ἐμᾶς ὑπὸ κλῇδος: ‘under the collar-bone’ must denote a stab in the upper region of the breast: it cannot mean decapitation. For “ὑπό” with gen., in a local sense, cp. Ant.65 n. ἐχόλωσεν, an epic word ( Il.18. 111), here partly suggested by the thought of the venom working in his veins. Cp. 1142 “ἐκμῆναι”. The v.l. ἐχόλησεν (schol.) was intended to mean, ‘has used the hydra's gall against me’: but the Attic sense of “χολᾶν” was ‘to be “μελάγχολος”.’
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part V: The Trachiniae. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1902.
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