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τὰπαννυχίδων is best taken as acc. governed by ξυνίσας᾿, rather than as a prefatory acc. of reference (‘as to...’): ὅσαθρηνῶ (94) is epexegetic of it. “τὰ παννυχίδων”, a periphrasis like “τὰ τῶν πολέμων” ( Thuc. 2. 11), “τὰ τῆς τύχης” ( Soph. Ph. 1202), etc. The “παννυχὶς” (“ἑορτή”) was properly a joyous torch-light festival, as at the Lenaea ( Ar. Ran. 371), or the Bendideia ( Plat. Rep. 328A). The irony is like that of “κείνου χρηστήρια τἀνδρός” ( Soph. Ai. 220), “παιὰν Ἐρινύων” ( Aesch. Ag. 645).

ἤδη (which has been needlessly suspected) means merely, ‘ere now,’ implying the long duration of her grief.

The MS. οἴκων is better than the proposed λέκτρων, since (a) μογερῶν suggests, not merely her own sorrow, but the troubles of the house; and (b) the antithesis is between her laments without and within the palace.


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hide References (6 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (6):
    • Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 645
    • Aristophanes, Frogs, 371
    • Plato, Republic, 328a
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 220
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 1202
    • Thucydides, Histories, 2.11
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