a special and distinctly pronounced reference to Clytemnestra, displeased
with Agamemnon for allowing the sacrifice of Iphigenia--
"Homeward returning see her go,
And sit alone in sullen woe;
While child-avenging anger waits
Guileful and horrid at the palace gates."
Though I have no doubt she is alluded to among other Furies that haunt
the house of Atreus; and the poet very wisely supplies here a motive. So
WELL., and LIN.; and my version, though free, I hope does nothing
more than express this idea of a retributive wrath brooding through long
years over a doomed family, and ever and anon, when apparently laid,
breaking out with new manifestations--an idea, however, so expressed in
the present passage that, as Dr. Peile says, "No translation can
adequately set it forth."
Note 18 (p. 47).
"Jove, or what other name."
After the above sublime introduction follows the Invocation of Jove, as
the supreme over-ruling Deity, who alone, by his infinite power and
wisdom, is able to lead the believing worshipper through the intricacies
of a seemingly {339} perplexed Providence. The passage is one of the
finest in ancient poetry, and deserves to be specially considered by
theological students. The reader will note carefully the reverential awe
with which the Chorus names the god invoked--a feeling quite akin to
that anxiety which takes possession of inexperienced people when they
are called on to address written or spoken words to persons of high
rank. Many instances of this kind are quoted from the ancients by
VICTORIUS, in STANLEY's notes, by SYM., and by PEILE. The most
familiar instance to which I can refer the general reader is in the
second chapter of Livy's first book:--
"Situs est Æneas, quemcumque eum dici jus fasque est, super Numicium
flumen. Jovem indigetem appellant."
If in so obvious a matter a profound mythologist like Welcker--(Tril.,
p. 104)--should have found in this language of deepest reverence signs
of free-thinking and irony, we have only another instance of the
tyrannous power of a favourite idea to draw facts from their natural
cohesion, that they may circle round the nucleus of an artificial
crystallization. Sewell has also taken up the same idea with regard to
the scepticism of this passage; and in him, no less, must we attribute
this notion to the influence of a general theory with regard to the
religious opinions of Æschylus, rather than to any criticism which the
present passage could possibly warrant.
Note 19 (p. 47).
"With all-defiant valour brimming o'er."
A very literal rendering of the short, but significant, original παμμαχῳ
θρὰσει βρύων, on which SYM. remarks that "it presents the magnificent
and, to us, incongruous image of a giant all-steeled for battle, and
bearing his boldness like a tree bearing its blossoms." But there is no
reason that I know for confining βρύω here to its special use in Iliad
XVII. 56 (Βρύει ἂυθ(ε)ι λευκῳ) and other such passages. It rather
suggests generally, as SEW. says, "ideas of violence, exuberance, and
uproar," like βρυάζων in Suppl. 856. He has accordingly given
"With all-defying spirit, like a boiling torrent roaring,"
from which I have borrowed one word, with a slight alteration, but
consider myself safer in not tying down the general word βρύων, to the
special case of a _torrent_ any more than of a _tree_. The recent
Germans--"_Im Gefühle stolzer Kraft_" (FR.), and "_allbewährteu
Trotzes hehr_"--are miserably tame after Humboldt's admirable
"_strotzend kampfbegierig frech._" As to the meaning of the passage, the
three celestial dynasties of Uranus, Saturn, and Jove are plainly
indicated, though who first threw this light on a passage certainly
obscure, I cannot say. So far as I can see, it was SCHUTZ. The
Scholiast (A in BUTLER) talks of the Titans and Typhon, which is, at
all events, on the right scent. Neither ABRESCH nor STAN. seem to
have understood the passage; and POTTER, disdaining to take a hint
from the old Scholiast, generalises away about humanity.
Note 20 (p. 48).
"Our hearts with gracious force."
The βιαίως certainly refers to the χάρις, and not to the ημένων, with
the diluted sense of _pollenter_ given it by WELL.; and in this view
I have no objection, with BLOMFIELD and CON., to read βίαιος. I am
not, however, so sure as CON. that the common reading is wrong.
