ταύτης ὁ δεινὸς ἵμερος: the article is explained by the preceding verse:—‘It is as he says: she inspired that strong passion (of which he has spoken, 431 f.).’ This is a compressed way of making two admissions,—‘love was the real motive, and she was the object of that love.’—Some commentators hold that ὁ δεινὸς here means simply, ‘very’ (or ‘most’) ‘potent.’ The evidence for this supposed use of the article is examined in the Appendix. ποθ̓: referring to a time before the death of Iphitus: cp. 359. διῆλθε: cp. Aesch. Suppl.288“κἀμὲ γὰρ διῆλθέ τι” (‘a pang shot through my heart also’).— τῆσδ̓ after ταύτης: Soph. Ant.296 n. ἡ πολύφθορος: the adj., though proleptic, takes the art.: cp. O. C.1088“τὸν εὔαγρον τελειῶσαι λόχον” (n.). πατρῷος: a somewhat rare fem., used either (1) for metre's sake, as here, and Eur. Suppl.1146“δίκα” | “πατρῷος”: or (2) for euphony, as Aesch. Ag.210“πατρῴους χέρας”, Eur. Her.810“τιμὰς πατρῴους”. Cp. 533: O. C.751 n.
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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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