike. Ag. himself calls the actions ἄνομα ‘lawless’, 399; he is ‘impious’ also 1105, Or. 1213. Even Medea calls her intended filicide impious, Med. 796; cf. Artemis condemning Theseus’ curse upon his son Hipp. 1287. Similar wording but with a surprise Tro. 1316 θάνατος ὅσιος ἀνοσίοις σφαγαῖσιν, the impious slaughter of Priam (at an altar) which is nevertheless ‘pious, sacred’ in the eyes of the gods because his death saved him from suffering Troy’s and his women-folk’s tragedies. Words used in two grammatical forms are frequent in Eur.’s lyric pathos, e.g. Supp. 42–3 ‘old’, 598 ‘pitiable’; this rhetorical figure (paregmenon: 587–9 n.) ‘nears a mannerism’, Denniston on El. 337; full exx. in Breitenbach (1934) 221–6.  slaughter: cf. Iph. 1463 σφαγήσομαι ‘I shall be slaughtered’; on the word’s avoidance earlier in the play see 133–5 n., Introduction p. 11. [Text. 1315 ὦ L ‘O’ deleted by West/Parker in order to create an ambiguous transitional verse between the end of the trochaic 1311–14 and the iambic 1316–18; approved e.g. by Diggle (1994) 414.] 1319–32 Judged by Wilamowitz to duplicate 1283–1314: see 1283–1335 n. Text. 1319–22  The first of Iph.’s two further impossible wishes, the second following in 1323–9.  Aulis: sometimes named almost resentfully as the Greeks’ rendezvous, 14, 119–21, El. 1022 ‘Aulis which held the (ships’) sterns’, i.e. when beached; but ‘famous’ (ironically) IT 9.  bronzerammed: χαλκεμβολάδων, almost certainly anachronistic colour, as at Pind. Pyth. 4.191 (the mythical Argo); but bronze rams (ἔμβολον sing.) are historical in A. Pers. 415, at Salamis, cf. Adespota F 1027f PMG from ?Timotheus, Persae.  anchorage: ὅρμους, Aulis again 1496; cf. verb ὁρμέω 291.  †the fleet on its mission to Troy†: the meaning probably intended, but it cannot be got from ms. L’s Greek. Greek. 1319 μοι I wish, lit. ‘for me’, a common use of the ‘ethic’ dat. (538 n.) in prayers or wishes, Smyth 1486. [Text. 1320 †ἅδ(ε) †here, lit. ‘this’, i.e. ‘where I am’, was deleted by Monk: it duplicates the locative function of 1321 ‘this anchorage’, and creates a metrical problem.   1322 (1) The adj. πομπαίαν ‘sending,

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conducting’ can describe ἐλάταν only with awkwardness: a fleet is itself sent by the πομπή of a favourable wind (or not, by its lack, 352); cf. the adj. πόμπιμος of winds Hel. 1073, Hec. 1290. (2) The phrase εἰς Τροίαν has no syntax; it cannot be attached to πομπαίαν ‘despatching (i.e. Greeks) to Troy’ (and its position in the clause bars that too). (1) can be cured by ἐλατᾶν πομπαία (Wilamowitz), ‘(Aulis) despatching the fleet’ (ἐλάται plur. as 172: see 171–3a n.), but (2) εἰς Τροίαν remains stranded and is perhaps best deleted as a gloss (Hartung). Herwerden preferred drastic surgery, deletion of 1321, as did Wecklein of 1321–2.] 1323–9  wind adverse to setting sail, contradicting the absence of any wind 10–11, cf. the converse 352 ‘lacked a favourable wind’; perhaps excused by its attribution to Zeus (see 1301 n.), for the absence was implicitly due to Artemis 88–91 (who in A. Ag. 148, 202 does send adverse winds: see Introduction p. 5, cf. 3).  swirled: εἱλίσσων, of rapid and variable movement, e.g. of the waters of the Euripus IT 7, where its eddying currents and the winds appear to act together (see Text).  mortals: unnecessary to the identity of (some) … others, who are ordinary sailors; but the broad term perhaps prepares for the truism upon ephemeral mankind’s suffering in 1330–2.  pain and necessity contrast with initial delight; then comes a second triplet: set out ἐξορμᾶν, furl sail στέλλειν, delay μέλλειν; but furling ends a voyage and is placed between setting out and delay (cf. 818, the Atreids’ delay). Note the Greek ‘rhymes’ 1327 λύπαν, ἀνάγκαν, 1328–9 στέλλειν, μέλλειν, elements typical of incantatory or cultic refrain: see e.g. Pho. 339–40, Tro. 527–8 cited by Diggle on Phaethon 99 (with bibl.); also V. Bers, EGT 1373. Innocent rhyming 1162–3 n. Greek. 1323 Εὐρίπῳ at Euripus is locative dat.   1326–9 τοῖσι μὲν is ‘understood’ before λαίφεσι, cf. 1307 n. above, 432 n.; GP 165. The omission of the dat. art. also eases the use of λαίφεσι plur. (rare), else τοῖσι … λαίφεσι would be heard together. For μέν + 5× δέ, see 1276–1335 n. Language. Med. 303–5 has μέν + 3× δέ, Phaethon 63–86 μέν + 8× δέ over three stanzas.   1327 λύπαν and ἀνάγκαν are nouns with verbal sense standing instead of metrically awkward passive infins. λυπεῖσθαι and ἀναγκάζεσθαι.   1328–9 ἐξορμᾶν intrans. ‘set out’, of a ship e.g. Od. 12.221; στέλλειν ‘furl sail’, but usually trans., e.g. Od. 3.11, LSJ IV.1 (the translation ‘make ready’ ship or sail, e.g. Od. 2.287, cited by LSJ I, is wrong here).

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[Text. 1323 μηδ(έ) Hermann nor seems necessary, a mild contrast rather than μήτ(ε) L, a mere addition; but GP 509 cautions against such automatic alteration.   1324 εἱλίσσων Tyrwhitt: μειλίσσων L ‘soothing’, defended by Wecklein, but this sense conflicts with ‘delight’ and works only with ‘pain’ and ‘necessity’. Metre. 1323 is a very rare form of lyric anapaest: West (1982) 121 cites only Andromeda F 114.4.] 1330–3  Truly full etc.: the generalisation cloaks Iph.’s understanding that man’s inescapable and harshly unforeseeable (1332–3) suffering is exemplified in her own. The message is common, e.g. Or. 976–8 ‘O you races of ephemeral men, with all your tears and heavy toils’, El. 1330 ‘mortals with their many sufferings’ (πολυμόχθων); S. Ant. 613–14 ‘life in its whole extent comes to no mortal without disaster’. Yet here the truism is phrased with a complexity surprising after the plain 1326–9: doubled ἦ πολύμοχθον separates the coherent γένος … ἁμερίων; similar word-figures in sad reflections Hipp. 836–7, Hec. 165–7.  a hard fortune: δύσποτμον, if correct, seems tautologous as a predicate to fate, and awkward as a means of emphasis esp. when accompanied by τι, which may be meiotic, in understatement, ‘a very hard…’ (609 n.); see Text. Greek. 1330 ἄρ’ ἦν is, i.e. ‘has proved to be’, of a truth just realised, impf. or plup. with ἄρα, 404 n., 944.   1331 χρεών ‘fate’, the def. art. being idiomatic, e.g. Her. 21, El. 1301, cf. τὸ χρή Her. 828; bare (and unmetrical) χρεών here would mean ‘it is necessary for men to discover some hard fortune’. [Text. 1331 Hermann: see Greek.   1332 δύσποτμον L lit. ‘illfated’: a more suitable adj., matching πολύμοχθον, is to be expected, e.g. δύσπονον (Headlam) ‘laborious, painful’, but this word is not Euripidean.   1333 ἀνευρεῖν L: εὑρεῖν Dindorf, to produce a more harmonious closure after dactylic 1330–2 (see Diggle (1994) 316).] 1334–5  great calamities … you put upon the Danaans: μεγάλα … ἄχεα … τιθεῖσα: an echo of Iliad 1.2 μυρί’ ’Αχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε ‘(Achilles’ wrath) put countless sorrows upon the Achaeans’.  daughter of Tyndareus: Helen, 54–5; the accusation is here blandly worded after that of 1315–16, perhaps as a conclusion. Greek. τιθεῖσα is nom. for voc. after an exclamation, commonest with ὦ and often solemn, e.g. Hec. 1000, IT 983, S. Phil. 1402.

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Commentary

[Text. The correspondence in sentiment between these two verses and 1315–16 justified Blomfield in giving them to Iph; L has them for the Chorus. The Chorus however participate in lyric exchange in IA only in 1500–9, and upon invitation (1491–3); and if they sing 1334–5 they must lose the spoken 1336–7 (Wilamowitz, rightly; ‘not bad, provided 1336– 7 are not there’, Diggle OCT); cf. 1336–7 n. Also: with 1337 μήποτ’ ὤφελες ‘O that you had never…’ the Chorus echo Iph.’s 1291 and 1322, and they usefully separate her pathetic indictment of Helen in 1334–5 from her sudden alarm upon seeing Achilles’ approach, 1338.] 1336–1509 Final Sequence (exodos) – or ‘Fifth Episode’ This is the authentic part of the play’s transmitted end; see 1509 n., 1510–1629 n. Ach. returns, saying to Clyt. that he is no longer able to resist the clamour for war of his Myrmidons; and his earlier assertions that he will save Iph. from the sacrifice falter. At this, Iph. breaks in with her astonishing ‘change of mind’, to die voluntarily for Greece. Ach. reacts with admiration for her courage, and with regret that he must now forgo marriage to a wife of such nobility; but he also retreats further still from his promises to Clyt. and Iph., intending it seems to intervene physically only if Iph. at the last moment decides upon life. After he leaves, Iph. is confidently unresponsive to her mother’s grief and goes proudly to her death, singing in praise of Artemis. In a sequence of five brief movements the three persons either speak in differing pairs, or Iph. voices powerfully on her own: (A) 1336–68a Iph. and Clyt, then Ach. and Clyt.; (B) 1368b–1403 Iph. alone; (C) 1404–32 Ach. and Iph.; (D) 1433–66 Clyt. and Iph.; (E) 1467–1509 Iph. alone (in which she changes at 1475 from speech to song). (A) 1336–68a  After her monody Iph. is at once alarmed to see Ach. approaching with men carrying arms, but Clyt. stops her from hiding in Ag.’s hut out of shame, 1338–44. Iph. remains silent during Clyt.’s intense, at times stiff, exchange with Ach., 1345–68a – indeed she is referred to only in the 3. pers. (1347–8, 1350, 1355–6, 1360–2, 1365, 1367); Clyt. now addresses Ach. as ‘stranger’ 1349. Ach. tells how he has been threatened by the Greek army, above all by his own Myrmidons, for

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wishing to save Iph. in order, they taunt him, to marry her. It becomes implicit that he can no longer prevent her sacrifice, but he nevertheless pledges his utmost to help her, while expecting Odysseus to come to drag her away. (B) 1368b–1403  Iph. interrupts – at mid-line – to deliver her great turn-about speech, 1368b–1401 (n.); she addresses only her mother, 1368, 1369, 1372, 1374, 1377, 1386, and Ach. becomes 3. pers. to her (1371–2, 1392), as she had been to him ((A) above). She heard Ag. abandon her in his final speech (1255–75; it appears to have influenced her monody, 1275–1335 n., cf. 1309–10 and n.); now she declares that she must embrace her fate (cf. 1330–2 in her monody) and wishes to die gloriously for Greece. (C) 1404–32  Ach. now speaks only to Iph. He admires her new-found courage, and is inspired with desire to marry her, again undertaking to save her, but now he swears to it on oath (1404–15). At the same time, Ach. hopes she may yet change her mind: so he will be with her at the altar (1421–32). His two short speeches surround Iph.’s command to let her die, without cost to his or others’ lives (1416–20); as had her mother in 1349, she too now addresses him as ‘stranger’, 1418, cf. 1371. It is disconcerting that Ach.’s second speech as transmitted appears in part to contradict his first, and to be self-contradictory as well (see nn. on 1358– 61a, 1421–32), so that we are again uncertain both of his true intention and motive: his own conscience and honour? The behaviour of Ach. is discussed esp. by Michelakis (2002) 106–13, 117–19. (D) 1433–66  Both Iph.’s long speech and now this exchange with her mother derive some of their power from the audience’s knowledge of Aeschylus’ Oresteia (revived during the later 5th century: see 1183–4 n.; Introduction p. 35 n. 87). Eur.’s Iph. contrasts greatly with that of the Agamemnon, who has to be gagged and manhandled like an animal victim as she struggles against her sacrifice (Ag. 228–37); but the audience might ponder as well the irony of the girl’s unwilling role in Eur.’s other Iphigenia-play, earlier by a decade or so: there, after her rescue by Artemis, she presides over the rituals of human sacrifice (IT 34–41, 342–7 etc.), but it is unclear whether she takes part in the killing (e.g. 225–6) or not (esp. 40). IA 1454–7 are noteworthy too, in developing

572

Commentary

Clyt.’s earlier warning to Ag., 1183–4 and n.: Eur.’s psychological insight brings him to portray Iph.’s awareness already that Ag.’s killing of their daughter may transform Clyt. into a vengeful murderess; in this Eur. adds further colour to Clyt.’s characterization throughout Tragedy, including his own Electra, where she is portrayed not without sympathy. Parts (A) to (D) dramatize the dissolution of Ag.’s family: he had abandoned his wife, daughter and son abruptly at 1275; he is mentioned now only as in danger from Clyt.’s vengeful hate, 1369, 1454–7. Iph. will not see her mother and brother, and her sisters, again, 1446–51, 1464–7. Furthermore, despite Ach.’s new eagerness to marry Iph., born of admiration at her change of mind, and despite his show of arms, his determination to save her fades to a promise to be with her at the altar, 1431, after he half-suspects she will change her mind, 1424: will he fail her or not? (E) 1467–1509  (see n.) Iph. moves swiftly from speech (1467–73) to renewed song (at 1475). She lays down the ritual for her own sacrifice, as if to take control of it: compare Polyxena insisting that she should die free of bonds Hec. 547–65, and the Maiden Hcld. 529, 560–1. Iph. invites the Chorus to join her in praising Artemis (1467–9, 1475–94), and they share her confidence in the glory her death will bring her (1500–9), which she had already foreseen in her ‘change-of-mind’ speech (1383–4, 1398–9). While she sings, Iph. begins to depart, and she is gone after 1509. That confidence in Iph.’s everlasting glory is picked up in the spurious messenger-speech at [1606–7] and her ‘assumption’ by the gods [1608], followed by the Chorus [1614] and Ag. [1622]: the audience will recall the goddess Athena’s forecast of Iph.’s burial and cult at Brauron, IT 1462–7 (see 1441–6 n.). Form. 1336–1473 complete the interaction and dialogue between the characters; and run smoothly into lyric from 1475. Parts (A) and (B) above, 1336–1403, begin and end with choral comments in iambic couplets (see 1336–7 n.). These enclose trochaic tetrameters, aptly for (A above) the tense exchanges between Iph. and Clyt. 1338–44 and between Ach. and Clyt. 1345–68a. The latter is set entirely in stichomythia in which the pair share every line (antilabe: 303– 16 n.); monotony is avoided however by near constant variation in the point of line-division; 1356–8 and 1360–1 are the only consecutive lines

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with identical points; elsewhere the irregularity helps to convey barely controlled feelings. Stockert on 1345ff. suggests that Ach.’s sentences broken across antilabe in 1345–7 and 1349 mark his struggle for breath, and Clyt.’s terse responses hers for self-control. (This exchange is a technical masterpiece, like Ion 529–62, Or. 774–98; see esp. Mastronarde (1979) 60.) Tetrameters house also (B above) Iph.’s long speech, as they did the passionate and long speeches of argument between Men. and Ag. 335–75 and 378–401. Compare the excited trochaic stichomythia 855– 95 between the Old Man, Ach. and Clyt., followed by Clyt.’s desperate speech of supplication (900–16), also trochaic. Parts (C) and (D) above, 1404–66, are set in the more temperate and normal metre of dialogue, iambic trimeters, but the tension is hardly less than in (A) above: three short speeches between Iph. and Ach. 1404–32 and the stichomythic farewell between Iph. and Clyt. 1433–66; in the latter antilabe is used only for final pleading and assured rejection. It is an effective surprise that it is not Clyt. who answers Iph.’s long speech at 1404 but Ach.; Clyt. has fallen into tears by 1433. Staging. It was unclear whether Iph. continued to hold Orestes during her monody, or handed him to Clyt. (see 1276–1335 n. Staging). The text gives no further firm indication what happens to Or.; for when Iph. asks Clyt. to foster him to manhood (1450), her words ‘Orestes here’ and Clyt.’s command ‘Hug him to you and look at him for the last time’ (1450) are consistent with either one’s holding him at that moment. We hold the view, however, that things will be best managed if Clyt. takes Or. with her when she herself leaves, at some point in 1475–1509 (see n.); the stage-handling of Or. from 1275 to 1509 is a large matter for any director, ancient or modern. It is irrelevant that the final lines of the spurious ending 1510–1629 indicate that Clyt. has re-entered carrying Or. (‘this new-born boy’ 1623). How many from the ‘crowd’ of Ach.’s men (1338) enter with him? Enough to make weaponry visible, at least: that is important for 1359 and 1426. In theatrical expectation, the most effective mute extras carrying weapons in Tragedy are those that Eteocles calls to arm him before his duel with his brother, A. Seven 675; compare that same moment E. Pho. 779; cf. Hcld. 698–747 (the decrepit but determined Iolaus); others in Michelakis (2002) 126 n. 68.

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Commentary

Art. The 2nd century ‘Homeric’ bowls (details in 110–14 n. and Introduction p. 38) depict Ach. on the left leaning on his spear, while Clyt. in the centre looks toward Iph. on the right who covers her face: nos 8–10. The artist(s) imagined a moment very soon after Ach.’s entry during 1338–44. Also: it has been suggested that a now very fragmentary fresco at Pompeii depicts a Hellenistic performance of Iphigenia’s great speech during 1387–1401: see K. Nehendam (1987) 53–9. Text. As the play nears its end, suspect (and often corrupt) passages and lines become more frequent. 1336–1403 are healthier than 1404–73, where 1407–9, 1424–32, 1435–9, 1448–9 and 1458–61 in particular are impugned. Textual defect or corruption without convincing remedy occurs in 1348, 1381, 1391, 1395, 1416 and 1443. 1336–7  I pity you etc.: typical sympathy from a chorus (cf. 469; Introduction p. 32), repeated but sharpened in their later couplet 1402–3, their iambics in both bracket the tetrameters 1338–1401. Simple met with here (τυγχάνω) becomes ‘fortune’ itself (τύχη) in 1403: the Chorus use the root τυχ- just as Iph. herself used ‘fortune’ τύχη in 1280, and will use ‘misfortune’ δυστυχές in 1342. Note how enjambed τυχοῦσαν beginning 1337 is matched by τυχεῖν at its end: a similar figure with θανεῖν in 1252 (n.). It is common for a chorus to speak a couplet directly after an actor’s monody (Mastronarde on Pho. 355–6), there as here of sympathy, and most appropriately; cf. Ion 923–4. For choral couplets in general see Introduction p. 32. (A) 1338–68a  Stichomythia between Clyt. and briefly Iph., then Ach. 1338–41 The words mother, who gave me birth and crowd of men are adjacent in the Greek, drawing attention to a sudden terror for Iph. The maiden girl is confronted with ‘men carrying arms’ (1359). Iph. is instinctively ashamed (αἰσχύνομαι 1341, cf. ‘shame’ αἰδῶ 1342); Clyt. had protected her from a meeting with Ach., 992–7 – conversely Ach. reacted to encountering Clyt. with manly ‘shame’ 821 (n.), 830. Now, Iph.’s shame may override her immediate fear that the men have come to take her away to sacrifice (cf. her later 1458). Clyt. however is not so much alarmed as anxious for the meaning of Ach.’s return (see his 1003– 35): instead of Iph.’s marriage, her daughter’s life is now at stake, and she must lay aside her earlier shame, and Iph. must do the same, 1343–4 n. (on shame generally see Introduction pp. 34–5). Ach.’s behaviour too

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is in contrast: his first words tell of the new danger to Iph.’s life.  Open up the hut … servants: an instruction to off-stage personnel. διαχαλᾶτε means ‘unbar’ (i.e. undo the real-life fastening of) the central stage-door when it represents the door of a building, e.g. Med. 1314, Hipp. 808 and esp. A. Cho. 879 (on which see D. Bain, Masters, Servants and Orders in Greek Tragedy (Manchester 1981) 57 and 63 n. 8); and indeed Ag.’s ‘hut’ has ‘gates’ (see 1 n.). Ag. sent Iph. inside at 678 and had her called outside at 1120, when the door closed behind her (on entrances and exits through the door, whether indicated or implied, see Taplin (1977) esp. 339–41, 343–4).  Why are you trying to escape?: Clyt. detains Iph. in 1344 – and tries to do so at their final parting, 1465–6.  (Achilles) here: the demonstr. pron. ὅδε as a ‘stage-direction’ registers anyone (or anything) seen approaching or already present (e.g. 1392), or just offstage and remaining invisible or expected to enter; cf. 71–3 n. Greek. 1338 ὦ τεκοῦσα μῆτερ: also Pho. 1270, cf. 298; for this emphatic and often emotional pleonasm cf. e.g. 1177 ὁ φυτεύσας πατήρ and n.   1339 ᾧ: a rather strained dat. of personal advantage, ‘for whose sake’ (Kovacs). 947 σῷ πόσει ‘for your husband’ is an even greater difficulty (see n.): see Smyth 1481 and, after a verb of motion as here, 1485, citing Thuc. 1.61.1, 107.7 (both with ἦλθον).   1340 μοι please: 538, cf. 613–14 n. κρύψω δέμας hide myself, as e.g. Tro. 777 (Andromache asks to be ‘hidden’ when doomed to ‘marriage’ with Neoptolemus the slayer of her husband Hector). δέμας lit. ‘(my) body’ means no more than ‘me’, cf. 937 n., 1349–53 n.   1341 αἰσχύνομαι with inf. (Smyth 2126), e.g. Hec. 968 σε προσβλέπειν ἐναντίον ‘to look at you directly’. [Text. 1339 ᾿Αχιλλέα L is doubted by eds, because of the name’s repetition in 1341 (in fact, that is a validation), but also because the phrasing is unusual, the name being appositional to the def. art. τόν … (τῆς θεᾶς) in the Homeric manner, ‘the goddess’ son, Achilles’. Tr2 and later Heath thought it a gloss which had displaced παῖδα, and this led to misguided conjecture to cure the consequent metrical problem in mid-verse (both Tr and Hermann in the apparatus). ἤλυθες Vitelli is the easiest correction of L’s ἐλήλυθας, which is ‘wrong’ in tense: the perf. ‘have come’ implies that Iph. may yet marry Ach., but because Clyt. and she have long learned of Ag.’s failed deception a simple aor. ‘came’ is necessary. The readings of L and Tr in 1339 are definitively discussed by Zuntz (1965) 101, who accepts Vitelli’s correction.]

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Commentary

1342–4  For what reason?: ὡς τί δή;, an idiom of impatience with a person’s thinking or intention, often with ellipse of a verb, and colloquial (GP 211, Stevens (1976) 29); cf. Ion 525 ὡς τί δὴ φεύγεις με; ‘Why are you trying to escape from me?’  ill-fortune: a mild word from Iph. after her 1330–2, and the Chorus’ harsh ‘evil fortune’ συμφορά 1336: the latter occurs in 1468 as ‘fate’ (n.).  fastidious: ἐν ἁβρότητι, a noun in the Greek; cf. the verb ἁβρύνομαι in 858 (n.), the Old Man’s realisation he dare not be fastidious; compare too Clyt.’s (no time for) pride, σεμνότης, with her 901 ‘For why should I be proud?’ τί γὰρ σεμνύνομαι; (see n.), her abandonment of reserve in supplicating Ach. Also, for Iph.’s being ‘ashamed’ of facing men compare Pho. 1276 – ‘I (Antigone) feel shame before a crowd’. – ‘Your situation does not allow for shame’.  what has happened: lit. ‘fallen out’, cf. 1280 n. Greek. The expression is thought to derive from the ‘fall’ of thrown dice: see Wilamowitz or Bond on Her. 1228 †τὰ τῶν θεῶν γε πτώματα†, ‘what the gods cause to fall out’, cf. 1276–82 n., S. F 947 ‘the wise dice-player must put up with what falls out’.  you must stay: μίμν(ε), at a critical moment, cf. 855 μεῖνον, the Old Man to Ach., and 1461 μένε, Iph. to Clyt.  (no) time for: lit. ‘work for’, i.e. harm or loss will follow inaction. The idiom οὐδὲν ἔργον is discussed by Barrett on Hipp. 911, citing e.g. And. 552 ‘no time for leisure’, cf. LSJ ἔργον IV.1b; given the colloquial idiom σὸν ἔργον ‘it’s for you to…’ (Stevens (1976) 39), this one too may be such, continuing the tone of ‘For what reason?’ Greek: 1343 κεῖμαι with ἐν and dat. ‘be in a position of’ also e.g. Hec. 969, Hel. 1195. πρὸς considering etc., lit. ‘with regard to’, also Hipp. 718 πρὸς τὰ νῦν πεπτωκότα; cf. πρὸς τὸ πῖπτον El. 639; Smyth 1695.3c: LSJ πρός C. III.1.   1344 benefit: ὀνίνημαι, as in the expression ὄναιο 1008–9 (n.), 1359–60; LSJ II.2. [Text. 1344 ὀνώμεθα Wecklein are to benefit is palmary, supposing a very slight miscopying behind L’s δυνώμεθα ‘are to be able’.] 1345–68a  For this stichomythic exchange see 1336–1509 n., Form. 1345–8  daughter of Leda: for the formality of this address, used by Ag. to his wife at 686: see n.; cf. the Old Man addressing Ach. as ‘descendant of Aeacus’ 855.  you speak the truth: in calling me ‘poor’; but there may be a certain coldness in Clyt. now that Ach.’s advice to her to supplicate Ag. (1009–24) has failed (cf. 1336–1509 n. at (A) 1336–68a): she calls him ‘stranger’, 1349. The verb θροέω ‘speak’

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is used most often in Tragedy at fraught moments, e.g. 143 the Old Man deprecating criticism; of unwelcome voices or words e.g. Hipp. 571 = Or. 1249.  What you say bodes bad news: lit. ‘you say a word (that is) an omen of wicked things’; cf. Ion 754 ‘the prelude of your words is not happy’. οἰωνός ‘bird(-omen)’ is used metaphorically, e.g. Or. 788, Hipp. 873, like ὄρνις 988 (n.; cf. 607 and Pho. 858 of good omens). Observation of bird-flight was one of the oldest and commonest forms of divination (Latin au(spicium), au(gurium) from au(is) ‘bird’); the observation of the eagles at Aulis is famously expounded by Calchas A. Ag. 114–57.  bad: πονηρῶν: for the adj. πονηρός of ‘wicked things’, of actions (πον-) transgressing all morality, cf. e.g. 1001 gossip and Hec. 1190–1 treachery, Meleager F 528.2 vileness.  slaughtered: the brutal word once more: see 1318 n.  †And no one speaks against?†: excellent sense but the Greek is metrically at fault: see Text below. Greek. 1346 τίνα βοήν; L, a mild anacoluthon (Smyth 3004–8; V. Bers, EGT 1369), as if βοῶσι dat. plur. part. in agreement with Ἀργείοις, and governing the acc., is to be understood, ‘the Argives shouting (what shout)?’ See Text. [Text. In 1345–8 the part of Ach. is given to the Chorus in L, impossibly, since the women could not go to discover what the Greek army were doing, and since they take no part at all in dialogue; and Ach.’s first words are then an abrupt 1349 ‘I myself met with some noisy clamour’.   1346 Because βοᾶται is pass., Hermann’s conjecture τίς βοή; ‘What shout (is being shouted)?’ offers a smoother transition; but τίνα βοήν; L is accepted by all eds except Diggle and Kovacs, and by Matthiessen and Renehan (1998) 266.   1347 πονηρῶν Nauck, the anticipated ‘wicked actions’ in emphatic first place; πονηρὸν L is wrong in sense and impossible as predicate with οἰωνὸν λόγον, and not to be rescued by Nauck’s λόγων, lit. ‘wicked omen of words’.   1348 The καί in κοὐδεὶς L wrecks the mid-verse metre and (ἐναντ)ία gives a resolved syllable in the 4th trochaic metron, a very unusual place (West (1982) 91). οὐδεὶς cures the first, ἐναντίον the second, but a supplementary syllable is then needed somewhere: Heath, unaware of P2’s , proposed ἐναντία ‘(against) this’; but Vitelli’s ὲν ἀντίον ‘but … nothing (against)’ would be stronger and neater, although ἀντίος is less frequent than ἐναντίος in spoken contexts.] 1349–53  noisy clamour: θόρυβος, expanding upon the shouting

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of 1346. Compare Hec. 872–4 the possibility of soldiers’ clamour preventing a just revenge, Or. [905] clamour in an assembly exploited to secure condemnation (for ‘crowd-power’ in Eur. see Webster (1967) 288).  stranger: ξένε: for Clyt.’s suddenly stiff mode of addressing Ach. see 1336–1509 n. and (A) 1336–68a n.; cf. also Iph. at 1418.  stoned: the punishment of a severe offence against a community, esp. betrayal, imposed and executed collectively, e.g. for burying a traitor S. Ant. 35–6 (where Griffith notes ‘Like a modern-day firing squad, stoning spreads the responsibility around: nobody ever knows which stone (or bullet) is the fatal one’). Achilles is threatened with stoning for refusing to fight also at A. Myrmidons F 132c.1–4 (see Michelakis (2002) 119). Orestes’ matricide counts as such treason, Or. 50. For stoning in historical Athens see e.g. Ar. Ach. 234–6; V. J. Rosivach, ClassAnt 6 (1987) 232–48; in Tragedy M. Lloyd, EGT 1029–30. ‘(stoned) with rocks’: idiomatic, not emphatic, pleonasm, e.g. Or. 442, S. OC 435.  bodily: σῶμα, lit. ‘body’, Ach. also 940 and (δέμας) 937 (n.); an often emotive periphrase for the person, the self, coming frequently from Iph. 1217, 1221, 1395, 1397, 1417. Stockert on 1351 sees ‘body’ as a ‘keyword’ of the play.  Just that: αὐτὸ τοῦτο: also Or. 665, a colloquialism (Stevens (1976) 27), expressive of Ach.’s impatience or stress; cf. the masc. ‘the man himself’ αὐτὸς οὗτος 1363.  All the Greeks: only a mild repetition of the Panhellenic theme, but Ach. appears to share the ideal at 809, 965–7 and perhaps 1019–21; if he does here too, Iph. may pick it up in her coming speech, from 1378 onward; cf. Ach. again in 1406.  Myrmidon army: more resentment from them, cf. 814–18 n. Greek. 1350 σῶμα λευσθῆναι: acc. and infin. of indirect speech, implicit after the verbal noun θόρυβος 1349; the inf. represents a direct imperative, with σῶμα as its subject (Smyth 2633c); cf. μὴ κτανεῖν 1355. μῶν But wasn’t…?: the particle is here apprehensive of the truth, e.g. Or. 875, Hipp. 794 with Barrett’s n.; different from μῶν 321, which expects a negative answer. σῴζων trying to save: conative pres., like (Stockert) Or. 129 σῴζουσα κάλλος (Helen her beauty); Smyth 1878.   1351 θιγγάνω with τλάω ‘dare to touch’ e.g. Hipp. 885, El. 255.  1352 πάρειμι ‘be there (to aid, protect)’ e.g. Iliad 18.472, Or. 1159; cf. 645, 646 παρά with dat. and γίγνομαι, εἰμί.   1353 πρῶτος foremost, ‘principal, above all others’, e.g. Hec. 304, And. 1237; Denniston on El. 83. ἄρα then, an extremely rare use of this non-connective particle as the

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separative word in tmesis (40 n.); cf. the modal particle ἄν so used Alc. 901 (anapaests), the adv. αὖ El. 1121 (dialogue). [Text. 1349 Blomfield’s emendation τιν’ αὐτὸς is the best: in τοι καὐτὸς L, τοι is against metre (but ἐγὼ … καὐτός emphatic ‘myself’ is idiomatic: 691–2 n.). The tone of understatement too is more idiomatically given by τιν(α), meiotic (609 n.), in agreement with θόρυβον than by Musgrave’s τι (καὐτὸς).   1351 Hermann altered the word-order to avoid the very rare prosody of ἐ- lengthened within ἔτλη, creating a not uncommon postponement of the connective particle δέ: see GP 187(i)–8.] 1354–7  Why, they…: the force here of the rel. pron. οἵ: 1267 n.  abused … calling: Iph. is later concerned to prevent such abuse of Ach. her helper, 1371–2; see also Greek below.  promised me: cf. ἐπιφημίζω 130 n.; Ach. at 936 said ἐμὴ φατισθεῖσ(α) ‘spoken of as mine’.  the many are a terrible evil: similar scorn Or. 772 δεινὸν οἱ πολλοί ‘the many are a terrible thing’, IT 678 τοῖς πολλοῖσι (πολλοὶ γὰρ κακοί) ‘…the many (for many are evil)’; (οἱ πολλοί in Eur. also Hec. 257); Or. 908 τὸ πλῆθος, τῇ πόλει κακὸν μέγα ‘the masses, a great evil for the city’; cf. anxiety about the ὄχλος ‘masses’, verging on ‘mob’, 526 n. Clyt. here is doubtless being made to speak of the ‘mob’ generally, but means primarily the collected Myrmidons of 1352; but her words recall Hecuba’s aspersions on the ‘mob’ at Hec. 604–8, in her anxiety that it should not touch her daughter Polyxena’s body after her sacrifical death; and Clyt. has forgotten the admiring welcome that the army gave her and Iph. 424–34. Greek. 1353 οἵ: the plur. rel. pron. has a collective sing. noun as antecedent, στρατός 1352; cf. 967 and e.g. Or. 920, Supp. 868; Smyth 2502b.   1354 ἀποκαλέω ‘call by a name’: the preverb ἀπο- is negative and pejorative (LSJ ἀπό D.5, DELG 97); this verb occurs in Tragedy also S. Aj. 727 (abusing the kin of a perceived traitor), in satyr-play E. Autolycus F 282a (bodily appearance). The def. art. (τὸν) is common in ‘calling’, e.g. Or. 1140, Bacc. 725; Smyth 1152. ἥσσονα (who) gave in to (marriage) is lit. ‘less, weaker than’, i.e. ‘too weak to resist, overcome by’, e.g. And. 631 Κύπριδος ‘overcome by Aphrodite’ (Menelaus by Helen); the comparative gen. naturally follows the verb ἡσσάομαι, e.g. 1272 (n.), Hipp. 727 ἔρωτος ‘overcome by passion’ (Phaedra); similarly 1357 here νικάομαι (LSJ II): Smyth 1402. Cf. also S. Ant. 680 οὐκ ἂν γυναικῶν ἥσσονες καλοίμεθ’ ἄν ‘I’d not (want to) be called weaker than women’ (Creon speaking of Antigone, after 678 γυναικὸς οὐδαμῶς

