ἅλιον ὃς ἐπέβας is the best correction of ἁλίαν ὃς ἐπέβας. The two short syllables “ὃς ἐπ-” then correspond with a long syllable (the first of “ἐμμένοντες”) in v. 350; as the dochmiac metre allows. Hermann's later emendation, ὃς ἁλίαν ἔβας, avoids, indeed, resolving the long syllable, but unwarrantably alters “ἐπέβας”: nor is there much force in his reason for preferring it, viz., that the gloss “ἐπέβας τῶν νεῶν” points to “ἁλιᾶν.. πλατᾶν”, and this to “ἁλίαν” (rather than “ἅλιον”) “πλάταν”. Cp. Eur. Heracl. 82“ἁλίῳ πλάτᾳ”. ὃς follows γένος, as in 760 “ὅστις” refers to “σώματα” in 758, and in Ant. 707 ff. “ὅστις” is resumed by “οὗτοι.” ἐπέβας, absol., ‘embarked’ (as in Thuc. 7. 62§ 2 “ἐπιβήσονται”),—recalling the moment when they set forth from Salamis together; a point which is lost if “ἐπέβας” be taken as =‘thou hast come hither.’ ἐλίσσων: cp. Eur. Or. 171“πόδα σὸν εἱλίξεις”, i.e., ‘move swiftly.’
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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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