δῶρον. The “τυραννίς” was “δωρητόν, οὐκ αἰτητόν” (O. T. 384),—the reward pressed on him by Thebes for worsting the Sphinx; and with the throne he received the hand of Iocasta. The MS. ἐπωφέλησα, “"I benefited,"” or “"succoured"” (cp. 441), cannot be right. The sense required is “μήποτε ὤφελον ἐξελέσθαι”, “"would that I had never won!"” cp. Ph. 969 “μήποτ᾽ ὤφελον λιπεῖν ι τὴν Σκῦρον”: Od. 11.548 “ὡς δὴ μὴ ὄφελον νικᾶν”: where “μή”, though thus placed, belongs to the infinitives. See Appendix for the attempted explanations of “ἐπωφέλησα”, and for some proposed emendations. I would read the partic. ἐπωφελήσας (which the iambic metre allows), and take ἐξελέσθαι as the absol. infin. expressing a wish:—“"and would that I had never received that choice gift from the city, for having served her."” For this absol. infin., with the subject in the nominative, cp.
. Orestes had uttered the wish that Agamemnon had fallen in war at Troy: “εἰ γὰρ ὑπ᾽ Ἰλίῳ ι … κατηναρίσθης” (345 ff.). Electra modifies it: “"I would not have had thee to perish e'en beneath Troy's walls, and to be buried by Scamander's stream; would rather that the murderers (Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra) had first been slain as they slew thee!"” Here the MSS. have “τέθαψαι” and “δαμῆναι”. On the latter the schol. has “λείπει τὸ ὄφελον”, and on the former “λείπει τὸ ὤφελες”, thus indicating the certain correction of H. L. Ahrens, “τεθάφθαι”. Cp. also“ΗΛ. μηδ᾽ ὑπὸ Τρωΐας
τείχεσι φθίμενος, πάτερ,
μετ᾽ ἄλλων δουρικμῆτι λαῷ
παρὰ Σκαμάνδρου πόρον τεθάφθαι,
πάρος δ᾽ οἱ κτανόντες νιν οὕτως δαμῆναι
”
“"Ah, would to father Zeus,...that, such as I was when I took Nericus,...in such might, and with armour on my shoulders, I had stood by thee, and had been aiding thee, yesterday in our house!"” A criticism by Wecklein is discussed in the Appendix. ἐξελέσθαι, ironical as if the bride were a “γέρας ἐξαίρετον”. The act. aor. is used of the army choosing a prize (out of the booty) for a chief, Il. 16.56 “κούρην ἢν ἄρα μοι γέρας ἔξελον υἷες Ἀχαιῶν”: the midd. aor., of the victor choosing his own prize, as Tr. 244 “ταύτας ι … ἐξείλεθ᾽ αὑτῷ κτῆμα”. Here “πόλεος ἐξελέσθαι” is not “"to choose for myself out of the city,"” but “"to receive as a choice gift from the city."”“αἲ γάρ, Ζεῦ τε πάτερ καὶ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Ἄπολλον,
οἷος Νήρικον εἷλον, …
τοῖος ἐών τοι χθιζὸς ἐν ἡμετέροισι δόμοισιν,
τεύχε᾽ ἔχων ὤμοισιν, ἐφεστάμεναι καὶ ἀμύνειν,
”
