[312] ῥῦσαι σεαυτὸν κ.τ.λ. ῥύεσθαί τι is to draw a thing to oneself, and so to protect it. ῥῦσαι μίασμα here = literally, “take the defilement under thy care”; i.e. “make it thy care to remove the defilement.” Cp. πρόστητ᾽ ἀναγκαίας τύχης （Soph. Aj. 803）, shelter my hard fate, （instead of, “shelter me from it.”）
πᾶν μίασμα the whole defilement, as affecting not only human life but also the herds and flocks and the fruits of the earth: cp. 253. τοῦ τεθνηκότος gen. of the source from which the μίασμα springs, —more pathetic than τοῦ φόνου, as reminding the hearer that vengeance is due for innocent blood. Both πᾶν and the usual sense of μίασμα forbid us to understand, “avenge the uncleanness [i.e. the unpunished murder] of the dead man.” For ῥῦσαι δὲ Blaydes conj. λῦσον δὲ, comparing Eur. Orest. 598 “μίασμα λῦσαι.” But the triple ῥῦσαι is essential to the force.This text is part of:
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