ἡ πασα βλάβη, that utter pest. In this phrase “πᾶσα” is justified by the figurative application; i.e., when a man is called a “βλάβη”, instead of saying “ὁ πᾶς βλάβη ὤν”, he who is altogether a bane, we can say “ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη”, the bane which is altogether such. The tendency is the same which appears, e.g., in “λέγει...εἶναι ταύτην” (instead of “τοῦτο”) “ὀρθότητα ὀνόματος” ( Plat. Crat. 443E: Soph. O. C. 88 n.).—So Aegisthus is “ὁ πάντ᾽ ἄναλκις οὗτος, ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη”, Soph. El. 301.Cp. 927 “πᾶν δεῖμα”.
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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