ἀντύγων, the ‘rim’ or rail, surmounting a barrier or breastwork, often of osier trellis-work, which protected the front, and both sides, of the chariot; the plur., as in Il. 5. 728“δοιαὶ δὲ περίδρομοι ἄντυγές εἰσι” (i.e., one on each side); Ai. 1030.It did not reach higher than the driver's waist, and was sometimes lower. In going round the corner, Orestes would have been leaning a little to the left (like a bicyclist in a similar case); as Nestor says, “αὐτὸς δὲ κλινθῆναι ἐϋπλέκτῳ ἐνὶ δίφρῳ” | “ἦκ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀριστερὰ τοῖιν” ( Il. 23. 335). When the left wheel came off, he would be thrown over the left “ἄντυξ”. σὺν δ᾽ ἑλίσσεται, tmesis ( Ant. 432). Eur. uses this compound, in its Ionic form (“συνειλίσσω”), Eur. Ion 1164.So Hippolytus ( Eur. Hipp. 1236) “αὐτὸς δ᾽ ὁ τλήμων ἡνίαισιν ἐμπλακεὶς” | “δεσμὸν δυσεξήνυστον ἕλκεται δεθείς”. The charioteer sometimes passed the reins round his body,—as may been seen on two sarcophagi in the ‘Sala della Biga’ of the Vatican (Smith's Dict. Ant., 3rd ed., art. Circus, vol. 1. p. 435). Cp. G. 3. 107 Et proni dant lora.— τμητοῖς (863), a general epithet of reins or thongs ( Il. 10. 567“ἐϋτμήτοισιν ἱμᾶσιν”: Eur. Hipp. 1245“τμητῶν ἱμάντων”), suggesting neat workmanship (cp. Verg. Aen. 11. 579tereti...habena). Campbell thinks that it refers to the sharp edges, as giving pain.—“πέδῳ”, as Aesch. Eum. 479“πέδῳ” (“πέδοι” Dind.) “πεσών”, Soph. Tr. 789“χθονὶ” | “ῥίπτων ἑαυτόν”.
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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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