οὐκέτ᾽ ἐξαργούμενα, deeds which are no longer allowed to remain “ἀργά”, i.e., in which the doers are not slack. After the “βουλεύματα” had become “ἔργα”, by the taking of the first steps, the action might still have been sluggish. But these ἔργα are δρώμενα,—advancing towards completion. So Plut. Mor. 2E “γῆ... ἐξαργηθεῖσα”, land which has been allowed to lie fallow. Arist. uses the pf. act. “ἐξηργηκέναι” as=‘to have become torpid’ (Eth. N. 1. 8: Pol. 5. 10). Cp. O. T. 287“ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς οὐδὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἐπραξάμην”.
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.