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ἡσσητέα ‘one must in no way be worsted by a woman’).   1355 εὐνή ‘bed’ personified as ‘bedmate, wife’, e.g. Hipp. 1011, Her. 68; cf. λέχος 103 n. μέλλουσαν absolute, adjectival: future: of marriage also 988, 1380; cf. 865. δίκαια: nom., sc. ἐστί, as in e.g. Her. 583; the neut. plur. is idiomatic.   1356 ἐπέμψατο mid., ‘sent for, fetched’, e.g. Hec. 977. 1357 κεκραγμός: cf. κέκραγμα Ar. Peace 637; these nouns are formed on the perf. stem κέκραγμαι οf onomatopoeic κράζω ‘bawl, cry out’, with an incidental further sound effect in κε-; compare e.g. τετανός ‘tension (tetanus)’ from τείνω, and τέτρο(or α)μος ‘trembling’ from τρέμω. τό πολύ: abstract for concrete οἱ πολλοί, possibly to avoid clash with πολλοῖς in a different sense in 1358; cf. 1401 τὸ δοῦλον for οἱ δοῦλοι. [Text. 1354 ἀπεκρίνω Tr3: ὑπεκρίνω L, but this verb means ‘answer’ only in Epic/Ionic: LSJ B.1.] 1358–61a  all alone against a multitude: deliberate over-translation of plain πολλοῖσιν εἷς, juxtaposed ‘many/one’ being a favoured and always effective antithesis, e.g. 1394, Hcld. 8, And. 217.  these men carrying arms: those who alarmed Iph. at 1338; they are carrying Ach.’s weaponry (cf. 1426), like the stage-extras carrying that of Eteocles A. Sept. 675. Despite the emphasis in the play on Ach.’s prowess in war and his splendid weaponry (206–15, 1068–75), he does not himself wear it on stage, either when he comes to complain to Ag. on behalf of his Myrmidons (804–18) or in this scene. Michelakis (2002) 120–8 (contrasting Ach.’s appearance in full armour at Argos, even earlier than the gathering at Aulis, at Telephus F 727c.46–9) argues that these places ‘correspond to a role … that Ach. fails to assume’ (124), observing how it ‘undermines’ his exit at 1432 and ‘underlines’ his unheroic presentation; it adds to doubt that he will attempt to save Iph. See 1336–1509 n. at (C) 1404–32; Introduction pp. 23–4.  May you benefit: Clyt. responds to Ach.’s 1358 ‘I shall come to your aid’; cf. her earlier thanks 1008, and her hopes now 1344.  sense of honour: τῶν φρενῶν lit. ‘mind, thinking’, a word like so many abstractions coloured by its context; explicit e.g. Hipp. 1390 τὸ εὐγενὲς … τῶν φρενῶν ‘nobility of mind’.  I shall benefit: what does Ach. mean? Hardly that he may yet marry Iph., for only her decision to accept her death induces this now impossible hope from him, 1404–7, 1410–11. Does he mean his own moral satisfaction, for upholding his honour among his fellow soldiers, 930–1, 944–5, 959–61, 1019–21? ‘A chivalrous action is its own reward’, comments

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Headlam. Is he offering reassurance? He offers more in 1361 and 1365 before his bleaker prediction 1366–8 (see n.). At the worst his reply is empty, in the familiar device whereby one speaker at once substantiates the other’s words and turns them to his own purpose: see the exx. in GP 20 illustrating the device with Well ἀλλά from prose and Tragedy (including stichomythia, like S. El. 1204–5).  Will my child now not be slaughtered?: cf. Ach. 935 ‘your daughter shall never be slaughtered by her father.’  not … with my consent: cf. Clyt. to Ach. 991 ‘If you wish it my child will be saved’; cf. 1367 n.; Hel. 1640 οὐ κτενεῖς ἡμῶν ἑκόντων ‘you’ll not kill with my consent’. Greek. 1359 φρενῶν is partitive gen., cf. e.g. IT 1078 ὄναισθε μύθων ‘…from words’, Med. 1348 λέκτρων ‘from a (new) marriage’; Smyth 1355.   1360 ἀλλά: above. 1361b–4  Odysseus: his final mention in the play, perhaps a little surprising after his knowledge of Ag.’s deception 107 and Ag.’s fear of his revealing it 524–9. Both are characteristic of his mythic cunning and lack of scruple as the son of Sisyphus (524 n.), and Euripides invariably exploits them, without necessarily endorsing them, in Cyclops, Hecuba (where he will take Polyxena from her mother, 141–3, 222–3, 432), Trojan Women, Palamedes, Scyrians. 1361–4 reflect his readiness to undertake but sometimes to initiate unpleasant actions in the common interest and sometimes in his own (Acting for himself, or instructed by the army?): the prime example of the first is his treatment of Philoctetes in the name-plays of Sophocles (esp. 568–73, 615–16; cf. 6 ‘instructed (ταχθείς) to do this’, Od. of himself) and of Euripides (F 787–9d, in which he examines his motivation, esp. to strengthen his fame 789b (2) at end); the prime example of the second is his contriving the death of Palamedes out of jealousy (E. Palamedes test. v.a, b; Philoctetes F 789d.8). The contrast between individual and public or common interest is very frequent, from Od. 4.314 onward, esp. in Thucydides; cf. e.g. Hec. 641–2 κοινὸν … ἐξ ἰδίας ἀνοίας | κακόν ‘common disaster from individual folly’.  but Odysseus will lead her away: out of context the Greek would normally mean ‘(Yes, large numbers,) and Od. will lead them’; but we prefer Ach. to answer Clyt.’s question of 1361 as expecting an individual; similarly Stockert, Turato. The Greek of 1362–3 has a large number of sibilants; such ‘hissing’ often attends disapproval (e.g. 393, 524, [1429]): see Page’s n. on Med. 476, a line notorious in

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Commentary

antiquity.  Chosen, willingly: αἱρεθεὶς ἑκών, cf. (Stockert) ἄσμενος (‘gladly’) αἱρεθείς Thuc. 6.12.2 (Alcibiades). It is a very Euripidean antithesis, extending 1361 ‘not with my consent’, which is repeated in 1365; cf. e.g. 360 ‘willingly … not through compulsion’ (see n., and on 73b–6), Tro. 373; the trope is at an extreme in Bellerophon F 304a.2 ἑκὼν ἑκοῦσαν ἢ θέλουσαν οὐχ ἑκών; ‘(Did he) willingly (kill her) against her will, or against her wishes unwillingly?’ commit murder: μιαιφονεῖν, lit. ‘shed blood that pollutes’ (μια(ι)-), commonly of kindred murder e.g. Med. 1346, Or. 524. Clyt. is implying that Od. will not himself shed blood, but commit sacrilege by his complicity in the ‘impious slaughter’ (Iph. in 1318). Greek. 1362 μυρίοι large numbers, ‘countless’: distinguished in the nom. by accent from μύριοι ‘ten thousand’.   1363 αὐτὸς οὗτος, The man himself: 1351 αὐτὸ τοῦτο ‘just that’, neuter. ἴδια πράσσων ‘acting for himself’, lit. ‘doing individual, private things’, ἴδιος as in e.g. Supp. 413 πρὸς κέρδος ἴδιον ‘for private gain’, LSJ I.2; but πράσσω implies ‘acting by design, underhand’ (Od.’s alleged habit: above), for which see 129 n.   1364 μιαιφονεῖν is inf. appositional to αἵρεσιν, this noun taking up the verb αἱρεθείς (with which it is cognate acc. retained with the pass.: cf. 1275 n.): eds compare Hel. 1633 – ἥ με προύδωκεν. – καλήν γε προδοσίαν, δίκαια δρᾶν; – ‘Who betrayed me.’ – ‘A fine betrayal, doing justice!’; for this stichomythic device cf. also Bacc. 970, Or. 1582; GP 134. [Text. 1362 ἄξει L will lead is satisfactory, with either Iph. as object (above) or ‘large numbers’; but in the light of Erasmus’ translation dux … agminis ‘leader of the troop’ Wecklein conjectured ἄρξει ‘will command, be at the head of’ (337, 355).   1363 ἴδια Heath restores metre: ἰδίᾳ L.] 1365–8a  Clyt. does not accept Ach.’s reassurance I shall hold him back; she asks again about the violent seizure of Iph. (cf. 1361).  Certainly: δηλαδή, a colloquialism (Stevens (1976) 46, in Tragedy also Or. 789, S. OT 1501; on its accentuation see GP 205). The urgency, perhaps impatience, conveyed by the word continues in Ach.’s next two, more chilling replies.  hair: captured women faced such dragging: 791–2 (n.). Iph. herself, no captive, fears it 1458, like her mother here. blond: ξανθῆς is Iph.’s hair-colour also 681 (see n.). Cling to your daughter: perhaps an echo of Hec. 398, where Hecuba, faced with separation from Polyxena, says ‘I’ll cling to her like ivy to an oak’; see on Greek.

Commentary

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Greek. 1365 ἔχω ‘hold back’, LSJ A II.9; the fut. form σχήσω is usual in this sense, e.g. Or. 263.   1367 ἀντέχομαι ‘cling to’ with partitive gen.: mother to child Tro. 727, child to mother 750; simple ἔχομαι Hec. 398 (above) – followed in 400 as here by ὡς … οὐ with preceding ellipse of e.g. ἴσθι ‘know (that … not)…’: ‘I’ll not willingly let go of the girl here’: τοῦδ’ οὕνεκα, i.e. τοῦ ἀντέχεσθαι, So far as that (clinging to her) goes: the prep. οὕνεκα as e.g. S. El. 387, Ant. 19, with nouns e.g. Hel. 1254 πλούτου ‘wealth’: full exemplification by Fries (2014) on Rhesus 340, referring for the forms ἕ/εἵ/οὕνεκα to Barrett on Hipp. 453–6 (see also Text).   1368 ἀλλὰ μὴν But … certainly: assentient, here ‘substantiating a condition “If clinging can save her … it will in fact be the only way to save her” ’, GP 344; about ×6 in Eur. ἐς τοῦτο … ἥξει(ν) ‘it will … come to that’: impersonal, as in the idiom ἐς τοῦτο ἔρχεται ‘it comes to this’, e.g. Tro. 401, Antiope F 223.7; but cf. Her. 1294 ἐς τοῦτο δ’ ἥξειν συμφορᾶς οἶμαι ‘I think (I) shall come to this point of catastrophe’; 2. pers. in this idiom at 1002, cf. [665]. [Text. 1366 δρᾶν τί χρὴ Kirchoff, to ease the metre: τί χρὴ δρᾶν L, with unusual lengthening of τί before χρ-.   1367 τοῦδε L: τῆσδε Elmsley, the pron. personified, i.e. ‘(me) here’, with οὕνεκα ‘as far as I am concerned’: clever but unneeded; and ὅδε so used by a 1. pers. is very rare, e.g. S. Trac. 305, when not accompanying a pron., e.g. ἐγώ Hel. 528: see Jebb on S. OC 453, Moorhouse (1982) 155–6. οὕνεκα Aldine: the same correction of ἕνεκα L as in 1393; reversed in the post-Classical [1621].] (B) 1368b–1403  Iphigenia’s great speech. Iph. has been totally silent during the urgent and emotional dialogue between Ach. and Clyt.; she has been thinking (1374–5: n.). Now she bursts in at mid-line (on this, 1368b–70 n.) with the great speech in which she changes her mind (see below) and willingly embraces death for the Greek cause. It is a tour de force. After saying that Clyt.’s anger against her husband is pointless, that what is impossible to handle must nevertheless be faced, and that Ach. must not suffer from going against the army’s feelings 1368–73, she assures Clyt. that she wishes to die, and gloriously 1374–6; all Greece looks to her, she asserts, to enable the sack of Troy and to prevent the further abduction of Greek women such as that of Helen 1377–84. She must not hold her life too dear: Clyt. gave

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Commentary

her birth for the advantage of all Greeks, and it is proper that one woman, herself, should sacrifice her life when so many Greek men will fight for a fatherland that is wronged 1385–91. Ach. must not be endangered; better that one man should see the light of day than countless women. She herself cannot oppose Artemis’ demand for her life 1392–4. The sack of Troy will be her memorial, for ensuring that Greeks rule barbarians, not barbarians Greece 1398–1401. Iph. in part uses Ag.’s patriotic arguments in his 1255–75: 1380–1 and 1400–1 ‘stop the barbarians’ ~ 1266, 1275; 1384 and 1401 ‘freedom for Greeks’ ~ 1273; 1386–9 ‘the cause of Greece is overriding’ ~ 1269–73. She names Greece eight times, and the Panhellenic theme appears in 1378, 1386, 1393. Her speech nevertheless is emphatically her own, ‘my decision’ (1375 n.), with over twenty uses of 1. pers. verbs, pronouns and possessives; prons. begin 1378 and 1379, possessives 1369 and 1390. Iph. is determined and confident, and her speech cogent also in its rhetorical style. There are two prominent headlines: 1375 ‘I have decided to die; I want just this, to die gloriously’ invites Clyt. to share her reasoning; 1385 ‘I must not hold my life too dear’ comes exactly half-way and sets a more passionate tone for the remainder. Then 1398–1401 are a rousing, recapitulatory end. Asyndeton beginning lines is very marked, 1375, 1377, 1378, 1383, 1391, 1394, 1398 – yet the important 1385 begins with a unique sequence of four particles. There are similarities with Praxithea’s speech to her husband defending the sacrifice of one child to save Athens, Erechtheus F 360; we note some below. The speech continues the trochaic tetrameters of the preceding animated dialogue: Mastronarde (2010) 239–40 suggests that Iph. is ‘swept up emotionally in … an opportunity for patriotism’ or (240 n. 56) that ‘the meter might lend her speech a quasi-oracular authority’: he compares the prophetic Cassandra changing from iambics to trochaics at Tro. 444–61 and Dionysus continuing stichomythic tetrameters into his speech Bacc. 616–41. Iph.’s change of mind: Aristotle famously judged her inconsistent, Poetics Ch. 15, 1354a31–2. We have summed up scholars’ various reactions and explanations, and commented on how Euripides has woven such changes of mind into the fabric of his play, Introduction pp. 2, 18– 22 and 25–7. 1368b–70  my words must be heard: peremptory, as Iph. breaks

Commentary

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urgently into the stichomythia at mid-line; for this there is no certain parallel, 414b being only superficially similar, with a new entrant (whose authenticity is disputed). Where speeches elsewhere appear to begin at this point the speaker is one of the parties to an exchange and the half-line completes it, e.g. Pho. 624, perhaps 985; Or. 799. On ‘must be heard’ see Text below.  angry with your husband: the same words begin Creon’s opening accusation of Medea, Med. 271, which falls on similarly deaf ears (see Clyt. 1455–7).  in vain: Clyt.’s attack upon Ag. (1124–1208) had no effect.  for us: generalising plur. (‘from delicacy of feeling’, Headlam), for Iph. soon invites Clyt.’s personal understanding much more strongly, 1372–7.  bear up against (the impossible): i.e. unfavourable fortune (full illustration of the axiom and language by Richardson on Hom. Hymn. Demeter 147–8). Iph. repeats ‘the impossible’ in 1397, with ἀμήχανον: cf. Hcld. 706–7 χρὴ … τὰ … ἀμήχανα … ἐᾶν ‘one should let the impossible be’, Hel. 811 ‘to venture the impossible (ἀδύνατα) is the act of a man without wisdom’. ‘The impossible’ may reflect Ag.’s 1257–8 ‘It is terrible for me to brave myself to this deed, and also terrible not to. The outcome for me must be the same’. Greek: 1368 εἰσακουστέα: the plur of the gerundive is common in verse, esp. when it acts as main verb, often without ἐστί: 671 n., 734.   1370 καρτερεῖν, lit. ‘have strength (καρτ-/κρατ-) to endure’, trans. e.g. Alc. 1071 θεοῦ δόσιν ‘god’s gift’, Her. 1351 ἐγκαρτερήσω βίοτον ‘life’ (Heracles renouncing suicide; βίοτον Wecklein: θάνατον L ‘death’); intrans. ‘endure’ Alc. 1078 παθόντα ‘when suffering’. [Text. 1368 εἰσακουστέα Diggle (1994) 506–7 (and -τέον earlier Monk). Diggle shows that an impersonal gerundive must be preferred to L’s imperative εἰσακούσατε, to conform with an idiom of all drama: when a 2. pers. plur. imperative follows a sing. voc., that individual is being given a command upon which both or all persons present are to act, e.g. Hel. 700 (πρόσδοτον Cobet, dual: -δοτε L), S. Phil. 369, OC 1102–4 (Diggle cites Headlam on Herodas 3.87). Here, Iph. directs her persuasion only at her mother (see (B) 1368b–1403 in 1336–1509 n.).   In 1369 the start of the verse was marked as defective in L by the scribe himself or by Tr1; it is unclear whether L had τῶν ἐμῶν (but P copied it from L after Tr1); Tr2 supplemented with λόγων (L and Tr here are fully discussed by Günther p. VIII n. 9 and Stockert p. 583). The resulting wording is unexceptionable, e.g. Bacc. 787. Tr2’s further

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supplement is inescapable. Too much is lost from Iph.’s beginning – and from the play – through Kovacs’ deletion of 1369–70: cf. 1336– 1509 n. Text, p. 574. 1371–3  the stranger: despite hearing of Ach.’s defence of her life, against his men’s charge that he was not strong enough to resist his ‘marriage’, Iph. has not revived any hope of it she may herself still have had. It is wrong to read such hope into her recognition of his ready zeal, προθυμίας, for thank αἰνέσαι stands in the idiom of ‘I thank you (but decline)’, a polite refusal: see Mastronarde on the similarly worded Pho. 1683 αἰνῶ μέν σε τῆς προθυμίας. Iph. has already closed her mind to the marriage, seemingly: she did not mention it in her plea to her father 1211–52; indeed Ag. only alluded to it at 1108, 1113 (when Iph. was offstage), before he learned that his deception had been revealed.  traduced (before the army): διαβληθῇ. A common fear of commanders, e.g. Hec. 863 Agamemnon, Hcld. 422 Demophon; the verb διαβάλλω is frequent in Thucydides, of men at war and in domestic politics; Ach. was wary of the army’s blame 1020. Iph. here picks up his report in 1349–57 of this danger; is she understating it, or using an evasive euphemism? She is plain about his danger in battle amid the whole Greek army, 1392– 3.  meet with disaster: similar wording from the Chorus, 1337; cf. 1280. Greek: 1371 μὲν οὖν (‘transitional’ GP 471–2) is taken up by δέ 1374. αἰνέω and gen. of cause προθυμίας also Pho. 1683, cf. 28 above ἄγαμαι and n.; Smyth 1405.   1372 τοῦτο anticipates the clause μή and subjunctive: e.g. τοῦτο … ὅπως Tro. 1008, … ἵνα Antiope F 184.3; Smyth 1248. στρατῷ ‘before (the army)’ is a dat. difficult to describe (such a dat. with διαβάλλω pass. also Hcld. 422 πολίταις ‘citizens’, Hec. 863 Ἀχαιοῖς ‘the Greeks’): of association, Smyth 1523a; similarly KG I.432–3, comitative-instrumental.   1373 πλέον (πράσσω) οὐδέν lit. ‘(do, achieve) nothing more’ Philoctetes F 788.2, with e.g. δράω And. 698, ἐργάζομαι Hipp. 284; cf. Hel. 322 τί σοι πλέον …; ‘What advantage to you…?’ [Text. 1372 διαβληθῇ Hartung, 3. pers. of Ach., is necessary: διαβληθῇς L, 2. pers. of Ach., as if Iph. suddenly addresses him; but it is Clyt. to whom Iph. now appeals, as again in 1374, 1376, cf. 1385: see 1368b–1401 n.] 1374–6  as I was thinking: only during the preceding dialogue, or beginning in her monody (1282–1335 n., 1336–1509 n. (A)

Commentary

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1336–1403)? Ach. responds with ‘reasoned out’ [1409] to her word ‘thinking’ (ἐννοέομαι; of Men.’s ‘reflections’, 492).  To die: κατθανεῖν begins the line abruptly.  my decision: μοι δέδοκται; the perf. conveys finality (with μοι dat. of the agent as is regular with the perf. pass.: 1425 Text), e.g. Med. 1236 (Medea will kill her children) and Hel. 982 (Menelaus plans to kill Helen if they cannot escape). Iph.’s death is inevitable (1370 and n.), but she speaks as if the decision is her own, as Ach. recognizes, 1422. Furthermore, this fits the strongly ‘first-person’ cast of 1369–74, and the sequel I want to do just this (see 1368a–1401 n., 2nd paragraph). The translation ‘my decision’ is widely adopted, and we accept it, but it has a difficulty: the particles μέν and δέ appear merely to correlate μοι δέδοκται ‘my decision’ with βούλομαι ‘I wish’, a weak function thinly illustrated by GP 370. Their normal antithetical function is restored, and a quite different meaning given to the line, by Stockert’s interpretation (1994/5) of μοι δέδοκται as ‘It has been decided for me that I am to die, but I wish to do just this gloriously’ (Iph. is now aware of Ag.’s deception, 1102, 1257–8, and of Calchas’ prophecy, 1261–2). Stockert adduces parallels for the expression δέδοκται with dat. of (dis)advantage and prolative inf. at Hdt. 4.68.4, 6.109.3 (text insecure) – both are death-sentences – and Ar. Wasps 485 (if ms. μοι is retained: τοι Platnauer in Wilson’s OCT); cf. also absolute δέδοκται, without μοι, ‘it is decided’ e.g. Cretans F 472e.50 (also a sentence of death). Stockert is followed by Kovacs (see Text below).  just this: τοῦτο … αὐτό, a forceful coupling also at e.g. Supp. 1067 χρῄζω ‘I desire…’ (Evadne, suicide), Tro. 955 ἔσπευδον ‘I was eager for…’ (Helen, escape).  gloriously: the idea again in 1383, 1399; cf. 1309 n., Introduction pp. 36–7. meanness: τὸ δυσγενές, lit. ‘low birth’, i.e. the ungenerous morality usually associated with it, and rejected by Electra’s peasant husband El. 362–3 ‘I may be poor, but I’ll certainly not show meanness in my nature’ (contrast Ag.’s envy of one advantage of low birth, our 446–9 n.). Iph. means to display the converse, the inborn ‘nobility’ at once recognised by the Chorus in 1402 and Ach. in 1411, 1421. What a contrast with her 1252, her final words to Ag., ‘To live ignobly is better than to die nobly’! They scarcely evince the nobility of spirit which she is now determined to embody. Greek. 1374 εἰσέρχομαι ‘come to mind’, 57, 491–2, 522.   1376 γε sharpening the point of a word, here παρεῖσα; a participial phrase also

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e.g. Hel. 955; GP 138–9.  1375 τοῦτο … αὐτό is probably a variation of colloquial αὐτὸ τοῦτο in an answer (1351 n.); Stevens (1976) 27 cites Men. Sicyonian 374 ζῶ· τοῦτ’ ἔχοιμ’ ἂν αὐτό σοι φράσαι ‘I am alive: I can tell you just this’.   1376 putting aside: παρεῖσα, controlling an abstract phrase as in 386, cf. Alc. 939 τὸ μόρσιμον ‘what is fated’. ἐκποδών, pleonastic in emphasizing παρεῖσα, is translated as wholly; it is lit. ‘away from (one’s) feet’ i.e., ‘right out of the way’; literally with verbs of departure e.g. Hel. 1023, Hdt. 8.75.3. See Addenda. [Text. 1375 δέδοκται: the sense Stockert desires (‘it has been decided’: above) would be given expressly, and idiomatically, by Rauchenstein’s μὲν ἐμὲ (θανεῖν) acc. and infin. after impersonal δοκεῖ, as e.g. S. Trac. 19–20 δέδοκται κἀμὲ συνθανεῖν, cf. Ant. 576; Smyth 1991.] 1377–82 A long and difficult sentence. Iph. embraces the opportunity now given to herself as a Greek woman to prevent any future Greek woman from being seized by barbarians as in the single, terrible case of Helen by Trojan Paris, 1383–1401. Her argument begins methodically with Consider: σκέψαι (aor. imperative mid.), an invitation not rare in mid-speech, and expecting agreement, e.g. Supp. 476 with Collard’s n.; with a dependent clause as here e.g. Tro. 931 ‘…how the argument continues’.  the good in my words: καλῶς λέγω, a rhetorical commonplace, 1206–7 n. It is to me that Greece … now looks: as IT 928 ‘Argos … to you’; Supp. 177 ‘poor man … to the rich’.  in all its wide extent: ἡ μεγίστη πᾶσα; this is Mastronarde’s translation in his n. on Med. 440 (also Tro. 1115); but πᾶσα here marks the Panhellenic ideal, and μεγίστη may be a value-term, ‘supremely great’, for Greece is prosperous, ὀλβία.  crossing: πορθμός, used of the Greeks’ return from Troy Hel. 127, 532. Note IA 300 νάϊον πόρευμα i.e. the ships assembled for the crossing, 879 the verb πορεύομαι.  do something: τι δρῶσι, understatement (see Greek), perhaps intended as a euphemism appropriate from an unmarried girl.  snatch: ἁρπάζειν, emphatically repeated in 1382 ἀνήρπασεν snatched away; the motif comes from Ag.’s 1266, cf. his 1275 ‘robbed’.  ruin of Helen: allusive, meaning apparently her willing seduction (71–9); ὄλεθρον lit. ‘destruction’ (see Greek) seems exaggerated, weakening the argument: she had eloped with Paris, although Ag. naturally described his action as ‘snatching her away’, 70–6 ἐξαναρπάσας, 1382. Here, not ‘ruin, destruction caused by Helen’, because that, wholesale death among both Greeks and

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Trojans, is a Tragic commonplace at e.g. A. Ag. 1465–7, And. 103–4, Tro. 367–8 (cited on 1392 ‘because of a woman’); here it has yet to happen, even if ‘predicted’ by the Chorus 751–800 and feared by Iph. 1387–9, 1392–3.  pay for: τείσαντας: Page compares Iliad 2.590 τείσασθαι Ἑλένης ὁρμήματά τε στοναχάς τε ‘to punish Helen’s impulsiveness and the sorrow (it caused)’; but the overall meaning there is disputed. Further on our women … whom Paris snatched away: Herodotus begins his history of Greek-Persian conflict with a fairly light-hearted account of four mythical tit-for-tat abductions of women by Easterners and Greeks (Hdt. 1.1–5; 1.3.2. begins ‘after Paris snatched (ἥρπασεν) Helen away’). Aristophanes makes his Dicaeopolis attribute the Peloponnesian War satirically to tit-for-tat thefts (ἀντικλέπτω) of whores (πορναί) by Megarians and Athenians (Ach. 524–9). These places reveal a very different view of Paris’ abduction from that prevalent in Tragedy. Greek. 1377 δεῦρο δή Here!, cf. 630, Or. 1181 ‘Here, think about this!’; GP 218. Possibly colloquial: Collard (2005) 368.   1379 ἐν ἐμοί on me depend: for the dat. cf. 1273n. τάς … γυναῖκας as to our women: γυναῖκας ‘women’ rather than ‘wives’, despite ‘Helen’ 1382 (see above). English as an uninflected language requires e.g. ‘as to’ in order to retain the emphasis given ‘women’ through their first place in the complex Greek infinitival clause 1380–2; γυναῖκας is the direct object of ἁρπάζειν ‘snatch’; βαρβάρους ‘them’, ‘understood’ from βάρβαροι, is the subject of ἁρπάζειν and simultaneously the object of ἐᾶν ‘allow’ (see also Text).  1380 μελλούσας, in the future: this participle of Iph.’s ‘marriage’ 988 n., 1355. τι δρᾶν ‘do something’: understatement with meiotic τι (609 n.), ‘bad’ as Or. 1191; ‘good’ our 817, 1389.   1382 Page offers as near-parallel for the ‘queer metaphorical’ use of ὄλεθρος ‘ruin’ with an οbjective gen. Pho. 534 τῶν χρωμένων ‘(Ambition the ruin) of those who have dealings with her’. [Text. 1381–2 Not just L’s grammatically isolated and corrupt plur. def. art. †τὰς† but also the complex word-order have prompted many conjectures, including partial deletions, e.g. 1380 end [ἢν … βάρβαροι] and 1381 end [τὰς … ῾Ελλάδος] Conington (making one verse in place of two) ‘and no longer allowing the seizure of our future wives’; it is the best solution yet according to Günther (1992) 128–9, but in his edition (1988) he had printed 1380 τάς γε … μή (Weil) τι δρῶσι βάρβαροι, 1381 deleted, 1382 …τείσαντες (τίσαντες earlier Weil) ‘(on

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me depend etc.) that the barbarians should not do anything to our future wives … by paying for…’). Also conjectured: 1381–2 were deleted by Wecklein (removing the comma at mid-1380) ‘…and if the barbarians do something to our future wives’; Kovacs printed Günther’s version of 1380 but deleted 1381–2 with Wecklein; Kirchhoff proposed a lacuna before 1381. Others have tried to emend †τὰς†: τάσδ(ε) Porson ‘these’, i.e. ‘women’; τούσδ(ε) Monk ‘them’, i.e. ‘the barbarians’, the subject of ἁρπάζειν 1381 made explicit (but Monk deleted 1382); similarly σφας Diggle; even ἑαυτοῖς (for ἐᾶν †τὰς†) Jackson (1955) 125–6 ‘seize for themselves’. We think Porson’s the best conjecture.   1382 ἀνήρπασεν Vitelli: ἤρπασεν L, haplography in -ηνανηρ-).] 1383–4  secure all that: all of 1379–82, two new achievements and one new prevention; so the meaning of ῥύσομαι must cover all three, not the last alone. The fut. verb is from ἐρύω ‘save, make safe’ (Latin seruo): LSJ 5. There is similar spread in the threefold use of the verb in S. OT 312–3 ‘save yourself and the city, and save me, and ‘save’ (i.e. ‘redeem’, LSJ 6) the entire pollution by the dead man’, a passage cited by Stockert in giving the verb in IA only the meaning ‘set free’ (see Text below).  fame: Iph. in 1376 ‘gloriously’ (n.), 1399.  liberator: Iph. repeats Ag.’s 1273 (n.).  blest: μακάριον, the height of human happiness, nearing that of the gods; the adj. describes the ‘bliss’ befalling all participants at a wedding, 543 (n.). Iph. however means not the bliss of glory which can attend wifely virtues (543–70), but the blessing of fame to be won through and after her death (like a Homeric hero), 1399; similarly it is promised to the Maiden Hcld. 598–9 (who is named as Makaria Μακαρία in the list of play-characters in ms. L). Related is the use of the adj. μακάριος (LSJ I.3, cf. the noun μακαρίτης) of any ‘blessed’ dead person. The adj. of human fame occurs first at Pind. Pyth. 5.46 (see Fries (2014) on Rhesus 196). Cf. the Chorus 1504 ‘glory will not leave you’. [Text. 1383 For ῥύσομαι L England cleverly conjectured οἴσομαι ‘I shall win’ lit. ‘carry off as prize’, an image from athletic victory leading to fame, e.g. Pind. Ol. 8.64 ἐξ … ἀέθλων … δόξαν φέρειν ‘win fame from the games’.] 1385–6  For in fact … also not: καὶ γὰρ οὐδέ τοι: a unique combination of Greek particles for this important line (1368b–1401 n.).  (not) … to love life too much: so too the Maiden Hcld. 501–6, 533–4 (also dying ‘gloriously’: 1370 n.), Polyxena Hec. 348; cf. 1390 n.  for the

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common good: lit. ‘(to be) a thing in common, a common benefit’, an idea Iph. develops in 1390–6; for the sentiment cf. Praxithea’s readiness to sacrifice one child Erechtheus F 360.14–18; Dem. On the Crown 205.  not for yourself alone: Clyt. is unlike Praxithea (though both had three daughters) – understandably, given Ag.’s brutality to her first-born child by her first husband, 1151–2. Iph. later tries to console Clyt. with the glory she too will acquire, 1440 – although Iph.’s commitment to Greece and glory will contribute to the breakdown of her family. Greek. 1385 For the very emphatic combination of particles καὶ γὰρ οὐδέ τοι see GP 552; Supp. 1068 has ἀλλ’ οὐδέ τοι.   1386 κοινόν is the neut. of the adj. used as a noun but without the def. art.: cf. φίλον ‘(an action) welcome to’ Supp. 1070; ζηλωτόν ‘…enviable to’ Med. 1035; Smyth 1023. [Text. 1385 Elmsley, a near-homophone of τοι (iotacism) omitted during dictation of copy.   1386 κοινὴν Elmsley, fem. of the adj., weakens Iph.’s point ‘for the common good’ (above): it would mean just ‘(gave) me (birth for the Greeks) in common’.] 1387–91  numberless men … numberless: preparing the ground both for the contrasting ‘my life, a single life’ of 1390 and for ‘countless women’ in the striking line 1394 (n.).  heavily armoured with shields: ἀσπίσιν πεφαργμένοι also 826 and n. (words of Ach., not heard by Iph.).  oarsmen: ἐρέτμ’ ἔχοντες, lit. ‘having oars’, like IT 1347–8 πλάτας | ἔχοντας.  against the enemy: for the principle cf. F 1091 ‘do the enemy harm’, Her. 586, S. Aj. 679. life: ψυχή, volunteered by the self-sacrificing e.g. Hcld. 530–1, 550–1, Pho. 998; see on 1395.  single … all: 1358 (n.). Note Praxithea offering her daughter Erechtheus F 360.51–2 ‘At the cost of just one life I surely shall not fail to save this city’ and (‘die for Greece’) F 360a ‘I love my children, but I love my homeland more’, cf. her earlier F 360.14– 15.  prevent: κωλύσει: at Pho. 990 the self-sacrificing Menoeceus tells his father ‘don’t you prevent things!’ (but the attribution of the line is disputed). Ach. uses the word of his own (ambiguous) final intention towards Iph., 1427.  †How could we argue that this is right?†: the sense intended is clear enough despite corruption (see Text). An earlier crisis provoked a similar question from Clyt., 1348 (also corrupt); both places vary a common expression (ἐν)αντίον/α λέγειν/εἰπεῖν ‘say the opposite, speak against’. Having now made her intention very clear, Iph. associates Clyt. with her own thinking more strongly than in 1373, 1377.

