αἰσχρῶς δ̓, sc. “ἐρεῖς”. I leave the traditional δ̓: for, though it might well be absent, it adds a certain vivacity to the retort. ‘Will that be your plea? Nay, it will be a shameful one.’ ἐάν περ καὶ λέγῃς, ‘if you do allege it’ (as it is scarcely conceivable that you should). Here “καὶ” goes closely with the verb: cp. Ant. 90“εἰ καὶ δυνήσει γ̓”. ἐχθροῖς γαμεῖσθαι. Cp. <*>r. 1236 f., where Hyllus demurs to marrying lolè (whom he regards as indirectly the cause of his father's death): “κρεῖσσον κἀμέ γ̓, ὦ πάτερ, θανεῖν” | “ἢ τοῖσιν ἐχθίστοισι συνναίειν ὁμοῦ”. Aegisthus is, in Electra's view, an “ἐχθρός”, primarily as having helped to murder Agamemnon. As the son of Thyestes, and the murderer of Atreus, he is in a further sense the “ἐχθρός” of all Atreidae. These two verses, though not indispensable, seem genuine. Were they omitted, the transition from 592 to 595 would be somewhat abrupt.
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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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