ἐσθλά … ἐχθρά. Since the sceptre which put forth the luxuriant growth was that which Aegisthus now carries (420 f.), Clytaemnestra might well regard the dream as so far susceptible of a good meaning. On the other hand, the apparition of Agamemnon (“ὁ πανώλης”, 544) must needs disquiet her. And so the import of the vision as a whole seemed doubtful. Cp. Aesch. Pers. 217, where the Chorus are advising Atossa how to propitiate the gods after her dream: “εἴ τι φλαῦρον εἶδες, αἰτοῦ τῶνδ᾽ ἀποτροπὴν τελεῖν”, | “τὰ δ᾽ ἀγάθ᾽ ἐκτελῆ γενέσθαι σοί τε καὶ τέκνῳ σέθεν κ.τ.λ.” ἔμπαλιν μέθες, retro mitte, ‘allow to recoil’ upon them: so “στρέφειν ἔμπαλιν” ( Eur. Med. 923, etc.). “ἔμπαλιν” would be weak here if it meant merely, ‘on the contrary.’
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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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