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δόμοις. For the full stop after the 5th foot cp. O. T. 800.

ἕλκος, esp. an ulcer; said in Il. 2.723 of a serpent's venomous bite; hence fitting here in ref. to the false friend, the “ἔχιδνα” in the house (531). So civil strife (“στάσις ἔμφυλος”) is described by Solon as “πάσῃ πόλει...ἕλκος ἄφυκτον” (4. 17).

φίλος is any one near and dear to us; the masc. is used, though the reference is to a wife, because the thought of domestic treason is put in the most general way: so (though with ref. to a woman) 464 “κατθανών”, 496 “ἁλούς”. Cp. Eur. Alc. 355ἡδὺ γὰρ φίλους κἀν νυκτὶ λεύσσειν, ὅντιν᾽ ἂν παρῇ χρόνον” (Admetus speaking of his wife: we might read “φίλος”).


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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Euripides, Alcestis, 355
    • Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, 800
    • Homer, Iliad, 2.723
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