ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ ἐρεῖς (“ὄτι σιγαν πρέπει”) τοῖς γ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν, by reason of this day's deeds. Heracles has said, bitterly, ‘Silence is indeed unfitting, in view of her crimes.’ Hyllus replies, ‘It is so also in view of her deeds to-day,— as you will admit, when you know all.’ His father must learn that she has died, and that she was innocent. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μὲν δὴ, rejecting an alternative, as in Ai.877, El.913.(Cp. “ἀλλὰ μὲν δή” in 627.) τοῖς … ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν=“τοῖς σήμερον πεπραγμένοις”. The sense of “ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν” is usu. ‘for the day,’ as in Her.1. 32“τοῦ ἐπ᾽ ἡμέρην ἔχοντος”: Soph. El.429“τῆς ἐφ᾽ ἡμέραν βορᾶς”. Here the phrase is perhaps tinged with a sad irony,—‘this day's portion of evil.’ Cp. O.C. 1079, where “κατ᾽ ἆμαρ”=‘to-day,’ though ib. 682 “κατ᾽ ἦμαρ” means, as usual, ‘daily.’
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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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