Chapter VI
.
[403] There are no less than thirty iambic lines thus divided. The name for such division is ἀντιλαβή.
[404] _Phil._ vv. 287-92.
[405] _O.C._ 1697, translated by Jebb: “Ah, so care past can seem lost joy!”
[406] _Electra_, 1165 _sq._
[407] Dr. J. W. Mackail (_Lectures on Greek Poetry_, p. 150 _sq._) has described these lines with brilliant aptness. “The language is so simple, so apparently unconscious and artless, that its overwhelming effect makes one gasp: it is like hearing human language uttered, and raised to a new and incredible power, by the lips of some one more than human.”
[408] _O.C._ 607 _sqq._ The wonderful version of these first few fines is by Professor Gilbert Murray.
[409] _Ajax_, 815 _sqq._
[410] _O.C._ 1586 _sqq._
[411] This figure includes the _Rhesus_, the authenticity of which is not certain.
[412] It is almost certain that only two actors were employed, Alcestis being mute in the last scene (_i.e._ the character was apparently borne by a supernumerary, not the actor who had delivered her earlier speeches), and the few lines of the child Eumelos being sung by a chorister. Croiset suggests: protagonist, Apollo, Alcestis, Heracles, Pheres; deuteragonist, Thanatos, maidservant, Admetus, attendant.
[413] The true explanation, as Dr. Hayley points out, is that the two actors are already engaged (as A. and H.) so that the queen is presented by a mute. I cannot, however, agree that this is “a clumsy device”. Admetus deserved some modification of his delight; we may, moreover, feel that Alcestis would not wish to show precipitation in greeting the husband who had interred her with such strange promptitude.
[414] The celebrated “tag” beginning πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων (vv. 1159-63), which is found also at the close of _Medea_ (practically), _Helena_, _Andromache_, and _Bacchæ_.
[415] There are no satyrs and no indecency of language.
[416] _E.g._ v. 58: πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλ’ ἦ καὶ σοφὸς λέληθας ὤν; “What! _you_ among the philosophers!”
[417] The late Dr. A. W. Verrall’s brilliant theory of this play it will be better to discuss later (see pp. 190 _sq._).
[418] vv. 763 _sq._
[419] vv. 280-325.
[420] _Euripides the Rationalist_, pp. 1-128.
[421] The hurried obsequies probably do not fall into this category. We are almost certainly to assume that as Alcestis’ sacrifice is to be made on a certain day, that day must see her not only expire, but actually delivered up to the power of death. See Dr. H. W. Hayley’s _Introduction_ to the play (pp. xxxi _sq._) and my _Riddle of the Bacchæ_, pp. 143 _sq._
[422] I cannot write with decision about the _Alcestis_, because on the one hand universal testimony and opinion date it as only seven years anterior to the _Medea_, while my own instinct would put it quite twenty years earlier than that play. To me it reads essentially like the work of a young but highly-gifted playwright who has recently lost his wife.
[423] These celebrated lines (vv. 230-51) are not in character. They form a splendid and moving criticism of the attitude adopted by the poet’s own Athenian contemporaries towards women, but have only a very partial application to herself.
[424] (i) In vv. 1231-5, there is a very clear dittography. That is, either 1231-2, or 1233-5 would serve excellently as a speech of the chorus-leader; but it is unlikely that the poet meant both to be used; (ii) vv. 1236-50 read like another and far shorter version of the great soliloquy 1021-80; (iii) it seems odd that Medea, after finally gaining courage to slay her children, should before doing so, be seen again and join in conversations; (iv) vv. 1375-7 give the impression (as Dr. Verrall has pointed out) that the play is to end, not as it does, but with some kind of arrangement between Medea and Jason; (v) one or two ancient quotations purporting to come from this play are not to be found in our texts.
[425] See pp. 21 _sq._
[426] v. 389 _sqq._
[427] _Poetic_, 1454_b_.
[428] _Four Plays of Euripides_, pp. 125-30.
[429] vv. 1381-3.
[430] v. 472: ἀναίδεια.
[431] v. 364: κακῶς πέπρακται πανταχῇ· τίς ἀντερεῖ;
[432] vv. 801 _sq._
[433] v. 450.
[434] v. 1367.
[435] vv. 944 _sq._ Two MSS., however (followed by Murray), give the second line to Medea.
[436] v. 349: αἰδούμενος δὲ πολλὰ δὴ διέφθορα.
[437] vv. 309 _sq._
[438] v. 454.
[439] vv. 930 _sq._
[440] vv. 824-45.
[441] vv. 1081-1115.
[442] _Arrangement_: protagonist, Iolaus, Eurystheus; deuteragonist, Demophon, Alcmena; tritagonist, Copreus, Macaria, attendant, messenger. There were a great number of mutes: Acamas, the sons of Heracles, and probably some Athenian soldiers.
