γένη, ‘races,’ in the narrower sense of ‘houses’ or ‘families,’ such as the princely house to which Philoctetes belonged: cp. Od. 15. 533“ὑμετέρου δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστι γένος βασιλεύτερον ἄλλο”. Not ‘generations,’ “γενεαί” ( O. T. 1186): nor, again, ‘sons of men,’—a sense which could not be justified by the bold phrase in Ai. 784, “Τέκμησσα, δύσμορον γένος”. In Her. 3. 159 read “ἵνα σφι γενεὴ” (not “γένεα”) “ὑπογίνηται”.
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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