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1270-1274

τὰ μὲν οὖν μέλλοντ̓ “κ.τ.λ.”: Hyllus means:—‘No one, indeed, commands a view (“ἐφορᾷ”) of the future (and so it is possible that Zeus may yet make some amend); but, as to the present situation, it is miserable for us, shameful for Zeus (ἐκείνοις), and supremely cruel for the victim.’

The words “τὰ μὲν οὖν μέλλοντ᾽ οὐδεὶς ἐφορᾷ” unconsciously foreshadow the apotheosis of Heracles. This is the only hint of it in the play.

χαλεπώτατα δ᾽ οὖν. Here “δ᾽ οὖν” marks the return to the foremost subject of his thoughts. ‘Be the pity or the shame what it may, there can be no doubt who suffers most.’ Cp. Ant. 688 n.


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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