[504] φῆ φυγέειν, ‘said he had escaped,’ considering himself secure on the Gyrae. Seneca represents the same scene,
Smyrn.Quint. , in his adaptation, seems to make his boast refer to the future and not to the past or present: “ φῆ δὲ καὶ εἰ μάλα πάντες Ὀλύμπιοι εἰς ἓν ἵκωνται“ ‘Tandem occupata rupe furibundum intonat
superasse nunc se pelagus atque ignes: iuvat
vicisse caelum Palladem fulmen mare.’
”
χωόμενοι, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀναστήσωσι θάλασσαν
ἐκφυγέειν: ἀλλ̓ οὐδὲ θεῶν ὑπάλυξεν ὁμοκλήν
”, i. e. boasted that he ‘would escape.’ Compare for this usage “φημὶ τελευτηθῆναι” Hom. Od.2. 171.In the scene in Smyrn.Quint. , however, Ajax is still battling with the waves and not landed on the rock: so that the sense of this whole passage seems to be, that the temporary escape to the rock showed no relenting on the part of heaven, but served only to prolong the struggle of the hero between life and death.
