ἄλημα, ‘fine meal’ (“ἀλέω”), hence, ‘a subtle knave,’—a word found only here and in 389. “παιπάλη” (reduplicated from “πάλη”) had the same senses, literal and figurative; and “παιπάλημα” was a current term ( Ar. Av. 430, Aeschin. or. 2 § 40). In fr. 827 Odysseus is called “πάνσοφον κρότημα”, as in Ph. 927“πανουργίας ι δεινῆς τέχνημ᾽ ἔχθιστον”.—For the early repetition of “ἄλημα”, in 389, cp. that of “κείσομαι” in Ant. 76(n.).
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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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