ἀνεῖται στυγερῷ δαίμονι, has been consecrated, devoted, to it; i.e., has become its victim. Cp. Soph. Ph. 947“οὗτος δὲ πῶλος” (Menoeceus), “τῇδ᾽ ἀνειμένος πόλει”, | “θανὼν πατρῴαν γαῖαν ἐκσώσειεν ἄν”. The word “ἀνειμένος” was properly said of animals which, having been consecrated to a god, were allowed to roam at liberty in the pastures; Her. 2. 65“τῶν δὲ εἵνεκεν ἀνεῖται τὰ ἱρὰ” (“θηρία”) “εἰ λέγοιμι, καταβαίην ἂν τῷ λόγῳ εἰς τὰ θεῖα πρήγματα”: then the term was extended to inanimate things; Legg. 761 C “εἴ τί που ἄλσος ἢ τέμενος περὶ ταῦτα ἀνειμένον ᾖ”. The young Ionin the Delphic temple is said to be “ἄφετος”, ‘consecrated’ to the god ( Eur. Ion 822: cp. Critias 119 D “ἀφέτων ὄντων ταύρων ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερῷ”). Similarly the sacred horses of the German tribes “publice aluntur..nullo mortali opere contacti” (Tac. Germ. 10).
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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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