παῖδες … διπλοῖ. The schol. observes that, according to Homer, Helen bore to Menelaüs only a daughter Hermionè ( Od. 4. 14,—indicated, though not named, in Il. 3. 175); but that Hesiod mentioned also a son (fr. 131): “ἣ τέκεθ᾽ Ἑρμιόνην δουρικλειτῷ Μενελάῳ”, | “ὁπλότατον δ᾽ ἔτεκεν Νικόστρατον, ὄζον Ἄρηος”. Sophocles follows Hesiod, since Menelaüs could not have been expected to sacrifice an only child. 540 f. Nauck would prefer a single verse in place of these two, viz. “οὓς Ἰφιγενείας εἰκὸς ἦν θνῄσκειν πάρος”.
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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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