θεῖα, predicate, ‘from the gods’: cp. 1039, 1326. κἀγώ, I also (as well as others): the “καί” gives a modest tone; Ant. 719 n. καὶ τὰ παθήμ. κεῖνα. The “καί” here = ‘e'en’: its force is to mark that, from the very beginning, his troubles were heaven-ordained. This seems better than to take it as ‘both,’ answering to the “καὶ νῦν” in 195. τῆς ὠμόφρ. Χρύσης, gen. of source, with ἐπέβη. Such a simple gen. usu. denotes the place whence ( O. T. 152“Πυθῶνος ἔβας”), but the idea of ‘source’ could easily be connected with a person also; cp. O. C. 1515“στράψαντα χειρὸς τῆς ἀνικήτου βέλη”. It is also possible to join παθήματα … Χρύσης as ‘sufferings inflicted by her’: cp. 422 “τὰ κείνων κακά”, n.: but (a) the order of words renders this less natural: and (b) a gen. after “πάθημα” ought to denote the sufferer.— Philoctetes was bitten by a serpent that guarded the altar of Chrysè, in the islet of the same name, near Lemnos: cp. 1326. ὠμόφρονος, as cruelly punishing his intrusion. The Iliad (2. 723) speaks of him as “ἕλκει μοχθίζοντα κακῷ ὀλοόφρονος ὕδρον”. The relation of Chrysè to the gods is like that of Calypso in the Odyssey. The “δαίμων” can work her will on the mortal; but only so far as the higher powers permit.
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.
