παλαιστὴς: cp. Ar. Ran. 877“ὅταν εἰς ἔριν ὀξυμερίμνοις” | “ἔλθωσι στρεβλοῖσι παλαίσμασιν ἀντιλογοῦντες” (‘when they enter the strife, contending with subtle, tortuous tricks’). Aeschin. or. 3 § 205 “πάλαισμα τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ δικαστηρίου”, a trick of the law-courts. ἐμποδίζονται: the word seems to have been suggested by “παλαιστής”,—alluding to a wrestler tripping up his adversary: cp. Ar. Eq. 262(with ref. to the tricks by which Cleon outwits his simple victims), “διαλαβών, ἀγκυρίσας”, | “εἶτ᾽ ἀποστρέψας τὸν ὦμον αὐτὸν ἐνεκολήβασας” (‘you put one of your legs between his,—hook it round them,— force his shoulder back,—and fall heavily on him’).
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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