ἀλλ᾽ ὅδε μὲν “κ.τ.λ.”: i.e., ‘It is true that he would be unconscious of our flight: but I know that it would be useless to sail without him.’ The stately hexameters—in contrast with the lighter rhythms of the Chorus—suit the authoritative tone in which Neoptolemus declares the purport of the oracle. As vv. 844 ff. show, he speaks in a louder voice than the Chorus deem safe. θήραν … ἔχομεν: cp. Ai. 564“δυσμενῶν θήραν ἔχων”: O. T. 566“ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔρευναν τοῦ θανόντος ἔσχετε”;
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.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
