ἄλεκτρ᾽ ἄνυμφα: cp. 1154 “ἀμήτωρ”: O.T. 1214 “ἄγαμον γάμον”. The epithets, which properly describe the “γάμοι”, are given to the whole phrase: cp. 1290: 1390: Ant. 794“νεῖκος ἀνδρῶν ξύναιμον” (n.). γάμων ἁμιλλήμαθ̓, eager haste for marriage; the plur. is fitting, since both the partners in guilt were striving for that goal. (In Eur. Hipp. 1140 f. “νυμφιδίων δ᾽ ἀπόλωλε φυγᾷ σᾷ” | “λέκτρων ἅμιλλα κούραις”, the sense is, ‘competition’ for marriage.) ἐπέβα, like “ἐπέπεσε”, suggesting the violence of the passion which seized them: so Ph. 194“ἐπέβη” is said of the sufferings sent upon the hero by Chrysè.
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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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