Αἰτναίας … πώλου, not seen, of course, by the spectators: Ismene leaves it with her servant (334), and enters on foot (320). Sicily having a reputation both for its horses (Oppian Cyneg. 1. 170) and for its mules (Photius 366. 12), some understand a mule here, as that animal (with an easy saddle, ἀστράβη) was much used for such journeys. But though “πῶλος”, with a defining word (as “τῶν καμήλων” Arist. Hist. An. 1.1.47, “κύνεοι” Anthol. 12. 238) could denote the young of animals other than the horse, “πῶλος” alone would always mean a young horse. Αἰτναίας implies some choice breed, as in Theophr. Char. XXI (=VII in my 1st ed.) the “μικροφιλότιμος” buys “Λακωνικὰς κύνας, Σικελικὰς περιστεράς”, etc. In Aristoph. Pax 73 the “Αἰτναῖος μέγιστος κάνθαρος” is not a mere joke on the Etna breed of horses, but alludes to a species of beetle actually found there (cp. Aesch. fr. 229, Plato Com. ἑορτ. fr. 13, quoted by schol. ad loc.).
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part II: The Oedipus Coloneus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1899.
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