ἦ ταῦτα δὴ “κ.τ.λ.” The formula ἦ … δὴ expresses lively surprise, just as in Ph. 565“η<*> ταῦτα δὴ Φοῖνίξ τε χοἱ ξυνναυβάται” | ..“δρῶσιν”..; There is no reason for preferring ἦ … γὰρ (cr. n.), which is slightly less animated. It may be noticed that “ἦ γάρ”, as used by Sophocles, usually asks whether an inference from the previous speaker's words is correct (‘am I to understand that...’): see e.g. O. T. 1000, O. T. 1039, O. T. 1173; Ph. 248, Ph. 322, Ph. 654.But here the question is virtually no more than an astonished comment. καὶ βεβούλευνται: “καί” emphasises the verb: cp. Ant. 726“οἱ τηλικοίδε καὶ διδαξόμεσθα δή”..; O. T. 772 n. For the perf. pass. with middle force, cp. 947.
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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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