ἴσα could imply either (1) ‘as fully as they pitied you in their hearts,’— the sense in which the speaker means Ph. to take it: or (2) ‘only as much as they showed you pity in their deeds’: cp. Soph. Ant. 516 n. on “ἐξ ἴσου.” ἐποικτίρειν is much better than Nauck's ἐποικτιρεῖν, which, as expressing a presentiment, would call too much attention to the ambiguity of “ἴσα”.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
