ἐντυχὼν with gen., instead of the usual dat., as in Her. 4. 140, quoted on v. 320, where see n. The gen. here (like that with “συντυχών” there) has a special warrant, since the idea is that of ‘obtaining their aid.’ τῶν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν … Ἀσκληπιδῶν: cp. Il. 2. 731(referring to the warriors from Tricca, Ithomè, and Oechalia in Thessaly), “τῶν δ᾽ αὖθ᾽ ἡγείσθην Ἀσκληπιόο δύο παῖδε”, | “ἰητῆρ᾽ ἀγαθώ, Ποδαλείριος ἠδὲ Μαχάων”.— The form “Ἀσκληπίδης”, for “Ἀσκληπιάδης”, occurs nowhere else, and is wrongly formed from “Ἀσκληπιός”. The rule for masc. patronymics is as follows:—(1) Stems in “α_” and “-ιο-” take the suffix “-δα_-”, when “α_” becomes “α^”, and “-ιο-” becomes “-ια-”: as “Ἀργεά-δη-ς”, from “Ἀργέα_-ς, Μενοιτιά-δη-ς” from “Μενοίτιο-ς”. (2) All other stems take “-ιδα_”, as “Τανταλ-ίδη-ς” from “Τάνταλο-ς”. But the first formation is sometimes used by poets instead of the second, for metre's sake: e.g. “Χαλκωδοντιάδης” ( Il. 2. 541) for “Χαλκωδοντίδης, Τελαμωνιάδης” (ib. 9. 623) for “Τελαμωνίδης”. And the converse licence is attested by Etym. Magn. p. 210. 11 (quoted by Herm. ): “οἱ δὲ ποιηταὶ πολλάκις ἀποβάλλουσι τὸ α, οἷον, Ἐριχθονιάδης” (from “Ἐριχθόνιο-ς”), “Ἐριχθονίδης”. [The writer wrongly adds “Τελαμωνιάδης, Τελαμωνίδης”, as if the latter were the irregular form.] “Ἐριχθονίδαι” occurs in C. I. 1. 411. The form “Ἀσκληπίδης”, then, though incorrect, may well be genuine. This verse implies that both the sons of Asclepius were to have a part in the cure; and so in 1378 f. the plural is used. But, in the prevailing form of the legend, Machaon alone was the healer; probably because, in post-Homeric poetry, Machaon was the representative of surgery, as his brother was of medicine (cp. Preller, 1. p. 409). So Lesches in the Little Iliad, acc. to Proclus, p. 481 ed. Gaisford: the Orphic “Λιθικά”, 342 ff., where Machaon uses a powder made from a stone called “ὀφιῆτις”: Tzetzes, Posthom. 580 ff., where the stone is “ἐχιῆτις”: Propertius 2. 1. 59. An epic poet, Dionysius, represented Apollo as putting Ph. to sleep, when Machaon amputated the diseased part (Tzetzes on Lycophron 911: schol. Pind. P. 1. 109). Quintus Smyrnaeus is singular in making the healer Podaleirius (9. 463). The scene of the cure occurs on a fragment of a bronze mirror (found in south Etruria, and ascribed to the 5th or 4th cent. B.C.), now in the archaeological Museum of the University of Bologna. It bears an Etruscan legend, Pheltute (Philoctetes), Machan (Machaon). The healer is in the act of bandaging the hero's foot; a sponge and a box of ointment rest on a sort of camp-stool (“δίφρος ὀκλαδίας”) between them. (Milani, Mito di F., pl. III. 49; pp. 104 ff.) This verse has been thought inconsistent with 1437: but see n. there.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part IV: The Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1932.
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