[443] It has only 1055 lines, but there are probably gaps in our text.
[444] This name is not mentioned by Euripides. The scholiasts have taken it from _Iliad_, XV, 639.
[445] In the Peloponnesian war. The Spartans were believed the descendants of Hyllus and his brothers.
[446] Professor Murray, however, supposes another lacuna here, and thinks there were two semi-choruses, one party supporting Alcmena, the other disagreeing.
[447] Even in ancient times it seems to have enjoyed little attention.
[448] v. 638.
[449] v. 625.
[450] vv. 9 _sq._, 540.
[451] vv. 869 _sqq._
[452] vv. 910 _sqq._
[453] Down to v. 847 his story contains nothing superhuman. Then “up to this point I saw with mine own eyes; the rest of my tale depends on hearsay,” τἀπὸ τοῦδ’ ἤδη κλύων λέγοιμ’ ἂν ἄλλων, δεῦρο δ’ αὐτὸς εἰσιδών· And when he mentions the identification of the miraculous lights with Hebe and Heracles, he attributes the theory to οἱ σοφώτεροι, “cleverer heads than mine,” as we may translate it.
[454] The oracle has demanded the daughter of “a well-born father,” and she of course mentions her own qualification in this respect, without proceeding to dilate (as one would think inevitable in Euripides—or anyone else) on the quite unrivalled “nobility” of her father.
[455] vv. 513, 563.
[456] _Hercules Furens_, vv. 151-64.
[457] vv. 997-9; v. 990, referring to the hostility of Hera, is too vague to stand as a warrant for the divine birth of Heracles.
[458] vv. 240 _sq._
[459] It has been thought that vv. 819-22 indicate the sacrifice of the maiden. They describe the soothsayers’ offering just before the battle: ἀφίεσαν λαιμῶν βροτείων εὐθὺς οὔριον φόνον. If βροτείων is right (though βοτείων, “of sheep,” is a tempting alteration) the reference to the girl’s heroism is brutally curt.
[460] vv. 597 _sqq._
[461] There is, however, in vv. 45-7 an isolated statement which vaguely contradicts this.
[462] Her remark on hearing the news (v. 665): τοῦδ’ οὐκέθ’ ἡμῖν τοῦ λόγου μέτεστι δή, sets the seal upon her utter feebleness of mind.
[463] vv. 1035-7.
[464] vv. 1049-52 and elsewhere in the last scene.
[465] vv. 1020-5.
[466] _Arrangement_ (according to Croiset): protagonist, Hippolytus; deuteragonist, Aphrodite, Phædra, Theseus (the body of Phædra being represented by a lay-figure); tritagonist, Artemis, servant (who announces the suicide), nurse, messenger.
[467] This additional name (_The Crowned H._) was given to distinguish the play from the earlier Ἱππόλυτος Καλυπτόμενος (now lost), or _Hippolytus Veiled_.
[468] vv. 73-87.
[469] vv. 121-5.
[470] vv. 208-31. Cp. vv. 219-21 with vv. 1375 _sq._
[471] vv. 732-51.
[472] vv. 828-9.
[473] vv. 1423-30.
[474] vv. 616-68. He seems to begin listening to the sound of his own voice at v. 654.
[475] vv. 728-31.
[476] vv. 831-3. Hippolytus agrees, vv. 1379-83.
[477] vv. 967-9, where note the emphatic ἐγώ. And the word νόθος is frequent in the play; see especially Hippolytus’ exclamation in vv. 1082-3, which, by a finely dramatic stroke, immediately turns Theseus’ anger to hot fury.
[478] vv. 337-41.
[479] Professor Murray.
[480] vv. 29-33.
[481] Cp. vv. 490 _sq._
[482] vv. 191-7 (Professor Murray’s translation).
[483] vv. 439-61.
[484] Cp. vv. 474 _sq._:—
λῆξον δ’ ὑβρίζουσ’· οὐ γὰρ ἄλλο πλὴν ὕβρις τάδ’ ἐστί, κρείσσω δαιμόνων εἶναι θέλειν.
[485] vv. 493-6.
[486] vv. 507 _sq._
[487] vv. 1034 _sq._
[488] vv. 415 _sqq._ Compare her whole attitude. Indeed the poet suggests, as at any rate a collateral reason for her destruction of Hippolytus, a fear that he will reveal her secret (vv. 689-92).
[489] vv. 373-430.
[490] _Agamemnon_, vv. 160-83.
[491] In the first edition of the play, to which it seems that most of the ancient strictures apply.
[492] vv. 135-40.
[493] v. 384: τερπνὸν κακόν.
