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πάγκλαυτον αἰῶνα κοινὸν, ‘a life of mourning, shared with thy friends,’ i.e., with the unavenged father whose spirit is mourning in the world below (cp. 847 n.). For this sense of “κοινὸν”, cp. Ai. 265 ff.: “πότερα δ᾽ ἄν, εἰ νέμοι τις αἵρεσιν, λάβοις”, | “φίλους ἀνιῶν αὐτὸς ἡδονὰς ἔχειν”, | “ κοινὸς ἐν κοινοῖσι λυπεῖσθαι ξυνών”; ‘to pain thy friends, and have delights thyself, or to share the grief of friends who grieve?’ If it be objected that here there is nothing to define the reference of “κοινόν”, the answer is that the thought of her father pervades the whole context from 1074 onwards. I incline to believe, then, that the text is genuine; though I grant that “κοινὸν” leaves room for doubt. Conjectures will be found in the Appendix.

εἵλου: the ‘choice’ is illustrated by Electra's replies to the Chorus in the Parodos (121—250), and it is to these more especially that they allude.


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  • Commentary references from this page (2):
    • Sophocles, Ajax, 265
    • Sophocles, Electra, 847
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