"Then another deed devised Achilles, godlike, swift of foot;
Stationed sad behind the pyre he dipt his locks of yellow hair,
Which, luxuriant shed, he cherished to Spercheius' flowing stream."
v. 140-3.
Compare the beautiful passage on the Greek mythology in Wordsworth's
Excursion, Book IV.
Note 3 (p. 99).
"O Jove, be thou mine aid."
Of the high functions which belong to the supreme god of the Greeks,
that of _avenger_ is not the least notable, and is alluded to with
special frequency in the Odyssey, of which poem, _retribution in this
life for wicked works_ is the great moral--whence the frequent line--
ἀι κε πόθι Ζεὺς δῶσι παλίντιτα ἔργα γενέσθαι.
Note 4 (p. 99).
"And my cheeks, that herald sorrow."
"As these violent manifestations of grief were forbidden by Solon
(Plut. 21), we are to look upon them in this place as peculiarly
characteristic of the foreign captive maidens who compose the
chorus"--KL.; though the epithet of ἄμφιδρυφὴς ἄλοχος applied to the
wife of Protesilaus by Homer (Il. ii. 700, xi. 393), shows that, in the
heroic times, at least, the expression of sorrow was almost as violent
on the west as on the east side of the Hellespont.
Note 5 (p. 101).
"And now fear rules."
φοβεῖτας δέ τις. "_People are afraid, and dare not speak out_"--PEILE.
abruptness of this passage renders it difficult to see the allusion.
PALEY {359} gives it quite a different turn. "_Sunt qui ob commissi
sceleris quo adepti sint magnam fortunam_ (το ἐυτυχ(ε)ίν) _conscientiam
torqueantur._" But I do not think that this rendering agrees so well
with the words that follow. The thought seems to be--_the world judges
by results; and men are content, even in fear, to obey a usurper, who
shows his right by his success._ This brings out a beautiful contrast to
the σέβας, or feeling of loyal reverence that filled the public
mind towards Agamemnon, who is alluded to in the first words of the
Antistrophe.
Note 6 (p. 101).
"So filthy hands with blood bedabbled."
I do not see why WELL. and KL. should object to πόροι being
taken, as the Scholiast hints, for an equivalent to ποταμοὶ. The
word simply means "_channels_," and in the present connection of
purification would naturally explain itself to a Greek ear, as _channels
of water_. KL.'s rendering of πόρος, _ratio expiandae caedis_,
has no merit but being unpoetical. The ἰοῦσαν ἄτην holds concealed
some hopeless blunder; but for the need the κλύσειαν άν μάτην of FR.
may be adopted.
Note 7 (p. 101).
"What the masters of my fate
In their strength decree."
"There is a proverb, Δ(ο)υλε δεσποτῶν ἄκουε καὶ δίκαια καὶ αδικα.
_Slave hear thy master whether right or wrong_."--SCHOLIAST.
Note 8 (p. 101).
". . . beneath the veil."
ὑφ (ε)ιμάτων. STAN. quotes the beautiful picture of Telemachus
(Odyssey IV. 114), endeavouring to conceal his filial sorrow from the
eyes of Menelaus at Sparta--
"From his eye the tear-drop fell when he heard his father's name,
And with both his hands before his eyes he held the purple cloak."
Note 9 (p. 102).
". . . libations pure,
Poured on my father's tomb."
These libations are described in various passages of the Classics, of
which the following may suffice:--
"Then to all the dead I poured libations, first with honied milk,
Then with sweetest wine, and then with water, and I strewed the grains
Of whitest meal."--ODYSSEY XI. 26.
"Go, my Hermione, without the door,
And these libations take, and take my hair,
And, standing over Clytemnestra's tomb,
Milk-mingled honey and the winy foam
Pour, and thus speak."--EURIP., OREST. 112.
"And with the due libation's triple flow
She crowns the corpse."--SOPH. ANTIG., 429.
The χοᾶισι πρισπόνδαισι, being the _wine_, _water_, and _milk_,
particularised in the above extract from Homer. Compare Virgil's Æn. V.
78, and St. Augustine's Confessions vi. 2, with regard to his mother's
offering at the tombs of the martyrs--_pultes et panem et merum_.
Note 10 (p. 102).
". . . as who throws lustral ashes."
καθάρματα. "Ashes of lustral offerings"--PEILE. "Alluding to the
custom of the Athenians, who, after purifying their houses with incense
in an earthen vessel, threw the vessel into the streets, and retired
with averted eyes."--SCHOLIAST.
{360}
Note 11 (p. 102).
"What other quittance to a foe
Than hate repaid with hate, and blow with blow?"
Why not? πῶς δ᾽ ου; how should it be otherwise? Observe, here, how far
the Christian rule, _love thine enemies_, was from the Heathen mind. It
is very far yet from our practice; though it is difficult to
over-estimate the value of having such ideal moral maxims as those of
the New Testament to refer to as a generally recognized standard.
Note 12 (p. 103).
"Hermes, that swayest underneath the ground."