ἐκφοβοῦ … ὡς: 1309 n. The sense of λῆμα is not necessarily either good or bad; thus Pind. P. 8. 44“τὸ γενναῖον”.. | ..“λῆμα”: Soph. O. C. 960“λῆμ᾽ ἀναιδές”: though it generally implies at least a strong spirit. Cp. however Pind. P. 3. 24“ἔσχε τοιαύταν μεγάλαν ἀϝάταν” | “καλλιπέπλου λῆμα Κορωνίδος”, where, as here, “λῆμα” implies blame, though it has no epithet (Gildersleeve happily renders, ‘wilful Coronis’). After v. 1427 Erfurdt and others suppose the loss of three verses answering to vv. 1404—1406 (“αἰαῖ...φίλαι”): see note in Appendix on 1398. The context itself, however, does not indicate any lacuna. In a calmer scene, doubtless, we might have looked for some comment from Electra on the announcement that Clytaemnestra is dead. But this is a passage full of excitement and hurrying action. The warning παύσασθε in 1428 is sufficiently justified by the brief dialogue between Orestes and Electra which has already taken place (1424—1427).
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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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