ἐφ᾽ οἷς=“ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐφ᾽ οἷς”, ‘for’ (i.e., ‘so as to aid’) ‘the objects for which,’ etc.; cp. O. T. 1457“μὴ ᾿πί τῳ δεινῷ κακῷ”.—The sentence begins as if the form were to be, “δεῖ...γενναῖον εἶναι, μὴ μόνον τῷ σώματι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ γνώμῃ”: he must show his true-bred spirit, not merely physically, but morally,—i.e., by bringing himself (“τόλμα,” 82) to aid plans which may be repugnant to him. Neopt. supposed that his task was to take Phil. by force (“πρὸς βίαν,” 90). Odysseus seeks to prepare the disclosure very gently. Hence the hypothetical clause which takes the place of a simple “ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ γνώμῃ”, viz., “ἀλλ̓ ἤν τι καινόν, κ.τ.λ.” After that clause, a modal partic., “ὑπουργοῦντα” (‘by serving’), ought to have balanced the instrumental dat. “τῷ σώματι”. But, instead of it, we have a second infin., ὑπουργεῖν, depending, like “εἶναι”, on “δεῖ”: just as, in independent sentences, a new finite verb is often substituted for a second participial clause ( O. C. 351 n.: Ant. 256, Ant. 816). γενναῖον, ‘true-bred.’ “τὸ γενναῖον” is, as Arist. defines it (Hist. An. 1. 1. 32), “τὸ μὴ ἐξιστάμενον ἐκ τῆς αὑτοῦ φύσεως”. Odysseus calls on Neopt. to prove himself a true son of his sire (cp. 3) by complete loyalty to his mission. τῷ σώματι: cp. Suppl. 886 “ἵπποις τε χαίρων τόξα τ᾽ ἐντείνων χεροῖν”, | “πόλει παρασχεῖν σῶμα χρήσιμον θέλων”. καινόν, euphemistic, as oft.: cp. “α. δ.” § 2 “καινότατα γὰρ δή, εἰ χρὴ καινότατα μᾶλλον ἢ κακουργότατα εἰπεῖν, διαβάλλουσί με.” ὧν (“τούτων ἃ”) πρὶν οὐκ ἀκήκοας, ‘(some novel thing), viz., one of those things which thou hast not heard before’; i.e., ‘a part of my plans which has not hitherto been disclosed to thee.’ Cp. Eur. Med. 356“οὐ γάρ τι δράσεις δεινόν, ὧν φόβος μ᾽ ἔχει”.
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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