ὁρῶ. Neoptolemus, mounting the rocks, has now just reached the mouth of the cave. κενὴν is made more explicit by ἀνθρώπων δίχα: ‘empty,—yes, there is no man there.’ Such iteration is natural when the mind confirms itself in a first impression, or dwells on a striking thought; so Verg. Aen. 4. 588 “vacuos sensit sine remige portus” (‘empty,—no rower there’); Ai. 464“γυμνὸν φανέντα τῶν ἀριστείων ἄτερ” ‘(when I return) ungraced,—aye, without the meed of valour.’ Cp. 487: O. T. 57 n., Ant. 445 n.
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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