Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Trachiniae

ταρβῶ μὲν κ.τ.λ. The sense is: ‘I am alarmed, indeed, at the issue to which you have brought me,—a choice between disobedience, and a blind promise; but I will obey.’ λόγου στάσιν τοιάνδε, ‘such a situation in our converse’: ἐπελθών, ‘having advanced,’ i.e., having been drawn on to it, by the progress of the dialogue. It may be noted that the sing. λόγου suits this sense of “στάσις”: if the meaning had been, ‘strife of words’ (the “στάσις γλώσσης” of O.T. 634), we should have expected rather the plur. “λόγων”, as in Soph. Ph.1460“εἰς ἔριν λόγων”. For this general sense of “στάσις”, status, cp. Phaedr. p. 253 D “ὁ...ἐν τῇ καλλίονι στάσει ὤν”.

Throughout the dialogue (1114—1156), Hyllus has been gentle and respectful. If, then, “στάσιν” means ‘strife,’ “ἐπελθών” must mean merely, ‘having advanced up to it,’ i.e., ‘come to the verge of it.’ But the clause with “μέν”, opposed to “πε<*>σομαι δέ”, ought to express something which tells against obedience (as the fear of a blind promise does); not something which tells in favour of it, as the fear of strife would do. The same objection applies to conjecturing “ἐπελθεῖν” (‘I am afraid of being drawn into such a strife’).