ἐπισπάσειν κλέος. Hesych. 2, p. 168 “ἐπισπάσει: ἐπιτεύξεται. Σοφοκλῆς Ἀτρεῖ ἢ Μυκήναις” (=“Μυκηναίας”: fr. 137). ‘Draw to,’ or ‘on,’ oneself: so here, ‘achieve.’ Cp. Aesch. Pers. 477“τοσόνδε πλῆθος πημάτων ἐπέσπασεν”, which recalls Hom. Od. 18. 73“ἐπίσπαστον κακὸν ἕξει”. Neophron fr. 3. 2 (Nauck, Trag. Gr. Fragm. p. 731) “βροχωτὸν ἀγχόνην ἐπισπάσας δέρῃ” (where “δέρῃ” should prob. begin the verse). The middle voice would seem fitter in all these places: cp. Apollod. 2. 1“ἐπισπᾶσθαι τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν ὀργήν”. This seems an instance in which metrical necessity accounts for the use of the active voice; as, conversely, a metrical motive so often induced the use of middle forms.
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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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