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μὴ καὶ: this “καὶ”=‘e'en’ (not ‘both’): cp. 46, 534.

ἐκχέω (aor. subj.), ‘waste’ ( El. 1291), which would properly be said of the labour bestowed on devising the scheme, is here applied, in the sense of ‘frustrate,’ to the “σόφισμα” itself: cp. Eur. fr. 789 “μόχθων τῶν πρὶν ἐκχέαι χάριν”. (Cp. G. 4. 491 ibi omnis | Effusus labor.

τῷ for “”: O. C. 747 n.— Aesch. and Eur. had both represented Odysseus as boldly confronting Philoctetes, who failed to recognise him; a marvel which Eur. excused by supposing that Athena had changed the aspect of Odysseus. These two verses remind us that dramatic probability required Odysseus to keep himself in the background. Cp. 70.


hide References (4 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (4):
    • Sophocles, Electra, 1291
    • Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, 747
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 46
    • Sophocles, Philoctetes, 70
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