κοὐ … οὔθ̓. It is unnecessary to change οὔθ̓ to οὐδ̓. The sequence “οὐ...οὔτε” is foreign to Attic prose; and an Attic poet would presumably have avoided it where “οὐ” was followed by only one negative clause: e.g., in O. C.702“οὐ νεαρὸς οὐδὲ γήρᾳ”, etc., “οὔτε” is improbable. In Theognis 125 “οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰδείης ἀνδρὸς νόον οὐδὲ γυναικός”, where the MSS. have “οὔτε, οὐδὲ” stands in Aristotle's quotation of the verse (Eth. Eud. 7. 2). But when, as here, several clauses with “οὔτε” follow “οὐ”, an Attic poet might imitate the frequent Homeric usage: e.g., Od.4. 566“οὐ νιφετὸς οὔτ᾽ ἂρ χειμὼν πολὺς οὔτε ποτ᾽ ὄμβρος”. So ib. 9. 136 f. “οὐ” is followed by two clauses with “οὔτε”, and in Il.6. 450 f. by three. λόγχη πεδιάς, the spear of the warrior on a battle-field; as when Heracles fought with Laomedon of Troy, with the Amazons, or with Augeas king of Elis ( Apollod.2. 7. 2). στρατὸς Γιγάντων: after sacking Troy, and ravaging Cos, Heracles went to Phlegra (sometimes identified with Pallenè, the westernmost headland of the Chalcidic peninsula), and helped the gods to vanquish their Earth-born foes. In Pind. N.1. 67Teiresias predicts what Heracles shall achieve, “ὅταν θεοὶ ἐν πεδίῳ Φλέγρας Γιγάντεσσιν μάχαν” | “ἀντιάζωσιν”. In the Gigantomachia on the pediment of the Megarian Treasury at Olympia, Heracles fought at the right hand of Zeus (cp. Ausgrabungen, vol. IV. pl. 20 b). Early Attic vase-paintings of this subject associate him with Zeus and Athena (Roscher, Lex., p. 2211). θήρειος βία seems to be a general phrase, including both the Centaurs (“θηρῶν”, 1096) and the wild beasts (1092 ff.). Cicero understood it of the former only, non biformato impetu | Centaurus.
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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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