[494] v. 281: ἔκδημος ὦν γὰρ τῆσδε τυγχάνει χθονός.
[495] v. 384: μακραί τε λέσχαι καὶ σχολή, τερπνὸν κακόν.
[496] vv. 337, _sqq._
[497] v. 328, etc.
[498] vv. 503-6.
[499] v. 512.
[500] See Professor Murray’s admirable remarks (p. 81 of his translation).
[501] In the trivial question, v. 516: πότερα δὲ χριστὸν ἢ ποτὸν τὸ φάρμακον; she is dangerously toying with the proposal. The nurse’s reply is a half-quaint, half-heartbreaking quotation from childish days when the little Phædra was querulous with her “medicine” as now: ὄνασθαι, μὴ μαθεῖν, βούλει, τέκνον.
[502] We notice incidentally the amazing dexterity shown by the line (565) in which she announces her discovery: σιγήσατ’, ὦ γυναῖκες, ἐξειργάσμεθα. It is a perfectly clear piece of Greek; it is also a series of gasps.
[503] v. 1035.
[504] See the Greek _Argument_.
[505] In our play the poet leaves his heroine silent on this topic, but hints it himself for us. See vv. 151-54, 967-70.
[506] _Frogs_, 1041; _Thesm._ 497, 547.
[507] _Frogs_, 101, 1467; _Thesm._ 275-6.
[508] _Hipp._ 612.
[509] vv. 960 _sq._, 1076 _sq._
[510] vv. 1060-3.
[511] Aristophanes in the _Clouds_ (v. 1165 _sq._) parodies vv. 174 _sq._ The _Clouds_ was produced in 423 B.C. In _Hecuba_, v. 462, reference seems to be made to the re-establishment of the Delian festival in 426 B.C.
[512] Its popularity in Byzantine times is no bar to this statement. Probably all the three plays, _Hecuba_, _Phœnissæ_, and _Orestes_, were chosen because the Greek was comparatively easy. Euripides was already sufficiently ancient to make this an important consideration.
Miss L. E. Matthaei’s essay should, however, be read (_Studies in Greek Tragedy_, pp. 118-57). With admirable insight and skill this scholar seeks to show that the _Hecuba_ is a study, first, of “conventional” justice, the claim of the community, shown in the sacrifice of Polyxena; and, secondly, of “natural” justice, seen in Hecuba’s revenge. Miss Matthaei’s treatment, however subjective, is trenchant and illuminating, especially as regards the psychology of Hecuba and Odysseus, the value of Polyxena’s surrender, and the _finale_. But concerning the vital point, lack of dramatic unity, she has little to say, apparently only the suggestion (p. 140) that “the cumulative effect of finding the body of Polydorus after having seen Polyxena taken away is the deciding factor; otherwise the end of the play would have been simply unbelievable”. The strength of this argument is very doubtful.
[513] See Mr. Hadley’s admirable _Introduction_ to the play (pp. ix-xii).
[514] vv. 779 _sq._
[515] vv. 428-30, 671, 894-7, 1287 _sq._
[516] v. 230.
[517] vv. 814-9, 1187-94.
[518] In 427 B.C.
[519] vv. 905 _sqq._
[520] vv. 342-78.
[521] vv. 518-82.
[522] vv. 953-67.
[523] vv. 796 _sq._ provide an example:—
ἔκτεινε, τύμβου δ’, εἰ κτανεῖν ἐβούλετο, οὐκ ἠξίωσεν, ἀλλ’ ἀφῆκε πόντιον.
[524] Note his absurd insistence (vv. 531-3) on his own trivial part in the sacrifice-scene.
[525] vv. 592-603 (the last line being an apology for the digression), 864-7.
[526] vv. 799 _sqq._
[527] vv. 585 _sqq._, 806-8.
[528] v. 421: ἡμεῖς δὲ πεντήκοντά γ’ ἄμμοροι τέκνων. Comment seems obvious: “Actually enough children to row a galley!” (πεντηκόντορος ναῦς).
[529] vv. 68 _sqq._
[530] vv. 702 _sqq._
[531] Probably it was composed during the early years of the Peloponnesian war, as the scholiast suggests in a note on v. 445.
[532] Schol. on v. 445.
[533] Her son, who is not given a name in the play, no doubt obtains it from this prophecy.
[534] Mention of such a conflict naturally occurs (vv. 588 _sq._) in the heat of their quarrel, but it comes to nothing. That the old king has no military following seems certain from the silence of both parties. See
## particularly vv. 752 _sqq._
[535] vv. 732 _sqq._ Note the stammering repetition of τις—he cannot even suggest a name.