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Greek. 1387 ἀλλά, translated as Then, moving from the ‘false’ negative, love of life 1385, to the ‘truer’ positive, self-sacrifice 1387– 97; cf. 1392 ‘next thing’.   1387–8 μυρίοι μέν – μυρίοι δέ: for the repetition in a pairing cf. 990 εὖ μέν … εὖ δέ, And. 1078 φρούδη … φροῦδα; GP 374, Smyth 2906.   1389 δρᾶν τι: 1380 n. [Text. 1391 L is faulty in syntax (potential opt. without ἄν) and metre (in the second trochaic metron) and dubious in expression (τοῦτ(ο) of an ἔπος yet to be spoken). Cure is sought (1) by dividing the line into two questions (Hartung first), either ‘What is the justice?’ or ‘What is the justice in this?’, and then (2) by emendation creating e.g. ‘Could/ can we say a word in opposition?’: see Hartung, Page in the apparatus. An attractive idea is (3) to keep the line as one question and to turn τοῦτο into dat. τούτοις controlled by ἀντειπεῖν, e.g. ‘What is the just word in that case that we have to say against this?’ Weil (followed by Kovacs); alternatively (4) Stockert proposed making the line a challenge to Clyt., ‘What is the justice? Would you have one word to say against this?’ (followed by Matthiessen as ‘a long way from the transmitted text, but good sense’). We judge it best to retain Diggle’s daggers.] 1392–7  (come) to the next thing: (ἐλθεῖν) ἐπ’ ἐκεῖνο. Iph. now answers her own question of 1390. The Greek phrase is used by Pylades at IT 904, of an escape-plan.  because of a woman: γυναικὸς οὕνεκα: a clever ambiguity, and ironic. Does Iph. mean herself and her life? The audience will hear the phrase also, or only, as a literary echo, ‘the woman’ being Helen (1382), often seen by poets as the ‘beginning of the woes’ ἀρχὴ κακῶν (Stinton (1965) 14). She is explicitly named with ‘because of (Helen)’ ἕνεκα at Iliad 9.339, A. Ag. 800, and with διά ‘because of’ Tro. 367–8 ‘(the victorious Greeks) because of one woman and one love, in their hunt for Helen, destroyed countless men’; allusively as ‘the Spartan’ Hdt. 1.4.3, but left unidentified at A. Ag. 823, 1453 and in coarse allusion 62, 448 – whence ‘bad wife’ our 389, 1169 (cf. 488). better … one man … than numberless women: an extreme sentiment, perhaps intended to shock, esp. on the lips of a woman; and Stockert observes the irony, that Iph’s words contradict the qualities shown by the play’s male characters. Nevertheless it conforms with archaic Greek blackening of women with every vice which could undermine a man’s honour and prosperity, in particular Hesiod, WD 53–105 and Theogony 570–616, and Semonides F 7 throughout, and it matches the occasional

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misogyny which Eur.’s contemporaries found in him (TrGF 5 test. 108a–11b; Hipp. 616–8 is notorious, cf. e.g. Her. 1308); but the poet was often ‘fair’ or sympathetic to women. Comprehensive illustration and bibl. in Mastronarde (2010) 246–79; for the fragmentary plays cf. Collard and Cropp (2008) VIII.710 Index. Iph.’s passionate rhetoric here will take her further still, when she says that the sack of Troy will be her memorial, her children and her marriage (1298–9): contrast Eur.’s Hecuba and Trojan Women with their shattering portrayal of the women after Troy’s fall (cf. our Chorus 784–93). The shock Iph. causes is compounded when she twice insists on a polarity between ‘free’ Greeks and slavish barbarians that Eur. had spent much of his career deconstructing (see 1400–1 n.). May the poet be putting these challenging words into the mouth of his heroine in order to point to an element of hysteria in her rhetoric, or to hint how tragically she has misled herself? Then her ‘change of mind’ must be found less than coldly rational. See also Introduction pp. 25–7, 36–7. to see the light of day: Iph.’s own earlier priority, 1218–19, 1250.  am I … to oppose?: ἐμποδῶν γενήσομαι, lit. ‘become, get in the way of’. For the fut. verb contrast Ach.’s confidence to Clyt. 973–4 ‘I shall become (a very great god) to you’. For the frequent contrast of mortal with god cf. 901, esp. Ion 973 ‘And how shall I, who am mortal, overcome what is stronger (i.e. the god Apollo, 972)?’, IT 1478–9 ‘What good to compete with the gods and their power?’  impossible: τἀμήχανον, a second divine constraint (for the first see 1368b–1401 and 1370 and nn.); Iph. acknowledges Artemis’ power in 1311; she can no more resist ‘Artemis’ in Calchas’ prophecy (90–1) than could her father 1258, cf. 746–8; Ag. in A. Ag. 199–217. See too n. on [1407–9].  I give my body: cf. the Maiden Hcld. 550–1 ‘I give my life (ψυχή) willingly’; Praxithea gives her daughter’s body for sacrifice Erechtheus F 360.38–9.  body: σῶμα 1395 and 1397: see 1349–53 n.; but Iph’s body stands here in possible contrast with her nearby ‘life’ ψυχή 1390 (translated as ‘death’, 1441), mortal matter and immaterial ‘soul’, a distinction increasingly debated as the 5th century went on, and reflected in Eur.: see Collard on Supp. 531–6 and Allan on Hel. 1013–6. Greek. 1392 διὰ μάχης ἔρχομαι and personal dat. also 1414–15; Smyth 1685d.   1394 κρείσσων personal adj. and prolative inf., e.g. Or. 806 μυρίων κρείσσων ὁμαίμων ἀνδρὶ κεκτῆσθαι φίλος ‘a friend is better for

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a man to have than countless relatives’, LSJ Ι.3; cf. ἄξιος 1031 above; Smyth 2002. [Text. 1394 γ(ε) L, rightly kept by Diggle, Kovacs; ‘quasi-connective, for it contains an explanation’, GP 154–5; deleted by Hermann, most eds.   1395 †δ’ ἐβουλήθη† L is unmetrical, and the short syllable missing after it most economically supplied with (Fix). Better (perf. rather than aor.) might be βεβούληται ‘has wished’ (W. Headlam), favoured by Matthiessen comparing for the inf. (λαβεῖν) S. El. 385; βεβούλευται (also Headlam) ‘has designed’ would imply a deliberate intention not attributed to Artemis elsewhere in the play.] 1398–9  Make your sacrifice, sack Troy: asyndeton, here double, once again marks Iph.’s determination; compare its use in the final instructions of the Maiden Hcld. 528–9, of Praxithea Erechtheus F 360.50. The linked commands (taken up as These) again reflect Calchas’ pronouncement of 91–3, 358–9, 879–83, 1261–2; they are implicit when Iph. joins her death at Artemis’ altar to her fame after it as Greece’s benefactress, 1444–6. Her memorial and fame will replace her normal expectations from life, children and marriage; similar confidence from the Maiden at Hcld. 579– 80, 591–2, that after her self-sacrifice her remembrance will replace her ‘children’ and ‘maidenhood’ when her actions are ‘stored up’ (in perpetuity: as κειμήλια, 591–2: see Allan’s n.). Similar wording, different context when Orestes accepts reunion with his sister Iphigenia instead of potential children and marriage, Or. 1050 (but the line is probably inauthentic); also S. Ant. 813–16. The ‘remembrance’ μνημεῖον that Iph. had hoped for earlier was personal, her very own, her father’s final embrace, 1240. As to ‘fame’ δόξα cf. 566–7 ‘reputation’, where the Chorus attribute it to virtue, in ‘ageless glory’: note their response here, her ‘nobility’ 1402. Iph.’s satisfaction at this outcome from Troy’s sack may seem at odds with the Chorus’ earlier imagination of what such a sack will mean for Troy’s unwed girls, and mothers and children, but the sympathy for them there (784–93 and nn., cf. [773–83]) jars with Iph.’s uncomplicated idealism. Greek. διὰ μακροῦ lasting, lit. ‘through, after long’, Hec. 320, Cyc. 439. [Text. 1398 θύετ’ ἐμ’, Nauck, ‘Sacrifice me,…’, expressly emphatic; but ‘my body’ in 1397 sufffices.] 1400–1  It is right … and not barbarians: in the 5th century there was a pervasive belief in the superiority of Greeks over barbarians.

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Recent English scholarship has argued that Tragedy, esp. the plays of Euripides, blurred the standard distinctions according to language, ethos and practices: successively Hall (1989) 201–23 and ‘Recasting the Barbarian’ in (2005) 185–224; Wright (2005) 179; Allan, Helen (2008) 59. Iph.’s summary anthitheses may thus have struck the audience as too absolute – or may they have sensed irony for rhetorical effect? The scholia on Med. 538 found that Jason is ‘mocking’ (καταμωκώμενος) when he asserts Greek superiority.  For slavery is theirs, but Greeks are free: Iph. revisits her 1380–4, and her words echo Ag.’s in 1273–5; cf. Or. 1115 ‘their slavish race (i.e. the Trojans) is nothing against the one that is not slavish’. Our two lines interlace two principal issues, which occur piecemeal elsewhere in Eur.: (1) Greeks vs. barbarians, e.g. And. 665–6 ‘shall those born barbarian rule Greeks?’ (see Stevens’ n.), Telephus F 719 ‘shall we who are Greeks be slaves to barbarians’ (cf. Hall (1989) 196–7), cf. further Tro. 933 ‘you (Greeks) are not ruled by barbarians’ (Helen speaking); (2) slaves not inferior to free men, e.g. Melanippe Captive F 495.41–3, F 511, Phrixus F 831 and (both passages disputably authentic) Ion 854–6, Hel. 728–33.   1400 ‘It is right that Greeks should rule barbarians’ is quoted from ‘the poets’ by Aristot. Politics 1.2 1252b5–10, but he takes the words to confirm his own argument that ‘barbarian and slave are the same in nature’ because both lack inborn capacity for command; he might have done better to cite Hel. 276, which struck the point home to its original audience, ‘In the barbarian world everyone is a slave apart from one man’ (i.e. their king). For slavery in general in Eur. see Brandt (1973) 5–25; in Tragedy K. Synodinou in EGT 1251–4. [Text. 1400 Aristotle (above) has ἄρχειν εἰκός: L’s εἰκὸς ἄρχειν is unmetrical.   1401 οἳ δ’ ἐλεύθεροι Tr2/3, erasing or overwriting L’s τὸ δ’ ἐλεύθερον ‘but the other is free’, which P copied before Tr’s intervention (his accentuation of the def. art. οἱ used as a pron. followed the occasional practice of medieval scribes; modern eds seldom adopt it).] 1402–3  It is hard to evaluate this couplet. The Chorus’ praise of Iph.’s nobility gives way to criticism of fortune and, unusually, of a god, indeed of Artemis. Are the audience suddenly invited to see the causation differently? Is the Chorus’ intervention stronger precisely because it is not pursued? Is Eur. endowing Iph. with a kind of heroism when she makes a coherent pattern of her own life in the cruel world of IA? Or is

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the couplet no more than a complement to the Chorus’ general sentiments following Iph.’s monody, 1336–7, both being in iambics: explicit pity there, here praise coupled with implicit pity? See Introduction pp. 32–3. noble: γενναίως, adv.; cf. the Chorus’ approval of Men.’s speech, 504. Ach. twice repeats the word, 1411, 1422; cf. ‘honourably’ 1129 n. and ‘ignobly’ ἀγεννῶς 1457 n. At Hcld. 537–8 the chorus applaud the Maiden’s speech of self-sacrifice, ‘Who could speak nobler words (γενναίους λόγους | μᾶλλον) than those?’  the sickness lies: νοσεῖ: for the medical metaphor and the gods see e.g. Tro. 1042 ‘the sickness of/in the gods’ τὴν νόσον τὴν τῶν θεῶν (Helen’s view of the gods as the cause of her behaviour); in general 411 n.; of fortune Pho. 66 ‘sick owing to fortune’ πρὸς … τῆς τύχης νοσῶν (Oedipus as its victim). God and fortune linked e.g. 351, 390; for their convergence see 1136 n. goddess: Artemis, Iph. at 1311, 1395, and later 1463 etc. Ach. does not react to ‘the goddess’, nor did he when the Old Man named her at 882. Greek: in τὸ σόν, τὸ τῆς τύχης (also e.g. Alc. 785), τὸ τῆς θεοῦ the neut. def. art. and dependent words mean little more than those words themselves; the usage is listed as colloquial by Stevens (1976) 20; cf. 396 n. The urgency of 1338–1401 now slows to a normal pace; formally, the couplet 1402–3 returns the dialogue to iambic trimeters after the passionate trochaic tetrameters of 1338–1401 (see 1336–1509 n. Form); but in 1404–73 the emotional intensity is hardly less: Ach. becomes passionate, Iph. resolute, Clyt. tearful and angry. For the change of metre cf. too the Chorus’ iambic couplets 376–7 and 402–3 after long speeches in tetrameters. (C) 1404–32  Final exchange between Achilles and Iphigenia 1404–15, 1421–32  Ach.’s final words in the play, two short speeches. His burst of admiration for Iph. 1406 and for her nobility 1411 (cf. 1421–3) accompanies a sudden desire to marry her 1410–13a – and he swears on oath to save her 1413b–15, cf. 1426–7, warning her of death’s terrible immediacy 1428–9. Just as Iph. in her 1368b–1401 picked up earlier words of Ag., herself and Ach., so Ach. picks up both Iph.’s and his own. [Text. Unfortunately, many lines are strongly suspect, or deleted: see esp. on 1407–9, 1424–5, 1430–2.] 1404–6  Child of Agamemnon: this style of address (see on 1345 n.) from Ach. recognizes both Iph.’s acceptance of her father’s will and her

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high-born virtues as potential wife: Ach. is about to ‘propose’, 1410–13. She would make him blest (μακάριον of marriage 439 n., 628), just as she expected ‘blessing’ for herself (1383–4) as a result of giving freedom to Greece, but in the different sphere of men at war (see n. on 1421 ‘You heroic spirit’). In the neat verbal but mildly illogical balance of 1406 I envy you Greece, and Greece you, each is envied for the possession of the other. The words emphasize the idealistic visions of both Ach. and Iph.; there is a similar balance, but very different feelings towards Menelaus from his captive Andromache And. 328–9 ‘I regard you as no longer worthy of Troy, or Troy as worthy of you.’ some god: a very common phrase (×20 in Eur.); Ach. has no particular god in mind (let alone Artemis…). Greek. 1404–5 μακάριον τίθημι ‘make blest’ 1076–8, Ach.’s father Peleus in marriage to Thetis; cf. Ion 562. ἔμελλε meant: the impf. denotes a past intention (Smyth 1960, cf. 2318); but the opt. τύχοιμι in the conditional clause holds it open still (an impf. indic. would close it out as ‘impossible’); cf. (England) Bacc. 612.   1406 ζηλόω ‘envy (for)’ with gen. of cause 677, cf. ἄγαμαι 28 n. [1407–9]  Text. These lines have been defended; e.g. Headlam argued that Ach. is torn between Iph.’s nobility and horror at its inevitable consequence, cf. Turato. Matthiessen firmly kept 1407, and with Stockert leaned in support of 1408–9. Michelakis (2002) 135 wrote of ‘Ach.’s speech as a receptacle of multiple and contrasting responses to Iph.’s speech’. Deletion in whole or part began in the early 19th century; most recently note Diggle and Kovacs. The obvious and worst faults are (1) the interruption of Ach.’s sudden passion (1406 ‘envy’, 1410 ‘desire’: 1410–15 n.) with inappropriate matter, even the praise of Iph.’s patriotism in 1407; and (2) inaccuracy: even if an audience may have viewed her previous unwillingness to die as resistance to the gods’ will (though her death was not actually demanded by Artemis: Calchas in 90–1 did not spell that out), she can hardly be said to be ‘fighting with the gods’, still less to have given up the fight with the gods, for she did not contemplate it at all (1395–6) – unless her earlier resistance to her sacrifice was off-stage, when Clyt. would have told her of Artemis in Calchas’ pronouncement; Iph. did not mention the gods in her appeal to her father 1210–52. In 1408 Dindorf’s impf. (ἐ)κράτει is no rescue, also implying that Iph. was fighting them – but then asserted her independence. Furthermore, the Greek verbal compound θεομαχέω

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is particular in meaning, and in its use of persistent, active hostility to godhead; it does not occur before the 4th century except in Bacchae, at 45, 1255, cf. 325, Pentheus opposing Dionysus (‘surprisingly rare in tragedy’, Rutherford (2012) 88 n. 60). (Elsewhere Eur. expresses ‘fighting the gods’ through the simple verbs μάχομαι Melanippe Captive F 491.5, Telephus F 716.1 and ἁμιλλάομαι IT 1479, or the adj. ἐναντίος ‘opposing’ e.g. Or. 535, Ion 373.) Other faults are small but significant: 1407 πατρίδος with metrically ‘long’ alpha is not found in Eur.’s dialogue (so Diggle OCT).   1408 ὅ must relate awkwardly just to θεο-, i.e. τὸ θεῖον, ‘the divine (not ‘fighting the gods’) is overcoming you’.   1409 ἐξελογίσω: no other trimeter in Eur. begins with a 5-syllable word of this metrical shape (so Page).] 1410–15  More and more, desire etc.: envy (1406) has increased Ach.’s wishful imagination of marriage to Iph. (1404–5) into a ‘proposal’. Iph. had herself evoked the power of sexual desire, but unheard by Ach., 1303 (n.; cf. the Chorus 555), and does so again in 1417 (n.). Some scholars have felt that Iph. herself has by now fallen in love with Ach. (see Introduction pp. 26–7): they must explain why she does not respond in 1416–20, however mutedly, to his declaration, since she is now far from being too ashamed, or timid, to address him about marriage (1341–2).  nature: φύσιν; for the noun’s combination with the adj. γενναῖος noble cf. 448; Antiope F 185.2 ‘the noble nature of your spirit’. Ach. calls Iph. noble again at 1422 (cf. the Chorus 1402, with n.).  See here!: Ach. is suddenly urgent (see Greek).  benefit you: with a ‘fine’ marriage, e.g. γενναῖος, ἐσθλός And. 1278–9, ἐσθλός 609 above, Hcld. 299, cf. Clyt. of Ach. at 712, ‘He is without fault’ (as a future husband).  take you into my house: as a bride And. 609, El. 50.  it will lie heavy on me … if I do not … save you: Ach.’s rhetoric has weakened since 1005–7, his wish (to Clyt.) to die if he does not save Iph.; if he tries to save her now, he probably will die. And Think: death is a fearful evil seems to hint that he himself may wish to avoid risking his life – and Iph. tells him not to, 1418–19 (repeating her 1392– 4). ‘Death is a fearful evil’: cf. Iph. herself, 1250–2, the climax of her plea for life; Alc. 671–2 ‘If death comes near (our 1429), no one wishes to die’; Measure for Measure 3.1.117 ‘Death is a fearful thing’. For the term δεινὸν κακόν ‘terrible evil’ cf. 527 (ambition), 1357 (the mob).  let (Thetis) be my witness: ἴστω lit. ‘let … know’, a regular form of oath

Commentary

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by the gods, most commonly by Zeus (who sees all, e.g. A. Eum. 1045, S. Ant. 184); first in the Iliad, e.g. 19.258; IT 1077; for the formula see Collard on Supp. 1174. That Ach. can invoke his own divine mother, and does so, is unsurprising (cf. 948–9), for she looks after him closely, from Iliad 1.351–427 onward: cf. 1073–5 above. Greek. 1410 εἰσέρχομαι ‘come over’ of emotions: 522; cf. 57 n.; of thoughts ‘coming into the mind’ 1374 n..   1411 βλέπω εἰς φύσιν here appears to mean no more than watched your nature, not as much as e.g. Hypsipyle 946 ‘look at the natures (of men)’; still less, as the idiom ‘look to’ is used in 1378 (n.).   1412 ὅρα ‘See here!’, urging a stronger consideration, e.g. Hcld. 420; possibly colloquial, like remonstrative ὁρᾶς; ‘Do you see?’ (Stevens (1976) 36–7). Verbs of seeing are used of grasping points made in argument, in Greek as in English: similarly ἄθρησον ‘Think’ (lit. ‘look’) 1415, And. 668; σκόπει And. 755 – and σκέψαι 1377 n.?   1413 ἄχθομαι lit. ‘I am burdened by, find hard to bear’, e.g. Med. 244 (company), Phoenix F 813a.2 (a person); often loosely ‘am aggrieved’. As to ἄχθομαι pres. with fut. in an ‘if’-clause, e.g. (LSJ II) Thuc. 8.109.1, Greek emphatic idiom is reversed in English ‘it will lie heavy … I do not’: Smyth 2360b.   1414–15 διὰ μάχης ἔρχομαι and personal dat.: 1392–3 n. 1416–20  I say this : asyndeton continues to mark Iph.’s determination (see n. on 1368b–1401), and in 1411 it heads, as often, a continuation, here defiant. See Text.  bloody battles: μάχας | … καὶ φόνους, hendiadys (53n.). The enjambement (50–1 n.) of men ἀνδρῶν seems an empty effect, but Iph. was concerned for Greek warriors’ lives in 1387–9 (cf. 1334–5), before she came to that of Ach. in 1392–4 and now in 1419.  through her beauty: lit. ‘her body’; at Hel. 27, 261 Helen uses the words ‘her beauty’ (κάλλος) of the cause: cf. 1307–11 n. Note the repetition of the prep. διά ‘through/because of’ of both Helen and Iph.  stranger: ξένε, Iph. again at 1371, as Clyt. had called Ach. 1349 (n.); there and here the word sits in meaning between ‘stranger’ and ‘friend’, and perhaps also at 855 (see n.).  you … are not to die … because of me: similarly Alc. 690 ‘do not die for me’ (Pheres to his son Admetus), Rhesus 870 (Hector to his charioteer, who is severely wounded).  (save) Greece: a theme of Iph.’s speech, 1368b–1401 (n.); then e.g. 1446. See, on the Panhellenic theme, Introduction pp. 15–18. Greek. 1417 ἀρκέω ‘be enough’ with personal subject. and part. e.g.

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Commentary

Or. 1592, S. Ant. 547.   1418 τίθημι ‘cause’: ‘put (woes) upon’ 1335 n.   1420 ἔα allow me: i.e. μὴ παῦε ‘don’t stop me’, e.g. Hel. 1403; ἔα δέ e.g. Ion 646, Or. 536. μ(ε) … δυνώμεθα: for the change of pers. cf. 1146–7 n. [Text. 1416 The words supplied by Tr3 and improved by P2 as οὐδὲν οὐδέν’ εὐλαβουμένη ‘without heed of anyone’ are apt in context but of disputed authority. Significant perhaps is that Tr erased the note λείπει ‘there is a deficiency’ in L; whether the original scribe or he himself (i.e. Tr1) wrote it before making the supplement, the change suggests confidence. Zuntz (1965) 102 and 198 used this place among others to argue for Tr’s access to a now lost ms., citing esp. Her. 924 (Tr3), Cyc. 456 (Tr1) for Tr’s additions which are superior to his conjectural ability elsewhere. Zuntz convinced Günther and Matthiessen; Jouan printed the words without , Kovacs with; Stockert and Diggle leave empty.   1417 μάχης L was probably an older alignment of the grammatical case to the erroneous ἄρχει ‘begins the battle’.] 1421–32 [Text. Ach.’s final speech has been suspect partly or wholly since the early 1800’s (see apparatus, and Page), justly: 1425 is a clear interpolation, both sense and Greek expression being faulty; in 1430 ‘folly’ contradicts 1422–3 ‘noble thoughts’, and ‘allow’ duplicates 1427 ‘allow’; 1431 ‘these arms’ duplicates 1427 ‘these arms’. All recent eds (except Jouan) and Michelakis (2002) 135 delete 1425 and almost all impugn or delete 1430–2; we agree (but Kovacs keeps 1431–2 after deleting 1407–30). If 1425 goes, 1424 ‘Even so … change your mind about this’ is necessarily left to provide a link in sense and syntax between 1423 ‘why … not speak the truth?’ and 1426 ‘I shall go etc.’; but 1423 is also impugned, because Ach. has already praised Iph.’s nobility in 1411.] 1421–3  You heroic spirit…!: Ach.’s exclamation, praise apt to a Greek warrior, is explained by your thoughts are noble. The phrase ὦ λῆμ’ ἄριστον is applied to Orestes (by Iph.) IT 609; ‘heroic’ translates ἄριστον lit. ‘best’, the Homeric adj. for the man supreme in nobility, rank and bravery (see LSJ I. 1–3), as e.g. Her. 150 (Heracles), Tro. 395 (Hector); cf. the noun ἀριστεύς ‘great man’ 28 and n.; the superlative adj. is used also of e.g. the noble, heroic wife Alcestis, Alc. 83, 742. For γενναῖος ‘noble’ of Iph. see 1411 and n.; cf. esp. the Maiden at Hcld. 597 ὦ μέγιστον ἐκπρέπουσ’ εὐψυχίᾳ | γυναικῶν ‘You who stand out for your

Commentary

601

courage the most greatly among women!’. Further E. Protesilaus F 657.4 ‘possessing a noble spirit’ λῆμ’ (ἔχουσαν) εὐγενές (of womankind).  For why … not speak the truth?: almost a forensic question, like Hecuba’s ‘if you were willing to tell the truth’ Hec. 1206, where it is an accusation. Greek. 1420 The noun λῆμα ‘will, resolution, spirit’ is from the verb λῶ (etymologized uncertainly as le(i) ‘wish, will’ in DELG); distinguish λῆμμα (from λαμβάνω) ‘a thing taken, received’; in this book a ‘lemma’.   1422–4 γάρ in successive clauses is not rare, GP 58, 64; twice in a line e.g. 425, IT 1325. See 1424–7 Text. 1424–7  Even so etc.: Ach. is reluctant still to give up on a cause which may redeem his own honour (944–4, 961–2, 969–72), but he also finds it hard to believe that Iph.’s courage will not desert her at the moment of sacrifice, 1428–9, and that she will not change … mind. These words (though matched only in Men.’s explicit change of heart and mind, 478– 9, 500) encapsulate the most discussed aspect of the play, and the oldest, Aristotle’s judgement of Iph.’s characterization: see Introduction pp. 2, 18 and 25–7. Indeed the audience may sense yet another such twist in the play’s pattern, here against the facts of the myth.  the altar: the first mention of it – for Iph.’s 676 (n.) was ambiguous, if telling as dramatic irony. The spurious Messenger in [1568] relates how Ach. in fact assisted at the sacrifice.  these arms: 1359 n. Greek. 1424 μεταγιγνώσκω ‘change … mind about’, with acc. e.g. Med. 64.   [1425] ὡς ἄν and subj. of purpose: 618 n.   1427 ὡς and fut. part. of an avowed intention: 363 n. [Text. 1424 γὰρ Hermann is superior, accompanying his deletion of 1425, for it explains why Ach. will keep arms by him (to intervene at the last moment): γε L could be quasi-connective, as in 1394 (n.), but would give strong emphasis to ἴσως ‘perhaps’, ameliorated a little in Fix’s (γ’) ἔτ’ (ἂν) ‘yet’; σύ Markland ‘you’ would give more acceptable point, esp. with following καὶ ‘in fact’.   [1425] τἀπ’ ἐμοῦ λελεγμένα, even if acceptable Greek for ‘what I said’, gives sense only if Ach. refers to what he may have said in defying his Myrmidons, 1357–8: τἀπ’ ἐμοῦ δεδογμένα Diggle ‘what I decided’ gives rather weak sense after 1422 ‘this is your decision’ – but both phrases are against idiom in employing the prep. ἀπό ‘from me’ as a substitute for ὑπό ‘by me’ instead of μοι the plain dat. of agent regular with a perf. part. passive, e.g. 1375: cf. Hipp. 244, Hcld. 1, Med. 822; Smyth 1492–4.]

602

Commentary

1428–9  take up: lit. ‘use’: another idiomatic use of χράομαι: see 316 n. The force of καί is hard to determine, as often: ‘even (you)’ (i.e. despite your courage) or ‘in fact, actually’, of minding Ach.’s advice.  see the sword close to etc.: the nearness of death deters everyone from wishing to die Alc. 671–2, and even the brave S. Ant. 580–1. For the downward thrust, the σφαγή: see e.g. [1581b–3] n. [1430–2]  folly: ἀφροσύνῃ. In Eur. both this noun and the adj. ἄφρων denote foolishness rather than lit. ‘lack of thought’ (one exception may be Hipp. 164, where Phaedra’s ἀφροσύνη is attributed to illness). Greek. 1430 οὔκουν, not οὐκοῦν, in a negative statement: GP 439. [Text. Deletion of these lines (1420–31 n.) is further encouraged by the sudden and surprising formality of 1432, which is almost a ‘3-word trimeter’ (492 n.), and, less cogently, the naming of the temple (also 1480) when the sacrifice is to be in Artemis’ ‘meadow’ or ‘grove’, 1463 (n.), cf. [1544].] (D) 1433–66  Final exchange between Iphigenia and Clytemnestra In Hec. 402–40 a determined daughter (Polyxena) is similarly paired with a distraught mother (Hecuba); but Jouan points out that there a third person is present, the implacable Odysseus. Compare the siblings Electra and Orestes, the former despairing, the latter defiant, Or. 1022–59. Our scene is however particularly strong as drama, because of its convincing alterations of mood and logical progress. Iph. cuts short Clyt.’s instinctive mother’s grief 1433–4; Clyt. yields to her 1445, but her offer to carry a message home to Iph.’s sisters leads only to Iph.’s abrupt demands that she bring Or. up to manhood 1446–52, and not hate her father for her death, provoking Clyt.’s dark threat against Ag. 1453–7 (cf. 1336–74 n.). It is an impasse, with Clyt.’s acceptance in 1445 now reversed. Iph. therefore turns suddenly to how she will be led to death, rejecting Clyt.’s supporting arm and preferring an impersonal escort, 1458–63; with equal suddenness Clyt. realises that this is the moment of final parting, but her resurgent maternal agony is again checked by Iph. 1464–6. Iph. reasserts her expectation of glory, as a comfort to Clyt. 1440, but not less from pride at saving Greece 1446, 1456 (to be strongly expanded in 1467–1503). Her resolve barely falters (but see 1435), although Ach. warned that it might (1424, 1428–9). She abjures Clyt.’s tears 1435, 1466, but hopes to avoid indignity herself 1458.

