οὐδενὸς πρὸς ἐκτόπου: i.e., by no one coming, from without, into the place where she was: hence, ‘by no external hand.’ Hyllus knew that she had been alone in the “θάλαμος” when she did the deed (927—931). We need not suppose, then, that “ἔκτοπος” means merely “ἄλλος” (which it could not do); nor, again, that it means ‘foreign to Trachis.’ These two explanations, which miss the mark on each side, have been fused in L's gloss, “ὑπὸ ἄλλου ξένου”. 1133 The emphasis on ἐξ ἐμῆς χερός excuses the form of expression, (“τέθνηκε”) πρὶν θανεῖν. Cp. Ai.110, where the stress on “νῶτα φοινιχθεὶς” similarly excuses “θάνῃ” (after “θανεῖν” in 106).
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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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