ἀλλ̓, ‘Nay, then’: Ph.524.— θνητὴν φρονοῦσαν θνητὰ: Eur. fr. 796 “ὥσπερ δὲ θνητὸν καὶ τὸ σῶμ᾽ ἡμῶν ἔφυ”, | “οὕτω προσήκει μηδὲ τὴν ὀργὴν ἔχειν” | “ἀθάνατον, ὅστις σωφρονεῖν ἐπίσταται”. Arist. Rhet.2. 21§ 6 quotes from an unknown poet, “ἀθάνατον ὀργὴν μὴ φύλασσε θνητὸς ὤν”: also (perh. from Epicharmus, as Bentley thought), “θνατὰ χρὴ τὸν θνατόν, οὐκ ἀθάνατα τὸν θνατὸν φρονεῖν”. Cp. Eth. Nic. 10. 7 § 8 “οὐ χρὴ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς παραινοῦντας ἀνθρώπινα φρονεῖν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα οὐδὲ θνητὰ τὸν θνητόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἐνδέχεται ἀθανατίζειν.—ἀγνώμονα” seems best taken as acc. neut. plur. It is true that “ἀγνώμων” is usu. said of persons: but (a) analogous compounds are often neut., as Ai.1236“κέκραγας... ὑπέρφονα”, Aesch. Cho.88“πῶς εὔφρον᾽ εἴπω”; and (b) in later Greek, at least, we find (e.g.) Lucian Abdic. 24 “ἄγνωμον ποιεῖς”: Diod.13. 23“οὐ γὰρ δυνατὸν... πράξαντας δεινὰ παθεῖν εὐγνώμονα” (to receive considerate treatment). If ἀγνώμονα were acc. fem. sing., “οὖσαν” could be understood. For “ἀγνώμων”, ‘inconsiderate,’ ‘not making fair allowance,’ cp. Soph. O. C.86 n.: and belowSoph. O. C., 1266.
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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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