τῆς παρεστώσης, not, ‘which is upon thee at this moment’ (765 “τὸ πῆμα ...τὸ νῦν παρόν”), but rather, ‘which is habitual to thee’: hence the word is not superfluous. Often, however, “παρεστώς”, is nearly synonymous with “παρών”: cp. 1340, O. T. 633. 735 The intrans. κουφίζειν is rare in Attic: in Helen. 1555 “κουφίζοντα”, ‘treading lightly,’ seems (as Paley says) to imply an ellipse of “πόδας”. But in this application (to illness) the phrase may have been familiar, as Hippocr. Epid. 2. 10(quoted by Musgrave) has “ἐκούφισεν ὀλίγῳ”, ‘he became a little better.’ 736 f. I follow A here (see cr. n.), for a reason which was felt by Hermann, but which has not been sufficiently considered by some other editors,—viz., that ἰὼ θεοί (scanned as a bacchius, “˘¯¯”) does not receive sufficient emphasis or prominence unless it stands extra metrum. Cp. 750 “ἴθ᾽ ὦ παῖ”, and 219. I. T. 780 has been compared: “ΟΡ. ὦ θεοί. ΙΦ. τί τοὺς θεοὺς ἀνακαλεῖς ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς”; But there, as Herm. says, the “ὦ θεοί” is quite unlike the “ἰὼ θεοί” here: it is the rapid utterance of one who fears to betray himself, not a cry of anguish extorted by physical torment. For the absence of caesura, cp. 101. Cavallin reads ἰὼ θεοί. τί θεοὺς ἀναστένων καλεῖς; Cp. Ai. 1129“μή νυν ἀτίμα θεούς, θεοῖς σεσωσμένος”. But the art. before θεοὺς, in which L and A agree, seems genuine here.
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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