καὶ σοὶ ταῦτ̓ “κ.τ.λ.” Heracles now addresses Neoptolemus in a parenthesis which extends down to 1437: then, at the words ἐγὼ δ̓, he again turns to Philoctetes. Two views of these words are possible. I prefer the first. (1) ταῦτ̓ refers to the general tenor of the preceding verses, from 1423 onwards, —viz., that Ph. is to go to Troy with N., and there triumph. ‘And to thee (as well as to Ph. ) I give these counsels’: i.e., it concerns thee, too, to note that he must accompany thee to Troy. In καὶ σοὶ the “καὶ”=‘and’: but the emphasis which falls on “σοί” makes it equivalent to ‘thee also.’ If “καὶ” meant ‘also,’ the asyndeton would be too harsh. The change of ταῦτ̓ to ταὔτ̓ seems needless. A modified form of this view refers ταῦτ̓ only to v. 1431, as if Heracles meant that Neoptolemus also must bring spoils to the pyre: but this seems less fitting. (2) ταῦτ̓ refers to what follows: the aor. παρῄνεσα is then like “ἀπώμοσα” in 1289 (n.): and the γὰρ after “οὔτε” merely introduces the statement (1049). I do not share Buttmann's feeling that καὶ σοὶ ought then to be σοὶ δὲ: but the whole context appears to render the first view more natural. Heracles confirms what Odysseus had said (115). In glorifying Philoctetes, it was necessary to respect the legend which ascribed the capture of Troy to Neoptolemus (who was the hero of the “Ἰλίου πέρσις”, by Arctînus). For τὸ Τρ. πεδίον, cp. 69 n.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
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