Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Electra

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μοῦνος (O.T. 304 n.) Ἑλλήνων. He of all men—the father of the maiden —was the one who resolved on sacrificing her. The sacrifice was, indeed, approved by the other chiefs ( Aesch. Ag. 230“φιλόμαχοι βραβῆς”); and several persons took part in the deed itself (ib. 240 “ἕκαστον θυτήρων”). But, in the first instance, when Calchas spoke, the decision rested with Agamemnon. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 205—225, ending with “ἔτλα δ᾽ οὖν” | “θυτὴρ γενέσθαι θυγατρός”. Sophocles, like Aeschylus, ignores the legend used by Euripides, that Iphigeneia was not really slain at Aulis, but wafted by Artemis to the Tauric Chersonese.

Nauck requires “τὴν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ” instead of “τὴν σὴν ὅμαιμον”, because Agamemnon's unique crime was the slaughter of his own child: as if the text did not convey this. Clytaemnestra means, ‘while mourning a father, you forget a sister.’

532 f. The regular mode of expression would be, “οὐκ ἴσον λύπης καμὼν ἐμοί, ὁ σπείρας τῇ τικτούσῃ”. But, having written “ὅτ᾽ ἔσπειρε”, the poet explains “ἐμοί” by repeating the comparison in a new form, “ὥσπερ ἡ τίκτουσ᾽ ἐγώ”. (For “ὡς” or “ὥσπερ” after “ἴσος”, cp. Lys. or. 19 § 36 “ἡγοῦντο... τὰ ἐκεῖ...εἶναι ἴσα ὥσπερ τὰ ἐνθάδε” .) Those who reject v. 533 omit to notice that, without it, the words “οὐκ ἴσον καμὼν ἐμοί” would be unintelligible. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1417“ἔθυσεν αὑτοῦ παῖδα, φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ” | “ὠδῖν̓”.

This assertion of the mother's superior claim is a counterpart to the doctrine of Athena in Aesch. Eum. 658 f., “οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ ἡ κεκλημένου τέκνου” | “τοκεύς, τροφὸς δὲ κύματος νεοσπόρου”. Cp. above, Aesch. Eum. 366 n.