ὧν (neut.), instead of “ἧς”, since ποίμνην is a ‘noun of multitude’; cp. O. C. 1070“ἄμβασις, οἳ κ.τ.λ.” (n.). Then τὴν μὲν (sc. “ποίμνην”) follows “ὧν”, as it might have followed “ἧς”: cp. Thuc. 1. 2§ 3 “τῆς γῆς ἡ ἀρίστη”, ib. 5 § 1 “τὸν πλεῖστον τοῦ βίου”. Finally, τὰ δὲ (sc. “βοτὰ”) refers to “ὧν”.—The antithesis to “τὴν μὲν” is given by “τὰ δέ”, not (as some have thought) by “δύο δ᾽”. ἔσω, ‘within the house,’ refers to all the incidents that followed his arrival (“ἤλυθε”). Schneidewin wrongly joins ἔσω σφάζε (‘stach tot’), comparing Aesch. Ag. 1343“πέπληγμαι καιρίαν πληγὴν ἔσω”. But “σφάζε” denotes ‘cutting the throat,’ not ‘stabbing’; cp. 298. ἐπὶ γαίας, where they stood upon the floor; as distinguished from those animals which he caught up and rent asunder. πλευροκοπῶν, slashing at their sides with his sword: a compound like “θαλαττοκοπεῖν” ( Ar. Eq. 830), “μετεωροκοπεῖν” ( Ar. Pax 92).
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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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