ἀναγκαίας τύχης, an accident ordained by “ἀναγκη”, fate ( O. C. 605). The phrase recurs, with a somewhat different context, in Ai. 485, Ai. 803. ἄθλοισι (from “ἆθλος”) Πυθικοῖσιν. Here and at v. 682 the schol. notes the anachronism,—to which Attic Tragedy was wholly indifferent. From very early times there was an “ἀγών” at Delphi, but for music and poetry only. Athletic contests were first added when, on the conquest of Crisa by the Delphic Amphictyony, the festival was revived with a new splendour. The year Ol. 48. 3, 586 B.C. was that from which the Pythiads were dated ( Paus. 10. 7. 3). Cp. Curtius, Hist. Gr. 1. p. 266. τροχηλάτων implies ‘rapid,’ ‘whirling’: cp. I. T. 82 “τροχηλάτου ι μανίας.” ἑστάτω: be so ‘constituted’: i.e., the whole story is to rest upon this basis. Cp. Plat. Theaet. 171 D “ταύτῃ ἂν μάλιστα ἵστασθαι τὸν λόγον” .
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VI: The Electra. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1894.
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