86-120
A “
θρῆνος ἀπὸ σκηνῆς”, or lyric
lament delivered by an actor alone. as dist. from the joint
“
κομμός” of actor and Chorus (121
n.).
Verses 86—102 form a “
σύστημα”,=vv. 103—120 (“
ἀντισύστημα”). If the text is sound, the
correspondence is not exact, since the dimeter in v. 99 answers
to a monometer in v. 116. These anapaests are, however, of the
type usually known as ‘free’ or
‘melic,’ as having more of a lyric character
than the regular anapaests of the marching-songs (like those of
the Parodos in the
Ajax): see W. Christ,
Metrik, 2nd ed., § 288. And in such
anapaests the symmetry of ‘systems’ is often
not strict (cp.
O. C. 117 n.).
ὦ φάος ἁγνὸν: the
Sun-god abhors impurity (
O. T. 1425 ff.). So too the “
αἰθήρ” is “
ἁγνός” (
Aesch. P.
V. 281). —These opening words
beautifully express the sense of relief with which she passes
from her sad vigil in the polluted house to the clear sunlight
and free air of morning.—Similar utterances of sorrow
to the elements are those in
Aesch.
P. V. 88 ff.,
Eur. Andr. 91 ff.
γῆς ἰσόμοιρ᾽ ἀήρ,
‘air coextensive with
earth,’—having a “
μοῖρα”, a domain in space, equal to that of earth. Cp.
Hamlet's phrase, ‘this goodly frame, the earth...this
most excellent canopy, the air’
(2. 2.
311).
Hes. Th. 126
“
Γαῖα δέ τοι πρῶτον μὲν ἐγείνατο
ἶσον ἑαυτῇ ι Οὐρανὸν ἀστερόενθ̓,
ἵνα μιν περὶ πάντα καλύπτοι”
. A genitive after “
ἰσόμοιρος”
usu. denotes that
in which persons share alike (as
Isae. or. 6 § 25
“
ἰσομοίρους...τῶν πατρῴων”). Here
it denotes the partner. Cp.
De Mund. 6. 18 (p.
399
a 8) “
ἥλιος...καὶ οἱ
τούτου” [not “
τούτῳ”]
“
ἰσόδρομοι, ὅ τε Φωσφόρος καὶ ὁ
Ἑρμῆς”. So adjectives of similarity or equivalence
can take a gen. (as “
προσφερής”
Eur. H. F. 131,
“
ἀντίπαλος”
Pind. O. 8. 71).
Such genitives are analogous to those which follow words
expressing community or participation, as “
κοινός, συγγενής”, etc.—Others, taking
“
ἀήρ” as that which is
intermediate between “
γῆ” and “
αἰθήρ”, explain, ‘air, which
has the same share in earth (as it has in “
αἰθήρ”),’ —comparing
Ar. Av.
187“
ἐν μέσῳ δήπουθεν ἀήρ
ἐστι γῆς” (where “
καὶ
οὐρανοῦ” is to be supplied). This is very forced.
ἰσόμοιῤ is a
necessary correction of
ἰσόμοιρος (cr. n.), which would require “
α^” in “
ἀήρ”,—a quantity found only in
pseudoPhocylides 108, and an epigram quoted by Eustathius p. 17.
46.
