τὸν πελάταν. Ixion treacherously murdered his father-in-law, “Δηϊονεύς”, and, when no mortal would minister the rites of purification to him, was cleansed of his crime by Zeus. He requited this grace by attempting the bed of Hera; and Zeus then commanded Hermes to bind him on a wheel of fire in the lower world. The comparison with Ixion is the more forcible here, since reference has just been made to the gratitude shown by Philoctetes (672). Ixion was the great example of ingratitude. Cp. Pind. P. 2. 21“θεῶν δ᾽ ἐφετμαῖς Ἰξίονα φαντὶ ταῦτα βροτοῖς” | “λέγειν ἐν πτερόεντι τροχῷ” | “παντᾷ κυλινδόμενον:” | “τὸν εὐεργέταν ἀγαναῖς ἀμοιβαῖς ἐποιχομένους τίνεσθαι”. λέκτρων … τῶν Διὸς: cp. 1406 “βέλεσι τοῖς Ἡρακλέους”. Buttmann preferred the Triclinian “τοῦ Διός”,—which is admissible (cp. Ant. 10 n.),—as emphasising the proper name; but τῶν is clearly right.
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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