Commentary

603

Clyt. is given no further words after 1466. When does she leave (together with Or.)? See 1475–1509 n. Staging. 1433–6  why … tear-soaked eyes, in silence?: probably Clyt. turns her face away as she weeps (like Medea at Med. 922–3), and may cover it too (like Helen at Hel. 1189); for women’s veiling see L. Llewellyn-Jones, EGT 1460–2 (illus). Iph. is afraid Clyt.’s tears may soften her. ‘Eyes’ κόρας, lit. ‘little girls’, a kind of metonymy deriving from the diminutive images observable in others’ pupils (Lat. pupillae, same senses). On tears see 451–3 n.  good cause: the less common meaning of πρόφασις, e.g. Hec. 340, F 1041.2 and famously Thuc. 1.23.6 (the Peloponnesian War: see Hornblower’s commentary); commonly ‘ostensible cause, pretext’, e.g. 362 n.  do not make a coward of me: cf. Med. 1246 ‘Do not be a coward!’ μὴ κακισθῇς, Medea’s self-exhortation. Clyt. however appears to understand Iph. as saying ‘do not wrong me’, with κακίζω in the sense found elsewhere only in prose, for she answers you will not be wronged … by me: why else should Clyt. say this? Is it in contrast with ‘wrong’ by Iph.’s father? – see 1369–70, and 1453–7 n. More probably the meaning is straightforward, as in 316 οὐδὲν τῇ δίκῃ χρῆσθαι θέλει ‘He’s wholly unwilling to deal justly with us’. The expression ‘by me’ παρ’ ἐμοῦ is ‘quasi-legal’ (England, citing Xen. Cyr. 5.5.13 τὸ παρ’ ἐμοῦ ἀδίκημα ‘wrong from our side’); but παρά with gen. approximates to ‘by’, e.g. Hcld. 241 ‘the prior obligation from, by us’, Or. 69 ‘…saved by him’; Smyth 1692.1b. Greek. 1433 τέγγω ‘dampen, wet, soak’ of tears, 496.   1435 παῦσαί με μὴ κάκιζε: a remarkable but adequately attested idiom of word-order, an enclitic (με) pushing outside its syntactic unit to second place in a sentence (‘Wackernagel’s Law’: 1153 n. Text), which here consists of two imperatives not joined by a connective: illustration and bibl. in Barrett’s n. on Hipp. 503, e.g. Bacc. 341 δεῦρό σου στέψω κάρα ‘Here! Let me garland your head’, Pl. Ion 535b ἔχε δή μοι τόδε εἰπέ ‘Hold on! Tell me this!’. In τάδε … πιθοῦ the neut. acc. pron. is an internal object, lit. ‘let yourself be persuaded of this’: LSJ πείθω B. I.2b, Smyth 1574.   1436 ἀδικήσῃ fut. mid. as pass.: 331 n. [Text. 1435 παῦσαι· ’μὲ Porson: but see Greek.   1435–9 are suspect to eds because of other doubts: ‘black robes’ 1438 recurs in 1448; 1437–8 break the stichomythia with a couplet, but e.g. El. 573–4 and Bacc. 1269– 70 are sure parallels, the commonest purpose being dramatic effect (full

604

Commentary

discussion and bibl. by Diggle (1981) 110–11); here the verses prepare for Iph.’s resistance to conventional mourning, 1441–4. Deletion of either 1437 or 1438 would require ‘emendation’ of the other, so strongly do they cohere; whence Hermann’s 1437 μή μοι σὺ ‘Don’t you, please…’ (for μοι see 613–14 n.) before his deletion of 1438. On the other hand, deleting 1435–9 altogether would leave an excellent transition from 1434 to 1440.] 1437–40  Then: οὖν, i.e. ‘I will not be a coward (1435), and I shall die gloriously (1440).’ Just as Iph. forbids her mother any mourning for herself, so Ag. had attempted to deprive Clyt. of any part in the supposed wedding, 730–41.  cut … a lock: after Iph.’s death. Locks were cut in mourning, but Iph. wants celebration – and will have no tomb to place them on, 1442. The cutting symbolized the (safe) sacrifice of part of the living self, to recognize death’s damage to normal life; it was reflected in cutting hair from an animal victim before its slaughter (e.g. El. 811– 12): see Dodds on Bacc. 493–7, and Mikalson (1991) 273 n. 268 who illustrates also the wearing of funeral black (1438, 1448, Alc. 427, 819).  I have been saved: Iph. means, for everlasting fame, 1398–9, which Clyt. will gain in consequence; the audience would think rather of Clyt.’s future infamy for killing Ag. (1453–7). Greek. 1437 τὸν σὸν πλόκαμον … τριχός ‘your lock of hair’ is an example of a poss. adj. removed from its natural attachment to another noun (enallage: 771 n.); Smyth 3027 cites e.g. Od. 14.197 ἐμὰ κήδεα θυμοῦ ‘my heart’s cares’. Less probable is the dependence of τριχός upon ἐκτέμῃς, ‘cut your lock from (your) hair’.   1439 ἀπολέσασα nom. as 1. pers. understood from the subject of the 2. pers. verbs in 1437–8 – which Iph. takes up with σύ.   1440 σέσωμαι, cf. 916 (apparatus): argument continues, given manuscripts’ variations, about whether Tragedy uses this perf. form exclusively (most eds) or also σέσωσμαι or σέσῳ(σ)μαι: see West, Aeschylus. Tragoediae (1990) xliv. [Text. 1437 Both μήτ’ οὖν σὺ Elmsley (in our text) and μήτε σύ γε West restore normal expression and introduce the pron. σύ you which picks up ἡμῶν ‘by me’ 1436; cf. Hermann’s conjecture cited in 1435–9 Text. μήτ’ οὖν γε L is a ‘hardly possible’ combination, GP 420.] 1441–6  No, not at all: ἥκιστα lit. ‘least (of all); of course not!’: colloquial (Stevens (1976) 14), e.g. Hel. 1428; curt in tone, its brevity is useful in stichomythia (see Collard (2005) 361).  no tomb will be raised for me: and so there will be no place for ritual offerings (1437 n.). There is apparent

Commentary

605

conflict with other mythography, which told of her ‘empty tomb’ at Brauron (Euphorion F 91 Powell) or her eventual burial and cult there (IT 1462–5; Gantz (1993) 687); see our Addenda. The sacrificed Polyxena will get burial from her mother Hec. 609–18, 894–901; funeral for the Maiden is left to implication Hcld. 560–73. It is an impossible question, whether Iph.’s prediction that she will have no tomb was meant to prepare for her disappearance at the moment of slaughter (cf. [1581–95] below), cf. Introduction pp. 3–4.  †Is not burial customary for the dead?†: the right of all to funeral and mourning is brought out with special poignancy in Suppliants, where they are withheld from the Argive dead, against Greek norms (νόμος): 45–7, 308–11, 378, 538–40 etc. (See Text.)  I shall obey you: rounding off the exchange from 1435 ‘Obey me in this’; but Clyt. now turns to the consequences of Iph.’s death for the family at home, about which she had challenged Ag. 1173–82: see 1453–7 n.  fortunate in my success: εὐτυχοῦσα, implicit in Iph.’s claims to glory 1376, 1398–9. For εὐτυχ- of successful achievement cf. esp. 349 n.; Hec. 18 (Hector’s in war), Or. 1212 (a plot).  Greece’s benefactress: Iph.’s dominant theme since 1377–8, cf. e.g. 1386 and 1389 and nn. Note the triple repetition of εὐ- ‘well’ in 1445–6. Greek. 1446 γε affirmative in an answer, ‘Yes, …’: 364 n., 1450; GP 130–1. [Text. 1443 in L is nonsense (and unmetrical), ‘Why is dying not considered a tomb?’; our translation gives the sense plainly required. At line-beginning sense and metre are readily restored with either τί δή; Gaisford ‘What(, then)?’ (GP 210–11) or τί δαί; Tr3, apparently its colloquial equivalent (Stevens (1976) 45 – who inclines to adopt it here, despite its apparent conflict with dignity). δαί is however a Triclinian cure-all: 1447 again, El. 1116, Or. 1275; GP 262 nevertheless regards our line and 1447 as ‘solid’ examples of the particle δαί in Eur. In the rest of 1443 some indication of ‘(for) the dead’ would be best restored with Reiske/Paley’s dat. aor. part. θανοῦσιν or Weil’s Epic-Ionic perf. form τεθνεῶσιν (rare in Tragedy, e.g. Supp. 273); also τυθεῖσιν Vitelli ‘for those sacrificed’ (printed by Kovacs). For parts. without the def. art. cf. Pho. 270; Diggle (1994) 25. 1447–52  What message…?: Polyxena at Hec. 422 asks Hecuba before her death ‘What should I say for you to Hector or your elderly husband?’ (both are already in the underworld). sisters: Electra and Chrysothemis,

606

Commentary

638–9 n. Clyt. thinks of those at home closest to Iph., the still unmarried girls who will be most affected by her death.  Do not dress them in black … either: reaching back to 1437–8, in an oblique answer to 1447; one might have expected ‘Tell them not to mourn me’ (see Text).  loving word: but Iph.’s ‘Farewell’ is both terse and hardly loving. χαίρειν however often carries a double sense, both this and ‘Fare well!’, e.g. Hec. 426–7 (see Collard on Supp. 1181); cf. [1621–6] n. on ‘And farewell’.  Orestes: on his presence see (B) 414b–1 n. It would be inappropriate for him to be more than mentioned after the theatrical 1242–8.  to manhood: ἄνδρα as second predicate, and hinting (for the audience) ‘to man’s full stature’; cf. e.g. El. 693 ‘you must be a man’, Electra to Or. to be strong in taking revenge on Clyt. For ‘real man’ see also 645 n. The wording with ἐκτρέφω bring up is common, e.g. IT 849 τοῖσδε δόμοισιν … φάος ‘to be a light to this house’, Iph. of Orestes; Tro. 702–3 ‘my son to be the greatest help to Troy’, Hector of Astyanax; Supp. 1222 ‘to be bitterly fierce’, descendants avenging their fathers (the poet’s allusion here).  Hug him to you: προσέλκυσαι. Theseus hugs the dying Hippolytus Hipp. 1432.  look at him for the last time: a natural element of final partings, e.g. Hipp. 1097, together with ‘last words’, e.g. Alc. 387–90; before being killed e.g. the Maiden Hcld. 573, Polyxena cheek to cheek with her mother Hec. 410, clasping her hand 439; cf. 1505–9 n.  (Dearest …) help: ἐπεκούρησας: Iph. acknowledged this of Orestes, 1241. 1451 is metrically a three-word trimeter (492 n.), and the line has an emotional charge: close embrace of her infant brother for the last time leads Iph. to think of her father and to wish to restore harmony between her parents, 1454. Greek. 1450 χαίρειν: inf. in indirect speech (felt from 1449 ‘say … word’) for an imperative in direct (91 n.), here χαίρετε ‘Farewell!’ 2. pers. plur. addressed to Iph.’s sisters (above). Less probable: inf. as noun ‘a farewell’ in apposition to noun (ἔπος): Smyth 1987. [Text. 1447 τί δή;: see 1443 n. Text.   ἀγγείλω Weil deliberative aor. subj. is certain, cf. 1449: neither a fut. indic. (ἀγγελῶ L) nor pres. subj. (ἀγγέλλω Kirchhoff) stands well here.   1448 ἐξάψῃς Reiske, 2. pers. aor. subj. act., is superior; ἐξάψῃ L 2. mid. ‘dress them for yourself’ (e.g. Hel. 1186) is most unlikely.   1448–9 are suspect to those doubting Or.’s presence at all (above; some eds delete 1449–52); 1448 μηδ(ὲ) ‘Do not … either’ is a little strained, and there is the unmistakeable echo in 1448 of 1438.]

Commentary

607

1453–7  Do not hate my father: the spurious Messenger presumes to give Clyt. this advice, [1609]. In Aeschylus Clyt.’s hate continues after Ag.’s death, Ag. 1413–20; in Sophocles cf. El. 549–50. Iph.’s attempt to reconcile Clyt. to Ag. only rekindles her mother’s hostility of 876–98, 1124–43, 1148–1205, 1369–70. The family relationships here come to a terrible climax: Iph. pleads for her father, but he will kill her; Clyt. will not yield to her plea; Or., now in Iph.’s arms, will kill Clyt. Artemis advises the dying Hippolytus ‘Do not hate your father’ Hipp. 1435, Theseus who caused his death being the helpless agent of the goddess Aphrodite 1400; so here Ag. may seem to be such an agent of Artemis, to an audience which recalls A. Ag. 201–2 (the seer Calchas crying out the sacrifice of Iph. as ‘a remedy’ at windless Aulis ‘still worse for the leaders (Ag. and Men.), bringing forward Artemis as the cause’).  to run a … challenge: both ‘challenge’ (ἀγῶνας lit. plur. ‘contests’) and ‘run’ δραμεῖν are metaphors, from competitions on foot or chariot to win or thereby to be safe (as Ag. will not be); combined, but with sing. ‘challenge’, e.g. Or. 878 ‘about to run a deathly challenge’ (Orestes facing stoning for matricide), Alc. 489 (with Parker’s n.: Heracles forced to capture the flesh-eating mares of Diomedes); ‘run’ τρέχω singly (implying risk) e.g. El. 954, cf. 1264, Pind. Ol. 10.65; ‘contest’ ἀγών singly and unspecified e.g. 1003–4 and 1254 above (where without the athletic allusion ‘challenge’ may be a better translation), Med. 366, Bacc. 964. The metaphor is however probably not colloquial, Collard (2005) 374.  because of you: Pind. Pyth. 11.22–3 gives this as a possible motive for Clyt.’s murder of her husband; cf. Clyt.’s words at A. Ag. 1432 ‘justice for my child’, and ‘justice’ S. El. 538.  against his will: ἄκων, emphatic at line-beginning. Iph. has not defended Ag. before; indeed in 1232 she said he wished to kill her. Since she has adopted his arguments of 1255–75 (1368b–1401 n.) she can now plead for him. There has been earlier argument about Ag.’s changing will-power: Men. in 332, 360, 363.  destroyed me: Iph. already at 1317.  trick: Clyt.’s charge as early as 898.  ignobly: ἀγεννῶς, a word to startle the audience: it contrasts with Ach.’s judgement of Iph.’s nobility 1411, 1422–3.  unworthy of Atreus: Clyt.’s allusion is disconcerting: the audience, if not Iph., knew of Atreus’ vile trick upon his brother Thyestes, by which he caused him to eat his own children’s flesh (El. 613, Or. 1008; Α. Ag. 1593–7); Iph. appealed to Ag. through his father’s name 1233; cf. 473–6 and n. on

608

Commentary

Men.’s oath by Atreus and Pelops and the Chorus’ comment 504–5. Ag.’s own pun upon Atreus’s name as ‘untrembling’, which was valid in 321 (n.), has no point here. Some eds find Clyt.’s answers specially expressive though dental consonants (four in 1455) and sibilants (three in each of 1453 and 1457) – but Iph. has three sibilants in 1454 and 1456, and six in 1458. Greek. 1453 ἔσθ’ ὅτι … φέρω; Is there anything…?: an open form of interrogative τί and deliberative subj. ‘What may I/am I to (do)…?’; cf. Alc. 52 with opt. ἔστ’ οὖν ὅπως … μόλοι; ‘Is there a way … might come?’ (compare too the negation οὐκ ἔστι and forms of ὅτι e.g. 525, Alc. 848, El. 224). But the wording ‘Is there anything…?’ here resembles a formula of leave-taking where such questions are empty, expecting the answer, No: see Collard on Supp. 1180. χάριν φέρω ‘oblige’ IT 14, Or. 239.  1454 ἁμός, with long alpha, Doric for ἐμός (Smyth 330 D.1), in Eur. also And. 581 (see Stevens), El. 555, Hel. 531, all in dialogue.   1457 δ(έ) is very ‘strong’ here, as in 411, 956; GP 166–7. [Text. 1454 We follow e.g. Diggle with Elmsley’s γε, ‘explanatory’ as in 252 (GP 139), for τε L, most eds; but δὲ Hartung is attractive, creating ‘a second predicate of one person’ Wecklein, cf. Matthiessen.   1455 The order δεῖ κεῖνον restored by Porson upheld the metrical law named after him (49–51a n. Metre).] 1458–60a  Who will come… ?: note the abruptness of Iph.’s question after Clyt. refuses reconciliation with her husband. She asks what Clyt. asked Ach. in 1361, being told ‘Odysseus’ – and that he would seize Iph. by her hair, 1366. Here, she tries to prevent that cruelty.  there (with you): our translation of γε, with an emphasis explained in clinging to your robes; not, surely, γε ‘adding detail to an assent already expressed’, GP 136: Iph. has given none, and at once refuses it with No, not you: don’t!: i.e. ‘don’t come to take me’, μὴ σύ γε (see Greek). Polyxena will not allow Hecuba to cling to her Hec. 398–408, to spare her mother the indignity of being dragged away; but she does allow her a final embrace Hec. 409–14; Iph. wanted only her father’s, above 1238–40. Pathetic clinging to robes also Her. 520, Heracles’ children to him at his unexpected return from Hades.  What you say is not good: Iph.’s words echo but reverse those of Clyt. (reluctantly) approving Iph.’s own actions, 1445 (but the phrase καλῶς λέγειν ‘to say, to speak well’ is adaptable to context, and defined by it, and very

Commentary

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frequent; it therefore has variable significance or emphasis: see e.g. 1206–7, 1377–82 nn.). Greek. 1458 πρίν and infin. nears ‘to prevent’: so England, citing IT 102 πρὶν θανεῖν νεὼς ἔπι φεύγωμεν ‘before we die let’s escape on the ship’.   1459 μὴ σύ γε i.e. ἄγε ‘Don’t you (lead me)’; for such elliptical pleas cf. Polyxena Hec. 408; Pho. 532; similarly 1233 above (n.). The idiom is probably colloquial: Collard (2005) 367. [Text. 1458 σπαράσσεσθαι Elmsley: σπαράξεσθαι L, but the fut. infin. is impossible with πρίν (Smyth 2453c) and one might expect the simple aor. ‘is torn’, rather than the pres. ‘begins to be, gets torn’: Smyth 2453c. L’s gen. κόμης has no meaning, for σπαράσσω means ‘tear, rend apart’, with an acc. object, e.g. And. 1209 οὐ σπαράξομαι κόμαν ‘I shall not tear my hair (in mourning)’; some eds nevertheless compare the partitive gen. in 1365–6 ἁρπάσας … ἐθείρας ‘(seizing) by the hair’, but σπαράσσω does not have the meaning or use of ἁρπάζω. To keep the verb here, κόμης L must be altered to plur. κόμας P2 (our text) or sing. κόμην (anon.) as acc. subj. of the pass. infin., ‘before my hair is torn’.] 1460b–3  Obey me, mother!: Iph. repeats her 1435, but more forcefully; in the Greek the 1. pers. pron. ἐμοί stands as first word, replacing the weaker enclitic meaning ‘please’.  this will be better etc.: referring back, to Stay!, not forward to Let one etc.; and better picks up ‘good’ in 1459.  attendants here: for ὅδε ‘here’ of persons off-stage, i.e. inside Ag.’s hut, see 71–3 n.; attendants indoors e.g. Alc. 136, one approaching e.g. Med. 1119; attendants on-stage for escort e.g. IT 1208.  Artemis’ meadow: Iph.’s acceptance of the goddess’s power in the background began in 1311, cf. 1395. ‘meadow’ appeared in 422, where Clyt.’s horses are watered, possibly as a synonym of ἄλσος Artemis’s ‘grove’ 185 and n., [1544]: such areas are holy to any god (e.g. Hipp. 73–8 Artemis, Pho. 24 Hera, Hypsipyle 330 Zeus) and surround a shrine or temple, whence ναός ‘temple’ 1431 (see n.).  I am to be slaughtered: Iph. first used the word at 1318; the verb is used of her 935, 1360, 1367, cf. 1348; cf. Introduction p. 11. Greek. μέν(ε) ‘Stay, remain’, literal, pres. imperative, with durative aspect (‘continued action’, Smyth 1852a, 1855); contrast e.g. 831, 855 and El. 220, where the aor. μεῖνον is for the moment, ‘Stay; stop there!’, a command to hear more, e.g. Hel. 548, Pho. 897. 1464–6  Are you going?: i.e. ‘going away’: οἴχῃ both lit. ‘Are

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Commentary

you gone (away)?’ (e.g. Iph. of Ag. 1314) and euphemistic, like English ‘gone, departed’, e.g. Or. 763 and (strikingly) A. Pers. 1 (see commentators).  Leaving your mother: λιποῦσα, intensified in desert προλίπῃς (this verb e.g. [783] of Helen forsaking her husband Menelaus; Alc. 391 and 396 a wife her husband and child); cf. Hecuba to Polyxena Hec. 440 ‘Do not leave me childless’.  in no worthy way: οὐκ ἀξίως, questioned or marked as corrupt by some, because it seems to imply criticism of Ag. by Iph. in contradicting her plea for him 1454. This very phrase ended Clyt.’s denunciation of Ag. in 1457. Iph. cannot here depreciate a death which she has willingly accepted and will bring her fame (1398–9, 1440), by saying she is an innocent who does not deserve to die. She may therefore be trying to comfort her mother against a separation which will be be more painful to her as the one abandoned. A director’s interpretation would have been made plain in performance by movement and gesture (and in modern theatre in faces without masks). (See Text below.)  Stop: σχές, here of movement, ‘Don’t go!’, like S. OC 1169; but often it is ‘Hold hard!’ in a verbal exchange, e.g. Hec. 963, even with oneself Hipp. 1353; ‘possibly colloquial’ Stockert.  I forbid shedding tears: note the absence of a pron. ‘ to shed tears’, i.e. Clyt.: Iph. wants no one to detract from proclaiming her ‘victory’ in a hymn to Artemis, 1473 at the end of 1467–73; such a rite must not be sullied by weeping, 1487–90. Greek. 1464 οὐ μὴ μόλω I shall not come: this idiom, a categoric denial (also 1504; Smyth 2755a), negates with ‘black and white’ οὐ an apprehension or doubtful assumption expressed with indefinite μή and aor. subj., i.e. ‘it’s not that I may not come, I shall not’ (Smyth 2755; Moorhouse (1982) 336–7). [Text. 1465 εὖ κἀξίως Hermann ‘well, and worthily’, to meet doubt of L (above); the phrase occurs in Hec. 990, but there is blackly ironic. Note the clever conjecture εὐκαρδίως F. W. Schmidt ‘with a brave heart’ – as Polyxena’s death is described Hec. 549, cf. 579.] (E) 1467–1509  Iphigenia is left alone Iph. prepares to leave for a triumphant death, 1473, 1502–9. She invites the Chorus to join in singing a paean to Artemis, 1467–9. The term denotes many kinds of hymn, most often one anticipating victory (1473 again) in battle but also one rousing courage e.g. A. Pers. 393,

Commentary

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or celebrating victory e.g. A. Seven 635, Thuc. 7.44.6–7 – but also one sung for the dead and Hades e.g. Alc. 422–4, Hel. 177, A. Cho. 151. The word’s ambiguities, and ironies, are brought out here by the paradoxical association of παιάν paean and συμφορά fate (ambiguous too), as at Tro. 578–80: see Rutherford (2012) 48, with bibl. Iph.’s invitation embraces the ritual of her sacrificial death, which she lays down in 1469b–72a (completed in her 1477–9: n.). For paeans in Tragedy see W. D. Furley, J. M. Bremer, Greek Hymns I (Tübingen 2001) 273–9. 1467–9  young women: Iph. as a princess may invite, but not order, married women (176), even if herself younger; cf Clyt. 607–30 n. νεανίς of a married woman e.g. Cyc. 179 (Helen), Ion 477; cf. 615 n.  sing … reverent … to: ἐπευφημήσατε, denoting the sacrally correct in sound and words, just as reverent silence εὐφημία, lit. ‘well-speaking’ (itself a euphemism…), is later to be proclaimed at the rite itself, [1564]. Greek. ἐπευφημήσατε … παιᾶνα … ῎Αρτεμιν, verb with internal acc. of a noun of related sense and external acc. of a personal object; similarly in honour of Artemis IT 1403–4 ἐπευφήμησαν εὐχαῖσιν κόρης | παιᾶνα ‘they voiced a reverent paean with prayers to the maiden’; in honour of Apollo Her. 687–90 παιᾶνα … ὑμνοῦσι … τὸν Λατοῦς εὔπαιδα γόνον (see Bond’s nn. on 689f. and 709; Smyth 1620; KG I.299–300); also e.g. Tro. 335–7 βόασον ὑμέναιον … νύμφαν ‘cry a wedding-song to the bride’. See too 1480–1 n. 1470–3  Let … come to: ἴτω, calling for ritual actions and sounds to begin, e.g. Supp. 1025, Phaethon 101 (wedding joys); S. Trac. 208 (Heracles’ return, with 211 the female chorus told to ‘start up a paean’). Imperatives in 2. and 3. pers. are formulaic in ritual, e.g. 435–8, lines which together with 675, 1111–14, 1477–9 and [1569–72] (see nn.) illustrate the procedures with baskets containing meal to scatter upon the cleansing altar fire, and pure water to sprinkle; see Cropp on El. 791–839. Ag. is to walk round the altar from left to right, i.e. away from his left when facing the altar, from an (unfavourable) beginning towards a favourable outcome (the classic instance is of the eagles’ flight portending victory A. Ag. 109–24); this (clockwise) direction also Ar. Peace 956–7, Lys. 1130; similarly at the censing in the Christian Mass. Cf. Her. 926–7 ‘the basket went round in a circle of the altar, and we maintained holiness of speech (i.e. silence)’, where Bond discusses the variable order in the rituals.  safety … to the Greeks: Iph. repeats her

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Commentary

1420 ‘allow me to save Greece’, her father’s cause to free Greece and its wives from barbarian plundering, 1273–5. Wecklein however extends ‘safety’ beyond victory at Troy to the Greeks’ return home (cf. the Chorus in [1629]); at 1187 Clyt. is bitter about Ag.’s own return. [Text. A line 1474 is not numbered in most 20th century editions.] 1475–1531  are a lyric continuum, but 1510–31, designed to amplify the preceding antiphony between Iph. and Chorus, are post-Euripidean: see 1510–1629 n. 1475–1509  Iph. asks for garlands to be put round her, like a sacrifical animal, and to be led to Artemis’ altar; the Chorus are to dance round it, and there is to be no weeping 1475–90. She urges the Chorus to invoke the goddess, whose site is opposite their home city of Calchis, before she apostrophizes in farewell her own home at Argos-Mycenae 1491–9. There follows a very brief exchange with the Chorus as she leaves in confident triumph 1500–9: see 1509 n. At 1475 Iph. moves from brief speech smoothly into solo-song; Prometheus is a parallel at PV 114, but he had already changed from speech to chanted anapaests for 93–100 and back to speech for 101–13. Our 1475–99 are a paean-hymn to Artemis (1468–9 n.), sung solo by Iph. Her song is often described as her second monody, but the headline word ‘paean’, and the absence of personal narrative or account of motives and feelings which are characteristic of Eur.’s late monodies, show it not to be so (see 1276–1335 n.). For a choral song urged by a playcharacter cf. A. Cho. 150–1 followed by 152–63 (a paean, 151), E. Alc. 423–4 followed by 435–75 (a paean, 423–4); S. Trac. 202–3 followed by 205–24 (a paean, 210–11). Cerbo (2009) and Weiss (2014) give full examples). Staging. What do the spectators see? Iph.’s words in 1505–9 are clearly her last, as she passes from view. Between 1475 and 1509 her movements and those of the Chorus are as a director wishes: she may begin to leave even at 1466 (see n.), and to halt at 1487–90 if she is calling to her mother then (see 1487–90 n.); Clyt. may therefore be still visible, exiting silently with Orestes after 1490 or perhaps 1499 (on silent exits see (A) 303–414a n. Staging 318–19 and (B) 855–99 n. Staging). A director might take her off silently then; if she is kept visible till Iph.’s own exit at 1509, she must not impair its effect. The Chorus may dance throughout, or begin at 1491, perhaps anticipating, with circular steps

Commentary

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round Iph., those which at 1480 she invites them to repeat at the altar itself (impossibly: the army would bar their presence). Who might bring on the garlands Iph. demands in 1477–8? – the stage-extra Iph. asked in 1462–3 to escort her, an attendant from Ag.’s hut? – other extras, anonymous? – or are no garlands brought, her demand being just allusive (see n. there)? At [1546] she is conducted to the altar by a number of men, of whom the Messenger is one. Text and Metre. Iambo-trochaic (Introduction, Metre p. 46) throughout, but there is much uncertainty about individual cola, esp. in 1479–86, 1495–7. Some scholars identify occasional brief interruptions by other rhythms (compare the metre of Iph.’s monody 1283–1335: see Parker (1997) 515). Some eds have followed Hermann in trying to restore strophic responsion between 1475–99 and 1510–31. Analyses of 1475–1531 therefore differ, esp. that of Wilamowitz (1921) 576–7, with brief commentary; Dale (1983) 258–60 (Murray’s text); Günther 67–8; Stockert 610–12, with notes; Cerbo (2009) 98–103, with primarily metrical commentary. 1475–6  Lead me: as foreseen in 1362, 1458; Iph. thus avoids being dragged (1462–3). The imperative is plur. in the Greek, and addressed either to the Chorus (1467, 1491; cf. Hecuba Tro. 506) or to mute extras (e.g. Andromache Tro. 774). Cf. esp. S. Ant. 811–939 where the verb ‘lead’ repeatedly accompanies Antigone’s slow exit to her death, but the text names no persons to lead her. destroyer of … city: ἑλέπτολιν, an adj. with a paradoxical provenance, for Eur. has Iph. usurp this memorable attribute of Helen herself, A. Ag. 689–90 ἑλέναυς ἕλανδρος ἑλέπτολις ‘destroyer of ships, destroyer of men, destroyer of cities’ (see 68 and 488 nn., 1316); but Iph. has urged that her sacrifice would make Troy’s destruction possible, 1397–1401, and in 1379 referred to the ‘destruction of the Phrygians’ without using the city’s name. For discussion of the Aeschylean echoes, esp. that of the adj. ἑλέπτολις, in our play, see Mirto (2015) 51–72. 1477–9  garlands and spring-water complete the essentials of ritual (1111–14) which Iph. named in 1469–72 (n.), silence, baskets of barley, altar fire and circular movements; ‘water’ is allusive only, since neither Iph. nor her companions would carry it there. Garlands here are not only for the sacrificial victim (1080, 1512, [1567]) but also for the ‘victory’ (1473): exactly as the Maiden asks to be garlanded Hcld. 529–30 (cf.

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Commentary

Ag.’s ‘wreath of victory over Troy’ IT 12).  to put round me: περίβολα, adj. ‘encircling’, not only her head but also her neck like an animal victim (1080–4). Greek. 1478 καταστέφειν final-consecutive infin.; Barrett on Hipp. 294 γυναῖκες αἵδε συγκαθιστάναι νόσον favours its dependence on εἰσι ‘understood’ there, ‘these women (are) to help put right your sickness’, but half-allows dependence on the pron. alone, i.e. IA 1478 ‘My hair is here to… / Here is my hair to…’, citing Iliad 19.140 δῶρα δ’ ἐγὼν ὅδε … παρασχέμεν ‘Here am I to provide…’. [Text. 1478 Despite the line’s aptness to the context (above) Stockert was inclined to delete it in seeking to restore responsion between 1475–9 and 1510–14.   1479 παγάς Reiske, acc. controlled by φέρετε, and needed for metre; παγαῖσι (L)P, the dat. perhaps construed with ἑλίσσετ(ε) ‘circle the altar with waters’.] 1480–4a  Turn in your dance: ἑλίσσετ(ε): in a ritual ‘round’ dance, the verb translated at 1055 with ‘twirl in’ (n.), there of an ostentatiously joyous occasion, here perhaps ironically of a triumphant one; also Phaethon 247 at weddings. Her. 687–90 is parallel, παιᾶνα … | … ὑμνοῦσι… | τὸν Λατοῦς εὔπαιδα γόνον | εἱλίσσουσαι καλλίχοροι ‘they sing the paean (our 1468), circling the splendid son of Leto (Apollo) in beautiful dance’, cf. Callim. Hymn to Delos 321 βωμὸν … ἑλίξαι ‘circle the altar’. In these passages ἑλίσσω stands in a kind of synecdoche, for the verb ‘dance’ embodying its function as ‘dance in honour of’; similarly S. Ant. 1151–2 σὲ … χορεύουσι ‘dance in your honour’ (Dionysus), cf. Pind. Isthm. 1.7; n. on 1467–9 above.  queenly: ἄνασσαν (as [1523]) like ἄναξ of any god (e.g. Zeus 1306), powerful over mortals (Hipp. 88 is minatory, equating divine ἄναξ with human δεσπότης ‘master’, cited in 821–2 n.).  blessed: μάκαιρα (fem. of μάκαρ) usually denotes divinity, and deified mortals e.g. Callisto Hel. 375, Dirce Bacc. 530; it shares the nuance of ‘blessed dead’, μακάριος: at Alc. 1003 the supposedly dead Alcestis is μάκαιρα δαίμων, i.e. ‘heroized’ (see Parker’s n., cited above in 1421–3 n.). The adj. is used of perfect human happiness 543 and n. For Artemis however the adj. may be a word of general praise; at Hipp. 1440 she is ὀλβία, as a god sure of eternal blessedness, perfectly happy (which a mortal cannot be eternally IA 161, even if blessed with wealth, like Helen’s suitors ὠλβισμένοι 51; hyperbolic [1621]). [Text. 1480–2 Eds despair of establishing clear phrasing and metre.

Commentary

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Many follow Burges/Monk in deleting ἀμφὶ ναόν or Nauck the first Ἄρτεμιν; indeed ναόν may be the intruder (see n. on [1431]). Murray reduced 1480–2 to ἑλίσσετ’ ἀμφιβώμιοι τὰν ἄνασσαν Ἄρτεμιν ‘dance round the altar in honour of the queenly Artemis’ (the adj. ἀμφιβώμιος describes slaughtered animal victims ‘round altars’ at Tro. 562).] 1484b–6  if it must be: the words, placed in the Greek between my and blood, accord with Iph.’s acceptance of the goddess’ will 1395–6, and were reflected by the fabricator of [1556] ‘since this is the prophecy’. The meaning is not ‘if there is need’. For χρεών ‘fate’s necessity’ cf. 1331; ‘if I must die’ e.g. IT 1004; for other such conditional clauses with χρεών see Fries (2014) on Rhesus 758.  blood and sacrifice: αἵμασι θύμασί τε, more forceful as two ideas than in hendiadys (53 n.) ‘bloody sacrifice’; for plur. θύματα Stockert compares S. El. 573, also the sacrifice of Iph.; cf. Med. 1054 of Medea’s imminent filicide.  wipe away: ἐξαλείφω, a metaphor from painting on walls or writing on wax tablets, has frequently in prose the sense ‘end the authority of, cancel’ political decrees, laws, legal accusations (LSJ II.1); and for prophecy θέσφατα the appropriate implication is ‘be rid of it after satisfying it’; cf. ‘through her sacrifice Iph. destroys the obligation published in Calchas’ pronouncement’ (Wilamowitz (1921) 576–7); cf. 1268 n. At Pho. 999–1005 Menoeceus says that those ‘freed of the prophecies’ (θεσφάτων ἐλεύθεροι) through his death will fight fearlessly for their country. Denial that augury can save a man, or change fate, e.g. Iliad 2.859, Solon fr. 13.55–6 IEG. [Text. Metrical uncertainty has prompted many emendations of 1485, but Diggle (1994) 411 observes that its rhythm recurs in 1489 and 1494.] 1487–90  O … mother: whom does Iph. address? If Clyt., then witholding her own tears from her (you) is consistent with her 1466; but ‘O lady, lady’ in its respectful and formal tone (used of a mother e.g. Pho. 296–8) is surprising and discordant from Iph.’s direct ‘mother’ in the requests of 1433, 1460. Giving ritual propriety as reason against weeping seems more apt when addressing the god invoked and honoured, so that here ‘you’ should be Artemis. The goddess however is nowhere in Greek addressed as ‘mother’ – indeed she was virginal: ; note the address to her [1524] ὦ πότνια ; at e.g. Hipp. 61–6 she is addressed as both ‘lady, lady’ πότνια πότνια and ‘far the fairest of maidens’; and the culttitle ‘mother’ is applied to true mother-gods, like Hera and esp. Demeter.

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Commentary

This difficulty seems insoluble (see Text). For no tears in sacred ambience or during ritual see Ion 638–9, (Collard on) Supp. 286–90; cf. 1466 and n. above. [Text. 1487–90 are attributed to the Chorus in L, probably to recognize the interruption of Iph.’s theme, rather than to avoid the difficulties in ‘mother’ (above), none of which it eases.   1487 deletion of μῆτερ would evade, rather than solve, the problem of ‘mother’: it would create a verse comprising a single resolved dochmiac ὦ πότνια πότνι’ οὐ and a single iambus δάκρυά γέ σοι, with a questionable ‘join’ after οὐ, instead of a heavily resolved iambic trimeter. Höpfner’s οὐ is forced by the sense of 1490: ὡς L is probably a mere slip; it can hardly be exclamatory or explanatory, ‘How or Know that we will give you our tears’.   1488 γε del. Blomfield, but its emphasis upon ‘not … tears’ is good, and its deletion difficult metrically.] 1491–7  you young women: Iph. invites the Chorus as natives of Chalcis (168) to celebrate the goddess named for her cult-site Across From Chalcis, and at the moorings (1321 n.) over the narrows at Aulis. Naming gods for such sites was frequent, e.g. Artemis of the Lake (at Trozen) Hipp. 228, Zeus of Ida (in Crete) Cretans F 472.10; analogous are British locations like St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Mary-le-Bow.  eager: Ach.’s Myrmidons 812–18, 1352; the whole army 1264.  because of my name: allusive, it appears: once Iph.’s name, and presence at Aulis for her sacrifice, became known to the army, its eagerness grew, indeed became irresistible: Ach. at 808–18, 1346–68, cf. Ag.’s early fear 528– 36. Iph. cannot mean that ‘her name’ literally, as that of a willing victim, has already excited the Greeks: Ach., who alone could take such news to them, has left the scene only 60 lines earlier in this same episode. Also: the poet may be glancing at Iph.’s own etymology, ‘Born (-γεν-) With Strength (ἰφι-)’ (cf. 1 ἴς DELG 469). Cf. Introduction p. 28. Greek. 1493 ἀντίπορον ‘across from, opposite’, even of great distances e.g. Med. 210 Greece ‘across’ from the (eastern) Black Sea; cf. ἀντίπορθμος Ion 1585.   1494 μέμονα ‘I am eager’, a very common Epic verb with only perf. forms, rare elsewhere (Smyth p. 706), e.g. IT 655 of ‘divided desires’. Some take the form here as a perf. of μένω ‘wait’, citing the waits of 804 and 818, and appealing to Hesychius μ 804 Latte μέμονε· καρτερεῖ ‘endures’; but the only perf. attested is μεμένηκα (DELG 680).