[536] It may be answered that here, as elsewhere, the time consumed by the choric ode is conventionally supposed long enough to allow for the alleged synchronous action. But how much time is required? Orestes is to place Hermione in Menelaus’ care, journey to Delphi, and arrange his plot; then the slaves are to carry the body home. This certainly means three days; one would expect a week. Thus Peleus only hears of Hermione’s departure three days (perhaps a week) after it has occurred. Is this credible? See also the conversation between him and the chorus which implies that the news has reached him within an hour or two.
[537] _Four Plays of Euripides_, pp. 1-42.
[538] vv. 1239 _sqq._ (Δελφοῖς ὄνειδος).
[539] It is usually supposed to mean “one of the second-rate plays”.
[540] vv. 929-53.
[541] vv. 595-601.
[542] v. 964: ἦλθον δὲ σὰς μὲν οὐ σέβων ἐπιστολάς, κτἑ. There can be hardly a doubt that these words refer to their parting before her marriage, when she forbade him to see her again.
[543] vv. 639, 708 _sqq._ Cp. Verrall, p. 38.
[544] _Eg._ vv. 229 _sq._
[545] Cp. Verrall, pp. 29 _sq._
[546] v. 166. This is the type of drama at which Sophocles shook his head and which Aristophanes reviled. But it must have made many a slave-holding citizen in the theatre suddenly raise his brows and fall to thinking of words let drop an hour ago at home.
[547] vv. 1147 _sqq._: The some one of course might be anyone. The speaker elects to assume that the god is actually present.
[548] vv. 1002 _sqq._, especially 1004.
[549] vv. 464-94.
[550] vv. 147-80.
[551] vv. 164 _sqq._
[552] vv. 445-63.
[553] _Eg._ vv. 632 _sqq._
[554] _Arrangement_ (according to Croiset): protagonist, Amphitryon, Madness; deuteragonist, Megara, Iris, Theseus; tritagonist, Lycus, Heracles, messenger. Of course the dead bodies are lay figures. Other arrangements are possible.
[555] vv. 637-700.
[556] vv. 70-9, 460-89.
[557] vv. 1255-1310, 1340-93.
[558] vv. 140-235.
[559] _Four Plays of Euripides_, pp. 134-98.
[560] vv. 339 _sqq._, etc.
[561] vv. 798 _sqq._
[562] vv. 1340-6.
[563] Especially vv. 1269 _sqq._
[564] The appearance of Pallas (vv. 1002-6) is regarded by Verrall as “a chance blow received by the madman from the falling ruins of the chamber”.
[565] In vv. 562-82 he raves, however eloquently. One man cannot capture a whole fortress and punish a hostile population as Amphitryon (vv. 585-94) feels, though his caution and prosaic advice are painfully ludicrous considering the vast claims he has made for his son an hour ago.
[566] v. 1222.
[567] Compare the similar explanation of a wonderful feat actually offered by Lycus (vv. 153 _sq._).
[568] Cp. Verrall, pp. 147 _sq._
[569] _Ibid._ pp. 156, 162.
[570] vv. 65-6.
[571] vv. 485-9.
[572] _Probable Arrangement_: protagonist, Theseus, messenger; deuteragonist, Adrastus, Evadne; tritagonist, Æthra, herald, Iphis, Athena.
[573] The plot strongly recalls the incident after the battle of Delium (424 B.C.), when the victorious Bœotians at first refused to surrender the Athenian dead, and the alliance between Athens and Argos (420 B.C.).
[574] The Hypothesis says: τὸ δὲ δρᾶμα ἐγκώμιον Ἀθηναίων (altered by Dindorf with general approval to Ἀθηνῶν).
[575] vv. 195-218.
[576] vv. 403-56.
[577] vv. 297-331.
[578] She has arrayed herself, not in black but in festal robes (vv. 1054-6)—an interesting parallel with the fine ending of the second act of Mr. Shaw’s _Doctor’s Dilemma_.
[579] _Probable Arrangement_: protagonist, Ion, Pædagogus; deuteragonist, Hermes, Creusa; tritagonist, Xuthus, servant, prophetess, Athena.
[580] vv. 1537 _sq._
[581] ἀμαθής (v. 916, used by Creusa).
[582] ὁ κακός (v. 952, used by the Pædagogus).
[583] v. 1595.
[584] vv. 550 _sqq._ are probably significant (and Ion actually the son of Xuthus).
[585] Cp. v. 1324 and the rest of the short conversation between her and Ion, which is of course charming on any view of the play.
[586] vv. 859 _sqq._
[587] vv. 1029 _sqq._
[588] Cp. v. 1419: οὐ τέλεον, οἷον δ’ ἐκδίδαγμα κερκίδος, and Ion’s acknowledgment (v. 1424): ἰδού· τόδ’ ἐσθ’ ὕφασμα, θέσφαθ’ ὡς εὑρίσκομεν. This latter surely means that Ion is as satisfied as one can expect to be in tracing the fulfilment of oracles.