βιαίως may be an abrupt imperfectly enunciated expression (and there
are not a few such in Æschylus) for _exercising_ or _using compulsion_.
Poets are not always the most accurate of grammarians.
{340}
Note 21 (p. 48).
"In Aulis tides hoarse refluent."
The harbour of Aulis, opposite Euboea the district still called
_Ulike_--(Wordsworth's Athens and Attica, c. I.). In narrow passages of
the sea, as at Corryvreckan, on the west coast of Scotland, there are
apt to be strong eddies and currents; and this is specially noted of the
channel between Aulis and Chalcis, by Livy (XXVIII. 6. _haud facile alia
infestior classi statio est_) and other passages adduced by BUT. in
PEILE.
Note 22 (p. 49).
"Is the gods' right. So be it."
I am unable to see how the translation of this passage, given by SYM.
agrees with the context and with the spirit of Agamemnon's conduct, and
the view of it taken by the poet. SYM. says--
"They're not her parents; they may call aloud
For the dire rite to smoothe the stormy flood
All fierce and thirsty for a virgin's blood."
And DROYSEN, though more literally, says the same thing--"_Dass sie
das windstillende Sühnopfer, das jungfraüliche Blut heischen und
schreien, ist es denn recht? Nein, sieg das Gute!_" and Fr. also takes
θέμις out of Agamemnon's mouth, and gives it to the Greeks.
"_Finden sie recht. Zum Heil sey's!_" Perhaps the reason for preferring
this version with the Germans lies in giving too great a force and
prominence to the μετέγνω in the following strophe. But this may
refer only to the change of a father's instinctive feelings (expressed
by silence only in this ode) to the open resolution of making common
cause with the diviner and the chieftain.
Note 23 (p. 49).
". . . Unblissful blew the gale
That turned the father's heart."
These words include both the τροπαίαν and the μετέγνω of the original.
I join βρότους or βρότοις with the following clause, the sense being
the same according to either reading. The verb θρασύνει, according to
CON.'s very just reasoning, seems grammatically to require βρότους,
though FR. says, with a reference to Bernhardy, that βρότοις may be
defended. SYM. has given a translation altogether different; though
he admits that the sense given in my version, and in all the modern
versions, is the most obvious one. His objection to connecting βρότους
with the following sentence I do not understand.
Note 24 (p. 49).
". . . consecrate
His ships for Troy."
προτέλεια ναῶν, _First fruits_, literally, as SEW. has it, will
scarcely do here; "first piation of the wind-bound fleet" of SYM. is
very good. HUMB., DROY., and FR. all use _Weihe_ in different
combinations; a word which seems to suit the present passage very well,
and I have accordingly adopted the corresponding English term.
Note 25 (p. 49).
"Where prone and spent she lies."
παντὶ θυμῷ προνωπῆ, literally "_prone with her whole soul;_" "_body and
soul,_" as CON. has it. The words are so arranged that it is
impossible to determine to what παντὶ θυμῳ refers, whether to the
general action λαβεῖν, or to the special position προνωπῆ. Sewell's
remark that "there is far more intensity of thought in applying παντὶ
θυμῷ to λαβεῖν," may be turned the other way. The phrase certainly must
give additional intensity to whichever {341} word it is joined with. The
act itself is sufficiently cruel, without adding any needless traits of
ferocity.
Note 26 (p. 49).
". . . her saffron robe
Sweeping the ground."
κρόκου βαφὰς εις πέδον χέουσα; "dropping her saffron veil," says SYM.;
perhaps rightly, but I see no ground for certainty. The application of
κρόκου βαφὰς to the drops of blood seems a modern idea, which has
proceeded from some critic who had not poetry enough to understand the
application of χέουσα to anything but a liquid. Except in peculiar
circumstances, the word κρόκος, as CON. justly observes (see note 73
below), cannot be applied to the blood; and, in the present passage, it
is plain the final work of the knife is left purposely undescribed.
Note 27 (p. 49).
"The virgin strain they heard."