Commentary

617

[Text. The problems and corrections are metrical except for 1494 νάϊα Hartung lit. ‘(δόρατα: timbers) to do with ships’, a conjecture ‘applauded’ by Diggle (1994) 410: δάϊα L ‘hostile’ is retained by some because plur. δόρατα elsewhere means only ‘spears’, and because (Stockert) spears are associated with mad eagerness e.g. Iliad 8.111, E. Supp. 485.] 1498–9  Land of Argos: for farewells to one’s motherland, common enough in lamentation, see e.g. And. 394, S. Ant. 937.  Pelasgia: Argos, bade farewell by Electra under threat of death Or. 960, cf. 692; named after its early ruler (if not ‘founder’) Pelasgus, who as a play-character proudly claims his land’s great extent at A. Supp. 250–9; but see below 1500–1 n.  Mycenae: in Tragedy it doubles as Argos, e.g. 265, n. om 111–14: see Willink on Or. 46, with bibl.  home: θεράπναι (developed from θεραπ- ‘tend, rear’: DELG; cf. 1502 ‘reared’, τρέφω), an elevated term found only in lyric in Eur., e.g. Her. 370, except Bacc. 1043 (messenger-speech). 1500–9 [Text. This little lyric exchange stands in the Leiden papyrus, with musical annotation, preceding the excerpt 784–92 (n.; see Text, Introduction p. 53); unlike there, it is too defective to afford any help with the text, problematic in 1502–3: see n.] 1500–1  You call on: καλεῖς: such ‘empty’ verbs, usually from a chorus, acknowledge and reword significant invocations, e.g. Hel. 334; Tro.1304 ἀπύεις ‘cry out to’, 1310 βοᾷς ‘cry loud’.  Perseus: Pausanias 2.16.3 has a version of the myth in which, after Perseus’ famous exploits and according to his destiny of establishing a great dynasty, he declined to rule at Argos but founded neighbouring Mycenae, cf. Hel. 1464; Heracles was among his descendants, Her. 2–3. Cyclopean: 152 n., 265, 534 n. Greek. πόνον in apposition to πόλισμα, like Or. 1570 παλαιὰ γεῖσα, τεκτόνων πόνον ‘ancient wall-copings, the work of craftsmen-builders’. 1502–4  a light: not just a bright glory (φῶς of Ach. 1063 and n., El. 449; Hec. 841 Ag. for Greece), but a ‘saving’ light like Orestes IT 849, Heracles Her. 531.  glory: κλέος: ‘ageless’ glory for supreme virtue 567, glory ‘ever to be remembered’ [1531]; cf. Iph.’s confident hope of lasting ‘fame’ 1399. For ‘glory’ in the play see Introduction pp. 36– 7.  will not leave you: cf. Supp. 1158 ‘grief for your father will never leave you’. Greek. 1502 τρέφω with two accs., (ἐκ-) above 1450 (n.).   1503 ἀναίνομαι ‘refuse’ with pres. part. of present action e.g. Bacc. 251, with

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aor. of past action e.g. Her. 1235.   1504 οὐ μή and subj. in a categoric negative statement, 1464 n. [Text. 1502 ἐθρέψατ(ο) Elmsley, 3. pers. mid., with subject Mycenae, the ‘city’ 1500 πόλισμα: ἔθρεψας L 2. pers. act., with subject 1498 Πελασγία, the motherland invoked.   1503 θανοῦσα aor. is difficult here, unless Iph. means that she will become a light after she has not only rejected life, but indeed died (‘you would expect θνῄσκουσα’, Diggle OCT: indeed).]. 1505–9  1505–7 are Iph.’s envoi, a farewell to the light of day and sun (she dreaded it 1250, 1281–2 above): compare the words of Polyxena Hec. 411–12, 435, cf. e.g. Alcestis Alc. 205–6 (244 ‘Sun, and light of day’ ~ IA 1506–7), Antigone S. Ant. 807–19, 879–80; see too 1451 n.  with your torch: λαμπαδοῦχος, the word only here in Eur., and rather grand (but cf. 1476 ἑλέπτολις); λαμπάς lit. ‘torch(-light)’ of the sun e.g. Med. 352, Ion 1467. Here the light is that of Zeus, equated with the sun’s brilliance (σέλας) S. OC 95; etymologically his name is ‘light, brightness (of the sky)’.  a different lifetime … to live: ἕτερον (lit. ‘other’) αἰῶνα … οἰκήσομεν: cf. Med. 1039 ἐς ἄλλο σχῆμ’ ἀποστάντες βίου ‘removed to another form of life’ (Medea’s children), Ion 1067 εἰς ἄλλας βιότου κάτεισι μορφάς ‘she will go down to other forms of living’ (Creusa’s possible suicide); ‘other’ in these places is plainly a euphemism, i.e. ‘no living existence’. οἰκέω is lit. ‘dwell in’; compare Supp. 535 ἐνοικέω of the life-spirit ‘inhabiting’ the body. English cannot adequately translate οἰκέω when it is figurative as ‘manage’, as if from οἰκονομέω ‘manage a house’ (βίον ‘life’ Euphro F 4 PCG), e.g. 331 (n.) ‘manage my own affairs’, Andromeda F 144 μὴ τὸν ἐμὸν οἴκει νοῦν ‘don’t make my mind your home (to manage)’. Here in IA the verb goes flexibly both with ‘life-time’ αἰῶνα, i.e. ‘live it’ (cf. αἰῶνα Pho. 1520 with διάγω ‘lead … through’), and with ‘fate, destiny’ μοῖραν (see 1136 n.), as little more than ‘have’ (e.g. μοῖραν ἔχω Supp. 968–70. The latter passage is curiously similar to ours, ‘having some destiny apart from these, numbered neither among the dead nor among the living’). [Text. 1507 L has ἕτερον doubled (anadiplosis: for this ‘emotional’ emphasis cf. 587 and 183 n.); Dindorf deleted one ἕτερον for metrical improvement.   1509 οἰκήσομεν (above) has been doubted by some eds but is protected by P. Leid., which has its beginning οικη̣[.] 1509  A play-ending here would satisfy modern dramatic sensibilities

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completely: Men. will recover Helen; Ag. will share that triumph but his own tragedy will begin with Iph.’s death, for Clyt.’s hostility will engineer it; Ach. will gain his glory at Troy (although his fluid attitude to saving his honour in our play will have hardened into uncompromising self-assertion in the Iliad: note his prominence at Iph.’s sacrifice [1568–76]). Iph. will deserve her undying fame; her departure for death has theatrical finality; she was the last play-character to speak on stage, and had isolated herself from her mother (who may well have gone into the hut: see 1510–1629 n. Staging). We can well understand why Schiller ends his version of the play with Iph.’s exit after the line ‘Geliebte Sonne, fahre wohl!’ (IA 1509). There is another, proper consequence: we would be left to ponder the qualities of all the persons, in the way they faced their individual pressures. The play-text however continues after 1509, with: [1510–1629 Final Scene (inauthentic)] 1510–31  The Chorus call attention to Iph. as she goes to her bloody sacrifice; they invoke Artemis to secure the Greeks’ safe voyage to Troy, and glorious victory for the Greeks and Ag. 1532–1629  are a messenger-scene (for the character of the narrative report itself see 1540–1612 n.). The Messenger calls Clyt. out from Ag.’s hut, into which she had withdrawn with Orestes after Iph. refused her company to the sacrifice (1461–6: see Staging below); he appears to be one of Ag.’s attendants who led Iph. to her death (1546; cf. her request for one to lead her, 1462 and n.). He promises Clyt. ‘wonderful and strange’ news about Iph. 1532–9. He is ecstatic in describing Iph.’s extraordinary courage in the face of death, when Calchas prepared the sword 1540–67. Achilles took a leading part in the ritual and prayed to the goddess for the Greeks’ success 1568–77. Just in the instant of sacrifice, a hind already in its bloody death-throes was miraculously substituted for the girl, the work as Calchas declares of Artemis; and it was burned in her place 1602. The miracle simultaneously fulfils Calchas’ prophecy (cf. 1485–6 n.), and Troy is doomed 1578–1603. The M. informs Clyt. that Ag. has sent him with this news, and that Iph. has flown to live among the gods 1604–12 (repeated by the Chorus, 1613–14). He tells Clyt. to relent from her anger against Ag. 1609. In response she only wonders whether this

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miraculous tale has been invented to comfort her in her grief 1615–18. Then Ag. himself appears; he says they can be happy for Iph.’s fate, dismisses Clyt. and Or. homeward, and makes his own brief and bleak farewell to her 1619–26. The Chorus close the play with wishes for Ag.’s success 1627–9. Staging. The Messenger would exit silently at the end of his speech, 1612. That Ag. should re-enter at 1619 almost immediately after Clyt.’s few words in 1615–18 is very contrived; and that the two are brought again into each other’s presence is extraordinary, and has theatrical consequences. Clyt. has to stay to hear Ag.’s instructions, esp. for the infant Orestes whom she is carrying (1623); but we ask, how plausible is it that she would have carried the child outside again? And how would wife and husband leave? Separately, seems required, for psychological consistency with Ag.’s final speech 1255–75 and Clyt.’s animosity towards him 1454–7. Clyt. with the child best retreats into Ag.’s hut, and Ag. goes towards the now impatient army, as he did at 750 and 1275. The Chorus would best chant their last words to Ag.’s back as he goes, before leaving from the opposite side. Simultaneous final exits of two characters are rare; Taplin (1977) 190 cites those of Electra and Orestes in Electra and of Cadmus and Agave in Bacchae. Art. Ag.’s veiled posture before the sacrifice (1550) was imagined in a celebrated wall-painting by Timanthes (flor. c. 400 BC), but it was lost in antiquity. Cicero described it at Orator 22.74: ‘the famous painter saw that, when Calchas was sad at the sacrifice of Iphigenia, Ulysses more sad, and Menelaus grieving (cf. our 478–84), Ag.’s head had to be veiled, since that ultimate sorrow could not be imitated by a brush’; Cicero’s words were paraphrased by later writers. The painting is LIMC I.1.263 ‘Agamemnon’ 31. Because of their likely closeness in time it is impossible to know whether Timanthes influenced the writer of 1510– 77, or the reverse; but M. Stieber in EGT 593–4 inclines to the former, and reproduces a Pompeian fresco perhaps reflecting Timanthes’ scene (LIMC I.1.265 ‘Agamemnon’ 41; reproduced also by Michelakis (2006) 92). See also Introduction p. 38. See Addenda. A mid-4th century Apulian volute-crater has been associated with the messenger-speech, at the moments of sacrifice and substitution of the hind (LIMC V.1.712 ‘Iphigenia’ 11). Taplin (2007) 159–60 with Plate 52, and bibl. in n. 120, is strongly doubtful of the association, esp. because

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the sacrificer with raised knife appears to be Ag. himself, and because the painting lacks the ‘standard indicators’ of a Tragic scene on such vases. It is more likely that this mid-4th century painter is responding to the mythological tradition as a whole, in the light of the textual issues set out in the following paragraphs. Furthermore, 1578–93 are post-Classical in date: see the next section. Authenticity and Text. The choral lyrics 1510–31 are a feeble recapitulation of Iph.’s lyric 1475–1509. The entire scene 1532–1629 is inauthentic; it has two parts composed at an interval of almost a thousand years, 1532–77 and 1578–1629; and the M.’s account in 1540–77 derives largely from that of Polyxena’s death Hec. 521–75. The messenger-scene is against Eur.’s habit, particularly in his later plays, of ending with ‘a god from the machine’, who explains, sometimes offers reassurance or comfort, and foretells; on the other hand, such a divine manifestation often follows a messenger’s report, of disaster either suffered or escaped. The report in IA in its first part 1540–77 exemplifies a taste changing as the 4th century progressed towards increased theatricality and stronger descriptive colours (for these and other developments see esp. the essays by P. E. Easterling in (P.E.E. ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy (1997), esp. 211–27 and E. Hall in R. G. Osborne, Debating the Athenian Cultural Revolution (Cambridge 2007) esp. 279–81; both list other publications). The report was ‘completed’ in the same vein, describing Iph.’s miraculous salvation, in 1578–1612, and the scene’s end 1613–29 was fabricated at the same time for the sake of further, final words both from Clyt., her unforgiving 1615–18, and from Ag., his cold farewell 1622–6. It conspires with a reader’s knowledge of the mythic future, in particular as Eur. had set it out in his other and earlier Iphigenia (IT 24–64 etc.), Iph.’s second unexpected rescue; but there it was a very human and plausibly contrived rescue, by herself (1029–38), so that she and Orestes might fulfil Apollo’s command to take Artemis’ statue back to Greece and give it to Athens (85–91). What damns the dramaturgy here is the reappearance of Clyt. from 1532 and Ag. from 1619 (see on Staging above); worse, their tones stultify the tragic and ironic joy of Iph.’s climactic departure; they direct our feelings with emphatic and clumsy literalness. Turato has an excellent analysis of the contrasting behaviour of Ag. and Ach. before the sacrifice, and of Clyt. and Ag. after it.

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(1) Very few scholars hold out for the authenticity of 1510–31 (see n. on those lines), most recently Kovacs (2003) 99–100 and earlier in his Loeb ed. (2002), who retains them as Euripidean but rejects 1475–99; see also Cerbo (2009) and Weiss (2014). We share the opinion that the lines were composed either to supply a fuller choral part in Iph.’s theatrical exit, or both that and to create a plausible time-lag before her death is described. (2) Almost all scholars agree that 1532–77 are post-Euripidean; and the metre of these lines is very much more sparing of syllabic resolution in spoken verse than Eur.’s later plays, in this respect showing a tendency of 4th century Tragedy. (3) All scholars agree that 1578–1629 are latest in date, Byzantine of the 5th/6th century (West (1981) 73–8 = (2013) 318–25 is definitive); they were composed to complete the messengerscene which began at 1532 and was left unfinished (or lost physically) after 1577. West 78 = 325 hazards the name of their composer, the distinguished scholar Eugenios at Byzantium/Constantinople about 500 AD (on whom see N. G. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium (London (1983) 51–3). Critics have naturally speculated how these inauthentic lines have invaded the play-text, and what Eur. himself may have intended, if anything, after Iph.’s departure. Some editors nevertheless think that some lines in 1532–77 and particularly 1578–1612 are possibly Euripidean in origin, and have asked whether L’s text may represent one irregularly repaired after physical loss: see esp. Page 196–9, Stockert 85– 6; cf. 1540–1612 n. below on typical Euripidean elements in the speech, 1601b–3 n. on a surely accidental echo in Aristophanes. The Aelianfragment (fr. i: see after 1629 in the Greek Text and the Translation, and in this Commentary) has suggested to many that Eur. not only conceived a god’s appearance to end the play, but composed part of it (if he composed a whole scene, then it was wholly lost; and 1510–77 at least, and perhaps more lines subsequently lost, were written for performance after his death). In such an ending Artemis would have appeared to Clyt. after Iph.’s departure to foretell the girl’s rescue and perhaps also her removal to the land of the Taurians (as in IT: above). Matthiessen (2002) 235 observes that such a divine scene could not follow the messenger-speech which we have, where the sacrifice is narrated as now complete, and that the certainly spurious ending or the hypothetical one are the alternatives; and he counters the argument that Clyt. could not have maintained

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her anger after such divine explanation and comfort, with the fact that mythology said that she did maintain it – in contrast with Theseus’ not maintaining his anger against Hippolytus, Hipp. 1408–14, cf. 1431–4. Majority opinion favours the loss of an Artemis scene, e.g. Günther p. 61, Stockert pp. 81–3, Matthiessen (above), Rutherford (2012) 343 n. 37; inclined are e.g. Michelakis (below) and Turato (below, in an admirably concise survey of difficulties and views); unconvinced is Kovacs (above). Diggle OCT does not commit himself. Page 191–9 offers the fullest identification and evaluation of postEuripidean elements in 1510–1629; for metre see West (1981) 74–5 = (2013) 321–3. Cecchi (1960) 69–76 documents scholars’ views very fully up to 1959; recent discussions: Stockert 79–87, Turato 254–6, Kovacs (2003) 97–101, Michelakis (2006) 110–14. Gurd (2005) 152–5, cf. 75–6, 124–7, illustrates methodologies of textual criticism in 1510–1629. (Here are the principal differences from 5th/4th century practice in 1578–1629: vocabulary, expression and syntax 1579, 1580, 1, 3, 1604, 5, 8, 9, 1618. Versification in the iambic trimeters 1578–1614: prosody 1573, 8, 9, 1580, 9, 1592; anapaests in the ‘2. foot’ 1584, 1589, 1604, ‘4. foot’ 1596; lack of caesura 1578, 1586, 1593, 1610; violation of Porson’s Law (49–51a n.) 1583, 1589, 1592, 1599, 1612 (1613 has no violation: see West (1982) 85.b). In the lyric 1615–29 anapaestic elements appear to dominate 1615–19 and these lines may have been chanted. In 1620–9 anapaestic and iambic elements combine, in ‘a number of recognizable cola, even if they come in chaotic sequence’, West (1981) 78 = (2013) 325; these lines were apparently to be sung.) Recent eds debate whether the lines deserve conventional textual criticism, e.g. Diggle (1994) 412, Matthiessen 402, Turato 256. On the one hand, the poor poetic quality and wide corruption of 1510–31, and the derivative character of 1532–77, should not bar them from the degree of attention given to other strongly suspect passages of the play, in particular the prologue and parodos, which may have been composed soon after Euripides’ death. On the other hand, 1578–1629 are so clearly post-Classical that it is misguided to ‘correct’ them according to 5th/4th century norms. We follow Diggle’s lead in his OCT in leaving the text of these lines almost entirely as it stands in ms. L; and our apparatus is correspondingly sparse. Throughout our notes on 1510–1629 we omit […] from internal

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line-numbers. Throughout 1578–1612 we use ‘[Metre, with bare linenumbers]’ in reference to the metrical phenomena listed above in the bracketed paragraph. 1510–31  Those who condemn these lines agree with Page’s comment (191), ‘There is great poverty of thought and expression in this passage; most of it is repeated from 1475–99.’ Summarily: 1510–13, 1517–18 ~ 1475–9; 1514–17 ~ 1480; 1519–20, 1525–6 ~ 1495–7; 1524 ~ 1487, (θύμασι) 1484–5; also 1531 ~ 1504. The language is strained in 1513–17 and 1527–30; combined textual and metrical problems are much greater than in 1475–99. Those who retain the lines argue that the repetitions are deliberate, to enhance a theatrically stirring exit of Iph., e.g. Jouan 120 n. 4, Cerbo (2009) and Weiss (2014) esp. 119; Günther (1992) 133–4 inclines to think 1509–22 genuine, and for deliberate repetition compares IT 144–78 (sung by Iph.) with 179–202 (chorus). For the ‘exchange’ between solo-singer and chorus 1475–99 and 1510–31 Cerbo 97–8 compares the lamentatory paean IT 125–235, also shared by chorus and Iphigenia; Weiss esp. 124 argues that the antiphonal exchange overall is characteristic of the paean-style. 1510–17a going on her way: στείχουσαν: this verb is very common in Tragedy for marking entries and exits, often accompanying movements already visible to spectators; exits to death e.g. Hcld. 1053, S. OC 1541. Lines 1512b–18 are widely corrupt (see Text), but clear enough as a picture: Iph. goes to her bloody sacrifice already garlanded and sprinkled. Greek: 1513–14 βαλουμέναν fut. mid. for pass. (331 n.), with στέφη and παγάς internal accus.  to have … put: cf. ἐπιβάλλομαι mid. of putting on a flowery wreath Med. 841–2, and with the phrase ἐπὶ κάρᾳ on her head cf. e.g. Tro. 935: the verb serves spring-water a little awkwardly, but see Diggle (1994) 411.   1516 graceful: εὐφυῆ; of a shapely face Med. 1198. [Text. 1513 παγάς Tr for παγαῖς L, a dat. without syntax (compare L’s error in 1479 παγαῖσιν). The major problems in the badly corrupt 1514–18 are: (1) The tenses of the participles in L: instead of the pres. βαλλομέναν 1513 and the aors. θανοῦσαν 1516 and σφαγεῖσαν 1517, futs. are required by sense: note 1518 μένουσί σε await you. βαλουμέναν Bothe/Hartung fut. is straightforward (see on Greek); for θανοῦσαν Markland essayed ῥανοῦσαν fut. to spatter the … altar (which we

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adopt), with τε Reiske for γε, giving βωμόν 1514a good sense and syntax (cf. 1589 βωμὸς ἐραίνετο lit. ‘the altar was spattered’), and this is much better than βωμόν as acc. of motion with στείχουσαν 1512 ‘going on her way to the altar’; Monk preferred χρανοῦσαν fut. ‘to defile (the altar)’, in the light of 1595 μιαίνοι ‘defile’. σφαγεῖσαν, an aor. hard to defend as ‘at the moment after your slaughter’, was deleted altogether by Dindorf, as a gloss; σφαγαῖσιν Griffiths replaces it with a loose dat. of circumstance ‘in (the) slaughter’. (2) The pleonasm δαίμονος θεᾶς L 1514; θεᾶς deleted by Bothe/Monk, easily enough. (3) In the expression (εὐφυῆ …) σώματος δέρην L ‘(graceful) throat of (your) body’ the superfluous ‘body’ is very strange, and not wholly cured by Kovacs’ (2002) εὐφυοῦς ‘(throat of your) graceful body’; perhaps there is intentional recall of Polyxena baring her beauty for the sword Hec. 559–60; cf. 1574 below ‘beautiful virgin’s neck’. There are widespread metrical difficulties too, and the lines are best left within daggers.] 1517b–20  Dewy spring-water etc.: εὔδροσοι ‘dewy’, i.e. ‘limpid’, the purest water for ritual, as at Hel. 1335 πηγάς … δροσεράς; Hipp. 208 ‘a drink of pure water from a limpid spring’ (Phaedra’s fantasy).  springwater … sprinkling and army: παγαί, χέρνιβες and στρατός are paradoxically conjoined as subjects to await; and army … wishing to go to Ilium’s city is very flat as a description of the soldiers massed in 1545–7, where Iph. is a girl alone in a crowd expecting her death. Greek. 1517b The asyndeton seems to indicate an explanation (391 n.), and is feeble. [Text. Unsatisfactory sense and metre continue; in particular L’s τε after χέρνιβες is impossibly placed, and best moved after πατρῷαι (Günther, approved by Diggle (1994) 410), giving the paired παγαὶ and χέρνιβες each an adj. As in 1512–17a there are multiple conjectures.] 1521–3  call upon: in Eur. the verb κλῄζω means usually ‘call, name’, the sense ‘invoke’ being later.  for a happy outcome: ἐπ’ εὐτυχεῖ πότμῳ: cf. 550 ἐπ’ εὐαιῶνι πότμῳ ‘bringing a lifetime of good fortune’. The line recalls esp. Iph.’s 1446 with the verb εὐτυχέω ‘fortunate in my success’. Greek. ὡς (ἐπί) ‘as though…’, of an avowed purpose: Smyth 2996. [Text. 1523 θεῶν L is partitive gen., among, of a ‘divided whole’ (Smyth 1310): θεὰν Bothe/Hennig ‘goddess (queen)’ and τὰν Dain ‘the (queen)’ (as in 1482) are unnecessary.] 1524–7  lady: πότνια of a goddess, 1487 n.; of Artemis e.g. IT 463,

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1082.  delighted by human sacrifices: a criticism, or just incautious writing for the context? Cf. Introduction p. 7. At IT 382–4 among the barbaric Taurians Iph. as Artemis’ priestess criticises not only her avoidance of those polluted by (bloody) childbirth or death but also her delight nevertheless in such sacrifices; she is incredulous that Artemis’ mother Leto, partner of Zeus, should have given birth to such gross amorality in the goddess (IT 385–6).  treacherous: δολοέντα, but the implication is not clear: either walls ‘craftily (constructed)’ (LSJ II) as work of sheer cleverness, or ‘with inherent guile’: in myth Troy was built for its king Laomedon by the gods Poseidon and Apollo, but they were tricked of their payment by him, e.g. Iliad 21.450–2, cf. 5.649; Gantz (1993) 400–1. Others assume a more relevant allusion to the treacherous theft of Helen by Paris 75–7, Iliad 3.443–4; Gantz 571–6; or ‘anachronistically’ to the oath-breaking of Pandarus in Iliad 5. foundations: ἕδη lit. ‘seats’ (cf. ἕδρα, ἕζομαι), i.e. ‘abodes’ solidly sited, e.g. Hes. Th. 118 of Earth affording a sure home for the gods on Mt Olympus; LSJ 3; of Argos Or. 1247, cf. βάθρον of Troy IA 1263 (n.). Troy’s great walled city, often described as unsackable (e.g. Hec. 17, 906, 1209), is to be sacked 92, cf. Iph. at 1398. [Text. 1524 Hermann, a metrical supplement, but cf. e.g. 1487 for the doubling (anadiplosis: 183 n.).   1527 is daggered because of metrical uncertainty.] 1528–31  crown: στέφανον, the ‘wreath’ of victory in war e.g. IT 12 (cited in 1477–9 n.), Erechtheus F 369.3.  glory ever to be remembered: Iph.’s desired objective 1398–9, promised her by the Chorus 1504 (and granted her by the M. in 1606), is now transferred to Ag. (but see Text), who half-claims it for himself in 1621. Greek. The syntax of L’s extraordinary word-order (see Text) appears to be 1528 Ἀγαμέμνονα … 1530 δὸς … 1531 ἀμφιθεῖναι imperative and acc. and inf. in a prayer or wish, as 1575–6; cf. Iliad 3.351 Ζεῦ ἄνα, δὸς (με) τείσασθαι ‘Zeus, lord, grant that I may avenge…’ (echoed at A. Cho. 18); KG II.22 (Smyth 2014, 2013c is inadequate). Distinguish δός with dat. and inf., 471 n.   1530 the Epic-Ionic poss. reflex. pron. ἑός is not Euripidean (at El. 1206 it is removed by emendation). [Text. Confused and beyond convincing remedy, like †1514– 18†.   1529 ῾Ελλάδι dat. appears to be controlled by distant ἀμφιθεῖναι ‘put … upon Greece’, although in 1530 the glory is seemingly to be Ag.’s

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alone: so Ἑλλάσι Markland as adj. (cf. 588 n. Text), plur. with λόγχαις instrumental dat. ‘with Greek spears’.   1529 κλεινότατον στέφανον and 1531 κλέος ἀείμνηστον are both grammatical objects of ἀμφιθεῖναι but uncoordinated; and it is difficult to take κλέος as appositional to στέφανον because of their separation: contrast the idiomatic couplings e.g. Tro. 803 στέφανον … κόσμον (see OCT), And. 773 τιμὰ καὶ κλέος; idiomatic too is στέφανος with gen. εὐκλείας, e.g. Her. 1334, Supp. 315. Scaliger’s remedy was to insert connective τε ‘and’ between ‘(put) a garland round Greece’ and ‘put glory round his own head’. Monk’s proposal was simpler and drastic: transferring imperative δὸς to 1528, placing τε before Ἀγαμέμνονα and deleting 1530 altogether; it was printed by Kovacs with his own in 1531, ‘and that Ag. by the spear may lay upon Hellas’ brow a crown most glorious fame that is never forgotten’.]

1532–1629  Messenger-scene. 1532–3  [Text. ἐμῶν κλύῃς λόγων Nauck, a more stylish order.] 1534–7a  heard your voice: similar explanation for entry e.g. Clyt. 819–20 (n.).  frightened … fear: ταρβοῦσα … φόβῳ: pleonasm (similarly Her. 871) enhances the Greek onomatopoeic driven out of my mind by fear (ἐκ)πεπληγμένη φόβῳ (πεπ- φ- i.e. p(h) in sound; this effect occurs more aptly at Bacc. 604, of the women frightened by Dionysus’ earthquake).  with another disaster: but Clyt. ‘should ask for news of Iph.’, Page, suggesting Hipp. 1160 ‘Surely some new and worse disaster hasn’t…?’ as model; note too examples of fear generating greater, unknown anxieties, Pho. 1072 ‘Surely you have not come with disaster?’ (Jocasta fears the death of Eteocles), 1347–8 ‘I bring (news of) great evil on top of other woes enacted’ (that same death); cf. Hec. 585–8 ‘fresh pain distracts (me) constantly from one evil in succession to another’. Hamlet 4.5.78–9 ‘When sorrows come, they come not single spies, | But in battalions.’ Greek. 1534 φθογγή lit. ‘sound uttered’ here in the sense of φωνή ‘voice’, cf. Hipp. 418, El. 1292.   1535 ἐκπλήσσω lit. ‘beat, strike out of (a present mental state)’, frequently metaphoric of overpowering emotions e.g. 351(n.); fear also Bacc. 604 above, Tro. 183. [Text. 1536 ἥκῃς subj. Portus, in a μή clause dependent upon ‘fear’ 1535, ‘that you may have come’; but L’s independent and apprehensive

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question with ἤκεις indic. ‘Surely you have not come…?’ serves very well.] 1537b–9  No: μὲν οὖν: adversative: 893 n.; its force here is aided by antilabe (see 303–16 n.).  wonderful: θαυμαστά: cf. θαῦμα 1581 n.  strange: δεινά, as e.g. (Wecklein) S. Phil. 1225 δεινόν γε φωνεῖς ‘What you say is strange indeed!’ (an unexpected change of mind). This sense of the adj. goes with ‘No!’; the M. wishes to reassure Clyt. (Stockert), not frighten her; the meaning ‘terrible’ is much commoner in Tragedy, LSJ I.  with all speed: ὅσον τάχος: because the M. has not at once told the chief news. Greek. 1539 τοίνυν Well then is rare in Tragedy, ‘in a lively answer’ GP 569, e.g. Ion 936, 987 (GP may go too far in calling this use ‘colloquial’: not in Stevens (1976)). ὅσον τάχος i.e. ἂν δύνῃ ‘with as much speed as you may be able’, a variety of the ὡς τάχιστα idiom: Smyth 1087–8. 1540–1612  Messenger-speech. The writer of the first part 1532–77 followed many of Eur.’s habits: insistence on accuracy 1540–2 (n.); initial description of the scene 1543–7 (n.); orderly presentation of the chief persons and their actions, Ag. 1547–50, Iph. 1551–62, Calchas 1565–7, Ach. 1568–76; persons’ words reproduced in direct speech, Iph. 1552–60, Ach. 1570–6. One habit however the writer did not follow: summary announcement of the essential news before the longer narrative begins, e.g. Or. 857–8, Bacc. 1030; instead the M. speaks only of ‘something wonderful and strange’ 1538 (n.). For a possible relation of this first part to Art (Ag.’s veiling 1550) see 1510–1629 n., end. The much later second writer of 1578–1612 repeated the M.’s claim to accuracy (1540–2), but stressed that he was an eye-witness 1607 (n.; cf. 1580–1, 1586), and again included direct speech, by Calchas 1591–1601a; he gave the M. personal impressions and feelings, 1580–1, 1609–12; and he ended with a valuation of what he reported 1610–12 (also a habit of Eur.). For the Euripidean messenger-speech and its techniques see de Jong (1991); for Tragedy in general see Rutherford (2012) 200–16, with select bibl. in 200 n. 78 (to which should be added the important appraisal of its stylized form as narrative by Gould (2001) 328–31); and see now J. Barrett in EGT 816–19 ‘Messenger’ and 877–2 ‘Narratological

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Approaches to Greek Tragedy’. Because of its inauthenticity the speech in IA is excluded from almost all discussions. Particularly throughout 1532–77 we cite many similar actions and words from Eur.’s scenes of voluntary sacrifice, of Polyxena in Hec. above all (1510–1629 n.), but also of the Maiden in Hcld., of the boy Menoeceus in Pho., and of Praxithea offering her daughter in Erechtheus. These scenes are compared and discussed by Loraux (1987) esp. 31–48, 50–3. For self-sacrifice in Tragedy see A. L. Allan in EGT 1237–8. 1540–2  Well then: ἀλλά implying consent: GP 17.  learn everything clearly: πᾶν πεύσῃ σαφῶς: see the messengers at e.g. Hcld. 799, S. Ajax 734, and for the claimed accuracy 1540–1612 n., 1604–8 n.  my dear mistress: greater familiarity than in the man’s opening, formal address 1532. The writer of 1604–12 gave the M. no vocative to address Clyt., but allowed him to speak frankly in 1609.  in case my mind fails somewhere etc.: γνώμη ‘mind’, failing in concentration or memory, perhaps also because of emotional stress (Stockert). For memory Wecklein compares S. OT 1239 ‘Nevertheless, so far as I can myself recollect, you shall learn…’ makes me incoherent: ταράξῃ: lit. ‘disorders my tongue’; cf. Dem. 19.92 ‘jumble everything up’ (LSJ), in a list of debating points. [Text. 1541 που Markland, Diggle: μου L ‘my’, dependent on enjambed γνώμη, is awkward, and duplicates ἐμήν in the next verse.] 1543–7a  Well…: γάρ ‘after notice of giving information’, GP 59; ἐπεὶ γάρ stand similarly in a messenger’s second line at Hcld. 800; usually ἐπεί stands alone when he introduces circumstances, e.g. And. 1085 (see Stevens’ n.), IT 1327.  grove … meadows: they connote a locus amoenus (1295–9 n.) in grim contrast with the coming grisly sacrifice.  Artemis’ grove: 1544, cf. 185. 1545 a mass of Argives collected is the first of the many ‘similarities’ to, or models from, the Polyxena scene in Hecuba, at 521 ‘the entire mass of the Achaean army was present’. Greek. ἄλσος and λειμών are synonymous at A. Supp. 558–9, cf. Od. 6.291–2. σύλλογος ‘muster’, as 514 (n.), 825. [Text. Page deleted 1545, as copied from 514, and with ‘muster’ duplicating ‘collected’ 1547; but 1545 registers the original place of total encampment, 1547 a movement within it.] 1547b–50  groaned: for Ag.’s groaning see 1143 n., and e.g. 483.  turning his head away: ἔμπαλιν στρέψας: to avoid the meeting of eyes (see Introduction pp. 33–4) or from shame at unbearable stress

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or tears, e.g. Ion 967–8, Od. 8.86; Ag.’s tears IA 39–40, 451–2, 477 etc. Cf. Med. 1148 ἀπέστρεψ’ ἔμπαλιν a cheek turned away to avoid a kiss, then 1152 an expectation of that face being turned back πάλιν στρέψεις to receive one.  putting … in front of his eyes: ‘veiling’ in a gesture of shame, 621 n. [Text. 1548 England and Page questioned two prep. phrases with one verb, but one indicates a purpose, the other a place reached; cf. e.g. (conversely) Hec. 522 πρὸ τύμβου σῆς κόρης ἐπὶ σφαγάς ‘before the tomb for the slaughter of your daughter’.   1550 προῆκεν Dindorf burst into (tears): for προίημι ‘send out, emit’ cf. Hipp. 124 a spring its waters; in medical writers of bodily emissions LSJ B.I.3. One might have expected ἀφίημι of tears, e.g. Od. 23.33; note too ἐκβάλλω IA 451, 477. προῆγεν L ‘led, drove forward’ has been defended from Ach. Tatius 3.14.3 δάκρυα προαγαγεῖν (2nd century AD), or replacement conjectured: some eds commend Semitelos’ improbable δάκρυε πρόσθεν ὀμμάτων προθείς ‘began to weep, putting his robe in front of his eyes’, (a past tense without augment is an occasional feature of Eur. messenger-speeches).] Art. For Ag. veiled, see 1510–1629 n. end. 1551–60  But she stood … and spoke etc.: Iph. offers her life bravely; cf. Polyxena Hec. 546–8a ‘You Argives who have sacked my city, I die willingly’ ~ 1555, cf. Hec. 347 ‘my desire to die’; 548b–9 ‘Let no one touch my person ( ~ 1559); for I shall offer my neck with good courage’ ( ~ 1560); cf. the Maiden Hcld. 530b–1a ‘Here is my life, willing and not unwilling’ ( ~ 1555), 550b–1a ‘I give my life willingly, and without compulsion’. 1551–6  My body I give for … Greece (1554): Iph. ‘saving (all) Greece’: see esp. 1255–75 n. (Ag.’s final speech), last paragraph, 1433–6 n., cf. Introduction p. 26; similarly (‘saving the city’) the Maiden Hcld. 503–6, 588; Menoeceus Pho. 997–8; Praxithea Erechtheus F 360.14–18, 34–5, 50–2.  here I am for you: at an important moment, πάρειμι; cf. 646–7 n.; Pho. 446 ‘Mother, I am here’. Iph’s body: 1217, 1221 etc. and esp. 1395 (n.); Ach.’s body 940, 1350, 1351, Clyt.’s body 1438 (cf. Helen’s, i.e. her beauty, 1417).  since this is the prophecy: i.e. what it ‘bids’, England, comparing Hdt. 4.164.3 ‘learning that this was the oracle’ μαθὼν … τὸ μαντήϊον ἐὸν τοῦτο (see Greek). The sentiment repeats Iph.’s 1484 ‘if it must be’. Iph. knows of the prophecy, having learned of it from Clyt. after the Old Man revealed it (879).