[589] Cp. v. 1565: μηχαναῖς ἐρρύσατο.
[590] v. 1550: πρόσωπον.
[591] οὐ πέδον τίκτει τέκνα says the elder man (v. 542), casually turning his back on the glory of his wife’s family (cp. vv. 265-8).
[592] vv. 585 _sqq._
[593] vv. 738-46.
[594] v. 768 _sqq._
[595] vv. 1215 _sqq._
[596] His very religion, when put to the test, is mostly intellectual. Apollo’s moral shortcomings only cause him to shake his head gravely; but when the god’s truthfulness is exploded, the whole fabric of his belief collapses.
[597] vv. 369-72.
[598] vv. 436-51. The above paraphrase is probably not too colloquial (cp. especially v. 437: τί πάσχει; and v. 439: μὴ σύ γε). In fact, as the speech is so very explicit and unadorned, and as Ion is probably uttering it while he performs his tasks (see 434-6, after which these reflections begin in the middle of a line), we perhaps overhear thoughts rather than words.
[599] vv. 589 _sqq._
[600] vv. 1312 _sqq._
[601] vv. 1546 _sqq._
[602] vv. 369 _sqq._
[603] vv. 308, etc.
[604] vv. 1397 _sqq._
[605] vv. 1468 _sq._
[606] _Arrangement_ (probable): protagonist, Hecuba; deuteragonist, Athena, Cassandra, Andromache, Helen; tritagonist, Poseidon, Talthybius, Menelaus.
[607] Ælian, _Var. Hist._ ii. 8.
[608] There are reminders of the western lands in vv. 220 _sqq._
[609] vv. 703 _sqq._
[610] vv. 1158 _sqq._
[611] v. 764: ὦ βάρβαρ’ ἐξευρόντες Ἕλληνες κακά (Andromache’s phrase).
[612] vv. 884 _sqq._ (The first line refers to air.) If we possess any evidence as to the theological belief of the poet himself it is probably contained in these lines.
[613] vv. 469 _sqq._, 841 _sqq._, 1060 _sqq._ (especially the poignant μέλει μέλει μοι), 1240 _sqq._
[614] vv. 1204 _sqq._:—
τοῖς τρόποις γὰρ αἱ τύχαι, ἔμπληκτος ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλοσε πηδῶσι.
The phrasing points back effectively to Poseidon’s description of Athena’s fickleness (vv. 67 _sq._: τί δ’ ὧδε πηδᾷς ἄλλοτ’ εἰς ἄλλους τρόπους;).
[615] The _arrangement_ is uncertain. Perhaps: protagonist, Iphigenia; deuteragonist, Orestes, messenger, Athena; tritagonist, herdsman, Pylades, Thoas.
[616] Murray and others place it about 414-2, Wilamowitz, 411-9.
[617] v. 1205: πιστὸν Ἑλλὰς οἶδεν οὐδέν.
[618] v. 626: πῦρ ἱερὸν ἔνδον, χάσμα δ’ εὐρωπὸν πέτρας—a marvellous line.
[619] vv. 823-6.
[620] v. 677: Φωκέων τ’ ἐν πολυπτύχῳ χθονί.
[621] See especially the lovely song, vv. 1089 _sqq._
[622] vv. 968 _sqq._
[623] One can hardly doubt that this is the intention of the scene on the Taurian beach (vv. 281-94).
[624] vv. 711 _sqq._ The feelings of the Delphian hierarchy, when Orestes after all actually returned, bringing with him the image—about which they cared not a farthing—may be imagined by the irreverent.
[625] v. 77.
[626] v. 275.
[627] vv. 380 _sqq._
[628] vv. 719 _sq._
[629] See Verrall, _Eur. the Rationalist_, pp. 217-30 (_Euripides in a Hymn_).
[630] Longinus, _de Subl._ xv. 3.
[631] vv. 970 _sqq._
[632] v. 73: ἐξ αἱμάτων γοῦν ξάνθ’ ἔχει τριχώματα, a grotesque thought which we have just heard (as Murray points out in his _apparatus_) from Iphigenia as part of her dream.
[633] vv. 281 _sqq._
[634] vv. 961 _sqq._
[635] θεᾶς βρέτας is now the prescription, as we may call it. Cp. vv. 980, 985-6, and 1038-40.
[636] vv. 939 _sqq._
[637] ψῆφος (v. 945). He means “assembly (which votes),” but he has ψῆφος on the brain, as well he might have (vv. 965 _sq._).
