δεινὰ κἀπικινδύνως … κεῖται, are so ordained (by the gods) as to be full of fear and peril: (for the combination of adj. and adv., cp. 345.) The infin. παθεῖν follows this phrase as it might follow “κίνδυνός ἐστιν” or the like ( Plat. Crat. 436B “οὐ σμικρὸς κίνδυνός ἐστιν ἐξαπατηθῆναι”). The general sense is:—‘There is always a danger for men that, after they have been prosperous, they may be unfortunate.’ Not: ‘It is always doubtful whether men are to fare well or ill,’—like Plat. Prot. 313A “ἐν ᾧ πάντ᾽ ἐστὶ τὰ σά, ἢ εὖ ἢ κακῶς πράττειν”. Of the two co-ordinated clauses, παθεῖν μὲν εὖ, παθεῖν δὲ θάτερα, the second is that on which the emphasis falls; the first serves for contrast with it:—‘that, as they have fared well, so they may fare ill.’ Cp. Soph. Ant. 616“πολλοῖς μὲν ὄνασις” “ἀνδρῶν”, | “πολλοῖς δ᾽ ἀπάτα” (‘though to many a blessing, yet to many a false lure’): Soph. O. C. 1536“εὖ μέν, ὀψὲ δέ”, ‘though surely, yet late.’ θάτερα: Dem. or. 22 § 12 “ἀγαθὰ ἢ θάτερα, ἵνα μηδὲν εἴπω φλαυρόν”.
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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