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Greek. 1551 πλησίον n. acc. adv. (1103) as prep. (Smyth 1700); for the dat., not the usual gen., see e.g. Cyc. 387, perhaps Hec. 896, Pho. 160: Smyth 1440. One might have expected the idiomatic nom. sing. personal adj. πλησία, as in 629.   1556 ἄγοντας: we use the pass. to be led to translate the personal and act. part.: it is in agreement with the unexpressed acc. subject (‘men, people’) of inf. θῦσαι, according to the natural reversion to this case from an unexpressed dat. (Smyth 1062), here governed by δίδωμι 1555: the full construction in e.g. Hec. 540–1 δὸς ἡμῖν … | νόστου τυχόντας πάντας ἐς πάτραν μολεῖν ‘grant we may all meet with return and reach our fatherland’. εἴπερ since lit. ‘if really’ with pres. indic. expresses the speaker’s real opinion, or admits the fact: cf. 889 (n.). [Text. 1556 ἄγουσιν dat. i.e. ἡμῖν was considered by Weil, but rightly rejected as unnecessary.] 1557–60  victory: νικηφόρου, adj.: Iph. used it of ‘safety’ 1473. For the idea cf. the Maiden Hcld. 530 ‘conquer (νικᾶτε) the enemy!’, Praxithea Erechtheus F 360.51 ‘be victorious!’ (νικᾶτε).  Therefore: πρὸς ταῦτα, ‘in the light of this (my independence); accordingly’: Smyth 1695.3c; more defiantly still e.g. Med. 1358 Medea dismissing Jason’s bitter remonstrance.  let no Argive touch me etc.: ~ Hec. 548–9, cited in 1551–60 n.  silence: at A. Ag. 235–8 Iph. has to be gagged to prevent her cursing her killers (see also Text below). Greek. 1557 τοὐπ’ ἔμ(ε) as far as it depends on me as e.g. Or. 1345, τοὐπὶ σ(έ), Alc. 666: for the prep. see Smyth 1689.3d, for the adverbial acc. of the def. art. 931 above, Smyth 1111. [Text. 1558 δορὸς Pierson, cf. Her. 49 καλλινίκου δορός: L has δώρου ‘gift (of victory)’, reflecting δίδωμι 1555.   1560 σιγῇ L ‘in silence’ is questioned because Polyxena in Hec. 563–5 cries out, inviting the deathblow: σφαγῇ Jacobs ‘(offer, provide) for slaughter’.] 1561–2  That much she said: τοσαῦτ’ ἔλεξε, probably implying ‘no more, no less’, i.e. words exactly measured; similarly Neoptolemus Hec. 542 before killing Polyxena; the phrase also Pho. 1236 (also a messengerspeech).  marvelled etc.: ἐθάμβησεν: compare the hubbub of approval Hec. 553 for Polyxena’s bravery 549 (ἐθάμβησεν in a messengerspeech also Ion 1205–6 ‘the whole crowd marvelled’). Then courage and heroism: such explicit appreciation is given Polyxena immediately after her death Hec. 579–80, as ‘exceedingly brave and most virtuous at

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heart’ τῇ περίσσ’ εὐκαρδίῳ | ψυχήν τ’ ἀρίστῃ. Compare too Demophon’s determination to secure the Maiden praise for her bravery (εὐψυχία) Hcld. 569 (see Allan’s n. there, or Mossman’s on Med. 403, for the word’s connotations), 537–8, 554–5. 1563–7  Talthybius … in the midst … called for reverent silence: for Talthybius see 95 n. At Hec. 530–3 Talthybius narrates his own actions at the sacrifice of Polyxena, ‘… to proclaim silence from the whole army of the Achaeans. And I took my stand in their midst and said “Silence, Achaeans, let all people be in silence! Be silent, quiet!” And I brought the crowd to stillness.’ ‘Reverent silence’: for εὐφημία see 608, 1469 n. Then 1565–7 Calchas … sheath ~ Hec. 543–4a ‘(Neoptolemus) took the gilded sword by its hilt and drew it from the sheath’.  garlanded: cf. the Maiden’s eagerness in Hcld. 529, cited in our n. on 1477. Since Iph. asked to be garlanded there, Calchas here in 1567 apparently adds a further garland, perhaps required for complete adherence to ritual. Note the splendid instruments of gold for so great a moment, sword and basket; a golden cup at Hec. 527–8. At El. 810 Aegisthus takes a sacrificial knife from a basket; Ar. Peace 949 has basket, garland and knife (see Olson’s n. for such baskets); Od. 10.355 has golden baskets at a grand feast. Art. 1565–93: the sacrifice and substitution of the hind are insecurely identified on a 4th century BC vase-painting: see 1510–1629 n. Art. Greek. 1563 ἦν μέλον concern it was, periphrastic pres. part. with εἰμί, like 235–6 ἦν ἔχων; see n. there. The phrase replaces ἔμελε, cf. e.g. μέλει μοι καὶ τόδε Pho. 1084; S. Phil. 150 μέλον (adjectival) πάλαι μέλημά μοι ‘a duty long my concern’; for the root μελ- of a religious office cf. also e.g. IT 40, Hipp. 104.   1564 ἀνεῖπε lit. ‘spoke up’, i.e. ‘proclaimed’; the verb at Ion 1167, a crier announcing entry to a celebratory feast.   1567 ἔσωθεν, lit. ‘from inside’, can also mean ‘(to) within, into’, e.g. IT 1389, Hcld. 42; but here the suffix -θεν controls a separative gen. (Smyth 342) as usually in the analogous ἔξωθεν lit. ‘from outside’ e.g. Med. 1312 ‘outside’ (a house), κάτωθεν ‘down from’ e.g. Her. 1240 (the heaven). 1568–9  the son of Peleus: Ach. prays with the sacrifice to Artemis (which Calchas enjoined in 90–1), as one now resigned to its necessity, or even supportive of it, while at Hec. 534 Neoptolemus prays to his dead father Ach., to whom Polyxena is to be sacrificed, to secure the Greeks’

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onward journey homeward from the Thracian Chersonese (Hec. 37–43). Prayers at the sacrifice of Praxithea’s daughter will naturally be to her city’s protectress Athena, Erechtheus F 360.38–9, 49.  quickly circled the altar: lit. ‘ran in a circle of the altar’; from left to right: 1472 and n. The speed is surprising on such a grave occasion? Ar. Peace 956–7 ‘take the basket and the sprinkling-water and go quickly round the altar to the right’ appears to offer an analogy, but speed there is enjoined in comic rivalry, 937, 943, 950. And the runner in our play is no less surprising, for he is Ach.: is he now anxious to put his promised support of Iph. aside, to be done with the past, now that her death is unavoidable? Why else is he acting so prominently? Jouan 123 n. 1 notes suggestions that he acts from assumed authority over his ‘fiancée’, esp. since Ag. her father stands away from her, veiling himself 1549–50. For Ach. here see esp. Michelakis (2002) 135–43, who goes as far as finding 141–2 a possible note of comedy to match his rapid entry after flight from his angry Myrmidons 1338–57. The writer of this passage gives Iph. no second speech of comment (1560, her silence), unlike Polyxena repeating her readiness to die, Hec. 563–5 after 546–2. Greek. ἔθρεξε a weak aor. unattested for Eur., but occasional in Epic and later poetry, e.g. Ar. Thes. 657 (περιτρέχω). [Text. 1568 (ἐν κύκλῳ) βωμοῦ Heath as in Her. 926–7: βωμὸν L (a very simple copying error). Earlier eds doubted the form ἔθρεξε and conjectured ἔβρεξε ‘soaked’, an improbable exaggeration; ‘wrongly, although there is no need of fleetness’ (ἔθρεξε ‘ran’: cf. the Homeric Ach. as ποδώκης ‘fleet-footed’), drily Diggle, OCT.] 1570–7  slayer of wild beasts: θηροκτόνε. The adj. is used of huntinghounds at Hel. 154; and at Ar. Lys. 1262 with reference to the Spartan practice before battle of sacrificing to Artemis as Agrotera Ἀγροτέρα ‘Of the Open Wild’; cf. Her. 378 θηροφόνος ‘killer of wild beasts’; Iliad 21.470 πότνια θηρῶν ‘mistress of wild beasts’, both to foster and to kill them. Theognis 11–12 has a prayer for safety to Ἄρτεμι θηροφόνη ‘Artemis killer of wild beasts’ at the start of the poem, ‘(she) whom Agamemnon established (i.e. in her cult-site) when he sailed to Troy’. The indirect reference here is like that in A. Ag. 134–7, 140–4, where a seemingly animal-fond Artemis is offended by eagles killing a hare and its young and requires the compensatory sacrifice of Iph. as a young human counterpart. All those contexts rest upon a time-old heroic equation of

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hunting with war, the first being practice for the second, so that sacrifice is offered to the divine huntress-archer to secure success in war; and the delight of Artemis in human sacrifice is clear enough: 1524–5 (n.) and IT 382–4 cited there; see esp. Burkert (1985) 151–2. revolving: an English metaphor too for planets and stars turning across heaven’s ‘round’ (κύκλος Ion 1147); Pho. 3 ‘You Sun, revolving your flame with swift horses’, cf. PV 1092; 1571 is in Eur.’s own best manner. Artemis is moon-goddess, IT 21 and other passages cited by Mastronarde on Pho. 175 ‘O daughter of … Leto, Selene’. accept: δέξαι, regular in sacrificial prayers, e.g. Hipp. 83, IT 464; Artemis accepts, 1596. The model for 1572–4 is Hec. 534–8 (Neoptolemus to Ach.) ‘Receive from me this libation of appeasement … Come, that you may drink this girl’s pure dark blood which is your gift from the army and myself.’  undefiled: ἄχραντον, the equivalent of ἀκραιφνές ‘unmixed’ in Hec. 537, i.e. pure, virginal, cf. Iph. pictured as the pure, mountainbred, sacrificial heifer 1083 and substituted with the mountain-running hind at 1593; at A. Ag. 245 Iph. is ἀταύρωτος ‘un-bulled’, virginal; cf. the Maiden sacrificed instead of marrying Hcld. 579–80, 591–2.  sail … sack Troy’s citadel: Calchas at 92, 359; for ‘citadel’ πέργαμα see 762–3 n.  stood looking at the ground: the M. too, 1581: see 1578–89 n. Casting down eyes signified emotions overwhelmed, immobilising: cf. Iph. 1123. Greek. 1574 καλλιπαρθένου δέρης: similar freedom with -πάρθενος Hel. 1 καλλιπάρθενοι ῥοαί ‘(the Nile’s) beautiful virgin streams’, pure in their waters.   1575–6 δός and dat. and inf., as in Hec. 539–41 cited in 1557–60 n.   1577 the postponement of τε after coupled adj. and noun is rare: GP 517. [Text. 1570–1–2 All direct collators of L detect traces of an erased marginal note λείπ(ει) στίχ(ος) ‘a verse is missing’ (or plur. ‘verses are missing’), for which see Introduction (Text) p. 54; but they disagree about the identity of the hand which later added (or rewrote) part or all of 1570 and perhaps 1571 (Günther, Diggle) and maybe even 1572 (Stockert): perhaps the original scribe, perhaps another hand. In the facsimile in 1569–73 the writing throughout appears to be that of the initial scribe, but ‘rewritten with a thicker nib’, West (2013) 320, except for Tr’s in-line conjecture ὦ διὸς. There is no great consequence for the constitution of the text itself.   1570 Ζηνός, ὦ Nauck, in which ὦ replaces the invasive

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and unmetrical gloss ἄρτεμις deduced to have stood in L from its copy P (Artemis’ name similarly invaded the appeal to her as ‘O fairest, fairest of those on Olympus’, Hipp. 70–1).   1572 γε L gives inept emphasis: τοῦθ’ ὃ σοὶ for τόδ’ ὅ γε Porson.   1573 θ’ (τε) so placed in L preserves the close collocation Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ θ᾿ὁμοῦ; Scaliger’s τ’ ἄναξ ὁμοῦ normalises the particle’s position.] 1578–1629  For our method in annotating these lines see 1510–1629 n. 1578–89  The sequence of sights and sounds is: (1577) all but the officers of sacrifice turn eyes to the ground as the moment of Iph.’s death comes. 1578–81a the M. alone nevertheless watches the priest examining Iph.’s neck before himself looking down. 1581b–3 a marvel is seen, for the M. and others have now looked up, but no blow has been heard (see n.) and this on its own might have prompted them to raise their eyes; and they see that Iph. has disappeared. 1584–9 only then does the priest cry out from the altar, and the army echo him, after seeing the marvel, the substitution for the living Iph. of the hind in its bloody death-throe. 1578–81a  priest: ἱερεύς (as 1584): paired with σφαγεύς ‘slayer, sacrificer’ Her. 451. Anonymous here, and certainly not Calchas himself. Ag. has been expected to kill his own daughter 873, 1177–8, and at IT 853–4 Iph. reports that he himself used the sword (but see IT 360 below). At Hec. 563–7 Neoptolemus himself sacrifices Polyxena to his father Ach. At A. Ag. 240 Ag. deputes the act to unnamed ‘sacrificers’, and though he is named as ἱερεύς at IT 360 it is the ‘Greeks’ collectively who slaughter Iph. 359; similarly Iph. as ἱερέα ‘priestess’ IT 34 deputes to others 40 (but the text of 37–41 is disputed).  uttered his prayer: ἐπηύξατο, another borrowing, from Hec. 542, the army’s response to Polyxena’s first speech of willingness and prayer for the Greek’s homecoming.  throat: Iph.’s ‘bloody throat’ is anticipated by the Chorus at 1084, cf. ‘neck’ their 1516; Ach. warned her of this horror, 1429. At Hec. 563–5 Polyxena offers Neoptolemus ‘if he desires’ her breast or her full throat for the sword.  no small: οὐ μικρόν, no rare litotes e.g. Tro. 52, 940; for the figure see V. Bers, EGT 1372.  bowed: νενευκώς, the verb used of Aegisthus bending over to examine a victim’s entrails El. 839; the verb of fear S. Ant. 269–70, but of defiant denial 441 there (so Stockert). Greek: 1579 resists analysis according to Classical syntax. After a verb such as ἐπισκοπέω ‘look at, examine’ we expect an indirect question, e.g. Hcld. 395 ποίᾳ, Her. 314 ὅπως. The rel. adv. ἵνα ‘where’

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appears to serve here as the interrogative word (cf. οὗ 1583 n.); then ἄν and opt. must express potentiality, would strike: cf. S. OC 188–90 ἄγε νυν σύ με … ἵν’ ἂν … εἴποιμεν ‘Lead me … where … we might say…’ (see Jebb’s n.). The same ἄν and opt. rules out interpretation here in IA as either an indirect deliberative question ‘should strike’ or a final clause ‘in order that’ (the latter with ἄν and opt. is Homeric and very rare afterwards: a good n. by Smyth 2202ab); see Text below.  1580 The combination δέ τ(ε) is ‘highly doubtful’, GP 532: see Text. For dat. ἐμοί with εἰσῄει ‘entered’ and a ‘thought’ or ‘feeling’ as subject cf. σοὶ … δόξ’ ἐσῆλθεν ‘a decision’ Ion 964, ἐμοὶ … οἶκτος … εἰσέβη ‘pity’ S. Trac. 298; after the initial dat. ἐμοί one would expect not dat. φρενί but acc. φρένα (conjectured by some). Cf. 1374–6 n. Greek 1374. [Text. 1579 Hermann removed ἄν to create a final clause ἵνα (or ἵν’ εὖ) πλήξειέ νιν ‘in order that he might strike her (well)’.   1580 δέ γ(ε) Reiske, ‘continuing narrative’ GP 154 (3). Metre. 1578, 9, 80.] 1581b–3  marvel: θαῦμα: in messenger-speeches e.g. Alc. 1123, Hcld. 853; cf. θαυμαστά ‘wonderful’ 1538, Hcld. 797; IT 340 θαυμάστ’ ἔλεξας; Hel. 672 θαυμαστά, an exclamation; for θαῦμα … ὁρᾶν ‘…to behold’ cf. Ion 1142 (a messenger-speech); Hipp. 1216–17 εἰσορῶσι | κρεῖσσον θέαμα δεργμάτων ἐφαίνετο ‘for (us) watching, a sight too powerful for eyes (to bear)’ (a messenger-speech). Also 1585–6 below ‘we saw an unhoped-for portent’.  (Everyone) would have heard: for this motif in a messenger-speech, with aor. indic. and ἄν, cf. positive And. 1135 and Bacc. 740 ἂν εἶδες ‘you would have seen’; negative Bacc. 1085 οὐκ ἂν ἤκουσας ‘you would not have heard’; excellent illustration by Stockert.  the thud of a blow: The M. assumed that Iph. was about to be stunned (audibly) with a heavy blow, such as that given to a large animal victim by an ‘ox-striker’ βουτύπος, Latin popa (e.g. standing on tip-toe to gain height Ap. Rhod. 2.91 cited by LSJ 1); then other assistants would hold the animal’s head up over the altar (see Diggle on Theophrastus, Characters 27.5); and the sacrificer ἱερεύς (1578, 1584) would slit its throat so that blood spattered the altar, completing the ritual correctly (see on ‘high up’ in 1584–9 n.). For the ritual as a whole see Burkert (1983) 138–40 and G. S. Aldrete, ‘Hammers, Axes, Bulls and Blood: Some Practical Aspects of Roman Animal Sacrifice’, JRS 104 (2014) 28–50, with much Greek material. The blow was not itself the

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act of slaughter; and the killing throat-cut or thrust would not be audible. For descriptions in Tragedy of how women were killed with weapons at the altar, or killed themselves or were killed by others, all in similar ‘anatomical’ detail, see Loraux (1540–1612 n.) 50–3, citing on 51 esp. Or. 1471–3 ‘Orestes (intending to kill Helen) had bent back her neck and was about to strike a black sword into her throat’, “the exact picture of a sacrifice in action”.  where in the ground … had sunk: the automatic supposition upon a sudden disappearance; it is one reaction among the mystified spectators of Oedipus’ miraculous vanishing S. OC 1656–2 (a messenger-speech). The seer Amphiaraus at A. Seven 587–8 forebodes his own remarkable death, described at E. Supp. 926 as ‘snatched living into earth’s recesses’. Later at our 1608 the M. assumes that Iph. has ‘flown’ to the gods, i.e. up to heaven or Olympus (cf. OC 1655). Greek. 1581 θαῦμα ὁρᾶν: for the inf. see 273–6 n. αἴφνης adv. is a late Greek form; the Classical adj. was αἰφνίδιος (again, Stockert is excellent).   1583 παρθένον: the subject of the dependent clause is made the object of the principal verb (one of perception): this is a Classical construction, Smyth 2182 and .b. The partitive gen. in οὗ γῆς replicates that in direct interrogative ποῦ γῆς e.g. El. 233, Tro. 191; for a relative adv. serving as indirect interrogative see perhaps ἵνα 1579 n.; Smyth 2668. [Text. οἶδεν L pres. knows is a vigorous change of tense after aor. ᾔσθετο, implying ‘no one yet knows’: but it may be just a copying error (phonetic) for εἶδεν Matthiae ‘saw’ – a simple contrast with ‘heard’, but a little prosaic? (Markland rejected it). See 524 apparatus. Metre. 1583.] 1584–9  shouted: βοᾷ δέ: a Euripidean line-beginning, in messengerspeeches e.g. And. 1124, Her. 975, Ion 1210.  (the whole army) echoed the cry: ἐπήχησε, a vociferous reaction, like the acclaim for Polyxena’s courage Hec. 553 cited in 1561–2 n.  unhoped for portent: ἄελπτον φάσμα; the words occur at Or. 879 (a surprising but encouraging sudden human presence), cf. Ion 1395 φάσμα τῶν ἀνελπίστων (the revelation of a wholly unexpected object from the past, powerful in consequence); cf. also e.g. Alc. 1123 (cited in 1581b–3 n.) ‘unexpected marvel’. For the substitution of the hind cf. esp. IT 28, 782–3; Gantz (1993) 586–7.  to the eye and a conspicuous sight: pleonasm, no doubt consciously emphatic, like Aesch. F 25e. 5–6 (text damaged) ‘…there is evidence

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from eyes. With no dimness of sight nor vainly (?did I see)’. See also Greek.  gasping and struggling: the single verb ἀσπαίρουσα, which denotes the first and connotes the second, a word in Homer used always of the dying warrior, cf. A. Pers. 977; Eur. has it of the murdered Aegisthus’ gasping and body-spasms El. 842–3 πᾶν … σῶμα … | ἤσπαιρεν. Such struggling was undignified, and feared: by Ajax before his suicide S. Aj. 833, by Cassandra before her killing A. Ag. 1293.  spattered: 1514–15 n.  high up: ἄρδην (from αἴρω ‘raise up’) gives excellent point: the blood would be widely visible; but this older meaning of the adv. (LSJ I) gave way to ‘wholly, utterly’ (LSJ II), which may have been intended here. Because the hind’s blood has spattered the altar, Calchas can claim that the ritual has been correctly completed, and that Artemis has wished not to pollute the altar with human and noble blood (1594–5) while accepting the Greeks’ sacrifice and granting their success (1596–7). Greek. 1586 μηδέ with ὁρωμένου in Classical Greek would be conditional, ‘not even were it being seen’ rather than ‘even when seen’ (which would need οὐδέ: Smyth 2728); and indeed the result of the substitution was seen.   1588 ἰδεῖν ‘to the eye’, cf. ὁρᾶν 1581 n. τὴν θέαν lit. ‘at the spectacle’, acc. of respect with διαπρεπής ‘conspicuous’ (πρέπω is ‘be clear to view’): similarly pleonastic Cretans F 472e.13 εὐπρεπὴς … ἰδεῖν, Alc. 333 εἶδος ἐκπρεπεστάτη.   1584–5 στρατὸς … εἰσιδόντες: grammatical concord by sense, not number, 427–8 n. [Metre. 1584, 6, 9.] 1590–5  unimaginable: translates πῶς δοκεῖς; lit. ‘how do you think?’, a colloquialism used to enhance narrative also Hipp. 446 (see Barrett), Hec. 1160: Stevens (1976) 39, Collard (2005) 363. This view of Calchas’ capacity for joy contrasts strongly with that of Ag. and Men. 518–21.  Commanders … common: κοίρανοι κοινοῦ: hardly a chance alliteration, and we have attempted to imitate it in our translation; its purpose must be to underline the ‘inclusiveness’ marking the Greeks now, 1545–7, 1561, 1573, 1577, 1584, and later 1598: see ‘Panhellenism’, Introduction pp. 17–18; for alliteration see 297 n. For ‘common’ cf. Ach. 967 τὸ κοινὸν … ὧν μέτ’ ἐστρατευόμην ‘the common good of my comrades-in-arms’.  mountainrunning: ὀρειδρόμος, i.e. pure (cf. 1083–4): see n. on 1574 ‘undefiled’. 1594 is a little puzzling: (1) the sense appears to be that Artemis welcomes ἀσπάζεται the hind in place of Iph. although its substitution is the god’s own act (in this respect the substitution of the ram caught in the

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thicket for Abraham’s son Isaac is a telling analogy, Genesis 22.7–13); (2) do the words μάλιστα τῆς κόρης go together, and what do they mean? Translation as rather than the girl seems likely, in which superlative and comparative ideas combine (whence the gen.), like S. Ant. 100–2 τὸ κάλλιστον … τῶν προτέρων φάος ‘the fairest light of those that ever were’, 1212–13 δυστυχεστάτην | κέλευθον … τῶν παρελθουσῶν ὁδῶν ‘the most ill-starred of paths ever gone along’; Smyth 1434. If μάλιστα τῆς κόρης do not go together, the meaning may be ‘especially welcomes the hind at a value (equivalent to that) of the girl’, as if ἀσπάζεται is used as a synonym of ἀξιοῖ ‘judges … worth’ (gen. of value, Smyth 1372): poor sense in context. Greek. 1593 βωμίαν: adj. for adv. or prep. phrase, the same word e.g. Supp. 93, And. 357; cf. χρόνιον 1099 n.; Smyth 1042. For the fem. gender of ἔλαφος see on Fr. i after the main text.   1594 ἀσπάζεται of a ‘welcome’ sacrifice may be a Hellenistic usage (Stockert, citing Schol. on Iliad 20.405 γάνυται Poseidon ‘joyed’ by youths killing a mountain bull).   1595 μιαίνοι: in a purpose-clause, an opt. in primary sequence is rare and normally extends the verb’s force from the past into the future (Smyth 2200): Artemis wished her altar to be pure then, and for evermore. Also 1618 below – but two examples so close together are surprising. [Metre. 1592, 3.] 1596–1601a  this sacrifice: just ‘this’ in the Greek, τοῦτο neut., referring to 1594–5 in total (bare ‘this’ in English will mean the hind alone, ‘this’ ταύτην in 1594); cf. 516 n. 1596b–7 repeat 1575–6, with ‘sail without harm’ πλοῦν … ἀπήμονα there reduced here to favourable voyage πλοῦν οὔριον (for which see 352).  sailing to attack: we translate πλοῦν … ἐπιδρομάς as hendiadys, lit. ‘sailing and attacks’ (53 n.). Page 195 notes vocabulary similar to 1578–1607 in Hel. 400–6; ἐπιδρομάς ends Hel. 404.  hollow bay: κοίλους μυχούς: of Aulis 660, cf. of Euboea (effectively the same bay) Tro. 84; see 660 n.  swelling … sea: οἶδμα (×20 in Eur.), cf. 704. Greek. 1598 πᾶς τις … αἶρε, 3. pers. subject with 2. pers. imperative: informal, if not colloquial, Collard (2005) 370; cf. e.g. Ar. Birds 1186 δεῦρο πᾶς χώρει ‘run here, everybody!’, Rhes. 687 ἴσχε πᾶς τις ‘hold back, everybody!’, with Fries’s n. on 680. θάρσος αἴρω: the verb of ‘heightened’ feelings or passions e.g. S. OT 914 θυμόν, Oedipus’ anxious excitement; Trac. 216 αἴρομαι ‘I am elated’; cf. αἴρεται above 919 n.

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1601b–3  burnt to ashes: κατηνθρακώθη, a vigorous verb; of Orestes’ faked ashes S. El. 58; of the Cyclops’ extinguished sight Cyc. 663. Normally parts of a sacrificed animal would be kept for eating; but the animals were fully burnt (in a ‘holocaust’) in many rites honouring Zeus or all the gods, or the dead, esp. in hero-cults: that would be appropriate for Iph.  Hephaestus’ flame: Ἡφαίστου φλογί ends verses at Ar. Wealth 661, Men. Sam. 674, also in sacrificial contexts: an echo of ritual language? (prayed) appropriately: τὰ πρόσφορα lit. ‘the appropriate things’, like Alc. 148 πράσσεται τὰ πρόσφορα ‘he prepares what is appropriate’ (for a funeral), cf. LSJ I.3. See Greek.  voyage: νόστου, to Troy: 966 n. Greek. 1603 τὰ πρόσφορα here is effectively an internal obj. to εὔχομαι (compare 1185 τίνας εὐχὰς ἐρεῖς; ‘What prayers will you say?’); not ‘prayed for what was appropriate’, the sense in e.g. 1185, 1188. [Text. The mild similarities between Ar. Wealth 661 and 1602, and 653 and 1543–4 are surely accidental; they do not justify the view of some editors that this part of IA may have influenced Ar., or of others that the writer of 1578–1629 was using verses written by the writer of 1510–77: see Page 196–9, Stockert 85–6; 1510–1629 n. paragraph beg. ‘Critics have etc.’. Metre. 1596, 9.] 1604–8  fate: Iph.’s removal by the gods is meant, not her fate in general, which has long been recognized as bad, although this was not stated explicitly until 1336–7. The phrase ‘undying glory’ is Homericheroic in register, e.g. Iliad 9.413, cf. ‘glory ever to be remembered’ 1531 above, Ε. Palamedes F 585.2 δόξα ἀθάνατος ‘immortal fame’.  I was … there … and … saw: messenger as eye-witness, claiming therefore to be clear and truthful, 1540 n.; cf. esp. S. Ajax 748 τοσοῦτον οἶδα καὶ παρὼν ἐτύγχανον ‘that much I know, and I was in fact there’, Bacc. 680, IT 1345, Supp. 651–3 etc.;.  Your daughter etc.: asyndeton in an immediate, summary confirmation: Smyth 2167a.  flown … to the gods: 1583 n. For the wide variation in poetry and mythography, whether Iph. dies at the altar (e.g. in A. Ag.), or becomes immortal (as here), or is transformed, or is translated to the land of the Taurians, all through Artemis, see Gantz (1993) 583–8; Introduction p. 3. In the OT at Judges 11.30–40 Jephtha vows to sacrifice to God the first person he meets on leaving his house if he wins a battle: it is his virgin daughter;

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she agrees to die, and is sacrificed. In Handel’s 1752 oratorio on the story the librettist Thomas Morell has Jephtha on the day of sacrifice pray that his daughter may be taken up to heaven, ‘Waft her, angels, through the skies | Far above yon azure plain’. An angel appears and obliges. The grim OT story is given a happy ending just as happens in the text of our play, whether Euripidean in design or not. Greek. 1604 has sent: πέμπει, historic pres.; 47 n. The language of 1604b–8 is clumsy: (1) 1604b ὥστε is superfluous, for πέμπω usually takes just an inf. of purpose, e.g. 99–100, 360, LSJ I.3; ὥστε emphasizes an intended result, e.g. Hipp. 1327 (see Barrett); Smyth 2271. (2) φράσαι tell and λέγει say are empty duplicates (and have differing verbal aspect); (3) 1605 the subject of κυρεῖ has (Iphigenia) must be inferred from what follows in 1606 and 1608, since imperishable glory was her objective (1376, 1383–4, 1398–9), not Ag.’s; it is he who is strictly the grammatical subject of κυρεῖ, continued from πέμπει; (4) the tense-sequence 1605 ὁποίας … pres. κυρεῖ to 1606 δόξαν aor. ἔσχεν, and the change in their subjects, are strained (see Text).   1607 παρών, ὁρῶν pres. part. as ‘imperfect’, common in such messengers’ assertions: see Collard on Supp. 649.   1608 (ἀφ)ίπτατο is a later Greek form of πέτομαι (DELG 892); σοι: dat. of interest. [Text. 1606 is moved to follow 1608 by Günther, approved by Stockert; note Diggle (1994) 410 (‘plausible had the writer been more competent’). It cures weakness (4) in Greek above, with ἔσχεν aor. now followed by ἀφίπτατο impf.] [Metre. 1604.] 1609–12  Relent … lay aside: the verse draws upon Iph.’s 1454 ‘Do not hate my father – your husband’. Clyt.’s chafing anger towards Ag. for the killing of Iph. is suggested by Pind. Pyth. 11.22–4; she defends her angry vengeance at A. Ag. 1415–20, 1432–3, 1524–9; S. El. 525–50; E. El. 1020–48. Messengers sometimes speak curtly, e.g. IT 1411, Pho. 1259–60; unless Ag. (1604) himself sent this command with the news – but Ag. did not hear 1454 or Clyt.’s menacing response 1455 ‘He has to run a fearsome challenge because of you’. When messengers do give advice, it is often veiled in deference to a master, e.g. Bacc. 769–72. But 1609 is transparently an awkward preparation for 1616–18; and it is here that the 6th century AD writer reveals himself as desk-bound, not theatre-aware (indeed, he may never have seen a tragedy performed):