[638] vv. 739 _sq._ and 1046: Πυλάδης δ’ ὅδ’ ἡμῖν ποῦ τετάξεται φόνου—if this is a task set by Apollo there must be murder in it.
[639] v. 933.
[640] _Arrangement_: protagonist, Electra; deuteragonist, Orestes, Clytæmnestra; tritagonist, farmer, old man, messenger, Castor. Pylades and Polydeuces were represented by a mute actor.
[641] From vv. 1347-56 it is clear that the Sicilian expedition had already sailed, but that news of the disaster had not yet reached Athens.
[642] Bernhardy, _Geschichte der griechischen Poesie_ II, ii. p. 490.
[643] vv. 1041-3.
[644] vv. 9-10.
[645] 1142-6.
[646] vv. 652-60.
[647] v. 54.
[648] The peasant tells us that Electra’s banishment to the country is due to her mother’s efforts when Ægisthus wished to kill her (vv. 25 _sqq._). Electra puts the matter very differently (vv. 60 _sq._). The horrible story in vv. 326 _sqq._ is probably untrue; cp. ὡς λέγουσιν.
[649] vv. 77-8, 354 _sq._
[650] vv. 367 _sqq._
[651] vv. 255 _sqq._
[652] vv. 1294, 1296 _sq._, 1302.
[653] vv. 737-45.
[654] Expedit esse deos.
[655] “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.”
[656] vv. 1245 _sq._
[657] vv. 1327 _sqq._
[658] vv. 1301-7. The first line, μοῖρά τ’ ἀνάγκης ἦγ’ ᾗ τὸ χρεών, is an exceptionally fine instance of misty verbiage.
[659] See Verrall’s discussion in his edition of the _Choephorœ_ (Introd. pp. xxxiii-lxx).
[660] _Probable Arrangement_: protagonist, Helen, the god (whether Castor or Pollux); deuteragonist, Teucer, Menelaus, Egyptian messenger; tritagonist, old woman, Greek messenger, Theonoe, Theoclymenus.
[661] v. 616: ὦ χαῖρε, Λήδας θύγατερ, ἐνθάδ’ ἦσθ’ ἄρα;
[662] v. 151.
[663] vv. 832, 1048, 491, 1050-2.
[664] vv. 183 _sqq._
[665] vv. 1107 _sqq._
[666] vv. 878 _sqq._
[667] vv. 1013-6:—
καὶ γὰρ τίσις τῶνδ’ ἐστὶ τοῖς τε νερτέροις καὶ τοῖς ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. ὁ νοῦς τῶν κατθανόντων ζῇ μὲν οὔ, γνώμην δ’ ἔχει ἀθάνατον, εἰς ἀθάνατον αἰθέρ’ ἐμπεσών.
The precision of the wording is remarkable.
[668] _Troades_, 884 _sqq._
[669] See _Four Plays of Euripides_, pp. 43-133 (_Euripides’ Apology_).
[670] vv. 1301 _sqq._
[671] The idea is taken from the famous recantation of Stesichorus, which asserted that Helen never went to Troy.
[672] In the inflated affectation of such things as vv. 355-6 and 629 parody of some contemporary lyrist is quite possible.
[673] vv. 20-1, 256-9 (rejected by Murray, after Badham).
[674] vv. 138 _sqq._, 205 _sqq._, 284-5.
[675] vv. 744-60.
[676] _Arrangement_ (according to Croiset): protagonist, Jocasta, Creon; deuteragonist, Antigone, Polynices, Menœceus; tritagonist, pædagogus, Eteocles, Tiresias, messengers, Œdipus.
[677] Perhaps one reason was the great sweep of story which it covers.
[678] See Mr. J. U. Powell’s careful and lucid account in his edition (pp. 7-32).
[679] Verrall, _Eur. the Rationalist_, pp. 236 _sq._
[680] Mr. J. U. Powell, whose edition should be consulted.
[681] vv. 1233 _sq._:—
ὑμεῖς δ’ ἀγῶν’ ἀφέντες, Ἀργεῖοι, χθόνα νίσεσθε, βίοτον μὴ λιπόντες ἐνθάδε,
are out of the question as work of Euripides. There are several other faults.
[682] vv. 1259 _sqq._
[683] Mr. Powell, however, rightly remarks that vv. 1265-6 are “strained”.
[684] vv. 1758 _sq._
[685] vv. 1524 _sq._
[686] So the scholiast: ὅ τε ἐπὶ πᾶσι μετ’ ᾠδῆς ἀδολέσχου φυγαδευόμενος Οἰδίπους προσέρραπται διὰ κενῆς.
[687] vv. 1090-1199 (the ῥῆσις containing the description of the Seven).
