νέατος should be followed by a comma (as in some MSS.): the sense is, “τίς νέατος ἐτέων ἀριθμὸς” (“ἔσται”), “ἐς πότε λήξει ἐτέων ἀριθμός;” ‘what will be the last number (the completed total of the years),—when will the series of the years end?’—“ἀριθμός” having a slightly different sense with “νέατος” from that which it bears with “ἐς πότε”. This difference is the reason against taking the sentence as two questions combined in one (like “τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν;”). The scholiast in L understood the construction aright:—“τίς ἄρα ἡμῖν ὁ ἔσχατος τῶν ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸς τῶν πολυπλάγκτων;” [Remark that he does not supply “ἔσται”—thus indicating that it is to be understood in the text also.] “ἐς” “πότε λήξει ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν ἐτῶν ἐμοὶ πόνους παρασκευάζων;” For νέατος in this sense, cp. Ant. 807 f. πολυπλάγκτων, ‘muchwandering,’ ‘restless,’ refers to the toils of the campaign beyond sea; the epithet of the men is transferred to the years; cp. Od. 17. 425“λῃστῆρσι πολυπλάγκτοισιν”.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907.
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