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Commentary

see 1510–1632 n. on Staging.  (gods …) unexpected (by mortals): ἀπροσδόκητα: i.e. the ‘unhoped-for’ rescue of Iph. ‘by one of the gods’, 1585–6, and now their taking her to themselves, 1608, 1622. The axiom is a commonplace, e.g. Zeus sends the unexpected, Antiope F 223.104; another generalisation Alexandros F 62.  dying and living: mild hysteron proteron (1149 n.), mild effect of surprise. Cf. esp. Alc. 141–2 – ‘You can speak (of her) as both living and dead.’ – ‘And how could the same person be dead and alive?’ The same inversion also e.g. IT 718; cf. S. OT 438 ‘this day will bring you both birth and destruction’, Tiresias to the angry Oedipus. Greek. 1609 ἀφαιρέω intrans. with separative gen. (λύπης), lit. ‘take away from (your) pain’, may have a precedent in Solon fr. 5.2 τιμῆς … ἀφελών ‘taking away from (others’) honour’ and a closer analogy in Plut. Antony 53.7 τῶν δακρύων ἀφῄρει ‘left off tears’ (mss.: τὸ δακρῦον Ziegler ‘weeping’). An acc. with the trans. verb would be expected here [Text: either λύπην Hermann (cf. Med. 1150 ὁργάς τ’ ἀφῄρει ‘removed anger from’ another), or λύπας Bothe]. πάρες χόλον like μεθέμεν χόλον Iliad 1.283; πάρες τὸ μάργον ‘have done with this mad appetite!’ Cyc. 310, ‘…lamentation!’ Supp. 111; for παρίημι cf. 386 n.   1612 bare βλέπω is ‘see (the light of day), be alive’ when the context is plain, e.g. Alc. 142 above. [Metre. 1610, 12.] 1613–14  A chorus regularly speaks similar empty couplets after a messenger-speech; 1614 merely paraphrases 1611–12; compare the emptiness of the Chorus’ 1620. On the other hand, their reaction with this cliché contrasts effectively with Clyt.’s refusal to be comforted, 1615–18.  remains: μένειν does not need the translation ‘dwells’ (LSJ I.2.b): ‘remain’ is the point here, the reassurance: permanency for Iph. in the gods’ company, 1622 (but at IT 30 Artemis sends Iph. at once to the Taurians). Greek. 1613 ὡς is exclamatory, cf. e.g. Hel. 377, 455; see 1127 n., Smyth 2682a; τοι emphasizes preceding ἥδομαι, e.g. S. El. 871 ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς τοι; GP 541. [Metre. 1613.] 1615–29 [Metre. See 1510–1629 n.] 1615–18  not false consolation…?: Clyt.’s distress is not to be comforted by invented tales. She shows her bafflement by imputing

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Iph.’s theft to one of the gods, although she has just heard it was Artemis’ doing, and by her asking How am I to address you?: πῶς σε προσείπω; Is Iph. to be called mortal or immortal? The chorus put this question to their master Ag. on his victorious return from Troy A. Ag. 784–5, cf. the anxieties of the chorus beginning to salute their dead king Darius’ ghost Pers. 700–1. As to stolen: the writer has in mind how the gods stole Helen from Troy and spirited her to Egypt, e.g. Hel. 1675; cf. Or. 1498.  hideous (grief): λυγροῦ, one of the strongest Tragic adjs., e.g. of πένθος ‘grief’ also A. Cho. 17; of bodily affliction S. Phil. 1424, the hero’s repellent ulcer. Iph. ordered Clyt. to stop her tears 1433–5 and again at 1466; a director might have her disobey at 1466. Greek. 1616 With μύθους as subject of pass. παραμυθεῖσθαι, the normal act. and cognate acc. are reversed. Stockert unconvincingly takes the verb as ‘persuade otherwise’, citing Or. 298 where the coupling with ἰσχναίνω ‘reduce a swelling’ suggests rather ‘comfort’.   1618 σου for you is objective gen., with πένθος also e.g. Alc. 426; Smyth 1331 and 1331.a. παυσαίμην opt. in primary sequence (φῶ subj. 1616): 1595 n. [Text. 1616 δ’ οὐ L is correct, the negative effectively fusing with φημί so that the μή regular in a deliberative question is put aside (see Smyth 2692a). It is surprising that Tr3 wrongly ‘emended’ to δὲ.] 1619–20  But look: καὶ μήν is an entry-cue, most commonly from a chorus; GP 356. Greek. ἔχω and acc. and infin. of purpose: Smyth 2008. [Text. 1620 αὐτοὺς L ‘same (words)’, the surmise that Iph. is now ‘with the gods’ 1608 and the consolation it should bring to Clyt., 1609a: but αὐτὸς Heath ‘himself’ is tempting, putting weight on Ag.’s personal intention to repeat the double reassurance 1621–2.] 1621–6  we may be happy etc.: in his delight over Iph., Ag. now quite forgets the irresistible pressure on himself to sacrifice her (1255–75); in a rare nice touch from this writer, Ag.’s excitement makes him interpose the fleet’s readiness to sail between instructions to Clyt. to take Orestes home and a perfunctory and cold farewell to her. ‘happy’: ὄλβιοι: the word possibly chosen in recollection of Ag.’s 161, his doubt of such mortal happiness.  because of our daughter: the same use of ἕνεκα as of Helen, 1392–7 n.  keeps company: ἔχει … ὁμιλίαν: Hippolytus claimed the special company of Artemis Hipp. 19, 1441; Heracles had that of the gods

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Hcld. 872 (verb ὁμιλέω). boy: Ag.’s hope for Orestes is left to implication, but Iph. was explicit, 1450: see 1447–52 n.  it will be a long time before: the force of χρόνιος, of things e.g. Ion 1615, Hel. 1232. Compare El. 1333 λοίσθιά μοι προσφθέγματά σου ‘my final words to say to you’. Note that Ag. makes no mention of ‘sending letters home’ (115–16); and beneath his optimism lies an awareness that the war will indeed be a long one. In A. Ag. 863–74 Clyt. speaks only of reports from Troy, not personal messages; our passage recalls 914–16 there, ‘your speech was like my absence – you stretched it out at great length.’  has its voyage in prospect: see Greek. Cf. Hec. 1289–90 ‘In truth, I already see winds here to send us home’, where, as here, the immediately following choral tailpiece 1293–5 unusually stems directly from this thought. Cacoyannis’ film of IA ends with the blowing of the winds.  And farewell: καὶ χαῖρε, an abrupt leavetaking, and May all be well for you is likewise cursory. Both are formulaic, the former e.g. Hipp. 1437, the latter e.g. Alc. 626–7; see further on 1627–9 ‘rejoicing … rejoicing’. Greek. 1621 γενοίμεθ’ ἄν we may be (happy): opt. with ἄν, English idiom for ‘we will prove to be’: Smyth 1828.   1622 the adv. ὄντως, predominantly a word of 4th century prose, in fact occurs 4 times in Eur.   1623 μόσχον here ‘male-calf’, i.e. boy (used in metaphor even for a lion-cub Bacc. 1185); lit. ‘heifer’, it is common as ‘young girl’, e.g. Hec. 206, 526 (cf. 1083 n. above). Similarly πῶλος ‘filly’ is often used for a young woman e.g. And. 621, Hec. 142, but as ‘colt’ of a young man A. Cho. 794 (Orestes), Pho. 947.   1624 πρὸς (πλοῦν) ὁρᾷ: ‘looks to, has in prospect’, in expectation; the phrase e.g. El. 377, often to persons e.g. Her. 81; without the prep. Hec. 901 πλοῦν ὁρῶντας. 1627–9  The Chorus ignore Clyt. in their final words; the lines in fact rework 1525–31, their wishes for Ag.’s glory.  rejoicing … (return) rejoicing: χαίρων twice, playing on the double meanings of the greeting χαῖρε, ‘farewell’ and ‘welcome’. An audience or a reader will appreciate the irony, if they recall Clyt.’s welcome for Ag. in Aeschylus, Ag. 855– 972; see the chorus at Ag. 1238, darkly, ‘she seems to rejoice at his safety in returning’.  spoils (from Troy): σκῦλα as e.g. El. 7, Tro. 574; foretold for Philoctetes by Heracles S. Phil. 1428. Neither Men. nor Ag. had mentioned spoils from Troy, only its sack.  finest is κάλλιστα, the adj. for spoils in Rhes. 620; but κάλλιστα is lit. ‘most beautiful’, and indeed at A. Ag. 954–5 Ag. refers to the captive girl Cassandra as the

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‘choice flower among the many riches’ taken from Troy, cf. Tro. 414. And is the recovery of Helen herself hinted? Her beauty was stated in 386 above.  (winning) me: i.e. ‘for me’: surprising: these are wives from Chalcis; but the city was a partner in the force sent to Troy, Iliad 2.537. The wish is consistent perhaps with the Chorus’ sentiments towards Ag. in 1528–31, with their admiring curiosity about the Greeks 171, 189– 91, 293–302, and with their confidence that Troy will fall [773–80]; it is ironic too that here they forget their sympathy in 785–93 for Troy’s women, doomed to dreadful suffering. 1629  All leave: see 1510–1629 n. under Staging. Doubtful fragments and testimonies Fr. i:  attributed to the play’s exodos by Porson (earlier to its prologue by Musgrave); the words ‘And I shall place … your daughter’ would be spoken by Artemis, appearing as ‘god’ at play-end: see our 1532–1629 n. on Text; Introduction p. 53.  their own (hands): the word φίλαις, perhaps ‘their dear (hands)’, means little without its immediate context; so Monk conjectured the substitution of λάθρᾳ ‘(place) unnoticed (in the Achaeans’ hands…)’. Fr. ii:  Unbreakable: ἄθραυστα: Hesychius’ gloss ‘unforeseeable’ makes little sense etymologically. Hemsterhuys had referred the word to IA 57 (Tyndareus forcing his oath upon the suitors of Helen), substituting it for ἄριστα ‘best’ with the meaning ‘unbreakably’: see n. there. Fr. iii:  ‘You halcyons etc.’: the quotation is from Aristophanes’ brilliant parody of Eur.’s lyric monodies, Frogs 1309–63. The four verses no doubt contain some of Eur.’s actual words, but it is guesswork, which words they are. They certainly do not come from the text-version of IA which we read, and have been attributed at a venture either to IT or to Hypsipyle. Kannicht in TrGF 5.889–90 gives full details of the complex scholia on these lines in Aristophanes, and of modern discussions; see also Collard-Cropp (2008) VIII 481 n. 1.

ADDENDA TO VOLUMES 1 AND 2 p. 4 On the myth before Euripides see now also Parker 2016, xix–xxx (IA on xxvii), and on Euripides and Iphigenia xxx–xxxix p. 5 n. 7 For Iphigenia and cult at Brauron see now Parker 2016 xvi–xviii, 346–7. p. 7 n. 15 We share Bremmer’s scepticism over a report that skeletal remains recently found on Mount Lykaion indicate that the ancient Greeks practised human sacrifice (The Guardian 10 August 2016). Doubt of the historicity of human sacrifice also by M. Jost in D. Ogden (ed.), A Companion to Greek Religion (Malden MA 2010) 267; see too Parker 2016, xviii n. 17. p. 23 n. 58 For Clytemnestra as the blameless wife see now J. Radding, ‘Clytemnestra at Aulis: Euripides and the Reconsideration of a Tradition’, GRBS 55 (2015) 832– 62. p. 39 On IA in the 16th century and after, and esp. Racine’s play, see Parker 2106, l–lii, lxv. p. 43 On the Mnouchkine production Les Atrides see also D. Wiles, Mask and Performance in Greek Tragedy (Cambridge 2007) 100–1 (on the use of masks). p. 47 Note. On Euripides’ dialogue trimeters see also Parker 2016, lxxvi–lxxix, lxxxi–lxxxv; on metres in tragedy lxxx-xcvii, esp. xcii–iv on aeolo-choriambic. p. 48 Parker on ‘dramatic progression’: see also Parker 2016, lxxxvii–iii. p. 55 A fresh and detailed account of the manuscript tradition and editing of IT, like the IA an ‘alphabetical’ play, is given by Parker 2016, xcvii–cvi. p. 59 On Monk’s approach to editing IA see Collard 2007, 238 and 240. p. 248 6–11 n., para. 2, the Pleiades marking the end of the sailing-season: cf. S. Nauplius the Fire-Kindler F 432.11 κυνὸς ψυχρὰν δύσιν ‘the cold setting of the Dog-star’, with the n. in A. S. Sommerstein and T. H.Talboy, Sophocles. Select Fragmentary Plays II (Oxford 2012) 167–8. p. 250 end of 12–16a n., walls: cf. S. Nauplius the Fire-Kindler F 432.11 ‘(Palamedes) invented a wall for the Argive army’, with the n. in Sommerstein and Talboy (above, p. 248) 165. p. 261 66–7 n. Greek, εὖ πως: add Hel. 712, Pho. 1126. p. 264 71b–3 n. line 3: for ἀνθρώπων cf. also Theocr. 15.107 ἀνθρώπων ὡς μῦθος, where Dover comments ‘strengthens an argument’.

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p. 301 194b–8 n., draughts: cf. S. Nauplius the Fire-Kindler F 429 ‘(Palamedes invented) five-line draughts and dice-throwing’, with description of the game and further references, in Sommerstein and Talboy (above p. 248) 165. p. 336 356–7 n., ‘speech within speech’: cf. R. Nünlist, ‘Speech within speech in Menander’, in A. Willi (ed.), The Language of Greek Comedy (Oxford 2002) 219–59, esp. 220–6. p. 376 509 n., ἀπέπτυσα I detest: lit. ‘I spit (it) out’: useful references by Matthiessen in his edns of Hecuba (both 2008 and 2010), at line 1276; unlikely to be a colloquialism, however: Collard (2005) 375. p. 418, para. 1, Ag. speaks to Iph.’s back as she leaves to enter the hut. This device usually carries threats or insults, and rarely good wishes, in Tragedy, where the words are seldom meant to be heard: see Taplin 1977, 221–2. At 742 Ag. has no parting words for Clyt. when she reluctantly obeys him and also goes inside. p. 460 861 n. ἕσταμεν ‘we stand waiting’: cf. Ar. Av. 1308, Lys. 424; Headlam on Herodas 5.40. p. 461 862 and 863 nn. For the word μόνος ‘alone’, and in similar circumstances, see Headlam on Herodas 6.70 αὐταὶ γάρ ἐσμεν ‘we’re by ourselves’. p. 486 970–2 n. Greek, τις: the idiom may have a colloquial pedigree: Collard (2005) 361–2. p. 505 1049–53 n. ὑπαγκάλισμα: cf. also S. Trac. 539–40 δύ’ οὖσαι μίμνομεν μιᾶς ὑπὸ | χλαίνης ὑπαγκάλισμα. p. 587–8 1375 μοι δέδοκται: at Ar. Wasps 485 Biles and Olson print the ms. reading ἢ δέδοκταί μοι and approve Stockert’s interpretation; Wilson’s OCT however reads ἢ δέδοκταί τοι (Platnauer), and cites MacDowell’s conjecture καὶ. p. 605 top, Iphigenia at Brauron: see Addenda for Vol. 1, p. 5 n.7. p. 620 Art, end of para. 1: Parker 2016 p. xx n. 26 has ‘The earliest undoubted representation on a pot of the sacrifice of Iphigenia is on a white-ground lecythus by Duris of c. 490–480 BC. It shows her dressed as a bride, with her name inscribed before her face’ (she is being led by a named [T]eukros (Teucer) to an altar named for Ar[temis]; this is LIMC V.1.709 ‘Iphigenia’ no. 3), and ‘A protoattic crater of 650–630 BC has been conjecturally identified as depicting the death of Iphigenia’ (this is LIMC V.1.709 no. 2).

INDEXES All references are to page-numbers: pp. i–xii and 1–233 are in Vol. 1 and pp. 235–645 in Vol. 2. General Index Necessarily very selective, for reasons of space, especially for names of playcharacters, mythical and actual names and places, and some topics. There are longer entries, with sub-categories, for: play-characters (each by name), Chorus, adjectives, apposition, Art, article (definite), dramaturgy, Euripides, metre, nouns, plural, pronouns, sacrifice and its rituals, staging, text of IA, themes, verb, words. Abraham and Isaac 639 abstractions personified 453, 461, 512 Achaeans = ‘Greeks’ 271 Achilles, etymology of name 507 characterized 23–4, 278, 422, 446– 7, 452, 457, 459, 467, 475, 490, 580–1 education 24, 302, 389–90, 424, 425, 454, 477 prominence, in parodos 289; his ships 307, 315–16; physical prowess 302, 303, 309 ‘stranger’ 459, 570, 571, 578, 586 his scorn for Men. 481 like a god 487, 491 as potential husband 421–3, 484–5, 598 prophecy about him 500–1 and/with Clyt. 446–58, 467–500 and/with Iph. 271, 467–8, 570–1, 574–5, 579, 586, 596–602; will save her 480, 482, 493, 570; at her sacrifice 601, 619, 632–4 and his Myrmidons 570–1, 578–9 deceived 271, 275, 278, 468, 479, 485

changes his mind 2, 18, 496, 571 criticized 579, 580, 586, cf. 24 in the Iliad 15, 451, 477, 481, 483, 484, 486, 508, 599 adjectives, of 2 terminations 306, of 3 296 as noun 306, 486, 591, cf. 506 as adv. 639, (dat.) 489 replacing adv. 516 negative, accumulated 250 adverb, rel., as interrog. ?635, 637 Aenians 314 Aeschylus, Oresteia 35 n. 87, 571, cf. Index Locorum Choephori 31 Seven against Thebes 30 Agamemnon, etymology of name 328 characterized 19–22, 281, 333–4, 381, 363–4, 407, 495 as father 269, 526, 534, 544, 551, 643 ambitious 251, 324, 351, 353, 539; command 12, 20, 237, 266–7, 33l–3, 336 his deceit 1, 2, 272, 279–80, 381, 385, 419, 421, 445, 468, 513, 527

650

Indexes

Agamemnon contd. and/with Clyt. 364–5, 417–43, 513–24, 551–5, 620–1, 643–4 and/with Iph. 365, 366, 407, 409, 413–17, 526–7, 541–55 and/with Men. 266–7, 270, 318, 323–5, 358–84, 554 changes his mind 18, 19, 21, 243, 323, 330–1, 334, 337, 338, 348, 353, 381, 523 moral collapse 407–8, 446, 515 amid necessity 360, 377 in torment 235–7, 241, 254, 270, 275, 335–6, 354, 360, 361, 363– 7, 407, 412, 413, 417–18, 431, 551; groans 523, 629, uses many interjections 360; veils himself 39, 620, 630 agon 321, 323–6, 327, 335, 337, 351, 359–60, 468, 514, 522 anti-agon 325–6, 351, 359–60, 369 Ajax, son of Oileus 300, 378 of Telamon 289, 300, 315–16 Alexandros/Paris 546, 560; see Paris altar(s) 282, 601, 612, 613, 615, 624– 5, 633, 635–9, see sacrifice ambiguity 414–15, 417, 421 anachronism 282, 332–3 anacoluthon 565, 577 animal names 276–7 antilabe 247, 283, 320, 430, 523, 572– 3, 628 antithesis 251, 265, 269, 279, 337, 381, 391, 499, 519, 568, 580, 582 Aphrodite 31, 262, 298, 384–9, 552–3, 562–3 at her full, 389 Athenian cults of 386 Apollo, temple at Troy 437 bay-tree 437 and prophecy 436–7, 507

apostrophe in Eur. 353, 393, 444, 452, 465, 522, 558, 561, 612 apposition, nouns 310, 617, (name) 575, noun (accus.) to clause 306, 519; cf. nouns, accus. of infin. to clause 582 of clause to ἕν 494 with change of number 555 problematic 259, 627 Ares 438, 478, his dragon 311 Arethusa, nymph and spring 295–6 Argives 308, 509, 629, 631, = ‘Greeks’ 271 Argos = Mycenae 274, 308, 312, 612, cf. 289, 430, 617 Aristophanes of Byzantium 53 army (the Greek) 28–9, 266, 286, 293–4, 296, 299, 307, 353, 382, 400, 495, 552 arrival of Clyt., Iph. and Or. 351–2 reactions to 352–4, 356–7, 360, 367 Art, pots and vases 38, 275, 301, 319, 328, 352, 385, 398, 406, 448, 502, 574, 632, Addenda to p. 620 see also ‘Homeric’ bowls, mosaic 515, wall-painting 39, 620 Artemis, virginal 426, goddess of girls 12, but also of marriage 357, 426 and human sacrifice 7; of Iph. 298, 626, 634 changes her mind 19; selfcontradictory nature 633–4 and beasts 633 and moon 634 and winds 5–6, 568 at Aulis 269, 357, 602, 609, 616, at Brauron 4–5, 269 at play-end 19, 56, 622–3, 645 criticized 27–8, 31, 595–6, 626 article, definite, with proper names 412, 423, 437

Indexes

as pronoun 311, rel. pron. 303, 316, with poss. pron. 348, poss. gen. 439 neut., with abstractions, with infin. 364, with part. 253, dependent words 596 other idioms 248, 252, 298, 300, 495, 569, 579 omitted with coupled nouns 400, 403 in voc. case 405 asides 413 (×2), 417, 517, 523, 524 assonance 347, 348, 386, 411, 422, 427, 478, 638 asyndeton 283, 346, 445, 471, 480, 485, 491, 509, 546, 548, 549, 594, 599, 640; repeated 584 explanatory 362, 375, 413, 486, 533, 625 Athena 309 Athens 289, 303, 309, 341 Atreus 369–70, 375–6, 545, 607, Atreids 550 pun on his name 328, 608 Aulis 249, 266, 277, 295, 414, 567; topography 277; winds at 5–6, 556; military camp at 1, 22 babies, exposed in Eur. 560, killed 529, 530 barbarians 1, 15 Trojans as 15 polarity with Greeks 17, 244 slavish 593, 595 beard, in supplications 472 beatitudes 386, 398 black, funeral 604 Boeotians 310, 311 Brauron 4–5, 269, 605 breath, god’s 262, 437 brothers, see family burial: a right 605

651

Cacoyannis, M., Iphigenia 41–2 Calchas, his prophecy 241–2, 269, 270, 273, 328, 378–9, 381, 464, 483, 552, 615 and Ag. 268–9, 378 and Men. 378, 432 at Iph.’s sacrifice 432, 632, 635, 638 carriages 282, 284, 397, 404, cf. chariot entries cases, see nouns catalogues, in poetry 291–3, 294–5 Chalcis 249, 295, 616, 645 chance, see themes changes of mind 2, 18–20, 25–8, e.g. 324, 330, 331, 348, 351, 359–60, 369, 381, cf. Ach., Ag., Art., Clyt., Iph., Men., Old Man chariot(s), entries in Tragedy 397 racing 304–5 chiasmus 265, 368, 378, 423, 425, 534, 550 children 515, 529–30, 547–8, cf. infants Chiron, and Achilles 302, 389–90, 424–5, 477 makes prophecies 506, 507 Chorus of IA 30–3 identity and sympathies 16, 30–1, 32, 286, 349, 574, 645 married 30–1, 297, 387, 388, blushing 299 ignored 461, silences 286, 408 moralise 349, 384–6, 512–13 criticize gods 31, 595–6 and Iph. 611 odes (stasima), content and structure 384–6, 434–5, 500–3 couplets in dialogue 32, 325, 342, 348, 359, 368, 374–5, 488, 514, 541, 550, 559, 570, 572, 574, 595–6 (×4), 642 as play-tailpiece 644–5

652

Indexes

Clytemnestra, characterized 22–3, 458, 462–3, 467–9, 474, 524–5, 527, 528, 529, 531, 539, 540, 574, 627, 643; beauty 447, 453 sense of shame 18, 34–5, 457, 470, 488, 491, 574–6 and/with Ach. 455, 467–500, esp. 467, 470, 471, 472, 487–8 and/with Ag. 4, 364–5, 408, 430, 516–24, 525, 528, 529, 535, 537, 602, 607, 608 and/with Iph. 408–9, 468, 520, 532, 546, 602, 608, 610 changes her mind 2, 18 supplicates, Ach. 467–74, Ag. 525– 39 has no lyrics 556 colloquialisms, certain or suggested 256, 271, 274, 282, 284, 320, 321, 327, 330, 331, 338, 339, 342, 345, 346, 349, 356, 357 (×2), 364, 365, 375, 378, 382, 410, 411 (×2), 415, 430, 428, 451, 455, 457, 466, 467, 471, 478, 480, 483, 493 (×2), 505, 517, 522, 524 (×2), 533, 538, 546, 551, 555, 576 (×2), 578, 582, 588, 589, 596, 599, 604, 605, 607, 609, 610, 638, 639 colour(s) 264, 297, 299, 393, 418, 437, 463, 502, 510, 582, 603, 604, 606 comic elements? 319, 402, 447, 461, 633 Comedy, New 240, 246, 254, 257, 319, 320, 321, 352, 447, 475, 498 conditions, mixed 371, 474, 522, 599, cf. verb, indic., fut. construction of ‘whole and part’ 280, 443, 510 coryphaeus 368 costume 401–2 curse(s) 407, 414, self- 482

Cyclopean 282, 312, 382, 617 Cypris, see Aphrodite daimon 361 Danaans, = ‘Greeks’ 271 dance 416, 503, 504, 505–6, 612–13, 614 death/life 36, 549, 602 deception 1–2, 3, 14, 20 n. 48, 23, 31 n. 78, 236, 272, 335, 351, 383, 513, 527, 587, cf. Ach., Ag. democracy 12–14, 15, 332–4 and Athenian fleet 13, 309, 317, 332–3, 340 demons, alastores 464, 481 desire, sexual 387, 484 destiny, see Themes dialect forms, Aeolic 284, 394 Attic 457 Doric 277, 284 (×2), 302, 311, 316, 393, 394, 438, 440, 505, 507, 559, 564, 608 Epic/Ionic, and usages 284, 303, 349, 356, 428, 440, 441, 605, 626 Diomedes 301, 308 Dioscuri 430, 438–9, 530 Dipolieia, Athenian festival 9 ‘direct speech in speech’ 336, 366, 451, 544, in lyric 434, 442, 507 dramaturgy, inept 620, 621 dramatic time 287, 516 see also agon, asides, children, infants, entries, exits, mutes, offstage, silences, staging, violence draughts (board-game) 300–1 eaves-dropping: see Old Man ecphrasis 292, 294 education 302, 384, 389–90, 393, 477 Electra 409, 429, 605–6 ellipse, of verb in appeals 472, 609

Indexes

of εἰμί with pres. part. 341 emblems, on ships 291, 292, 307, 309, 310, 313 emotions, devices for 360, 367, 514, cf. metre, lyric enallage 437, 545, 604 enjambement 258, 263, 264, 273, 366, 372, 399, 403, 417, 484, 487, 494, 498, 519, 539, 543, 550, 555, 599 Ennius, Iphigenia 30 n. 76, 38, 247, 286, 329–30, 344, cf. Index Locorum entries 237, 318–19; motivated 327; unannounced 351–2, 458, 459, 612; contrived 515, 620; ‘talking’ entries 319 Epic (linguistic) features 244, 256, 289, 296, 301, 306, 393, 540, 548 Erasmus, translator 20, 39, 369, 582 Eris (Strife) 501 Eros 385, 387 etymology of names, see names Euboea 277, 295, bridge to 295 revolt of 16 Eugenios (scholar, 5/6th cent.) 622 Euripides, death, when and where 12, 14 his son or nephew produces IA 37, 235 voluntary human sacrifice in 8–9, 11– 12, 36–7, 555, 594, 596, 629–35 and women 592–3 and contemporary events 12–14, 16–17 repeats own wording 275, 402 ‘dithyrambic’ style 47, cf. 49–50, 434, 557–8 Alcmeon in Corinth 37 n. 91, 235 Alexandros 560 Andromeda, prologue 240 Bacchae 31, 33 n. 78, 37 Erechtheus, Praxithea in 532, 549, 551, 584, 591, 629, 630, 631, 633

653

Hecuba, Polyxena in 8, 10, 35 n. 87, 270, 280, 365, 408, 418, 471, 510, 549, 579, 582, 590, 602, 605, 606, 608, 610, 618, 625, 629–35, 637, cf. Index Locorum Heraclidae, the Maiden (Macaria) in 565, 572, 590 (×2), 593, 594, 596, 600, 606, 613, 629, 630 (×2), 632, 632 (×2), 634 Iphigenia at Aulis, first performance 37, 55, 235, cf. Reception Palamedes 288 Phoenissae, chorus in 32 Menoeceus in 514, 591, 615, 629, 630 Euripus 19, 249, 295, 296, 450, 568 Eustathius of Thessalonica 51 Exekias, vase-painter 301 exits, abrupt 555; abandoned 351, 352, 447, 458 exodos (authentic) (inauthentic) 619–45 eyes, raised in scorn 343

570–619,

fairy-tale and folk-lore, and myth 6 family 1, 2, 4, 20, 21–2, 23, 25, 44, 257, 312, 323–5, 330, 334, 353–4, 359, 365, 369–71, 373, 374–5, 375–6, 406–8, 464, 514–15, 520, 533, 534, 545–6, 548, 550, 572, 591, 605, 607 farewells 617, 618, 644 fate 37, 611, Fate (Moira) 361 figura etymologica 367, 446 fortune 335, 359, 361, and god 596 Fortune 461; see also themes freedom, Greek 27, 554, 556–7, 595 Iphigenia’s ‘freedom’ 491 François Vase 502 friendship, see philia, φιλία

654

Indexes

Ganymedes 500, 505 garlands 358, 471, 501, 612, 632 gestures 337, 368, 402, 427, 430, 470, 534, 610 glory, see themes Gluck, W., Iphigénie en Aulide 40 gods (and men) 237, 252, 335, 346–7, 350, 382, 400, 449, 499, 513, 593, 597–8, 640, 642, 643 gold, highlighted 304, 307, 441, 500, 632 Gorgias 542 gratitude 488, 494 Greeks: motives for Troy 22 /barbarians 324, 340, 527, 554–5, 584, 588, 589, 594–5 Hades 365–6, 415, ‘bride of’ 365–6, 501 hair, colour 297; cut in mourning 604; dragging by 582–3 hands, right: significance 260, 368, 454, 462, 472 hearing as verification 357, 436 heifer(s) 9, 393, metaphoric 276, 509– 10, 518 Helen, etymology of name 262, 371, 566, 613 and the swan myth 443, cf. Leda her suitors 258, 260, 287 and Paris 264, 265, 384, 392, 395, 441, 443, 540, 554, 556, 563, 588 and Men. 29, 262–3, 324, 369, 372, 539 anonymous as ‘woman’ 592 will go unpunished? 312–13, 539, 540 hendiadys 259, 327, 335, 342, 376, 560, 615, 639 Hephaestus 508, 640 Hera 426, 430, 502, 562–3 Hermes 564

Hermione 371, 540 hind, replacing Iphigenia 637–8, 640 holocaust 640 ‘Homeric’ bowls 37 n. 93, 38, 275, 319, 328, 352, 398, 406, 448, 515, 574, cf. Art hope 495, a god 346 humour 427, 434, grim 535 Hymen 366, Hymenaeus 358, 503–4 hysteron proteron 528, 536, 564, 642 Icke, R., Oresteia 43 n. 113 Ida, Mt 384, 392, 556, 558, 560, 561, 562 infants, babies on stage 353–4, 515, 557, 573 intellectualism, contemporary 512, see also Sophists interpolation, certain or suspected 56– 9, 238–43, 272, 278, 284, 293–5, 318, 342, 350, 352–4, 374, 376, 379, 381, 386, 397, 398–9, 401–2, 409, 426–7, 412, 428, 431, 433, 439, 446, 450, 456, 469, 474–5, 477, 479, 482, 484, 485, 487, 496, 497, 503, 510, 515–16, 519, 521, 541, 547, 554, 558–9, 559, 574, 586, 589, 596, 597–8, 600–2, 603–4, 606, 614, 614–15, 618–19, 621–4, 629 Iphigenia, etymology of name 28 characterization 25–8, 555, 583– 96, 599, 602, 619, 630, 631 her reasoning 36–7, 549, 583–4, 592–3, 595, 598 and glory 36–7, 583–4, 587, 590, 594, 602, 604, 605, 641 and Greece 583–96, 588, 605, 612, 630 changes her mind 18–19, 36, 38, 527, 549, 556–7, 570–1, 583– 96, 598, 600–1

Indexes

supplicates 366, 543–5 and/with Ach. 409, 570, 571, 572, 583–602, 586, 592, 598 and/with Ag. 407, 408–18, 514–15, 517–18, 521, 525–6, 527, 541– 50, 566–7, 607 and/with Clyt. 401, 574–6, 585, 602, 606, 607, 610 as sacrifice 269, 365–6, 612, 613– 14, 624 her after-life 4–5, 619, 640, 643–4 and Brauron 4–5, 269, 605 her monody 555–70; her hymn to Artemis 612–17 irony 353, 357, 358, 361, 395, 399, 409, 410 (×2), 419, 421, 426, 428, 447, 449, 507, 524, 533, 537, 542, 552–3, 571, 592, 595, 601, 644 Isaac 639 Jephtha, and Handel, G. 640–1 Judgement of Paris, see Paris kisses (Ag. and Iph.) 417, 544, 546–7 lacuna, see text (ms. L) lamp, lantern 235, 237, 254 Leda 257, 438, 443, 444, 517, 530, 576 letter(s), see tablet life / death 549, 598, 602 litotes 425, 432, 635 locus amoenus 298, 502, 561–2, 629 Lumley, Lady Jane, translator 39 love 26–7, 265, 384–5, 387–9, 391, ‘in the eyes’ 395 Maiden in Heraclidae: see Euripides manuscript, see text marriage 1, 11–12, 22–3, 27, 261, 352,