[688] vv. 1182 _sqq._
[689] Verrall (_Eur. the Rationalist_, pp. 231-60) believed that those parts which introduce Antigone are un-Euripidean. The terrace-scene has already been discussed. In the body of the play, as he argues with much point, wherever mention of Antigone occurs, it is obtrusive and embarrassing. Her lament with Œdipus at the close contains many inappropriate features. He concludes that Œdipus is an allegory of Euripides himself, leaving Athens in sorrow at the end of his life, and that Antigone represents his literary offspring, the plays. The Sphinx is “the spirit of mystery and darkness,” which the poet has fought and quelled. All this was composed by a poet of the Euripidean circle to commemorate the master; it includes a compliment—the quotation from the _Œdipus Tyrannus_—to Sophocles, who had shown public respect to his rival when the news of his death reached Athens.
[690] One notices the criticism (vv. 751 _sq._) of Æschylus, _Septem_ (vv. 375 _sqq._) when Eteocles declares that to give a list of his champions would be waste of time.
[691] The “popular” character of the _Phœnissæ_ is brought out by the relish with which the _Argument_ enumerates its murderous happenings.
[692] In this passage an allusion has by some been supposed to Alcibiades’ return to Athens (411 B.C.).
[693] Cp. vv. 302 _sq._ (γηραιὸν πόδ’ ἕλκω) with v. 316 (περιχορεύουσα).
[694] vv. 528 _sqq._
[695] Croiset gives the probable _arrangement_: protagonist, Orestes, messenger; deuteragonist, Electra, Menelaus, Phrygian; tritagonist, Helen, Tyndareus, Pylades, Hermione, Apollo.
[696] See Murray’s text.
[697] vv. 1167 _sqq._
[698] vv. 491-525.
[699] vv. 28 _sqq._
[700] vv. 285 _sqq._ Menelaus (v. 417) casually calls Apollo “stupid”.
[701] vv. 380 _sqq._
[702] v. 386.
[703] v. 388.
[704] v. 390.
[705] vv. 544 _sqq._ The flatness of the translation given above is not, I think, inappropriate, νῦν δὲ σὴν ταρβῶ τρίχα (v. 550), is merely hideous. μαστοῖς τὸν ἔλεον θηρώμεναι (v. 568), is even worse.
[706] v. 551.
[707] v. 634.
[708] v. 397.
[709] vv. 640 _sq._
[710] vv. 658-61.
[711] vv. 932 _sqq._
[712] v. 1576: ποτέρον ἐρωτᾶν ἢ κλύειν ἐμοῦ θέλεις;
[713] v. 396.
[714] His “progression, upward in strength and downward in reason, is visible throughout,” says Dr. Verrall (_Four Plays_, p. 245), whose eloquent and vivid essay on this drama should be carefully studied.
[715] vv. 1204 _sqq._: ὦ τὰς φρένας μὲν ἄρσενας κεκτημένη....
[716] vv. 615 _sqq._
[717] vv. 72-92. Compare the amusing little passage-of-arms, vv. 107-11 (see Verrall, _Four Plays_, pp. 219 _sq._).
[718] vv. 126 _sqq._
[719] vv. 1-3.
[720] vv. 78 _sq._
[721] v. 121.
[722] vv. 960 _sqq._
[723] At v. 1539 (very late in the day) they discuss whether it is their duty to inform the State of the murderous plot against Helen and Hermione. Even then they decide to do nothing.
[724] vv. 1547 _sqq._
[725] Note vv. 743, 745, 747, 749, and the excitement in the last two verses.
[726] vv. 481 _sqq._
[727] vv. 371 _sqq._
[728] v. 1323.
[729] vv. 37 _sqq._
[730] vv. 395 _sqq._
[731] Contrast v. 420: μέλλει· τὸ θεῖον δ’ ἐστὶ τοιοῦτον φύσει; with v. 423: ὡς ταχὺ μετῆλθόν σ’ αἷμα μητέρος θεαί.
[732] vv. 360 _sqq._
[733] v. 373.
[734] First Menelaus says that Glaucus spoke to him “from the waves” (v. 362), but from v. 365 (ἐμφανῶς κατασταθείς) it seems that the person is standing on the shore. Such inconsistencies are significant, and in Euripides common. They indicate how much accuracy the narrator commands.
[735] vv. 1493 _sqq._
[736] vv. 1662-3.
[737] Professor Gilbert Murray (_Euripides and his Age_, pp. 160 _sqq._) has some beautiful and striking observations on the epiphany of Apollo and its effect on the raving mortals below: a trance falls upon them from which they awake purged of hate and anger. But could Euripides, can we, attribute this to a god who has commanded matricide? And the effect is largely spoiled by Orestes (vv. 1666 _sqq._): “Prophetic Loxias, what oracles are thine! Thou art not, then, a lying prophet, but a true. Yet had I begun to dread lest, when I heard thy voice as I thought, it was that of a fiend.” ... These are not the tones of blissful faith.
