χειρὶ adds a certain emphasis, as if he said, ‘from the day that this sword came into my hand.’ Cp. Eur. Hec. 527“πλῆρες δ᾽ ἐν χεροῖν λαβὼν δέπας ι πάγχρυσον αἴρει χειρὶ παῖς Ἀχιλλέως ι χοὰς θανόντι πατρί”. The exchange of gifts between the two heroes is told in Il. 7. 303 ff.: Hector gave ‘his silver-studded sword (“ξίφος ἀργυρόηλον”), with scabbard and well-cut baldrick; and Ajax gave his girdle bright with purple.’ ἔσχον in its normal sense, ‘obtained.’
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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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