655

357–8, 366, 386, 401, 403, 406–7, 409, 419, 423, 424, 433, 454, 455, 465, 471, 594 rituals 357–8, 415, 416, 423, 426, 427, 429, 502, 518 of Peleus and Thetis 500–9 masks 344, 364, 402, 472, 610 Menelaus, characterized 20–1, 320, 323–4, 369 and/with Ag. 18–20, 236, 323, 358–84 and Helen 29, 261–2, 324, 344, 369, 371, 372, 384, 584 and Iph. 358, 372 and/with Old Man 318–23 changes his mind 18, 20, 354, 359– 60, 369–74; sincere? 369–70 a ‘fixer’ 14, 340, 351, 378, 446 Menoeceus in Phoenissae: see Eur. messenger, scenes 351–9, 619, 621, 628–42 speeches, features of 352, 356, 627, 628–9 ( esp. Eur.), 630, 631, 636, 637, 640, 641 metaphors 262, 281, 301, 317, 330, 345, 350, 360, 362, 382, 387, 391, 418, 420, 472, 485, 489, 495, 507, 508, 512, 531, 546, 564, 577, 607, 615, 627, 634 metonymy 266, 307, 309, 341, 357, 438, 552, 603 metre, prosody 262, 308, 350, 404, 452, 474, 487, 579 dialogue iambic trimeters 45, ‘conservative’ 319, of 3 words 372, 530, 606, resolutions in 367, 376, 622, ‘2 foot anapaests’ 354, 374, 523, 533, 538, 545, 623, caesura 497, 499, 534, ‘Porson’s Law’ 258, 375, 381, 460, 467, 608, 623

656

Indexes

metre contd. ‘broken’ 352, 418, 571 (cf. antilabe), part-line 522; post-Classical 623; see also enjambement dialogue trochaic tetrameters 45, 326, 327, 330, 572–3, 577, 584, 596 anapaests 46, 283 lyric 46–7, ‘ethical’ interpretation 48–50 aeolo-choriambic 47, 290, 385–6, 434–5, 503 iambo-trochaic 46–7, 290, 294, 503, 558, 613 strophic structure 287–90, 309, 310, 385–6, 434–5, 500–2, 556, 558, 612–13, cf. music Mitchell, K., director of IA 42 Mnouchkine, A., producer of Les Atrides 43 monody 555–8, 612 monologue 359–60 mosaic, see Art music 38, 46–50, 53, 384, 393, 416, 500, 501, 503–4, 516, 527, 542, 559, 560 mutes 609, 613, 619, see Staging Mycenae, see Argos, Μυκήνη Myrmidons 28, 307, 451, 492, 508, 577–9 myth questioned 443–5, of Iphigenia 3–6, 26, 29 names, etymology and play on 28, 253, 262, 328, 371, 507, 566 name/body, reality etc. 244, 480, word/ action 278–9 Nausicaa, and marriage 261, 282, 357, 409 ‘naval mob’ 13, 473, 498, 579 necessity, see themes

Neoptolemus, 4th cent. actor 37 Nereus 423, 467, 482, Nereids 307, 505 Nicias 333–4 night, significance at play’s start 235, 237, 246, 248, 284 Nireus 292, 302 nouns, cases accus., cognate 394, 410, internal 304, 442, 506, 611, 640, proleptic 328, 329, 392, 406, 509, 566, 606, of ‘whole and part’ 443, 510, adverbial 337, 343, (-αν fem.) 355–6, appositional 454, 565, cf. apposition. gen., objective 262, 356, 373, 426, 442, 451, 455, 485, 518, 534, 565, 643, partitive 333, 581, 583, separative 432, 442 causal 253, 329, 341, 559 descriptive 545 comparative 579, with superlative 639 dat., of relation 400, 553, 586, and advantage 481, 482, 517, 545, 575, 587, comit.-instrum. 307, constituent 255, 307, directional 255, 280, locative 568, purposive ?307 oaths 6 n. 10, 20, 21, 236, 258, 260, 347, 370, 430, 571, 598–9, cf. Tyndareus O’Brien, E., Iphigenia 42–3 Odysseus, son of Sisyphus 380, 581 characterized 380, 382, 581, devious 288, motivation 380–1, 581, as demagogue 380–2 off-stage 28–30, 401, 458, 513, 575, 597 persons there addressed 319, 517–18 onomatopoeia 511, 580 optative, see verb

Indexes

Old Man, characterized 25, a slave 250, 256, 460 loyalties 18, 250, 256–7, 272, 283, 285, 320, 458, 460, 462 anxieties 238, 459, 460 eavesdrops 320, 458 changes his mind 18, 25, 458 and/with Ag. 249–50, 253, 256, 272, 274–5, 275–6, 280, 458 and/with Clyt. 256, 458, 462 Orestes, esp. whether in IA at all? 4, 56, 353–4, cf. 398, 402, 406, 515, 516, 519, 521, 547, 557, 573 Orpheus, ‘persuasive’ 542 Oxford Archive of Performances 41 oxymoron 320–1, 343 paean 610–11 Panhellenism 1, 15–18, 236, 293, 334, 335, 340, 350, 354, 578, 584, 638 papyri, see Text paregmenon 265, 366, 567 parenthesis 263, 316, 337, 365, 417, 481–2, 530, 541 Paris, name Alexandros 560 exposed at birth 556, 560, oxherd on Mt Ida 384, 560, 561 Oriental glitz 263–4, sexuality 562–3 and Helen 264, 265, 384, 392, 394, 395, 540 Judgement of, 263, 264–5, 298, 384, 394–5, 556, 561–4 parodos 285–91, 296, 320, 393 Parthenon frieze 10 n. 24 participles, see verb particles, numerous 558, absent 566, cf. asyndeton, Greek Index Pelasgus, Pelasgia 617 Peleus 424, 449, 450, 481, 500–9 Pelion, Mt 424, 500, 504–5

657

Peloponnesian War 16–17 Pelops 20, 369–70, 375, 545 Pergamum 440 periphrasis (εἰμί and part.) 307 personification, various 317, 346, 362, 419, 453, 461, 480, 481, 512 (×2), 580, cf. 496 persuasion 244, 272, 542 philia, friendship etc. 26, 33 n. 78, 331, 333–4, 349, 350, 351, cf. φιλία Phrygia(ns) 264, 412, 441 Phthia 425, 450, 483 Pierides (Muses) 500–1, 502, 504 pipe(s), musical 393, 501, 503, 511 pity 366, 368, 370, 372, 468–9, 473, 514, 515, 519, 520, 526, 548, 551, 574 Pleiades 248 pleonasm 279, 302, 370, 390, 415, 432, 474, 509, 625, 627, 637, 638 plural, verb, single subject 356, 474; plur. allusive to sing. 320, 321, 496, 517, 532, change to sing. 528 nouns, abstract, in 248–9, 389, 390, 399 masc., of women 348, 453 politics, contemporary 12–14, 15–18, 21 n. 50, 251–2, 332–4, 338–9, 340, 362–3, 376, 450 Polygnotus, painter 301 polyptoton 265, 313, 366 Polyxena, see Euripides, Hecuba Praxithea, see Euripides, Erechtheus prepositions, repeated 599, multiple 503, 504, 630 Priam 367, 438, 508, 560 procatalepsis 532 prologue 235–85, content 235–7, integrity of 238–46, ‘postponed’ 240, 257, language and style 244– 5, metres 238, 245, staging 237–8, 247, 254

658

Indexes

prologue contd. second prologue 445 prologue-speeches (general) 240–1, 245, 257, 272 pronouns, interrog., postponed 327, 422, 427, two in one clause 336 personal, 2. pers. emphatic 444 possessive, idioms 356, 371, 479, 496 relative, attracted 344, postponed 298; antecedent, congruence 259, 579, follows 261, omitted 421, 485, 490, 498; rel. clauses, multiple in Eur. 392 prophecy, language of 269, cf. Calchas, Chiron proteleia 11, 357, 426, 565, cf. Greek pun on name 328, cf. names Racine, J., Iphigénie en Aulide 39–40 ‘Reception’ 37–45 repetition, see esp. words Rhesus and IA 37, 59, 240–1 rhetoric, techniques etc. 323–4, 325– 6, 334–5, 337, 339, 343, 344, 369, 373–4, 468–9, 491, 519, 520, 524– 8, 542–3, 549, 563, 581 rhetoricism 519, 528, 532 see also 547, 584, 595, 598 rhyme, line-ends 433, lyric words 568 riddles 505, 527–8 Ritchie, W., our acknowledgements, iii (Dedication), xi–xii, then esp. 239– 40, 241, 249, 258–67 throughout, 272, 275, 284–5, 287–8, 299, 324, 332, 337, 351, 397–8, 407, 422, 427, 433, 446, 452, 453, 461, 463, 465, 467, 470, 474, 476, 478–9, 483, 485, 510–20 throughout, 521, 524–5, 548, 550

sacrifice, and its rituals 7–12, 27, 269, 280, 357–8, 372, 377, 393, 407, 409, 413–14, 416, 427, 432, 463, 480, 483, 500–1, 510, 518, 537, 539, 565, 571, 611, 612–14, 615, 636–7; circling of altar 611, 614, 633; at a marriage 11–12, 500–2 animal 7–12, 510, 571, 612, 614, 616, 633, 636–7, 640 human 7–12, 36, 567, 571, 626, 633, 638 sailing, inability to sail, 5–6, 235–6, 243, 267–8, 286, 446, 568 sailing home 270, 335, 337, 644 sarcasm 320–1, 351, 411, 535–6, 538 seals, sealing 254 ‘seeing’, see themes seers 378–9, 432, 483 self-analysis 360, 475, 583–4 sentences, long, (dialogue) 558, 588, (lyric) 295, 502 Shakespeare, editing of, and IA 59 shame, see themes sibilance, sigmatism 338, 346, 380, 430, 581–2, 608 silences 236, 248–9, 632 Simoeis, river 436, 438 Sirius 249 sky as witness 338 slaves, slavery 321, 322 (×4), 460, 595 Sophilos, vase-painter 502, cf. Art Sophists 331, 361–2, 370, 522, 542–3 Sparta 384, 392 sprinkling-water 416, 625 staging, stage-left and -right 67 central door 247, 460, 575, halfopen 458 off-stage 2, 28–30 empty stage 285 mutes 573, 613 objects as focus 318–19

Indexes

actors’ voicing 238, 318, 364, 462 see also dramaturgy stichomythia and aspects 318, 319, 320, 323, 325 (×2), 331, 349, 359, 379, 407 (×2), 409–10, 411, 421– 2, 454, 459, 494, 513, 572, 573; broken by couplet 603 distichomythia 447–8 stoning to death 578 subjunctive, see verb sunlight = ‘life’ 371, 543, 549, 559, 584, 593, 618, 642 supplication 366, 445–6, 468–9, 469– 70, 472, 496, 514, 524–7, 536, 546, 548 Svich, Caridad, Iphigenia 43–4 synecdoche 297, 299, 307, 343, 427, 506, 614 syrinx 393, cf. pipe(s) Syracuse, 2015 production of Iphigenia xii, 24, 44–5, 319, 400, 434 tablet(-letter)s 44, 236–7, 254, 274–5, 276, 318–19, 323–4, 328, 337, 351 Pierian 444 Talthybius 3, 270, 335, 632 Tantalus, father of Pelops 20, 374–5 son of Thyestes 528 tears, weeping 20, 24 n. 60, 255, 318, 360, 362–4, 364, 373, 407, 418, 442, 466, 516, 525, 534, 542, 547– 8, 573, 602–3, 610, 615, 629–30 text of IA 50–62, mss. 50–9, quality, interpolation 54, 55–9 (see separate entry) papyri 38, 49, 53, 321, 346, 366, 386, 392, 394, 395, 435, 448, 473, 617 ms. L esp. 50–3; DemetriusTriclinius 50 n. 119, 52–3, and e.g. 255, 305, 327, 415, 430, 515, 600; Nicolaus Triclines 52

659

loss of text in L 54, e.g. 273, 311, 347, 430–1, 499, 549, 585, 600, ?634 lacuna, actual or conjectured 273, 408, 431, 462, 535, 538, 590, 634 transposition of lines e.g. 276, 408, 412, 523, 552, 641, of words e.g. 278, 363, 377, 404, 407, 408, 412 notable errors e.g. 248, 255, 313– 14, 315–16, 346, 379, 473, 487 attribution of parts e.g. 249, 376, 565, 570, 577, 616 ms. P (copy of L) 52, 54, other copies of L 53 ancient quotations, testimonia 53; inaccuracy of e.g. 249, 251, 253, 260, 264, 529, 534, 544, 595, 645 printed editions, commentaries 57–8, 60–1; ‘Aldine’ edition 39, 60, 305 OCT (J. Diggle) 61, our differences from 61–2 Théâtre du Soleil, Les Atrides 43 Theatre of Dionysus, democratic focus 13 themes and motifs, 33 n. 78, 243–4 chance, fortune, destiny, necessity 35–6, 335, 359, 361, 460, 461, 574, 576, 596 glory 36–7, 336, 390–1, 556–7, 565, 572, 584, 587, 590, 594, 602, 604, 605, 617, 640, 641 seeing or looking 33–4, 291–3, 296, 299, 306, 316, 342–3, 356, 411, 438, 491–2, 520, 521, 573, 606, 636, 637; looking in the eye 33–4, 327–8, 364–5, 457, 546–7, 629; ‘erotic’ gaze 264–5, 306, 384, 395

660

Indexes

themes and motifs contd. shame 34–5, 299, 364, 384, 390, 409, 417, 452, 454, 457, 470, 491–2, 520, 570, 574, 576, 629–30 Thetis 302, 423, 424, 598–9, and Peleus 500–9 Timanthes, painter 39, 620, cf. Art tmesis 255, 439, 506, 579 Tragedy in the 4th Century 37–8, 621 transposition of lines, words, see text Troy, references in play 29, 30, 396, 436, 438, 552, 626; the War 434, 435, 443, 449, 500, 508, 563, 594, 644–5 Tyndareus 4, 256, 257, 259, 498–9, 530; the oath 4, 6, 21, 260–1, 324, 346–7 vase-painting, see Art veil(ing) 39, 515, 629, 630, 633 verb, dual, usage 461, with plur. 465, 493; congruence of 335 middle voice, fut. as passive 330, 624 indic., pres., dynamic, or future 412, 415, 455, 480, 536, historic 256, 262, 394, ‘registering’ 264, 308, 424, 532 impf., idioms 280, 456, 507, 509, 597, of ὀνομάζω 314; without ἄν in condition 540 fut., in conditions 271, 317, 336, 349, 533–4, 547 aor., dramatic 321, 359, gnomic 251, 253, 339, ingressive 281, 298, 410; idiom with ἄν 636 fut. perf., senses of 483 augment, omitted 301, 303 (×2), 394, 507 imperative, both 2. pers. and 3. pers. subject 639

subjunctive, deliberative 360, 365, 371, 606, with τί; 608 opt., main verb with ἄν 321, 636, 644, without 380; in conditions 597; in primary sequence 639 infin., dependent on noun or adj. e.g. 301, 314; appositive 349; with def. art. 413 (×2); finalconsecutive etc. 267, 638, with εἰμί 614; pres. anticipatory 490, in wish with ὤφελον 412; = direct imperative in indirect speech 269, 270, 578, 606; accus. and infin. in prayers 626 part., congruence of 373; neut. with τό as noun 253, 345, 496, 554; = noun as internal object 460; pres. = impf. 345, periphrastic with εἰμί 632; fut., of purpose, bare 511; aor., ‘coincident’ 478, with ἔχω 414, perf. mid.-pass. and agent 602, adv. in -ως 497; in gen., implicit in poss. pron. 470, 545; ‘gen. absol.’, with no noun 322, 492, 497, in fut. 491; causal 334, conditional 638, after εἰ μή 336; carries main idea 465 verbal adjs. in -τος, meanings 250, 277, 309, 311, 318, 330, 491, 493, 513, 524, 551 violence, absent from stage 319, 322 virtue 384–5, 389–90, 391, Virtue 501 wall-painting, see Art war 1–2, 8, -mania 22, 27, 28, 449, 513, 527, 553, cruelty to women 434, 442, 501, 526, 588–9 wedding, see marriage, sacrifice and rituals winds 5–6, 248, 262, 450, 568, 644, metaphoric 556

661

Indexes

wisdom 390, 424–5, 432 women, 282, 355, 391, 417, 427, 430, 447, 452–3, 468, 473, 492, 498, 589, blackened 592–3 how slaughtered 637, cf. 10 words, order 301, 332, 367, 477, 534, 562, 589, 626, unusual, rare, 308, 420, 440, position, emphatic 298, 554, juxtaposed 363, 426, 464, 580, postponed 466, 521, separated (hyperbaton) 264, 471, 504

repeated, doubled (anadiplosis) 298, 396, 522, 566–7, 569, 618, 626, tripled 250, 427, 488, 535– 6, start and end of verse 425, 550 word-play 385, 396, 517 Zeus 505, etymology 618, cf. 422 and Peleus’ wedding 423, 500 and the Judgement of Paris 562–3

Greek Index ἅβρος, ἁβρύνομαι 404, 460 ἀγαθός 405, 488 ἀγεννής, -ῶς 607 Ἀγροτέρα 633 ἀγών 493, 550, 607; cf. agon ἄθραυστος 260, 645 αἰδώς, αἰδέομαι 34–5 αἰνέω 375, 413, 420–1, 458, 589 Αἰνόπαρις 566 αἴρω of feelings 476, 639 ᾄσσω, ἀΐσσω 248, 266, 356, 431 ἄκρος 308, 482 ἀλάστωρ 464, 481 Ἀλέξανδρος etymology 560 ἀλλά adverb 547 ἀλλ’ ὅμως 471 ἀλλ’ οὖν 490, 495 ἄλλος euphemistic 618 ἄλλως 445 ἄλσος 248, 298, 629 ἅμα preposition 506 ἁμός 608 ἀμφί and accus. 296, 438 ἄν omitted 383, 540, 547, 592, repeated 497 ἀνά and dat. 436

ἀνάγκη 35–6 ἀναιρέω ‘announce’ 268 ἄναξ, ἄνασσα 614 ἀνήρ ‘real man’ 425, 481, 606, cf. 271 appositional 410, 484 ἀντήρης 305 ἀπήνη 282, 404 ἀπλοία 4, 235–6, 268 ἁπλῶς 467 ἀπό 456, 601, ἀπο- 579 ἀποκαλέω 579 ἀποτίνω 532 ἄρα in tmesis 578–9 ἄρδην 638 Ἄρης ‘war’ 438 ἄριστος 600, ἀριστεύς 253 ἄτη 280–1 αὐθέντης 537 αὐλή 247, 300 αὖλις 247 αὐτός idioms 339, 382, 413, 419, 578 ἀφαιρέω intrans. 642 Ἀφροδίτη metaphoric 552–3 βάθρον 266, 552 βᾶρις 317

662

Indexes

γάμος ‘wife’ 511 γάρ postponed 448, repeated 356, 601 ‘for otherwise’ 551 γέ τοι 533 γενναῖος 521, 596, 598 γένεθλον 418, 459 δαί 605 δαίμων 361, 522 δάμαρ 531 δέ γε 346 δεῖ of fate 253 (τὸ) δέον 390 δεινός 270, 278, 330, 342, 344, 373, 579, 628 δέλτος 254 δέμας ‘person’ 354–5, 479, 575 δεῦρο δή 589 δηλαδή 582 δημότης 333 διά and gen. 533, 539, 594 διαβάλλω ‘traduce’ 586 διακναίω 253 δίδωμι idioms 345–6, 368, 457, 544, 547, 626, 631 διοίχομαι 484 διώκω ‘press hard’ 418 (δοκέω) δέδοκται 587, 588 δόξα 36–7, 390–1 δυσγενής, -γένεια 362, 587 Δυσελένη 566 ἔα 327 εἷα 274 εἶἑν 364, 365 εἰκός in rhetoric 374 (×2), 522 (εἰμί) ἔσται (τάδε) 282, 499 ἦ, ἦν 1 pers. impf. 372 ellipse 341, 365, 370, 513, 545 (εἶμι) ἴτω in ritual 611 εἰς 277, 464, 531, 599

εἷς, ἕν idioms 383, 493, 580 εἷτα, κᾆτα 267, 324, 411 ἐκ 255, 439, ἐκ- 346, 430, 433, 451, 508, 588 ἐκεῖνος as reflexive pron. 279 ἐκτείνω 411 ἑλέπτολις 566, 613 ἐλεύθερος metaphoric 491 ἑλίσσω 304, 568, 569, 614, 634 ἐλπίς 403, 441 ἐν 395, 504, 516, 517, 555, 589, ἐν- 494 and gen. pers. 478 adverb 310 ἐνάρχομαι 484 ἐξαίρετος 371 ἐξάρχομαι 357–8 ἐξορμάω, -μος 283, 568 ἐπαινέω in thanks 359 ἐπεί = γάρ 531 ἐπί and accus. 297, 631 gen. 471, 543 dat. 248, 253, 359, 383, 388, 426, 432, 474, 493, 517, 532, 534, 560, 564, 625 ἐπιστολή, -αί 274 ἐπίτηδες 370 ἐπῳδή 542 ἔργον 576, cf. ὄνομα ἔρεισμα 483 ἔρνος 276, 562 ἔρυμα 299, 443 ἐρύω ‘save’ 590 (ἔρχομαι) ἦλθον εἰς idioms 431, 543, 546, 583, 592, 593 ἔρως metaphoric 449, 553 ἐσθλός 403, 598 εὐδαιμονέω 531 εὐμαρής 378, 486 εὐπρεπής 345, 453 εὔσημος 309 εὐτυχέω, -ής 334, 426, 605, 625

Indexes

εὐφημία, -ος 281, 611, 632 εὐψυχία 632 ἔχω idioms 260, 298, 303, 347, 455, 464, 491, 496, 517, 522, 533, 583, 643 (×2) σχές ‘stop!’ 610 ἔχων ‘continuously’ 339 ἥκιστα· 604 ἥκω εἰς idioms 493, 521 ἡμίθεος 296 θαυμαστός, -ῶς … ὡς 480 θεομαχέω 597–8 θέσφατον 4, 381, 615 θετός 309–10 θηράω, -αμα metaphoric 484, 485, cf. θηρεύω 391 θηροκτόνος 633 θροέω 576–7 θυηπόλος 432 θύω 11, 269, cf. θυσία 11 ἰδού 411, 524 ἱερεύς, ἱερέα 635, 636 ἱκετηρία 543 ἵνα ‘where’ 365, interrog.? 635–6 in E.’s lyric 436 ἶνις 276 ἰσόθεος 400 ἴσος 448, 539, ἰσο- 308 ἰσχναίνω 420 Ἰφιγένεια etymology 28, 616 καί adverb 278, 426 καί … γε 548 καινουργέω 247 καιρός 329, 445, 454, 517 κακίζω 603 κακός moral term 324, 335, 365, 495 κακῶς λέγω 343

663

καλός moral term 414, 430, 549–50 καλόν with γε 320, 365, 533, εἰμί 359, λέγω 608–9 κάμνω metaphoric 485 καρδία 533–4 κατά and accus. 350, 478 καταπαλαίω 495 καταστέλλω 479 κατατείνω 332 κατέχω 490 κεδνός 340 κεῖμαι idioms 562 κλάζω 507 κλισία, -η 300 κλέος 36–7, 336, 390–1, 617, 627 κνίζω 330 κοινός 350, 485, 591, 638 κομίζω 540 κομψός, -εύω 331 κόραι ‘eyes’ 603 κόρυμβος 311 κόσμος 391–2, -έω 437, 478 κτάομαι of husband 344, 425 κύκλιος 505–6 κύριος 327, 423 λαμβάνω of marriage 263 λαμπάς of ‘sun’ 618 λαμπτήρ 254 λαός, λεώς 314 λέγω and acc. of person 343, 459, 471 ‘command’ 337 εὖ λέγω 519, καλῶς 608–9 λέσχη, -αι 492–3 λῆμα 601 λιχνός 306 λογίζομαι 345, 477 λυγρός 643 λωτός ‘pipe’ 358 μά in oaths 430

664

Indexes

μαίνομαι 345, 463 μάλιστα·338 μάκαρ, μακάριος 358, 386, 419, 454, 590, 597, 614 (μακρός) μακράν adverb 355 μέγας of gods 487, ‘wide’ 588 (μέλλω) μέλλων part. 461, 580 μέμονα 616 μέν om. before δέ 251, 311, 405, 544, 565, 568 with no δέ 380, 460 with δέ correlative 587, 592 with τε 265 (μένω) μένε, μεῖνον 609 μέσος ‘political’ 333 μετά and gen. of things 477, 518 μεταβολή musical 516 μεταγράφω 273 μή indefinite 329, 344, 379 redundant 420 not οὐ, in assertion 494 μὴ δῆτα elliptical 536 μηδείς, -έν ‘a nobody’: see οὐδείς μήτε in combination 332, 536 μιαιφονέω 582 μνημεῖον 547 μνηστεύω 457 μόσχος metaphoric 276, 644 μοῦσα ‘skill’ 507 μῦθος 444–5 Μυκήνη, -αι 312 μῶν 578 νιν number, gender 329, 388 νέος overtones 255, 372 νεοσσός metaphoric 548 νόμος sense 420 νόσος, -έω metaphoric 350, 489, 596 νόστος ‘journey, voyage’ 485 νυν 281, 413

ξανθός 297, 418 ξένος tone of 459, 599 ὄγκος, -έω 362, 462, 476 ὅδε stage-use 250, 264, 534, 575, 609 of 1 pers. sing. 583 τόδε in reference 418, 457, 488 ὄζος metaphoric 301 ὅθι in Eur. 388 οἰκέω ‘manage’ 330, 618, cf. 412 οἰκόθεν 493 (οἷος) οἷον = ὅτι τοιοῦτο 317 οἶστρος, -άω 265, 387 οἰωνός ‘omen’ 577 ὄλβιος 614, 643 ὄλεθρος sense 588, 589 ὄμμα of abstract power 512 ὄνειδος 321, 471 (ὀνίνημι) ὄναιο formula 494 ὄνομα ‘a word’ 519, ‘fame’ 564 / ἔργον etc. 278–9, 519 ὀξύς ‘keen-sighted’ 248 ὅποι sense 262 ὁπότε ‘because’ 513 ὁράω ‘see by appointment’ 498 ὄρνις ‘omen’ 403, 490 οὗ ‘when’ 271 οὐ in protasis 472 οὐ μή and aor. subj. 610 οὐδαμοῦ ‘of no account’ 483 οὐδείς, -έν ‘a nobody’ 335, 481, 482 (οὗτος) τοῦτο … αὐτό 587 τοῦτο anaphoric 554, 639, anticipatory 586 ταῦτα adverb 335, 539 ὀχετός 438 (×2) ὄχημα 404, ὄχος 282 ὄχλος 13, 14, 362, 380, 498 παλαιός 355 παρά and gen. 456, 603

Indexes

dat. 255, 411, 486 adverb 301 παρα- 489, 527 παρανοέω, -οία 455 παραφέρω 489 πάρειμι, senses 365, 379, 411, 578, παρών 367 παρέχω 479, 543 παρῳδός 527 πειθαρχέω 520 πέμπω uses 271, 312, 335 περί and accus. 531 dat. 509 πέργαμα, Π- 396 πεσσοί 301 πετάννυμι 254–5 πικρός 376, 417, 566 πίπτω of dice 576 πιστός 283 πλάγιος 330 πλεονεξία 376 πόθεν; 546 ποικίλος 380 ποῖος; idioms 378, 425, 455 πολύς of might 389, 483, cf. πλέον 586 πονηρός 345, 577 πότνια 453, 615, 625 πράσσω senses 279, 334, 357, 517, 551, 582 πρᾶγμα 334, 339, 366, 372, 497, 539 πρᾶξις 312 πρό, προ- senses 255, 518, 520 πρόθυμα (noun) 565, 566 πρός and accus. 451, 466, 497, 576, 644 adverb 451 πρὸς ταῦτα 631 προσίστημι 251 προστάτης 341, 362, 363 πρόσω 476 πρόσωπον of abstract power 512

665

προτέλεια, -ίζω 357, 426 πρότιμος 251 πρόφασις 535, 603; -σιν adverb 337 προχύται 483 πτοέω 395, 498 πῶς ἄν …; and opt. 448 πῶς δοκεῖς; 638 σέβας 408, σεμνός 424 σείριος, Σ- 249 σῆμα ‘emblem’ 307 σθένος of abstractions 512 σκηνή 247, 250 σοφός, -ίζω, -ισμα etc. 361–2, 424, 432, 542–3 σπανίς 531 σπάω 439–40 σπέρμα 379 στέγη 247; -γω 463, 466 στείχω 624 στέλλω 277, 297, of sails 568 σύγκλητος 317–18 (συμφέρω) -ρει 428 σύν senses 416, 419; prepos. 432 συντέμνω 550 σύντονος 276 σφαγή 471, -ιον 10, 11, 280, 539, σφάζω 11, 567, 609 σχῆμα 489 σῶμα ‘person’ 544, 578, 593 σώφρων, -φρονέω 453, 540 τε … τε ‘just as … so’ 395, 493 τέλος senses 284, 491 -τέος verbal adjs. in 415, 585 τίκτω of a male 301 τις, τι meiotic 340, 403, 490, 553, 579, 589 in threats 486 with adj. in predicate 495 τλήμων 522, 531–2

666

Indexes

τοτὲ … τοτέ/τότε … τότε 253 τρόφος metaphoric 295 τρυφή, -άω, -ημα 505, 563–4 τυγχάνω senses 484, 492 with part. 464, 523, without 429 τύχη 35–6, 335, 460, 461, Τύχη 461 ὑμεναῖος, Ὑ- 357, 358, 503, 504 ὑπό and gen. 390, 504 dat. 519, 555 adverb 305 of stealth 261 ὑποτίθημι 375 φαίνομαι and complement 487 φάσμα 309, 637 φατίζω 279 φέρω intrans. ‘contribute’ 390 φέρε idiom 256 φεῦ joyful 424 φημίζω 279 φιλία 26, 323, 331, 350, 351, 548 φίλος 262, 323, 331, 455, 472, 497 τὰ φίλτατα 365, 479, 532, 546 φιλότιμος 251, 333 φίλτρον metaphoric 474

φονεύς, -εύω 338, 463, 567 (φρήν) φρένες senses 580 φρονέω senses 464, 477 φυτοῦργος 482 φῶς metaphoric 507, 617 (χαίρω) χαῖρε 457, 606 χάρις 544 χέρνιβες 416, 518 χράομαι idioms 268, 270, 322, 344, 374, 387, 602 χρέος 450 χρεών of fate 615 χρήσιμος 362, 473, 477 ὦ calling attention 459, with part. 479 ὠδίς, ὠδίνω 546 ὥς adverb 317 ὡς exclamatory 642, explanatory 521 following omitted ἴσθι 461 ‘as far as x goes’ 368 with ἄν and subj. of purpose 404, 601 with future indic. or part. 601 ὡς … γε 494 ὡς τί δή; 576 ὥστε superfluous 641

Index Locorum Highly selective: the references bear almost entirely upon places and contexts of importance or interest to the play as a whole, a very few upon details of interpretation or constitution of the text. Aelian, NH 7.39 56, 232–3, 622, 645 Aeschines 3.90 19 Aeschylus, Ag. 206–7 551; 218 and 224–5 360; 221–6 472; 226 426; 224–7, 357; 228–41 9; 228–37 571; 235–8 631; 240 635; 244 634; 689 371; 785–7 488; 914–16 644; 1416–17 546

Seven 369–676 292 [Aeschylus] PV 128–30 31 Ps.-Apollodorus, Epit. 3.21–2 3 Apsines p. 325 Hammer 534 Archil. F 128.5–7 West 476 Aristoph. Ach. 524–9 589 Frogs 1309–12 645 Wealth 661, 1602 640

667

Indexes

Thes. 689–758 354 Aristot. Poet. 13.1453a.7–30 1; 15.1454a.26–33 2, 18, 584 Pol. 1252b.5–10 595 Athenaeus 562e 388 Catullus 64.278–93 506; 397–408 512; cf. 501 Cicero, Tusc. 3. 57 251, .59 253; 4.77 329 Cratinus, Dionysalexandros Test. (i) Hypothesis 21–2 PCG 264 Cypria, Proclus §8 West 3 Ennius, Alexander 64 Jocelyn 560 Iphigenia 203 Jocelyn 330; 204–6 344 Incerta 388–9 Jocelyn 362, 363 Eur. Alc. 803–25 459 And. 328–9 597 Bacc. 170–369 514 El. 452–86 292, 307; 988–9 397, 399, 404; 1020–1 3 Hcld. 543–6 539; see also Euripides Hec. 216–443 514; 606–8 473; see also Euripides Hel. 179–84 30; 744–60 379; 1640–1 322 Hipp. 121–9 30; 525–32 385 Ion 102–83 and 184–218 292 IT 18–21 6; 380–91 8; 382–4 626; 760–1 275 Med. 627–37 384 Pho. 239–60 30, cf. 32; 434–637, 514; 446–637 342; 834–1018 514; 1485–1538 555; see also Euripides Supp. 440 450; 653–67 292 Tro. 370–3 532 F 183–202 (Antiope) 342 F 360 (Erechtheus) 301, 532, 539,

549, 551, 565, 584, 591 (×2), 593, 594, 630, 631, 633 F 661.22–5 (Stheneboea) 387 F 727c. 35–48 (Telephus) 446, 451, 451–2 F 773.19–58 (Phaethon, = 63–101 Diggle) 246; F 781.14–31 (Phaethon, = 227–44 Diggle) 386, 502 F 787–9 (Philoctetes) 251 F 820b.4–5 (Phrixus B) 499 Gorgias, Helen 82 B 11 DK 542 Hdt. 1.1–5 589 Hes. Catal. F 23a M-W 3; 197.4–5 4; 204.78–84 4 Hesych. α 1608 Latte 260, 645 Hom. Iliad l.1–2 569, 293 481, 301–3 486; 2.115 336, 140 449; 3.161–242 438; 14.153–353 502; 16.33–5 481, 200–7 451; 19.137 281; 21.187–9 422; 22.63–4 529 Od. 6.276–85 261, 357, cf. 409 Hyginus, Fables 98 3 Ibycus F 282.15–46 PMG 291 Juvenal 12.118–22 39 n. 100 Lucretius 1.82–101 39; 93–4 544 Machon 4.24 252 Men. Epitr. 218ff. 319–20 Ovid, Met. 12.24–38 and 13.181–95 39 n. 100 Pausanias 3.20.8–9 260 Philetaerus F 4.1 PCG 423 Philochorus 328 F 105 FGrH 10

668

Pind. Pyth. 11.22–4 3, 607, 641 Plato, Prot. 320c ff. 34 Plautus, Pseudolus 1–41 254 Rudens 938ff. 319–21 Plut. Aristides 9.1 8 Themistocles 8 Mor. 64c 350 Sappho F 16.1–3 PMG 291 Schol. Hom. Od. 11.430 529 Soph. Ant. 781–800 385

Indexes

El. 566–746 5–6 OC 1656–62 637 Phil. 974 352, 459 Stesichorus F 178 D-F 3–4 Stobaeus 3.28.2 347 Terence, Adelphi 254–5 and 269–70 488 Xen. Hell. 1.6–7 16–17