σὲ … ἐλήλυθεν, hath come to thee. There is perhaps no other example of the simple “ἔρχομαι” with acc. of person: but there is an exact parallel in the rare use of “βαίνω” with acc. of person, Eur. Hipp. 1371“καὶ νῦν ὀδύνα μ᾽ ὀδύνα βαίνει”. Eur. Itis doubtless more than a mere coincidence that both these instances are lyric; and that a lyric boldness was felt in them may be inferred from the parody in Nub. 30, “ἀτὰρ τί χρέος ἔβα με”; If “σὲ δ̓...ἐλήλυθεν” occurred in an iambic trimeter, the case for σοὶ δ̓ would be strong: but here, in lyrics, we should keep σὲ δ̓.—We cannot properly compare “ἱκνεῖσθαι”, or “ἱκάνειν”, after which an acc. of pers. was common. πᾶν κράτος, complete (i.e. sovereign) power. Distinguish the phrase with the art., Her. 6. 35, “εἶχε μὲν τὸ πᾶν κράτος Πεισίστρατος”, which gives the same meaning in a slightly different way (‘the whole power’). ὠγύγιον, predicate with “ἐλήλυθεν”, ‘from of old,’ i.e., ‘from thine ancestors’: for “ὠγύγιον”, see O. C. 1770 n. τὸ, ‘therefore’: Il. 3. 176“ἀλλὰ τάδ᾽ οὐκ ἐγένοντο: τὸ καὶ κλαίουσα τέτηκα”. So, in Attic, “ταῦτα”, Xen. An. 4. 1. 21“ταῦτ᾽ ἔσπευδον καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐχ ὑπέμενον”: esp. “ταῦτ᾽ ἄρα”, Nub. 319, etc.—For the like use of “τῷ”, cp. O. T. 511 n. 144 f. The Chorus has asked, How are we to help? He replies, in effect, ‘The moment for you to help has not come yet. Meanwhile you can approach, and look at the cave. When Philoctetes returns, then you must be guided by the signs that I shall give you.’ The Chorus are supposed to be on the shore, below the cave, and at a point from which they have not a clear view of it. Invited by Neoptolemus, they now advance nearer. The word “ἀμφίθυρον” (159) implies that, having approached the seaward mouth of the cave, they can see right through it; and v. 161 (“ποῦ γὰρ ὁ τλήμων”...;) confirms this; their own eyes now assure them that the cave is empty. But nothing indicates that they actually enter it. ἐσχατιαῖς, locative dat. ( O. C. 411 n.), ‘in the extreme parts’ of the island,— those, namely, which are on the edge of the sea. This reading, which has the best authority, is also intrinsically better than the gen. sing.: “τόπον ἐσχατιᾶς” (‘region, part, of the sea-marge’) would be an unusual phrase. Homer, indeed, uses only the sing. of this word: and it is very likely that Soph. was thinking of Hom. Od. 9. 182 “ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐν ἐσχατιῇ σπέος εἴδομεν ἄγχι θαλάσσης”, ib. 5. 238 “νήσου ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατιῇ”, etc. But that is no reason why Soph. should not have used the plur., which was familiar in Attic (e.g. H. 2. 4. 4 “τῶν ἀγρῶν... εἰς τὰς ἐσχατιάς”). ὅντινα κεῖται, in which he is situated, abides. The verb is esp. suitable to a crippled sufferer; cp. 183: Il. 2. 721(of Philoctetes) “ἐν νήσῳ κεῖτο κρατέρ᾽ ἄλγεα πάσχων”. Verbs of position (as ‘sitting’ or ‘standing’) sometimes take an acc. (which may be regarded as a kind of ‘cognate’ acc.), denoting the place in or on which one sits, stands, etc. Aesch. Ag. 183“σέλμα...ἡμένων” (on the same principle as “ἕδραν ἕζομαι”): Suppl. 987 “τί ποτ᾽ αἰθερίαν ἕστηκε πέτραν”; (as if one said, “ἕστηκε πετρίνην στάσιν”): ib. 657 “δεξιὸν τεταγμένους” | “κέρας” (“τάξιν”). Poetry could say, then, “τόπον...ὅντινα ἕστηκε” or “τέτακται”: and so also “κοῖται”. It is true that “κεῖται τόπον” is not precisely like “κεῖται θέσιν” ( Thuc. 1. 37“ἡ πόλις...αὐτάρκη θέσιν κειμένη”): for “κεῖμαι” served as perf. pass. of “τίθημι” (“τέθειμαι” being midd.), and in “κεῖται θέσιν” the acc. is therefore as strictly ‘cognate’ as it would be in “ἐτέθη θέσιν”. But the difference between “κεῖται θέσιν” and “κεῖται τόπον” is, in principle, only the same as that between “ἕζομαι ἕδραν” and “ἕζομαι ζυγόν”.
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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