[738] Paley says that this play is more frequently quoted by ancient writers than all the works of Æschylus and Sophocles together.
[739] vv. 174 _sqq._
[740] _Arrangement_: Protagonist, Pentheus, Agave; deuteragonist, Dionysus, Tiresias; tritagonist, Cadmus, guard, messengers.
[741] Before Cadmus’ speech, a passage has been lost in which the mourners adjusted the torn fragments.
[742] There is another gap at this point. A considerable number of Dionysus’ lines are missing, and no doubt also further conversation between Cadmus and Agave.
[743] See Professor Murray (_Euripides and his Age_, pp. 183 _sq._). I now think that what I wrote about the psychology of Dionysus and Pentheus (_The Riddle of the Bacchæ_, pp. 66 _sq._, 87-101) is over-elaborated.
[744] vv. 824-45.
[745] vv. 732-51.
[746] Professor Murray’s beautiful translation of these lyrics will be familiar to most readers.
[747] Murray, _Euripides and his Age_, p. 196. My quotation, of course, does not imply that Professor Murray is guilty of the confusion of thought in question.
[748] The view mentioned in this paragraph will be found worked out in the present writer’s _Riddle of the Bacchæ_. This theory has met with much scepticism, but received the honour of almost entire acceptance by the late Dr. Verrall in _The Bacchantes of Euripides_. Dr. Verrall improved the statement of the theory, in particular by rejecting the supposition of a plot between Tiresias and the Stranger. Mr. W. H. Salter, in his delightful _Essays on Two Moderns_, also accepts this view of the play in the main (pp. 50-68). Dr. R. Nihard, in _Le Problème des Bacchantes d’Euripide_ (Louvain, 1912), a useful study, rejects it.
[749] vv. 632 _sq._:—
πρὸς δὲ τοῖσδ’ αὐτῷ τάδ’ ἄλλα Βάκχιος λυμαίνεται· δώματ’ ἔρρηξεν χαμᾶζε. συντεθράνωται δ’ ἅπαν ...
συντεθράνωται, however, is elsewhere only known to us by the explanation of Hesychius, συμπέπτωκε, and Verrall points out that it ought to mean “it has all been put together again”.
[750] To this view no complete answer has yet been made. All that can possibly be said is what Professor Gilbert Murray (_Euripides and his Age_, pp. 186 _sq._) and (in a letter to the present writer) Professor U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff suggest, that the palace is in the main destroyed, but the façade is more or less undamaged. This does away with the testimony to Dionysus’ imposture which the audience receive from their own eyes, but it leaves untouched the incredible silence of Pentheus. Moreover, Dionysus’ words as they stand mean that the building is utterly destroyed. That they do not mean this is only suggested in despair, because, if they do mean this, they are absurdly and patently false.
[751] v. 233 _sq._: ξένος, γόης ἐπῳδός.
[752] The attachment between Artemis and Hippolytus is a remarkable exception. The stories concerning the “loves” of gods and goddesses for mortals are evidently beside the question.
[753] vv. 1325 _sq._
[754] _Bellerophon_, _fr._ 294, 7: εἰ θεοί τι δρῶσιν αἰσχρόν, οὐκ εἰσὶν θεοί.
[755] _Arrangement_: Croiset gives: protagonist, Agamemnon, Achilles; deuteragonist, Old Man, Iphigenia, messenger; tritagonist, Menelaus, Clytæmnestra.
[756] For these see Professor Murray’s text, especially his preface.
[757] It contains, for instance, unmetrical verses.
[758] vv. 1366 _sq._
[759] vv. 919-74.
[760] For what follows cp. Professor Murray, _Euripides and his Age_, pp. 173-5.
[761] v. 414.
[762] The elision of αι in v. 407.
[763] _Poetic_, 1454_a_.
[764] _Arrangement_: protagonist, Odysseus; deuteragonist, Silenus; tritagonist, Polyphemus.
[765] The _Detectives_ (Ἰχνευταί) of Sophocles is now known to us by extensive fragments, see pp. 175 _sq._
[766] Murray puts it “perhaps even before 438”.
[767] It attracted little attention from ancient scholars. There are no scholia, and the hypothesis is incomplete.
[768] _Odyssey IX._ 105-566.
[769] Cp. vv. 549, 672-5, with _Od. IX._ vv. 366, 408-12.
[770] Cp. vv. 460-3 with _Od. IX._ 384-8.
[771] See p. 2.
[772] Anapæsts in other feet than the first, and occasional violations of the rule of the final cretic (see