τὴν τέχνην, i.e., “τὴν μαντικήν”. Agamemnon fell into the snare laid for him: Ag. 911“ἐς δῶμ᾽ ἄελπτον ὡς ἂν ἡγῆται Δίκη”.—Cp. Ai. 1121“οὐ γὰρ βάναυσον τὴν τέχνην ἐκτησάμην”. 1501 Cp. O. C. 1628“πάλαι δὴ τἀπὸ σοῦ βραδύνεται”. 1502 The double change of person within the verse ( Or.—Aeg.— Or.) is rare. As G. Wolff observes, there is no instance of it in Aesch. ; in Soph. the only other examples occur in the two latest plays, Soph. O. C. 832, Soph. Ph. 810, Soph. Ph. 814, Soph. Ph. 816, at moments of high excitement. A triple change within the verse occurs only once, in Soph. Ph. 753.This is another point which bcars on the date of the Electra: cp. 1160 n. ἕρφ̓. The word is always so written here, as if Orestes could foresee that Aegisthus would utter an aspirated word. Similar instances occur elsewhere: see Appendix. In the theatre, we must suppose, the actor said “ἕρπε” at full length: and possibly the poet so wrote it.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VI: The Electra. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894.
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