βίᾳ κατειργάσασθε: Heracles throttled the lion, which was invulnerable: Eur. H. F.153“ὃν ἐν βρόχοις ἑλὼν” | “βραχίονός φησ᾽ ἀγχόναισιν ἐξελεῖν”. This was the first of his labours; and thus he won the lion-skin ( Pind. I.5. 47). Λερναίαν θ᾽ ὕδραν: see 574 n. Eur. H. F.419“τάν τε μυριόκρανον”, | “πολύφονον κύνα Λέρνας”, | “ὕδραν ἐξεπύρωσεν”, | “βέλεσί τ᾽ ἀμφέβαλ᾽ ἰόν”. This “ἆθλος”—usually made the second—is closely connected with the first; it is wrought in Argolis; and it completes his equipment by giving him the poison for his arrows. In both these labours, as in others, he is the “ἀλεξίκακος”. 1095 f. The next two exploits are also linked. Sentby Eurystheus in quest of the “κάπρος” (θῆρα 1097) that haunted Mount Erymanthus in north Arcadia, Heracles passed over Pholoè, a wild upland district on the borders of Elis. Here he was entertained by the Centaur Pholos, and routed the other Centaurs who flocked to demand a share of his host's wine. διφυᾶ: Diodorus (4. 69) applies this word to the Centaurs. Cp. Pind. P.2. 47: Ixion and Nephelè begat a son Centaurus; “ὃς” | “ἵπποισι Μαγνητίδεσσιν ἐμίγνυτ᾽ ἐν Παλίου” | “σφυροῖς: ἐκ δ᾽ ἐγένοντο στρατὸς” | “θαυμαστός, ἀμφοτέροις” | “ὁμοῖοι τοκεῦσι, τὰ ματρόθεν μὲν κάτω, τὰ δ᾽ ὕπερθε πατρός.—ἄμικτον”, with whom it is impossible to hold humane intercourse; Eur. Cycl.429“ἄμικτον ἄνδρα”: cp. “ἀμιξία” ( Thuc.1. 3). ἱπποβάμονα, usu., ‘mounted on horses,’ and so some take it here as=‘mounted on horses' legs’; but it is more simply explained as ‘moving like horses.’ θηρῶν: cp. 556. ὑβριστήν, ἄνομον: intemperance and violence were essential attributes of the Centaurs (excepting Cheiron): cp. 565. Eur. H. F.181“τετρασκελές θ᾽ ὕβρισμα, Κενταύρων γένος”.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part V: The Trachiniae. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1902.
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