[185] μάλιστα δέ τ᾽ ἔκλυον αὐτοί. They hear the congratulations of friends, and the envious words of foes; but they hear the story of their own joy repeated even better by their own hearts. In some way like this we must seek for the explanation of the strange use of ἔκλυον, which is suggested by the thought of what friends and foes will utter in their hearing. For it does not seem possible to render, with Lobeck, ‘se invicem felices praedicant, et ab aliis praedicari audiunt,’ inasmuch as “κλύειν” standing alone could hardly be equiva lent to “εὖ” or “κακῶς ἀκούειν”. Compare with this passage Il.13. 734 foll., where it is said of the wise man, “τοῦ δέ τε πολλοὶ ἐπαυρίσκουσ᾽ ἄνθρωποι”,
“καί τε πολέας ἐσάωσε, μάλιστα δὲ καὐτὸς ἀνέγνω”. And on this analogy we may accept generally the interpretation of the Schol., “ἤτοι αἰσθάνονται καὶ αὐτοὶ τῆς ὠφελείας τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ ἀπολαύουσι”. The thought may be illustrated from Prov.14. 10‘The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy;’ or Aesch. Ag.859“οὐκ ἄλλων πάρα”“μαθοῦσ᾽ ἐμαυτῆς δύσφορον λέξω βίον”.
If on the other hand we are unwilling to assign so artificial a meaning to “κλύειν”, we must be content to refer the words generally to familiar intercourse and talk with friends, but this will be at the expense of the antithesis. ἔκλυον is the gnomic aorist. But, after all, the expression is very strange, and Nauck's judgment, verba vitiosa, seems not improbable.
