πίστις, in an objective sense, a ground of confidence, a warranty: cp. 623: El.887“τίν̓, ὦ τάλαιν̓ El., i᾿δοῦσα πίστιν;—δοκεῖς παῤ ἡμῖν”: Eur. Med.762“γενναῖος ἀνήρ”, | “Αἰγεῦ, παρ᾽ ἐμοὶ δεδόκησαι”. 590 f. The whole phrase οὕτως ἔχει is slightly emphasised by γε, and limits the affirmative implied by the art. before πίστις: ‘The present state of the warranty (given by “τὰ δρώμενα”) is this,’ etc. It seems needless to suppose that the literal sense of “πίστις” here is different from that in 588. ὡς=“ὥστε”, answering to οὕτως: cp. Her.2. 135“οὔτω δή τι κλεινὴ ἐγένετο ὡς καὶ οἱ πάντες...τὸ οὔνομα ἐξέμαθον”. (When “ὡς” stands for “ὥστε”, it is more often with the infin.) It is possible, but less fitting, to take “ὡς” as=‘since,’ introducing the explanation (like “γάρ”). τὸ μὲν δοκεῖν is ‘the expecting’ to succeed (rather than ‘the seeming likely’ to do so). πείρᾳ δ᾽ οὐ προσωμίλησα, have not come to close quarters with an experiment, —have not actually essayed it: cp. Plat. Tim. 88C “γυμναστικῇ προσομιλοῦντα”: Thuc.6. 70“τοῖς...ἐλάχιστα πολέμῳ ὡμιληκόσι”, opp. to “τοῖς...ἐμπειροτέροις”.
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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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