οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅποι χρὴ “κ.τ.λ.”: he does not know in what words he can break the truth to Ph. ,—that they are going to Troy. After an obscure hint in vv. 912 f., he at last speaks bluntly (915). Cp. Hipp. ma. 297 D “οὐκ ἔτι ἔχω, ὦ Ἱππία, ὅποι τράπωμαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπορῶ: σὺ δὲ ἔχεις τι λέγειν”;—Nauck wishes for στρέφειν, which would imply an artful ‘twisting’ of speech; cp. Ar. Th. 1128“αἰαῖ: τί δράσω; πρὸς τίνας στρεφθῶ λόγους”; But τρέπειν better suits the ingenuous perplexity of one who simply doubts what course he ought to take.
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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