τὰ ψευδῆ. The art. with the neut. adj. gives a certain emphasis (‘those things which are false’), and the objection to it here would have point only if, instead of the adj., we had the subst., “τὰ ψεύδη”. For the same reason, “τὰ ψευδῆ λέγειν” seems rather better than “τὸ ψευδῆ λέγειν”, though at first sight the latter is specious. In fr. 325 “καλὸν μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔστι τὰ ψευδῆ λέγειν”, also, “τὰ” appears sound. Cp. Antiphon or. 1 § 10 “αὕτη γὰρ καὶ τοὺς τὰ ψευδῆ παρεσκευασμένους λέγειν τἀληθῆ κατηγορεῖν ποιήσει”. Cavallin changes δῆτα τὰ to δηλαδὴ, ‘evidently’ ( O. T. 1501): but this would be better suited to ironical reproof than to ingenuous surprise.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
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