ἑκουσίοισιν, since, though Ph. could not have avoided the woes of the past ten years, their prolongation is now his own choice. Cp. Soph. El. 215“οἰκείας εἰς ἄτας” | “ἐμπίπτεις. ἑκούσιος” is in Attic either of two or of three terminations: cp. Soph. Tr. 727“ἐξ ἑκουσίας”, ib. 1123 “ἑκουσία”: Thuc. 8. 27“καθ᾽ ἑκουσίαν” (yet id. 7. 57 “ἑκούσιος...στρατεία”): Plat. Rep. 603C “βιαίους ἢ ἑκουσίας πράξεις”. But of “ἀκούσιος” the fem. in “-ία, -ιαι” seems not to occur: cp. Legg. 861 E “βλάβαι... ἀκούσιοι.” ἔγκεινται, ‘are intent upon,’ meaning here, ‘persist in enduring,’ though a release is offered to them. Cp. Eur. Andr. 91“οἶσπερ ἐγκείμεσθ᾽ ἀεὶ” | “θρήνοισι καὶ γόοισι καὶ δακρύμασι”, | “πρὸς αἰθέρ᾽ ἐκτενοῦμεν: ἐμπέφυκε γὰρ” | “γυναιξὶ τέρψις τῶν παρεστώτων κακῶν”: where the sense is, ‘to which I give my days.’ So id. I. T. 144 “ἴδεθ᾽ ὡς θρήνοις ἔγκειμαι”: Ion 182“οἷς δ᾽ ἔγκειμαι μόχθοις”. But sometimes Eur. uses this verb as simply =“κεῖμαι ἐν”: Helen. 269 “πολλαῖς συμφοραῖς ἐγκείμεθα” (‘are plunged in’): and so ib. 924.
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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