βόσκειν, i.e., to feed with thine own flesh: cp. 313. For the omission of μέν, cp. Ant. 806, O. C. 1275. ἀδαὴς δ᾽ ἔχειν κ.τ.λ., while it cannot be taught to bear the countless woes that attend upon it. “ἔχειν” here=sustinere, as in O. C. 537“ἔπαθον ἄλαστ᾽ ἔχειν”, and Ant. 421.It is needless to read ὀχεῖν. ὃ ξυνοικεῖ: cp. O. C. 1237“γῆρας ἄφιλον, O. C. i῞να πρόπαντα” | “κακὰ κακῶν ξυνοικεῖ”, and ib. 1134. The context here slightly favours ὃ as against ᾧ, though the latter is possible. The only source of obscurity here is that in the first clause (“οἰκτρὰ γὰρ βόσκειν”) the “κήρ” is the disease itself, while in the second (“ἀδαὴς δ̓”) it is identified with the patient. The sense is, ‘thy disease is dreadful, and no length of time could inure thee to the countless other ills that accompany it’ (hunger, hardship, solitude).
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.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
