ὁ μακρὸς … χρόνος: see Her. 5. 9, quoted in n. on 86. φύει τ᾽ κ.τ.λ.: the emphasis is on the power of time to enfeeble and destroy, rather than to produce; but the first clause serves to bring the second into relief, and is co-ordinated with it, as in Ant. 1112“αὐτός τ᾽ ἔδησα καὶ παρὼν ἐκλύσομαι”.—The rash change of φύει to φαίνει overlooks the poet's tendency to vary his phrase in such cases; e.g. O. C. 1501“σαφὴς μὲν ἀστῶν ἐμφανὴς δὲ τοῦ ξένου”: O. T. 54“ἄρξεις..κρατεῖς.” κρύπτεται, properly, ‘hides in its own bosom’ (midd.): cp. Aesch. Cho. 127“γαῖαν..ἣ τὰ πάντα τίκτεται”, ‘produces from herself.’ The midd. of the simple “κρύπτω” is rare: but cp. 246, and Tr. 474“κρύψομαι” (n.).
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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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