ὃν οἱ: for the art. at the end of the v., see on Ant. 409“ἣ κατεῖχε τὸν” | “νέκυν.” χὡ Κεφαλλήνων ἄναξ: cp. Il. 2. 631“αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς ἦγε Κεφαλλῆνας μεγαθύμους”: who are there described as inhabiting Ithaca, Zacynthus, Samos (=Cephallenia, first so called in Her. 9. 28), and other islands off the coast of Acarnania, as well as part of the mainland itself. So Hom. Od. 24. 378(Laertes) “Κεφαλλήνεσσιν ἀνάσσων”. Buttmann thinks that both here and in 791 (“ὦξένε Κεφαλλήν”) the name is used scornfully. Its Homeric associations, at least, are honourable (cp. Hom. Il. 4. 330, “Κεφαλλήνων ἀμφὶ στίχες οὐκ ἀλαπαδναί”). To assume that the Cephallenians were despised because the Taphii, their neighbours, were pirates ( Hom. Od. 15. 427), seems a little unfair to them. But it is very likely that the name is used, if not with scorn, yet with a tone of dislike,—‘king of those crafty islanders.’ The Athenians had experienced the skill of Cephallenians in laying a deadly ambuscade ( Thuc. 2. 33).
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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