ἅλις: ἤδη γὰρ “κ.τ.λ.” During his brief absence from the scene (vv. 1185—1222), Teucer has fulfilled the charge given by the Chorus (1165), and has chosen the spot where Ajax is to be buried. He now directs some of the Salaminian sailors to go and dig the grave; others are to place the tripod near it; a third detachment is to bring thither the hero's armour from the tent. Tecmessa and Eurysaces are still kneeling beside the corpse (1171 ff.). Verses 1409 ff. mark the moment when the body is lifted from the ground. Then it is borne forth (probably by Teucer and one or more “πρόσπολοι”), the Chorus following, before they separate to their several tasks. πολὺς ἐκτέταται χρόνος, the delay caused by the Atreidae. Cp. Suppl. 1109 “ἐκτείνειν βίον”: Ion 625“αἰῶνα τείνει”. ( Itis difficult to comprehend why the phrase “χρόνος ἐκτέταται” should be thought suspicious, as by Morstadt and Nauck: the former proposed “λόγος”.)
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907.
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