θεῶν πατρῴων, the gods of Achilles and Peleus. Cp. O. C. 756 n. με μὴ ἀφέλῃ: for “μή” followed by “α”, cp. on 782 n. Either the act. or the midd. is admissible. But a strong reason for preferring the midd. is that Soph. uses it in three other places; and if in 376 there was a metrical motive for “ἀφαιρήσοιτο”, there was none in 1303 for “ἀφείλου”, or in Soph. Ai. 100 for “ἀφαιρείσθων”. On the other hand, he nowhere uses the active “ἀφαιρεῖν”. In Soph. O. T. 1522, where L has the true “ἕλῃ”, some later MSS. have “ἕλῃς”: and probably “ἀφέλῃς” in L here is merely a like error.
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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