I cannot sufficiently express my astonishment that HUMB., DROY., and
FR., as if it were a point of Germanism, have all conspired to wrench
the ἐτίμα out of its natural connection in this beautiful passage, and
to apply the whole concluding clause to the self-devotion of Iphigenia
at the altar, rather than to her dutiful obedience at the festal scene
just described. The fine poetical feeling of SYM. protested against
this piece of tastelessness. "These commentators," says he, "seem to
have been ignorant of the poet's intention, who raises interest, pity,
and honor to the height, by presenting Iphigenia at the altar, and
unveiling herself preparatory to her barbarous execution, on which point
of the picture he dwells, contrasting her present situation with her
former happiness, her cheerfulness, her songs, and the festivities in
her father's house." It is strange that the Germans do not see that
ἔυποτμον ἀιῶνα is the most unfortunate of all terms to apply to the
condition of Agamemnon, as a sacrificer; while it is most pertinent to
his previous fortunes, before his evil destiny began to be revealed in
the sacrifice of his beloved daughter.
Note 28 (p. 50).
". . . What boots
To forecast woe, which, on no wavering wing."
It is both mortifying and consoling to think that all the learning which
has been expended on this corrupt passage from Δίκα down to ἀυγαῖς,
brings out nothing more than what already lies in the old Scholiast. As
to the details of the text, I wish I could say, with the same confidence
as CON., that WELL. and HER.'s σύνορθρον ἀυγαῖς is a bit more
certain than FR.'s σύναρθρον ἀταις, which, however, I am inclined to
prefer, from its agreeing better with the general sombre hue of the ode.
Note 29 (p. 50).
"Ever swift
Though wingless, Fame."
ἄπτερος is an epithet by negation after a fashion not at all uncommon in
the Greek drama; the meaning being, _though fame is not a bird, and has
no wings, yet it flies as fast as if it had_. The idea that ἄπτερος is
the same as πτερωτὸς I agree with CON. is the mere expedient of
despair. I have not the slightest doubt that Rumour is called a
_wingless messenger_, just as Dust is called a _voiceless_ messenger in
the Seven against Thebes. SYM. is too subtle in explaining ἄπτερος
after the analogy of the beautiful simile in Virgil, Æneid V. 215, _so
swift as not to appear to move its wings_.
{342}
Note 30 (p. 51).
". . . He from Ida shot the spark."
The geographical mountain points in the following famous descriptive
passages are as follows: (1) Mount Ida, near Troy; (2) the Island of
Lemnos, in the Ægean, half-way between Asia and Europe, due West; (3)
Mount Athos, the South point of the most Easterly of the three peninsulas
that form the South part of Macedonia; (4) a station somewhere betwixt
Athos and Bœotia, which the poet has characterised only by the name of
the Watchman Macistus; (5) the Messapian Mount, West of Anthedon in the
North of Bœotia; (6) Mount Cithæron, in the South of Bœotia; (7) Mount
Aegiplanctus, between Megara and Corinth; (8) Mount Arachne, in Argolis,
between Tiryns and Epidaurus, not far from Argos.
Note 31 (p. 51).
". . . the forward strength
Of the far-travelling lamp strode gallantly."
I have not had the courage with SYM. to reject the πρὸς ἡδονὴν and
supply a verb. The phrase is not colloquial, as he says, but occurs, as
WELL. points out, in Prom. 492. MEDWYN has "crossing the breast of
ocean with a speed plumed by its joy." That there is some blunder in the
passage the want of a verb seems to indicate, but, with our present
means, it appears wise to let it alone; not, like FR., from a mere
conjecture, to introduce ἰχθῦς for ἰσχύς, and translate--
"Und fern hin dass der Wanderflamme heller Schein,
In lust die Fische auf des Meeres Rücken trieb."
Are we never to see an end of these extremely ingenious, but very useless
conjectures?
Note 32 (p. 51).
"Weaving the chain unbroken."
μη κατιζεσθαι--HEATH. The true reading not to be discovered.
Note 33 (p. 51).
". . . a mighty beard of flame."
