ὢ δύσμορος: cp. Ant. 1319“ὢ μέλεος”, where “ὢ” is exclamatory, and stronger than the mere sign of the vocative (“ὦ”). ὃς, with causal force; El. 160 n. χερὶ μὲν μεθῆκα, instead of “χερὶ μεθῆκα μὲν”: for the irregular place of “μέν”, cp. Ph. 279“ὁρῶντα μὲν ναῦς”.. | ..“βεβώσας, ἄνδρα δ᾽ οὐδέν᾽ ἔντοπον” (instead of “ὁρῶντα ναῦς μὲν”). χερὶ belongs in sense to “ἔδευσα” no less than to “μεθῆκα”. τοὺς ἀλάστορας: in O. C. 788 and Tr. 1235 the word denotes ‘avenging spirits’; here, ‘accursed wretches,’ as the polluted Orestes calls himself “ἀλάστορα” ( Aesch. Eum. 236): cp. Dem. or. 18 § 296 “ἄνθρωποι μιαροὶ καὶ κόλακες καὶ ἀλάστορες, ἠκρωτηριασμένοι τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἕκαστοι πατρίδας” (‘who have crippled their respective cities’),—a passage which suggests that “ἀλάστωρ”, as said of a man, meant rather one who is a ‘curse’ or ‘plague’ to his neighbours, than one who is driven by an avenging spirit; indeed, such a passive sense is not easily conceived. κλυτοῖς: from the Homeric “κλυτὰ μῆλα” ( Od. 9. 308). αἰπολίοις: Il. 11. 679“αἰπόλια πλατἔ αἰγῶν”. This is the only express mention of goats among his victims; but there is no reason to think that “αἰπόλιον” could be used as merely =“ποίμνιον.” ἐρεμνὸν: suggested doubtless by Aesch. Ag. 1390“ἐρεμνῇ ψακάδι φοινίας δρόσου.” αἷμ᾽ ἔδευσα: cp. Tr. 848“τέγγει δακρύων ἄχναν” (n.).
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907.
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