The Hindoos in their description of the primeval male who, with a
thousand heads and a thousand faces, issued from the mundane egg, use
the same image--"the hairs of his body are trees and plants, of his head
the clouds, _of his beard, lightning_, and his nails are
rocks."--Colonel VANS KENNEDY, Ch. VIII. Our translators generally
(except SEW. and CON.) have eschewed transplanting this image
literally into English; and even the Germans have stumbled, FR. giving
Feuersaüle most unhappily. DROY., when he says "Schweife," gives the
true idea, but I am not afraid to let the original stand.
Note 34 (p. 51).
". . . the headlands that look down
On the Saronic gulf."
I see no proof that πρῶν ever means anything but a promontory, and so
cannot follow CON. in reading κάτοπτρον.
Note 35 (p. 51).
"Each from the other fired with happy news," etc.
An allusion to the famous λαμπαδηφορία, or torch race, practised by the
Greeks at the Parthenon and other festivals. In this race a burning
torch was passed from hand to hand, so that, notwithstanding the extreme
celerity of the movement, the flame might not go out. See the article by
LIDDELL in the _Dict. Antiq._ where difficulties in the detail are
explained.
{343}
Note 36 (p. 52).
"To their hearts' content."
The reading of WELL. and the MS. ὡς δυσδαίμονες will never do, though
MED. certainly has shown genius by striking out of it
"Soundly as mariners when the danger's past
They sleep."
The connection decidedly requires ῶς (ε)υδαιμονες, neither more nor less
than "to their hearts' content," as I have rendered it. But one would
almost be reconciled to the sad state of the text of Æschylus, if every
difficulty were cleared with such a masterly bound as MED. here
displays. The Germans, FR. and DR., incapable, or not liking such
capers, adhere to the simple (ε)υδαίμονες. HUMB., according to his
general practice, follows the captainship of Hermann, and gives
"Götterngleich (ὡς δε δαίμονες)."
Note 37 (p. 52).
". . . Happy if the native gods
They reverence."
This sober fear of the evil consequences of excess in the hour of
triumph, so characteristic a trait of ancient poetry, and purposely
introduced here by Clytemnestra to serve her own purpose, finds an apt
illustration in the conduct of Camillus at the siege of Veii, as
reported by Livy (V. 21)--
"Ad prædam miles permissu dictatoris discurrit. Quæ quum ante oculos
ejus aliquantum spe atque opinione major majorisque pretii rerum
ferretur, dicitur, manus ad cœlum tollens precatus esse, ut si cui
deorum hominumque nimia sua fortuna populique Romani videretur, ut
eam invidiam lenire quam minimo suo privato incommodo, publicoque
populo Romano liceret."
Note 38 (p. 52).
"Having turned the goal."
The reader is aware that in the ancient racecourse there was a _meta_,
or goal, at each end of the course, round which the racers turned round
(_metaque fervidis evitata rotis_.--Hor. Carm. I. 1; and Æneid V. 129).
Note 39 (p. 52).
"If they have sinned."
ἀμπλακητος. In defence of this reading, which, with WELL., I prefer,
CON. has a very excellent note, to which I refer the critical reader.
FR., following AHRENS (as he often does), makes a bold transposition
of the lines, but the sense remains pretty much the same. As to the
guilt incurred by the Greeks, spoken of here and in the previous lines,
the poet has put it, as some palliation of her own contemplated deed,
into the mouth of Clytemnestra, but in perfect conformity also with the
Homeric theology, which supposes that suffering must always imply guilt.
Thus in the Odyss. III. 130-135, old Nestor explains to Telemachus:--
"But when Priam's high-perched city by the Greeks was captured, then
In their swift ships homeward sailing, they were scattered by a god;
To the Greeks great Jove had purposed in his heart a black return,
For not all had understanding, and not all observant lived
Of Justice."
Note 40 (p. 53).
"The gods are blind."
I cannot here forbear recalling to the reader's recollection a similar
passage in Milton:--
"Just are the ways of God
And justifiable to men;
Unless there be who think not God at all.
If any be, they walk obscure:
For of such doctrine never was there school,
But the heart of the fool,
And no man therein doctor but himself."
--SAMSON AGONISTES.
{344}
Note 41 (p. 53).
"Self-will fell Até's daughter."